What have you been up to lately?

[SkyHiker]

While I'm anxious to get started with my obsy - an idea that started after deciding to paint the house - once you start prepping the house for painting you get sucked into all kinds of unwanted chores. This week I hired a handyman to help out with replacing decorative wood paneling at the front of the house around which a brick planter was built. After decades of course there was some rotting wood right at the soil line, also noted by a termite inspector a few years ago, so I had to empty the planter and have the paneling replaced. While they were there I also asked them to fix the stucco around one window and part of one sliding door. It was all done in 1 day. Now I'm painting and moisture proofing the new paneling and hope it will hold up for 20 years.

After that I still need to strip the old paint around the obsy location, repaint and construct a sealed wooden water dam on which to build it so I have some more work to do with polyurethane. On top of that I also lost a tooth that had a large filling since childhood so I need to decide on a bridge or implant, and also had another tooth crowned preventatively. I have two trips coming up in June. This will drag on through the whole year though I hope to have the basic structure built up next week.

[Butterfly Maiden]

You have a lot of work planned there Henk so good luck with all that.

I hope you are able to get your teeth sorted out. I suppose it could be down to cost as to which option you go for.

I know in the UK that implants are very expensive, and are only available privately. The NHS does not cover the cost, but there are exceptional medical circumstances when they could do it on the NHS.

I don't know what options you have in USA.

[Richard]

While I'm anxious to get started with my obsy - an idea that started after deciding to paint the house - once you start prepping the house for painting you get sucked into all kinds of unwanted chores. This week I hired a handyman to help out with replacing decorative wood paneling at the front of the house around which a brick planter was built. After decades of course there was some rotting wood right at the soil line, also noted by a termite inspector a few years ago, so I had to empty the planter and have the paneling replaced. While they were there I also asked them to fix the stucco around one window and part of one sliding door. It was all done in 1 day. Now I'm painting and moisture proofing the new paneling and hope it will hold up for 20 years.

After that I still need to strip the old paint around the obsy location, repaint and construct a sealed wooden water dam on which to build it so I have some more work to do with polyurethane. On top of that I also lost a tooth that had a large filling since childhood so I need to decide on a bridge or implant, and also had another tooth crowned preventatively. I have two trips coming up in June. This will drag on through the whole year though I hope to have the basic structure built up next week.

Yes maintenance on a house is never ending , painting old surfaces is 90% prep and 10% paint , seen lots of houses getting 'painted' before a sale with no prep work done , will last 6 months at most and new owner has to redo

[SkyHiker]

I hope you are able to get your teeth sorted out. I suppose it could be down to cost as to which option you go for.

I know in the UK that implants are very expensive, and are only available privately. The NHS does not cover the cost, but there are exceptional medical circumstances when they could do it on the NHS.

I don't know what options you have in USA.

As a rule, what is not life threatening is considered cosmetic and does not get reimbursed by basic insurance. While still working I had insurance that paid 25% or at best 50% for crowns, for instance, with a small supplement. As a child in the Netherlands, I had porous teeth and no fluorinated water. While I was brushing properly, I had multiple cavities every year and did not expect my teeth to last past 30. Back in the days that was considered normal, my parents had their extracted around that age. Miraculously, American dentists did a great job, as did the fluorinated water probably, and I have all my teeth minus one now, with solid roots fortunately, so the prospects have improved beyond the imagination. It's worth paying for. Whayt I'm not quite sure about is if I should have an implant because it can take a year altogether. Afterwards they want me to get braces (Invisalign) to straighten my teeth though I'm fine with having crooked teeth, and was hoping not to be plagued with having braces and a retainer - isn't retirement the time to enjoy life? Yet, friends told me the best thing to do is just that so I am slowly changing my mindset and have the Invisalign, retainer... ugh. They are the good worries; over all I'm not complaining.

[scribbly]

Just reading this post. Joe @OzEclipse not only "kept up with the Joneses", he passed them and kept going, getting home a week or so earlier than us, noting we left a few days earlier too.

We have been home now for a week, after 13,500 km over 43 days, with the April 20 Eclipse in Exmouth a key highlight. Our camper van is now washed and I have commenced processing some 3,500 images (a lot are subs for images to be composited, including nearly 1,000 of the eclipse itself). Maybe in a week or so, I will have my first eclipse composite, noting that bus passed several weeks ago (with now so many fine images around). At some stage, I hope to write up an observing report for the whole trip, with some detail on a first time eclipse viewer's experience.

Now back to what I was doing....importing/organising photos in LR.....

Cheers Phil

[OzEclipse]

Back to my roots picking olives at villa del Adam and April in the Young Hilltops today. But, boy oh boy it’s cold out today with a cutting wind and light rain. People who know me know I almost never complain about the cold. Today is just brutal.

Pretty sure these are the Spanish manzanilla olives. My friends have only just bought the house weeks ago.

I picked up a great method for curing small blacks from Andonis, a chef I met in Crete. Trees had both blacks and greens so I picked some of each. The greens will be cured “Sicilian sbucciatte” style.

Joe

[GCoyote]

Digging up old rocks and soil for a new walkway. Getting our bedding plants in the ground after a string of cold nights delayed planting.

[Ylem]

Our house is under contract pending sale, but these buyers are literally NUTS with their repair list, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE PAGES!

The home really does not need anything, we set it up that we could have a carefree retirement in it.

I hope the deal falls through.

[pakarinen]

You have a lot of work planned there Henk so good luck with all that.

I hope you are able to get your teeth sorted out. I suppose it could be down to cost as to which option you go for.

I know in the UK that implants are very expensive, and are only available privately. The NHS does not cover the cost, but there are exceptional medical circumstances when they could do it on the NHS.

I don't know what options you have in USA.

Most people in the US have private dental insurance which covers a portion of the cost of restorative dentistry. A higher percentage of preventive care is covered but there are annual limitations. Dental insurance here is basically a coupon - it's not as comprehensive as medical insurance.
(Married to a dental hygienist who did clinical, currently teaches, and administers national dental board exams. )

[Frankskywatcher]

Our house is under contract pending sale, but these buyers are literally NUTS with their repair list, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE PAGES!

The home really does not need anything, we set it up that we could have a carefree retirement in it.

I hope the deal falls through.

Boy, can I relate to what you’re going through before I moved down here to Myrtle Beach two years ago.
My house sold within one week but then the people started getting ridiculous about what they wanted repaired.
When they then welshed upon their list and then wanted more.
I had to tell him there are no further negotiations.
If you want to come back into the property to look at some thing, blah blah blah but we’re not negotiating on anything else.

[DeanD]

Our house is under contract pending sale, but these buyers are literally NUTS with their repair list, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE PAGES!

The home really does not need anything, we set it up that we could have a carefree retirement in it.

I hope the deal falls through.

Does this mean that they wont buy until you have fixed all their list? Perhaps you could offer it at a discount of $153 - $1 for each page of complaints.

Over here what you see is what you get, especially if it is put up for auction: if there are issues they may be reflected in the price, but that would be a point for price negotiation, nothing else- and the house market is so crazy that people are paying ridiculous prices for places that need to be bulldozed.

[OzEclipse]

Our house is under contract pending sale, but these buyers are literally NUTS with their repair list, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE PAGES!

The home really does not need anything, we set it up that we could have a carefree retirement in it.

I hope the deal falls through.

Does this mean that they wont buy until you have fixed all their list? Perhaps you could offer it at a discount of $153 - $1 for each page of complaints.

Over here what you see is what you get, especially if it is put up for auction: if there are issues they may be reflected in the price, but that would be a point for price negotiation, nothing else- and the house market is so crazy that people are paying ridiculous prices for places that need to be bulldozed.

In NSW, after contracts are signed and exchanged, the seller can do damage up to 5% of the value of the property and the buyer has to accept and cover that cost.

Joe

[DeanD]

Our house is under contract pending sale, but these buyers are literally NUTS with their repair list, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE PAGES!

The home really does not need anything, we set it up that we could have a carefree retirement in it.

I hope the deal falls through.

Does this mean that they wont buy until you have fixed all their list? Perhaps you could offer it at a discount of $153 - $1 for each page of complaints.

Over here what you see is what you get, especially if it is put up for auction: if there are issues they may be reflected in the price, but that would be a point for price negotiation, nothing else- and the house market is so crazy that people are paying ridiculous prices for places that need to be bulldozed.

In NSW, after contracts are signed and exchanged, the seller can do damage up to 5% of the value of the property and the buyer has to accept and cover that cost.

Joe

So the moral of the story is: "Don't piss off the seller after you buy their NSW house!"

[Butterfly Maiden]

Back to work today for both of us

We still do our daily walks in the Forest, but I don't always do a photographic walk-through which I usually share here.

I will give you a taste of a different area next time

[Ylem]

Wifey and I are sitting in the car under a shade tree.
We have several lookie-lous' viewing the house today, hopefully get another offer.

[pakarinen]

My house sold within one week but then the people started getting ridiculous about what they wanted repaired.
When they then welshed upon their list and then wanted more.
I had to tell him there are no further negotiations.
If you want to come back into the property to look at some thing, blah blah blah but we’re not negotiating on anything else.

Yeah, one clown wanted a $10,000 credit so he could finish the basement at my old place. Another wanted $5K to take out the less-than-a-year-old carpet and put in Pergo. Buh-bye, cabrones!

Anyway, around here the standard wording to refuse a repair / replace request is, "Seller(s) respectfully declines." I said that to my real estate agent a lot.

[Frankskywatcher]

My house sold within one week but then the people started getting ridiculous about what they wanted repaired.
When they then welshed upon their list and then wanted more.
I had to tell him there are no further negotiations.
If you want to come back into the property to look at some thing, blah blah blah but we’re not negotiating on anything else.

Yeah, one clown wanted a $10,000 credit so he could finish the basement at my old place. Another wanted $5K to take out the less-than-a-year-old carpet and put in Pergo. Buh-bye, cabrones!

Anyway, around here the standard wording to refuse a repair / replace request is, "Seller(s) respectfully declines." I said that to my real estate agent a lot.

“Seller, respectively declined” that’s hilarious, but that’s what you have to do!

[Frankskywatcher]

Well, since we’ve been socked in with rain and overcast clouds going on three weeks now I can’t say that I’ve been doing much observing.
However, on another front once again, I have gotten involved with an animal rescue. Actually, it’s a woman that I know we have become canine friends so to speak.
She found out that there was a litter of eight puppies who were stuffed in a large plastic adult dog carrying case.
They were left in that thing all day long on the back porch covered in their own feces and urine .
She managed to talk to the people And convince them into surrendering the puppies to her.
She lives about 20 miles from me and I’m in the country but she lives in a very rural area. She now has the puppies in a big fenced in area a covered shelter area.
We both went the other day to tractor supply, and I bought her two huge bags of puppy chow and treats.
This Wednesday, I’m going back there to help bathe all the puppies cut their nails and I have bought a pack of identifying collars that are different colors.
We have been actively on every Facebook page trying to find the puppies homes. Hopefully a shelter will take them in a few weeks, but they are full.
I hate to say it I love living in the south but the way dogs are treated here it’s terrible.
Here’s a few pictures from the other day when I brought the food to her

[DEnc]

“Behind the redwood curtain”: It's a phrase describing the isolation that can be experienced in northern coastal CA. How overnight Amazon Prime deliveries take a week, or how we're physically cut off from the rest of the world several times every winter, or how the change in seasons is marked by switching from red plaid to green plaid.

...And how in my retirement I've been unable to update my 2000's-era corporate clothing in time for an east coast wedding next weekend. We travelled to the Bay Area a few days before our flight to try to solve this problem, and the only solution I found cost as much as it did to jack up the backside of our house and replace a rotted rim joist!!!

So instead of this beauty pictured below I'll be wearing an overstuffed sport coat that last saw daylight more than a few years ago.

[OzEclipse]

Does this mean that they wont buy until you have fixed all their list? Perhaps you could offer it at a discount of $153 - $1 for each page of complaints.

Over here what you see is what you get, especially if it is put up for auction: if there are issues they may be reflected in the price, but that would be a point for price negotiation, nothing else- and the house market is so crazy that people are paying ridiculous prices for places that need to be bulldozed.

In NSW, after contracts are signed and exchanged, the seller can do damage up to 5% of the value of the property and the buyer has to accept and cover that cost.

Joe

So the moral of the story is: "Don't piss off the seller after you buy their NSW house!"

I just took out insurance to cover it from the date of exchange.