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Time for another post as it’s been a while since the last one. As you can see, things have slowed down on the house. We’ve managed to get all the rough-in plumbing done, HVAC rough-in’s done, and all the vents finished. The roofers came on the 4th and sealed up all the penetrations so there is no leaking during the monsoon rains.

Our HVAC guys will need to move one vent as it’s too close to a Canale. That should happen this week. Yesterday our electrician started, so there was a lot of discussion about where switches are placed, how to power the house, running ethernet cable and small changes. We’re still discussing about fireplaces in the living room. Wendy wants a wall-hung fireplace, and I don’t want one at all. I’d rather use the space for furniture or entertainment center as this house has limited wall space. I can’t see the point of having a fake fireplace in the living room, especially since we have a Kiva fireplace on the patio. I’ll have the electrician wire in an outlet, and we can decide later.

We got all our windows and doors yesterday. Now our framing crew gets to install them today and tomorrow in 100-degree heat. Totally sucks. As we’re in monsoon season, it’ll be hot for the next few days and then storms move back in on Saturday with rain (which we need). The framing crew needs to do some more soffits down the long hall and a step soffit on the living room outside wall to cover an HVAC setup. I should have eliminated the beams on each wall of the great room which would have made things easier. And we have a Canale that drains over the door to the garage, so we need to move that at some point or figure out a way to redirect the water. 90% of the time it won’t be a problem, but when it rains during the summer, it will be annoying.

Saturday we have the cabinet lady coming to do final measurements for the cabinets. And I’ll order all the bathroom trim for the 1/2 bath from her. And finally, we have a meeting with our light fixture person on Thursday at noon to pick through light fixtures, switches and outlets. We still need to find a fireplace option for the living room.

Generally, things for the house have been pretty mild and not a lot of drama. Most of the drama will be figuring out how to fund the final costs once the funds from the house sale run out. The payment for the windows and doors will pretty much drain things, but we do have funds to finish. It’ll be a question of taking out a small loan or just paying for it out of savings. All about tax advantages.

On a different note, we are slowly getting settled in the community. Los Lunas isn’t a bustling city like Albuquerque where there is most everything available. We are in a rural area, so there is limited availability for shopping, doctors and vets. We did go to church this last Sunday and I really enjoyed it. Nice people, small congregation and low key. I’d like to figure out a way to make that a weekly thing and still have breakfast with my brother-in-law. I think it would be good for my mental health and attitude to keep going to church. I’ll talk to Wendy and my brother-in-law about moving breakfast to Saturday or early Sunday.

Today will be too hot to do much in the day. Need to get stuff done in the morning or evening. During the day it’s super-hot and humid during the monsoon season. I know it’s high desert, but 25% – 40% humidity here is killer. Today will just be work stuff and killing the darn fly’s. I’ll need to chat with our electrician to talk about the fireplace in the living room and light switches and outlets.

Wendy is looking to upgrade her job now that she’s been here a while. Her current company is a revolving door as the owner can’t let people he hires do their job. He and his “circle” micromanage everything. The issue here is that jobs as so “gate kept” that you have to be related to someone or know someone to get the good jobs. She’s been turned down for several jobs where she is the best qualified candidate but didn’t have the right last name (Hispanic) or knew someone. Albuquerque Public Schools is the worst as they actually rewrote a job that was exactly like her job in Washington for Lake Washington School District because she was better than the candidate APS wanted to promote. This place will never grow because they suffocate innovation and reject new thinking and the people who bring that to the table. New Mexico is very ladened in Hispanic and Indian thinking. Arizona, next door, is growing leaps and bounds because they welcome innovation, new thinking and the people who bring that. New Mexico rejects that and continues to embrace legacy thinking and anti-growth. It’ll always be poor but rich with “Heritage” which is another way to say “we don’t want progress”.

Okay, enough soapbox. I need to get ready for the day. Lots to do.

Take care everyone.

Last day of June, Wow. It’s gone so fast. House is making progress, just not visible externally. Plumbing is done and inspection is scheduled for this week. Hopefully, HVAC will start today and electrical will start this week. Once we have all that done, then the framers will come back and build out the soffits and move a couple of walls 3/4″ away from the toilets. We have a couple of other modifications that need to happen with a pony wall in the primary bathroom. After the HVAC is done, and all the penetrations are done in the roof (we have a boat load), the roofers will come back and seal them up to make them waterproof.

Once we’re done with the all the wires, plumbing and HVAC we can start with the wallboard inside. We’ve picked out carpet, flooring and tile for everything. We’re still fine tuning the cabinets, but we have the kitchen appliances purchased and on order. Hoping to get the cabinets ordered second week of July. Then we have to pick out paint, cabinet knobs and stuff. We still haven’t done lightening fixtures but hoping to do that next weekend. This is definitely tiring. Stucco will be the last thing. Still waiting on windows and doors from Pella. They are terrible at delivering.

Yesterday it was 98 degrees here. Hot with humidity as the monsoons bring afternoon rain which propagates clouds late afternoon. I took our camping chairs to the back patio of the house sat out while watching Wendy’s cousin’s goats in our pasture. Fun. Drove the dogs nuts. Discovered Juni can’t leave the lizards alone. She’s so curious and it drives the lizards crazy. I do need to get after the ants, so I’ll be going to the store to get some ant bait and kill those annoying insects. Ants and flys, two insects that deserve to not be on this planet. I’m sure there are others, but those two. And one of the big ants actually bit me yesterday, which hurt like heck. They are going to die.

Today is Monday, so it’s laundry day – clothes, towels and sheets. I’ll spend all day doing the laundry, so it’s a wasted day. I was hoping to take out the Can-Am and see if I liked the new windshield. Rick and Wendy tell me that it’ll be awful on a group ride, which it probably will be. Too dusty and constantly cleaning it.

Well, it’s time to get ready for the day. Need to clean up, feed the dogs and generally get ready for laundry, store run and trying to get stuff done before it gets too hot today. Only in the upper 80’s today but the humidity will be high. More thunderstorms and rain this afternoon. Fun…. Take care. More in a few days.

It’s been 10 days since I last posted. A lot has happened and not a lot has happened. Confused? Me too….

Let’s take things by order of importance. The house, things have slowed down from a visual standpoint. The framing is done, now for the work that doesn’t show a lot of progress externally. The roofers have finished the first pass on the roof. Parapets and Canales are done, so the house is water-proofed from rain coming in.

The last two weeks have been slow as the contractors were wrapping up other projects and we’re waiting for parts. Today starts the plumbing rough-ins for the in-wall fixtures such as faucets, showers. We’re also starting the electrical and HVAC this week. If things go as planned, the next three days will be running plumbing, electrical and HVAC lines inside the house. As we’re expecting monsoon rains for the next three days, I’m hoping to avoid penetrations in the roof until Wednesday, when the rain lets up and the roofer can get back to seal the pipes and lines. That will keep the water out of the roof and house.

We should be seeing windows in the next week. The doors aren’t scheduled until late July, which is fine. Pella is behind. We’re finishing up cabinet designs and working on finding flooring, tile and all the stuff that takes forever to decide upon. We have another appointment for tile in showers, hardwood floor and carpet. I’d love it if someone just made those decisions for me. I have enough to worry about with all the house things that need to happen and cash flow.

I’m thinking we’ll get a small loan to complete the house and then pay it off over the next two years or so. I’m really trying to keep the debt down.

Other stuff. So much going on with the house, it’s hard to think about anything else. Still need to work driveway, landscaping, pest control, keeping the RV in good shape…

Our youngest is officially a Forest Service Firefighter. He’s deployed on the French Canyon Wildfire and will be on a break in a couple of days for R&R, then redeployed. He’s loving it for some crazy reason. It’s been in the 100 degrees with 20-50 mph winds, so the fire is dangerous and keeps jumping over them. We’re following it pretty closely. He checks in every evening, so that helps with the anxiety. And there’s an arsonist loose in Los Lunas that’s been setting fires in the Bosque preserve. Had a huge one yesterday that’s still being contained. Burned homes and lots of property. They need to catch the idiots and put them away forever. I’m starting to be a proponent for giving the mentally disturbed a frontal lobotomy to make the docile and then we can put them to work doing jobs keeping our cities clean maintained. Yeah, I know, it’s not cool, but it would keep the crime down, give the mentally disturbed and ill work and a sense of belonging and keeps our infrastructure better maintained. Our society does a lousy job of helping the mentally disturbed and disadvantaged. Needs to change, but it will cost a ton to make the change. So sad.

I need to do a better job of checking in with my other kids. I’ve been talking to our daughter and oldest. Things are normal there with them focusing on their jobs, kids and living their lives. I am worried about my oldest and his family. Microsoft is laying of a lot of people and they both work there. Hopefully, nothing happens, and they stay employed, but it’s always nerve racking.

I’ve been living in this trailer since February and haven’t really done much to create a friend group or integrate into the community. It’s hard as there’s no room to enjoy get any of the toys out. And it is now summer here, so the temps are in the triple digits, which makes it difficult to get out in the afternoons or do anything physical. It’s mornings only to get outside things done. I get chores done in the morning, then just sit in the trailer until it cools off. I really need to get more engaged during the day and more mental stimulation as it is wearing on me. Even my vocal cords are atrophying as I don’t talk during the day, so they aren’t used. I’m getting old persons voice and I HATE IT.

Since it’s Monday, today is laundry. I’ll do my exercises (such as they are in the limited space), get laundry going and get some yardwork done. I want to get the rest of the pasture grass seed planted so the rain helps germinate the seeds. It’ll help keep the dust down. And I need to get the tractor back to my father-in-law. I’ve been trying to do that for the last 3 weeks by the weather has been ridiculously hot and I’m not liking working in it.

Well, enough whining today. I need to get going and get moving before the heat sets in and the thunderstorms and rain start. It’s clear and beautiful right now, but time slips away so it’ll be afternoon before I’m organized.

Take care, have a good day.

Welcome to Friday the 13th! It’s been about a week since I last blogged about our life in New Mexico. Let’s start with the house build.

Not much has happened since the roofers finished. Today the roofers are coming back to finish the parapets, so the house is completely waterproof. Plumbers are running late, so hopefully they start on Monday. The painters were here yesterday to estimate the paint work. On Wednesday I have a walk-thru with the electrician to get the work started on wiring the house, so that will be important. Our electrical plan has way too many lights, especially with all the windows. Our windows should arrive in the next couple of weeks. The doors are delayed until August. Pella is a mess. They make good product but are really having difficulty getting their act together around production and delivery. We’re meeting with the cabinet lady tomorrow to pick cabinets and get our cabinet plan moving. I’ve got all the plumbing fixtures picked out, so those are getting ordered. Still need to get stucco color finalized. Garage doors are picked out. We’re still on schedule for Thanksgiving occupancy. We need to get framing inspections done, then plumbing. Our HVAC is ordered and in progress.

Life stuff. Worked on our Can-Am yesterday and today. I’m installing an Audio system for Wendy. It’s actually a pain as the speakers are huge and it’s hard to find space in the cramped cabin. I should have mounted the speakers in the dash but that is a pain to take apart all the body panels. I did get the power to the GPS navigation system and mounting brackets done. Today will be wiring up the speakers and amplifier then paring everything to make sure it works. I need to wash the truck today also. It’s supposed to be 95 degrees moving to 100 on Sunday. Getting hot for monsoon season.

Monsoon season starts next week. Hopefully they will get the house wrapped and siding tightened up. I need to get the tractor up on the pad and level out the dirt piles. I’ll move some of the extra dirt over to the driveway and make it a bit less steep. Then I’ll return the tractor to my father-in-law. I wish I had my own tractor, but I really don’t need one. I have to talk to my plumber about building out a lean-to on the side of the workshop so I can park the vehicles under it for protection from rain and sun. He’s super capable.

I’ve noticed that time seems to be getting away from me. As I get older, I need to be more focused on tasks at hand or things take forever to get done. Days are so compressed that it’s late afternoon before I realize it. Today the task list is getting wire for the Can-Am, finishing the Can-Am, calling our appliance rep, washing the truck and if there is time, working the dirt on the driveway.

Last night, my wonderful wife took me to a live music concert with her work friends at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens. Great venue and good music. Local artist that does blues with Afro punk undertones. Really nice and good music. Fun evening and beautiful weather. I really needed that break to sorta recharge and get my head reoriented.

Well enough for now. I need to get going. We’re going to have to go shopping as our food supply is out. Maybe I should start eating dog food!?!?! Just kidding – we’ve been so busy there’s not a lot of time for shopping. Sunday we’ll hit Whole Foods and Sprouts. We’ll see if the food distribution company is up and running after the hackers hit it. We need a way to eliminate those people – they are useless and a parasite on society. There’s no need for them and not use for their crap. Sorry, just a rant.

Have a great day and enjoy Friday!!

House stuff is slowing down a bit. I tested the cars in the garage to make sure the truck fit. They all fit, but I should have added about a 1′ in each direction. The truck takes up most of the length of the garage, making it difficult to add cabinets and safes. A little late now. Roofers were working over the weekend to add membrane and start the work on getting the roof ready. Still more work to do, but at least most of the leaks will stop. More monsoon storms later today, so hopefully the roof will stop most of the rain from getting inside of the house and keep it dry.

Over the weekend we made a poor attempt at trying to make our trailer life more palatable. We added some pots and plants to the trailer space. Now we look like we live in a trailer park but can’t afford to make the space liveable.

If you look carefully, the pot at the front corner of the trailer has an interesting profile. Courtesy of my wife, she couldn’t resist. We added a ton of lemon grass and plants the discourage flys and mosquitos. We’ll see how they work over-time. We are going to add more lemon grass as it discourages Flys which are the main pest. We’ll plant a bunch along the south fence to keep the Flys in the pasture next door. I added some red and orange flowers to the mix to attract the hummingbirds, which we have quite a few of them.

This week is doctors’ appointments and getting medications right. I never suspected in my younger days that as I got older, I’d be dealing with all these drugs. It’s such a drag. Frankly the diabetes is a silent killer as it causes all sorts of problems with your heart. I did find a supplement that shows clinical results that helps repair hardening of the arteries, which is one of my major heart issues. The results show a 46% improvement in blood flow in 6 weeks for Type 2 diabetic patients that take this supplement. I have some coming today, so I’ll start it. I have a Transthoracic Electrocardiogram test at the end of July to check blood flow through my stent. This test should show if the supplement helps with this issue and starts repair of the arteries.

I started using the 24/7 glucose monitors that go into your arm last week. The first one stopped working after 5 days. The company is sending me a new one. I actually like them as I can monitor my glucose levels. It keeps me motivated to keep the glucose in range. It also helps me see the effect of the foods I eat on my blood sugars. Since Express Scripts screwed up my Ozempic delivery, I need to monitor my glucose carefully until my new delivery arrives. I’ll have Wendy put on the new patch tonight. I HATE poking myself. I really need to get over this issue, but for now Wendy is a good sport. I can’t imagine my life without her.

Okay, enough about me crap. Off-road stuff. The Can-Am is becoming a way of life. Love driving it. Finally got a front light bar on the bumper. I need to get a clear light guard for it. I’m debating about putting in windshields. I have a half-windshield but it’s terrible for mud and rocks, so thinking a full windshield for the front and one for the back will help with crap in the cabin. They are expensive though. I’m not keeping track of the cost of add-ons as I don’t want to know…. I’m sure it’s in the 5k range though. I would like to add the windshields, some tunes and eventually 4-point harnesses. Wendy wants to add side screens too, which is a good idea. I’m adding a Garmin Track 2 to document all the trails for us so we can recreate some of our routes. We’re at 250 miles, so I’m getting close to an oil change. I need to get some air filters too as it’s so dusty. I just need the weather to be a bit cooler. Hard to work on the vehicle when it’s 95+.

Well, enough for now. Gotta move the cars outta the garage so the works can access the house.

Take care everyone and have a wonderful week.

Today the framers are finishing up and cleaning up the house. The excitement of watching the walls go up, interior framing and roof structure being built will slow down. Now it’s about adding the roof membrane, plumbing, electrical and HVAC. Then wallboard and finishing work. My little drones are packed, so I’ll have to document the finish work manually. Below is a posted fly around of the house. It starts at the garage, then goes to the entrance, living spaces, back patio, bedrooms and finishes at the garage. It’s so different seeing the house built after seeing it on paper for 2 years. We’re still waiting on windows and doors. Pella is taking a long time to get this done and no one is happy about it.

We’re starting into monsoon season this month and it appears to be arriving early this year. I was hoping that it would delay until after we had roofing on the house, but no it’s been raining the last two days. The inside of the house is wet with some puddles which is concerning but nothing to be totally worried about. We’re scheduled for dry weather for the next week, so hoping the roofers start Monday. Once the membrane is on the roof, then the inside will stay pretty dry.

This weekend will be devoted to rearranging the workshop storage, so it makes some sense and is easier to find things. We need to clean the dust off the furniture and unpack some things that we need. We bought some plants to put in pots around the 5th wheel to help with fly prevention. Great idea, just need to FIND the pots. We’ll get the lemon grass and lavender planted and see if that helps with bug repellant. At least it’ll make the 5th wheel look less sterile.

On a different note, the culture and job market here are really different. The joke is that if you don’t have a Hispanic last name, forget about applying for a job. It’s actually true. New Mexico is an example of reverse DEI and racist hiring practices. It’s rampant. Wendy applied for a Director of Purchasing position at Albuquerque Public Schools. The job description fit her perfectly and she had tons of experience with recommendations from 3 superintendents. She applied online. Three days later APS pulled the job, rewrote the requirements so she was missing one skill set and reposted. She didn’t even get a call or an interview for the position. Well qualified, sterling recommendations and not a peep from APS. From an observer’s perspective that’s clearly discrimination using normal hiring procedures to change the game in the middle of the process. But this practice is typical here. Apply for a job and if your name is European or Caucasian forget about getting a phone screen or interview – even if you’re perfectly qualified. DEI is a joke in this country. It’s not about the best qualified candidate anymore, it’s about your last name or skin color. It’s no wonder the US is going downhill in innovation, manufacturing and education. It’s not about people who can make a difference, it’s about people who can fit in and have the same look and feel as the existing workforce. Change is constant, it’s a good thing and forces adaption or extermination – life and death of a company or society.

Humans are intrinsically programmed to be comfortable around other who like them – homogenous tribes. To survive, companies must embrace change and differences and have mechanisms to ensure evolution happens in a transparent and consistent manner that creates superior results. Transparency is the way to gain trust and concurrence to support the decision. Consistency creates recognition of the process for evolution and change and builds trust. Simple yet difficult because of all the human fragilities that are part of our existence. Greed, friendship, nepotism, favoritism and any other “isms”. All met to derail how humans evolve.

Enough of the preaching/ranting. I just wanted to vent on how ridiculous the culture is here and other places I’ve lived. It’s everywhere in world unfortunately. Something you have to learn to live with, but you don’t have to accept it.

On the brighter side, today is about Itron work. I will finish up the got-to-market stuff today. I’m really getting to the point where I think I should just retire as the work I’m doing isn’t engaging or fun. It has no merit and doesn’t affect the success of Itron. I have more fun working on tractor and around the property. I do need to start engaging in with the Gun Club and volunteering. I’m waiting for elections as I volunteered to help. I think once the house is built and we’re living in it; it’ll be easier to get out and about without having to worry about the dogs.

My youngest, Jaret, has decided to register and become a citizen of Utah. He’s loving his job as a firefighter and wants to establish himself in Utah so he can continue working in his small town. He’s building his support system and finally getting himself established. It’ll be hard for him to take his dog back, but I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to keep her happy while he’s on call and on fires. Fillmore seems to be a great place for Jaret. As a first responder, the town is pretty supportive as are his co-workers. Once he settles in, we’ll make a trip up there to see him. We’ll take the side-by-side and do so off-roading.

Well, I need to clean up and get going. It’s already later than I wanted today. I’ll post more pictures next week once the inside work has started.

Take care and have a great day.

It’s been a while since I posted. Lots of progress on the house. As you can see from the picture, the exterior is up and most of the framing is done. There are a few things that need to be addressed, but overall the framers should finish on Tuesday. There is a laminated beam that goes above the garage door that should arrive today and get installed. The house gets wrapped in the next few days and prepped for stucco. Our plumbers start tomorrow or Wednesday with the inside plumbing.

We have a lot of decisions to make on plumbing. For the water heater, the plan was to get a hybrid, but the cost is crazy expensive. I’m thinking it might make sense to have a gas heater installed in the garage as it’ll be a lot cheaper. I need to talk to our plumbers about it. And a gas heater will take up a lot less space. Today we get an HVAC estimate and I’m going to talk to my GC about the wall for the outdoor fireplace. I have to have our framers put up one more cabinet board in the kitchen.

As we’re getting dark brown windows, we’re thinking that the trim on the house should be dark brown, and the stucco should be a lighter cream color. Apparently, the lighter stucco colors perform better in the weather here and also are easier to maintain. We have a list of stuff we need to get figured out ASAP, so this week will be decision making week. Cabinets and plumbing fixtures are the big choices. We’re going with all Dacor kitchen fixtures to the tune of $40k ish, and that’s not out of normal range. These should last 20 years, and they are what Wendy wants – so the kitchen will be a show place. We’re doing a darker kitchen, graphite appliances with dark counter tops. There are so many windows that face West that the kitchen has a ton of natural light.

On a personal note, I’m trying one of those constant glucose monitoring devices that is tied into my Oura ring. It’s actually helping as I’m monitoring my glucose more carefully and trying to avoid glucose spikes. The data enables me to walk and burn glucose when I’m having a spike, and it tells me what the food I just ate does to my glucose levels. For example, we had a healthy dinner last night, chicken, beans and salad. I had a glucose spike, and it was from the mango dressing on the chicken and the salad dressing and Orzo pasta. Not something I would have expected. Data will always drive outcomes – so I’m learning what my body does with food and how to control the diabetes better and drive down the A1C.

Today is about planting some pots around the RV so we can repel the Flys. The trailer is letting in Flys somewhere and it’s impossible to find where they are coming into the living space. My guess is around the slide outs. The sport is killing them with the fly zapper, repelling them with stinky plants and trapping the outside with some fly traps. I probably have about 15 to 20 of them in the afternoon in the living space. They come from the rancher next door so we’re working on planting lemongrass along the fence line. Good for the cows and repels the Flys. And we’re going to plant some plants to attract the birds, which will eat the Flys. Always something when living in the country.

I’ll empty the garage so I can find the planting pots today and get the Lavendar and lemon grass planted around the trailer. That should help repel some of the Flys.

Well, time to do my exercises and feed my dogs. Then for personal grooming! Take care and more later.

It’s been a while since I posted last. Things are settling down and starting to fall into a routine. I’m getting more settled into trailer living. We still need to organize the workshop so that things are findable.

As it’s been 10 days since I last posted, it’s time to catch up on where our lives have been. We took Memorial Weekend and went up to Washington. We visited the grandkids, whom I miss a lot. Spent some time with our oldest and his wife catching up, hung out with our daughter and caught up on her life and new boyfriend. Then we went to Walla Walla for the weekend with some friends. We rented a house, which was amazing and did wine tasting for three days. It was so much fun and great to get to know our friends better. We did a wine tour and then did individual visits to some of our favorite wineries. Our friends had a great time, and the tours really helped them with knowing wines and which wines they liked. We visited our favorite winery, Castillo de Feliciana that’s owned by Sam and Deb Castillo. Love them!

The house is coming along nicely. I’m going to fly the drone this morning and get more pictures of the roof structure as it’s really interesting. The house has the roof on it. They’ve taken down the supports inside and are working on finishing out the roof. The parapets are up along with the holes for the Canales (roof drains) as this house has a flat roof. It appears they are working on starting the garage build out. Here are a couple of pictures from the ground of the house.

It’s pretty exciting to see the drawings come to life. The difference from the drawings to the 3D structure are really different. It’s a bit of an adjustment. For some reason the distances on paper are MUCH shorter in 3D. I left 60 ft between the garage and the workshop and that’s actually pretty tight for a driveway. And we have a 35 ft buffer from the neighboring pasture and our house and that seems pretty close. I think we’re going to need to plant some hedge trees and plants to isolate the view and keep wind and insects down. Once we get retaining walls up and tidy up the building pad, I think the property will look better and be better defined.

Phased retirement, I’m finding is more difficult than working 5 days a week. I really am having difficulties focusing on work. I’d much rather be working around the property and getting the place more organized. The issue is that it takes money to lay gravel, get gas and do the work to keep the property up to speed. If I last until the end of the year, I’m definitely done. I’m slowly adjusting spending to the new income level. I need to survive on social security, 401k and pension. I am working on budgeting so I can pay the bills and get food. It’s a big change but worth it. Different priorities.

Lastly are the house appliances. I’m struggling with the kitchen appliances. Wendy really wants a lifetime kitchen that is an “adult” kitchen the reflect upscale and classic qualities. The kitchen is really the focal point but a $45k kitchen is a bit expensive, especially since we could do a nice kitchen for $35k. I keep thinking about those folks who remodel and do $100k kitchens with Wolf or Sub-Zero. I think I’m going to do the $45k as this is my last house and I do want her to be happy after I’m not here anymore. I’ll figure it out this week. Then we have to do plumbing fixtures also, but that’s less painful. And we still have cabinets.

Well, that’s everything I can think of for now. I really want to take the rest of the week off, but I do have work to complete. My friend Bryan is retiring from Itron this week and starting work at Waison. So, he’s not really retiring, but he’s just changing jobs. I don’t think I could do that where I’m at now. I really need to just stop working and start enjoying my life with the time I have left.

I’ll post more this week. I’m probably going to do a blog post once or twice a week from now on. Things are slowing down on the house and moving inside. Hoping the windows show up in the next few weeks so we can pay that bill. Last of the big bills for construction. We still need to have a budget meeting to sort out how much more we need to complete the house.

Take care and have a wonderful day.

-gk

It’s been a bit since I added a post to this blog. Thought it was a good time to catch up on what’s been going on and house progress.

First the house. Lots of progress since the last post. Our framers have gotten all the interior load bearing walls up and started with the roof panels.

Roof panels for the 9′ section are on the load bearing walls. Hopefully the 10′ section roof will be on later today. We’re supposed to have 40mph winds today, so we’ll see if they can put on the panel sections today. Then they start framing out the rooms which should be crazy. We need to get going on cabinets, kitchen stuff and plumbing fixtures. Then the garage should get built and we can move some of our stuff from the shop to the garage. Figuring out the driveway will be fun…

Saturday, we did an off-road ride with a group of people (8 vehicles) through the Manzano mountains and logging roads. It was a ton of fun. The organizers were our plumbers from Classic Plumbing in Mountainaire. The ride was 57 miles, but lots of trees, rocky climbs and crazy trails. We stopped a lot to keep the group together. We were the only Can-Am in a group of Polaris Rzrs. We got a lot of questions about the Can-Am. Frankly we were much quicker than the Rzrs and could climb all the hills in 2-wheel drive which the Rzrs couldn’t. Our Can-Am is lower to the ground and I put on more aggressive tires for desert and rock riding, so we had great traction and power. Tons of fun though. Pizza, beer and nachos afterward. Yesterday was spent washing the dust off and making sure all the bolts were still tight. It was a workout for our buggie!

Today will be an avoid the wind day. I might go ride later in the desert. I need to fill up the gas cans as I refilled the Can-Am yesterday and it took 5 gallons plus a little. So, I’m outta gas. I’ll get it done. And this week is getting ready to travel to Seattle for the weekend. We’re boarding the dogs, then flying out on Thursday and home of Tuesday. Hoping to see the grandkids on Thursday!

Time to get ready for the day. It’s Monday, so laundry day. Need to wash out all the dirt from Saturday. And I need to smooth out the driveway today also. Got all rutted out from the cable laying and burying the cable for my brother-in-laws cable installation.

Take care.

Pretty exciting day yesterday. The framing crew got all the exterior walls up for the house. If you can see, there are panel sections that are 4 feet wide and 9+ feet tall. Those are glued together with orange foam glue, then nailed at the base and strapped at the corners. It’s a very sturdy construction technique. Now the crew will focus on building the load bearing walls inside the shell, then move to the roof.

The concrete slab that’s open is the garage. The garage is a module addition to the house, so the framing crew will build it after the roof is on. Where it meets the house, it’ll be attached with straps and roof trusses. Really interesting to see how this is coming together. So far, it’s been about 6-man days of work to get the walls up. Much faster that stick builds.

Now that the wind is slowing down, things should move faster. I’ll post a picture at the end of the day to show progress. Might even fly the drone if the wind is under 20 mph today.

Today is more Itron work. Getting more and more interested in just retiring for good. Once we have our budget meeting with our contractor, I’m going to reassess if I still want to work to the end of the year. I need to talk to my daughter, the CPA, about the tax situation and see if it makes sense to take out a loan for the remaining balance on the house. Not sure it makes any sense as our deductions will get smaller over the next few years. We just need to be able to cover property taxes and expenses. Our only big expense on a monthly basis is electricity. It runs a couple of hundred when we are in the RV and running A/C. That should be smaller once we’re in the house. I’ll need to “do the math” to see if installing solar makes sense and what the payback period is once it’s installed.

On Saturday we’re doing a off-road ride in Mountainaire through the Manzano Forest. I’m pretty stoked about the ride and meeting all the folks. It was arranged by our contractor and she’s bringing a bunch of folks, so we’ll have 10ish vehicles. This will be the first group ride for Wendy and I. I’ve ordered an electronic device mount for the Can-Am so we can mount a cellphone or GPS device in the dash instead of holding it all the time. I should get it in the next day or so, just in time to mount it for the ride. I’m considering getting a GPS based device for tracking rides and recreating trails. I don’t know how to use onX-Offroad to create that function, even though it’s supposed to do turn-by-turn. I still need to order a front light bar, but it’s expensive and I’m going to wait a bit before I order one. I need to pop out the center console and cut out a switch location for another switch as my dash is full. Thinking I may move the lighted whips switch down to the center console and mount a light bar switch on the dash. I think it would be good to have the light bar switch next to the headlight switch. I’ll have to see how motivated I am to move switches around on the dash.

Managed to get everything done for our Memorial day trip to Seattle next week. Booked wine tour, lodging to Thursday night, rental car. I do need to book some lodging for Monday night in Renton as Wendy is going to be with the girls on Monday night and we leave on Tuesday around 11 am. Makes sense to stick close to the airport. Hoping to have time to see the grandkids for a bit on Thursday evening. I’ll need to check in with my son.

Well, I need to get ready for the day today. Get garbage out to the curb. It’s cold this morning, 40 degrees. I’m going to watch the wind today as I don’t want our garbage blowing out into the highway and on people’s property. Anyway, it’s 6 am so I’ve got to get moving. More later.

-Gary