House pics (Before photos)

We have been gathering materials for the first project which is getting us settled into our back yard RV site but in the meantime we have been doing what we could inside too. The rain and cold has held us back. It looks as though we have the right people and materials lined up and things should come together in the next couple of weeks if we can catch a break on the weather.The green carpet has now been removed from the steps. Some sanding, painting and new posts and railing are in the future.

This is what we will call for now Bedroom 2. There will not be 2 bedrooms when finished so once the wall comes down between it will become part of Bedroom 1. 

Bedroom 1.

Bathroom

Where the water heater used to be.

Backyard looking northwest from far southeast corner of  the backyard. There are orange flags marking spots for sewer/water/electric line and RV site 1 but they are hard to see. Gary and Susan's travel trailer is in the background on our other lot.

Old kitchen. New kitchen will be essentially in the same area but none of what is there now will be there later. Wall on the right will be gone.

Living room. Windows will change and wall on left will be gone.

Back yard view with house in it. Front of RV would be just out of view on the lower left if it were parked there.

Butch's brother Bill the plumber came yesterday with supplies and advice. We needed both and he was very helpful. Brother Leo was off at a Tax meeting so missed out on lunch with his brothers.

Today we are off to gather more supplies and do some shopping. Later...

From Simply Tim

Ga$ and Other Worldly Observations
Simply Tim | 04/21/2011 at 2:56 PM | Categories: Commentary | URL: http://wp.me/p11uGF-D0
Many Americans are begrudgingly becoming a part of a World with which they are unfamiliar. When I was living in Greece in the early 60s, I recall Europeans were paying over $3 a gallon for gasoline (due partly to heavy taxes), and even more in larger cities, which remains true worldwide today. Back then, military families like mine -- at the expense of U.S. taxpayers -- were given gas stamps such that we only paid about 75 cents per gallon after reimbursement, while Stateside prices at the pump were locked in around 30 cents a gallon. From my family's perspective at the time -- having been indoctrinated into our American mindset -- the 75 cent per gallon amount was still extraordinarily exorbitant.

I suspect many Americans nowadays have no idea what the rest of the world has been paying for gasoline and other fuel for the past half century. Even today, as we complain about rising fuel prices, the rest of the world has been dealing with it for decades.

Most homes in Europe are kept in the low 60s during the winter. They've learned it's much cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and just makes more sense to put on a sweater rather than paying extra for fuel and higher household temperatures. They've been doing this for centuries. When I visited Ireland in the early 70s, my bride and I stored 90% of our luggage in a Shannon Airport locker, and hitchhiked the country staying in bed and breakfast types of places and farm houses suggested in the then-popular travel guide series, "Ireland on $5 a Day*". At one such establishment the proprietor actually apologized for the temperature of our bedroom. As the woman stooped to turn up the heat on the tiny room's space heater, I stopped her. "That's okay," I said. "We're fine." I was beyond embarrassment. The next morning we discovered the old woman had baked a loaf of white bread during the night because she had been told that's the only type of bread Americans ate. That afternoon, my wife -- who had been a whole grain food co-op enthusiast and home baker for years -- baked a loaf of coarse brown bread in the woman's wood stove. That night we ate a traditional dinner with the proprietor's family. In their eyes, we were no longer American tourists.

Frankly, I think it's about time the American lifestyle reinvents itself, but I know that type of change doesn't happen easily or -- overnight. For now, I'd be happy if we Americans spent more time educating ourselves as to how the rest of the world lives and works, and how well-off we really are.

Went to Atlantic plus

We went to Atlantic yesterday. Butch had an eye appointment. All is well. His pressure in both eyes was excellent so no more of those expensive eye drops. I shopped a bit at Schwesers and purchased a couple of new tops. Then got my haircut followed by lunch at The Farmers Kitchen with old friend and former co-worker Connie Jones and her mother Sharon Rieber. We visited for a good long time and it was fun and long overdue.
In between I tried to do some of Bob's business but what I found out is that once he was having his bills paid by the state, the state does not want my help. I was trying to get his last bill at the funeral home paid for with the pittance he had in his checking account but the state says it is theirs and they will decide if the funeral home gets it. At least that is the story at the bank. They would not let the funds loose to pay the funeral home. Bottom line? I am out of it. All the way out of it. The funeral home is on its own to see if they can get paid.
So all of our friends we did not have time to see can blame Bob. Why not? I would! Heehee.

On the way home we stopped at Marv and Judi Smith's place in Yale Iowa. We visited for a good long time and it was long overdue.
When we left there we stopped in Jamaica IA for one of their famous tenderloins at ToJo's. I must say it was worth the detour. Butch and I shared a tenderloin and it was plenty for both of us. It was the kind of tenderloin I like. I am not much for the thin and crispy ones. I like the ones that have some meat in them. This was one I would look forward to enjoying again.
Twas a very busy and full day.
I forgot to mention that when we left Jefferson in the morning headed for Atlantic it was snowing, slushy and slick on the highway. Slow going for awhile. We did drive out of it about 10 miles south of town, thank God.
A touch of color in an Iowa Spring- Trust me- They need it!!

Raccoon River Valley Trail

If it ever stops raining I plan to get on this trail. It has been a favorite trail of mine for years. This video is almost like riding it. Well not really but since it is raining cats and dogs it works for me!

Details

I have been taking care of details. As executor of Bob's estate I have crap...excuse me...stuff... to take care of such as an AARP magazine subscription that does not expire until August of 2015. I attempted to do that online. We shall see if that works. I also know he has a Playboy subscription but since they come under cover I do not have the mailing label that would give me the info. Have to wait on that one and pay to have it forwarded before I will have access to it. And that most likely is just the beginning. It is all small stuff, extremely small stuff. It is just a matter of remembering it all. I found about 4 Christmas cards with return addresses on them so I plan to compose a letter informing them of Bob's passing and send it out. But now that I do not have my friend Kay handy to help me I will have to get a printer bought. It might be easier to just write it out by hand since it is only four of them. Kay is grinning when she reads this.

We worked at the house yesterday. Butch worked underneath getting the plumbing straightened out and pulling lines that will not be working. I worked in the garage going through Bob's stuff to see if there was anything that needed my attention and throwing out the rest. Jefferson is having a free junk pickup day and people are hauling all their accumulated junk to the curb. Other people in pickups are scanning all the neighborhoods and seeing if there is anything worth "picking". We have seen quite a bit of stuff disappear from yards. Redistribution of the wealth. Gotta love it!
So the plan now in week two is to see if we can locate some people to assist us in what we have to do getting set up for the motorhome in the backyard. The weather has been a bit of a factor too as we did have a bucket load of rain. You would think these fellas would get in touch with us since it was raining so hard they could not do their other work. I am sure they would tell me they too had indoor stuff to catch up with. Hmmm... We must be a low priority.

Oh nearly forgot. I went to the local telephone and internet people to see if setting up Internet through them would be more profitable than Verizon. Seems not. It would be nearly $200 to get set up and then I would pay $10 more a month than I pay now plus to put it on vacation they only charge you half! So all winter while in Texas I would pay $35 dollars even though I would not be using it at all whereby I pay $5.00 a month now to do that with Verizon. So we are staying with Verizon and by dropping it down to a 5GB account from an unlimited account I can save $10 a month.We were grandfathered in on the unlimited because they no longer offer that one. My past usage said I only exceeded 5GB one time in the last 2 years. That would have cost me an extra $10 is all if I had been on this plan at that time. And we will now have MyWiFi so Butch and I can both be on at the same time. So now that we have to be home to receive our FedEx from Verizon Butch is off taking care of details.

One of the things he plans to do is see if we can change our residency to Iowa advantageously. I sent him off with a list of current costs for license renewal, insurance and taxes. If we stay with South Dakota we are not eligible for homestead exemption in Iowa. Personally I do not think it will pencil out but I have been fooled before. Our vehicle license renewal is less than $500 for both motorhome and car in South Dakota. Insurance on both is less than $1500 a year. Butch thinks that by changing the Motorhome to a recreational vehicle instead of a home it will change the amount of insurance. Not sure on that one. We do have a choice so it will be interesting to see which way that goes. A few years ago we moved from Montana to South Dakota while sitting in Colorado. This would be moving from South Dakota to Iowa while sitting in Iowa..maybe.

So now I must get back to laundry. Butch hooked up to Leo's water for now. We can go a week comfortably on a full water tank but past that is very iffy. Still hoping to move into town soon.

More on House

Jason came over yesterday and helped us. Butch and Jason put a new whole house shut-off valve on the water. That way we can have water and still be able to shut it off when we need to work on the plumbing. It is a dirty job in the crawl space. I was the go-fer up top and while I waited for them to need something I pulled up staples left in the floor from pulling up carpeting. It was cold but we ran a space heater and that made it tolerable. So we made a fair amount of progress on the inside.
Butch has left messages with people we need to talk to and none of them have gotten back to us. See? It doesn't just happen in South Texas. We will wait another week and then make the decision to park at the mobile home park in town for a month if we have to. It will all come together in short order if we can get people to move for us.