Good Morning!!!! 51F @ 7:15AM here in Lompoc, CA. Partly cloudy. High 77F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Kinda far behind keeping up with you all, and hope things are getting back to normal for everyone. At least there's a weekend now to take a breather, or maybe get caught up on things at home.
Busy day yesterday, with my first in person walk through of the new house, and inspections of the home and for termites. Worst first, there's a small infestation of subterranean termites in the garage, but the exterminator doing the inspection says it's easy to remedy. There's also a bit of rot in one of the porch covers, but I think I know enough about porch covers by now to take care of that myself. There were also several minor electrical issues, and one big bonus: a 240VAC outlet already wired up in the garage. The contract with SunRun, the folks that installed the solar on the house, have strict prohibitions on modifying the system, and no 240VAC in the garage would have been a big problem with powering the shop equipment.
On my walk through, I was a bit disappointed that the rooms looked much smaller in person than in the zoom calls or listing photos. But I think I can make it work without having to dispose of many of my "treasures". It's a sad fact, though, that I won't need either an
M62 or RTV900 Kubota, but that's just less to move and find a place for. It's also a nice chunk of change to get back. There's going to be a long overlap of time where I'll be carrying expenses for both homes, but I'll also be moving myself and moving isn't cheap. My biggest worry now is hoping the insurance problems don't block the sale of the old home, especially with two major carriers announcing moratoriums on issuing new policies in California. I won't be able to stay with State Farm for the new place as a result. And finding a replacement is job 1 for the new week.
This winter we will have the benefit of heating from the mini split which is working surprisingly well. Only on very cold days will we fire up with wood. But before that we would burn maybe 6 or more cords a year. I have at least as much to stack still. Working on it a little at a time. It will make two full rows and then go to a firewood shed as well
That's another bit issue I'm wrestling with, Frits. I love the wood heater at the old place, but the current owners at the new one actually removed the fireplace! It would be a huge job to move my palletized wood down here, and it may not even be legal to do so. But the thought of paying several hundred dollars a month for natural gas heat is not appetizing, either. Just another one of the balls up in the air right now.
Hope everyone enjoys a fine weekend!