Thursday, March 15, 2018

Getting Used To Our New Lifestyle

We've been in our 2 bedroom apartment for 6 weeks now and are finally getting used to living in a much smaller place.  We have a downstairs unit and like any apartment living there are things you have to get used to or accept as part of being here.  One is having someone tromp heavily in the unit above you...  boom, boom, boom as they walk from room to room and the other is an occasional party by kids that can get a little too loud once in awhile.  That's only happened twice so far though.  The complex is very strict about being quiet after 10 pm.  The college kids that like to party have been warned twice and they next time someone complains, they'll get kicked out.

It's a gated community, so we like the added security!  I can't get over that our rent is as much as our house payment was, BUT there's no maintenance to worry about which saves us about $600 a month.  No more yard work, termite protection plans, bug spraying costs, etc.  If a light bulb burns out, we can call maintenance and they'll come by and replace the light bulb for us.  Sweet!

I sold my 2013 Hyundai Genesis  and leased a 2018 Honda CRV.  We bought the Genesis for road trips between Jacksonville and Tennessee, but because we now have a cabin 3 hours from the grand kids, and our other SUV has over 100K miles on it, I decided to get a new vehicle that got better gas mileage and served our purpose better.  The Honda is sweet little SUV and I enjoy driving it because of all the newer technology, i.e. adaptive cruise control, slow follow cruise control ( great for traffic) and self stopping crash mitigation feature that helps bring the car to a complete stop to avoid rear ending someone.   In 3 years, I can turn it in and get something else if I want.  AND the car I drive will always be under warranty!   I thin we're done buying houses and done buying cars!


April fast approaches and both Kathy and I can't wait to get back to the cabin.  We still have some work to do on the trailer - replace the awning and springs and I need to hire an electrician to go through the cabin and fix some circuits that are causing trouble.  I don't mess around with electricity!