A New Home coming Soon

We had been looking around for a house that fits us. We had a few must haves such as a private office space for me, a separate hobby room for Paul, a private yard with No neighbors behind us and of course, a special living area for Dad. We had been looking at resells and everything that had most of these most haves were going to cost us thousands on top of the purchase price to make it what we wanted.

We happen upon a new development only 7 minutes from the Little House on the Bluff.  There are only going to be 31 homes in this neighborhood.  We toured the few spec homes that have been built by the two contractors that are developing this new neighborhood.  We happen upon this one floor plan that fits all of our must haves called “The Carter”.

We met with Bryce, one of the contractors this week and have signed a contract to have a house built. I was able to pick a lot that backs up onto a wooded area so no neighbors behinds us. The community is called “The Orchard on Davis Hills” and part of the Apple Orchard will be part of the final community. The plans are perfect for us and as Paul says it is the Baby Bear House, not too big, not too small, just right.

We have had Bryce make a few modifications on the “The Carter” floor plans to make it flow the way we want and just a few minor adjustments. Now the fun part starts making decisions on everything from floors to cabinet pulls. It seems we just finished getting the Little House on the Bluff updated the way we want and now we are start all new with a new home for us. I suppose it means we are in Tennessee for good.

It is going to be fun Spring  and productive Summer with a projected finish date of late August.  Wonder how many coin tosses we will have to have to make decisions on color, outlet location and everythin else in building a new home. 

Little House on the Bluff will be placed in good hands for little sis has stated she wants to move in and has given us a move out date of mid-September.. LOL.  till next  time. LB

Corporate America Got to Love It—Not

Now don’t get me wrong Corporate America has been very good to me over the past 21 years. I just have moments that I want to tell a few corporate honchos to find the nearest cliff and jump. Better yet, let me give them a slight nudge.

They tend to forget that the people working the local areas are still human beings. We are treated as autotrons that have no feelings or emotions. They only care about the bottom $ or the magic number for that particular month. That is when I want to simply rebel but then I have to remember after all these years, what would I do or where would I go.  Yes, they have me as well as a lot of other by the short hairs.

I am back in the Midwest where things move a little slower than when I lived in South Florida. People here are more laid back and easy going. Everyone waves as you pass and it is with more than one finger… Now I don’t know how the corporations behave up here but people in general just seem to have less stress.

I wish I could figure it out or tap into how they do it. I am sure there is a lot of stress but it just does not seem to be on the surface.  I work remotely at this time and I still feel the stress and pressure of what my local office goes through each month. Paul has even gotten to the point of finding ways to disappear the last two days of the month due to my stress level.

Yes, Corporate America has been good to me and good for the country for the most part. It just seems to me that they forget that what has made them great are those of us in the trenches doing the hands on work for the customers.  It comes down to just how big is too big, how much money is too much and would it really hurt their stock holders to not get a dividend one year.  Sure they offer great benefits and good salaries to the staff.  Yet what I see is staff has to work harder each month to accommodate the goal set by Corporate.  They have to work twice as hard to take well deserved time off but still make the same quota or be considered not a team player.

I am planning a few days to take care of my father after surgery but I am stressing over leaving my fellow co-workers to deal with my portion of the load.  I know that the time has come and gone, never to reappear in my life time; when we were able to stay with a company 30 years and feel that we were part of something great.  Oh well, see you Monday for another fun filled week, and oh joy its end of month AGAIN.

See you in April, Paul… 

 Till next time LB

House Hunting in Clarksville, TN

Although we are comfortable in the Little House on the Bluff, we have started looking for a larger home to accommodate the two of us and eventually Dad. Each weekend for the past month, we have been taking off in every direction to get a feel for the area and the neighborhoods we would like to consider.

 We like the side of Clarksville that we currently reside and would like to stay somewhere in the general area. We feel this part of Clarksville suits our needs and is close to the activities we like to do.   

I already have a dislike for neighborhoods that yards back up against each other, after only 5 months of having a backyard that looks out onto trees, valley and river. I get anxiety of thinking of having some yard rats and other people living directly behind me.  I have definitely gone back to my roots of country living.

We recently placed a bid on a foreclosure, which we are one of 10 bidding for it.  The house lay out is perfect for our needs. Dad would have his own living space, I would have my own office space and Paul could even have a space for his hobby projects. It has a garage big enough to put four cars in and a large fenced in back yard. Yet, the only thing I can think about is the 3 kids and 3 large dogs living next door, and no trees out back; I can see the whole neighborhood’s back yards.  Karen, our realtor, said “Larry, the kids grow up and move out, the dogs grow old and die”. My response “what the hell do I do till that happens?” I see a long summer of planting trees if we by chance are the lucky ones on this house.

 If not I won’t be that disappointed for Clarksville has lots of neighborhoods that still back up to natural forested areas.  I watch too much HGTV, because I immediately look for options to how the house is laid out and what can I do with the yard. My must have list is not that large, separate office space, garage, and a back yard that has no neighbors.  Yes, I would be happy to be in the hills with my closest neighbor being on the other side of the hill or valley… for now the Hunt goes on...

Till next week. LB

Living in the Belt

I have no problem with anyone having strong convictions related to religion, politics, or even breakfast cereal.  I do have a problem when said person thinks it is their duty to force that conviction onto others. I believe everyone has the right to believe and to live freely without interference from their neighbor or government. IF that believe and freedom is not encroaching on another’s freedom or believe and is not harming any other living being.

That said I have to state living in the Bible Belt is interesting and quite amusing to me. The so call Christians believe it is God’s will that if one does not follow their particular teaching then it is wrong and should not be allowed. The political candidates/parties think they should intervene in individual’s life due to pressure from these so called Christians.   One such issue that has currently been in the works involved the elementary schools, a law was being considered that the schools could not teach anything related to human sexuality other than the “Normal” Heterosexual  issues, at least till a certain age or grade, it was the “NO GAY” proposal.

Luckily, some politicians figured this was not a good idea and it has been tabled at this time. But can you imagine how kids with Homosexual parents, or family members that were homosexual, bisexual, and transgender would feel totally isolated.  Would they not wonder why their family or family members apparently did not exist in their school program?  Yet People wonder why there has been an increase in suicides and bullying.

I have been out of being a political activist for a few years, but living in the Belt has inspired me to jump back into the mix. What I see is the Bible Thumping, Ultra Conservative, and Tea Partiers making a lot of noise but not offering a lot of solutions. If they get what they desire; it will return us to a time where, I would be jailed or worse because of who I am.  Now I ask you why we have been in Afghanistan and Iraq for all these years, if we are going to let similar type of groups control our country.  Think about it and my question to this group is a simple one… WWJD?

Spring has Sprung in Tennessee

We just celebrated our 4^th month anniversary in Middle Tennessee and thanks to it being Leap Year it happened on the 29^th of February.  This has been an unusually warm winter here in Tennessee and the last day of February was no exception with Severe Thunderstorms and Tornados hopping around the area.

The past two days have been warmer than usual for March with 84 degrees today and winds up to 60 miles an hour.  Even as I type this entry, there are Tornado warnings for the counties just south of us. Being a weather watcher, it has been a wonderful few days for me, even as I sat in my office working, watching the trees outside my window swaying  in the wind gust was hypnotizing.  The best thing about living here for me is the weather is constantly changing. I was always bored with the usual boring Sunny hot days in South Florida. The only season that excited me was Hurricane season, just the possibility of some interesting storms.

I grew up in this general area as a child and back then there were very different weather patterns. The seasons were fairly predictable.  Now it appears to be no set season for such weather.  This year we have gone from 20’s to 50’s at night and 40’s to 70’s during the day in a 24 hour period.   To date, we have not had any major Winter storms, with no ice or snow.  Actually, it has been a boring winter but Springs is holding great promise.

 March appears to be entering with a Roar this year, and frankly I am thrilled to be able to sit here and watch the storms rolling in over the hills and valleys.  I have also found living above a large river also offers us unique weather conditions, watching the fog rise from the river and roll over the ridge of the bluff into the back yard, is so relaxing to me.   

True it has only been 120 days but Tennessee is still a great place to live in my hillbilly opinion..