The "Whatever" Thread

B JACKSON said:
Wow Andy, pretty house, pretty lady, pretty much a busy mess now eh?
Hey, whats the going hourly rate for the skilled crew members doing your work?
What might you say about choosing between TN. FL and AR for retirement? I'm getting pretty old ya know.
Are the natives by you friendly or have they about had it with Yankees moving in?
We have a craft distillery by us now bottling their Pecan Bourbon, pretty nice sippin' fluid. Did not think I would like it, but I do.
Trying to decide if I'm going to participate in the Chicago USMC Toys For Tot's Parade this Sunday, weather looks evil. They have had as many as 70,ooo riders or as few as 20,ooo, depends on the weather.
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Hi Brad -

I HIGHLY recommend the south-central TN area, for many reasons but I will give a few of the important ones for you:
- Low taxes. No state income tax, low property taxes (typically 10 cents to the dollar or less when compared to houses in Illinois, not to mention houses are cheaper). License plates for your vehicle are $27 annually. Low excise on fuels. And more.

- Great roads. The roads are beautiful and I rarely see any real bumps. There are some gorgeous mountain roads just to the south and east of Winchester/Decherd. Just beautiful.

- Friendly people. The neighbors of my new house fall over themselves helping with the move, anything we need. We feel like family after only being here since May.

- Lower prices on goods and services. For instance, Maggie and I ate a full breakfast a few days ago and the total bill came to $10.

- Better climate. No sub-zero and most winter days are upper 40s to mid 50s daytime and 30-32 at night. Lots more riding days down here, but you still see some weather occasionally to keep it interesting.

- Easy day's drive back to Illinois, or to Florida, New Orleans, Charleston, you name it - pretty centrally located.

Here is a good web site to compare the OVERALL cost of living between two locations, typically where you ARE and where you WANT to be. I looked all over the country and I could not find a less expensive place to live than Fayetteville TN -
https://smartasset.com/mortgage/cost-of-living-calculator

As to the construction costs - I don't know what the individual prices are for the folks as we went through a home remodeling contractor (Southern Breeze Home) and the workers all work for them, the only sub is the drywallers. However, I can say we are doing a complete remodel of a 1800+ sqft home, with all new appliances, floors, all walls re-skimmed and wallpaper removed, new cabinets througout, walls moved, popcorn ceilings scraped and skimmed. Maggie picked everything out and she does not have cheap tastes.....

I would love to have a phone conversation with you - I think you have my phone number so feel free to call, or pm me if you don't have it. Would love to have you down here - the more the merrier~! Several people I had been working with in Illinois are looking for homes down here (two have already moved!) after looking at all of the pros and cons of different retirement places.

best

mqqn
 
Possibly my new favorite thing :D. Burley kid trailer with suspension and fat tires (3" wide mountain bike tires). Gonna take the baby on the gravel roads around my house so we can get outdoors a lot.

Been searching for a used one for 4 months and the Black Friday deals were too good to pass up on this one.
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About 7 years ago I used one as a grocery getter and tried to use it for taking the dog with me on trips but she never took to it and kept breaking through the front, so she stayed home while I went on rides. I used to ride a ton back then, like 8-10 hours a week. I'm hoping to get back to at least 6 hours a week next year so bringing the boy along will be really helpful. Pretty much how I plan to babysit him a day or two a week while momma works the night shift or on the weekends.
 
Dang I wish funds weren’t so tight or I’d snag that muddy camp or personal camp!
 
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