Friday, August 25, 2006

Wow, where did the year go?


Well, I guess it's time to get back on here and let you know what's been happening in my life. First of all, as of the 2nd of August I've been at my job for 1 year. So far so good. No missed days, no problems with my work. Now I have a weeks paid vacation coming!
As you can see from the picture, I finished my 2nd bathroom. It's small yes, but now I can redo the main bathroom, which needs to be redone in the worst way.
My Son Raymond was able to come up for a couple of weeks in June. We got a lot of work done. Replaced old ceiling tiles in both bedrooms with drywall, moved a wall between the bedrooms to make them closer to the same size. Also replaced the floor in the rear bedroom (and dug out a crawlspace while we were at it), added electrical outlets in both bedrooms, and started a new closet for the back bedroom. The time went fast, we didn't get all the items on our list accomplished, but we got the majority of them done.
We also firmed up our "deal" on the house. I'll explain: I had mentioned to Ray my retirement plan, which included me selling this house when I reach 62 and begin getting my Social Security. I would carry the contract on the house, and receive the principal and interest. Ray said why not sell it to him, keep it in the family, and give him an investment for the future. So we haggled for a few hours on the phone, but not your normal negotiation. He was offering too much, and I was trying to keep the price reasonable for him. He managed to get the price up $17,800 from what I wanted to sell it to him for. But I managed to keep the percentage rate down to a half percent of what I originally wanted. He got me up to 5.5% He is currently making payments for the down payment. In January we will do the contract. He refused to let me pay him rent for living here until I'm 62, said I could be his caretaker in lieu of rent. The way property has been going up in this area I believe this will be a good investment for him, or maybe will be his retirement home in 15 years.
My 82 CBX Posted by Picasa
I've also been working on my vintage Honda. Had to replace two burnt valves. It's a very complicated motor, 6 cylinders, 24 valves, and 6 carburetors. I'm not a mechanic, but will usually attempt to fix things until I get in over my head. I managed to get it apart, determined the problem (as I suspected, burnt valves), and got the parts located and ordered, (love the internet!). Then in a couple of weeks when all the parts had arrived, looked at the disassembled motor and thought, "am I going to be able to put this back together?" Well after a few missed steps, more disassembly, then reassembly, I finally got it back together and into the frame. It's all together and running reasonably well. I will have to ride it 50 or 60 miles before I'll feel comfortable enough to make the trip of 600 miles down to Morro Bay, Ca. for a get together of CBX enthusiasts. I've got three weeks before the meet, so I'll see if I trust the bike to get me there and back.
Anyway that's a snap shot of what's been going on with me,(of course there was more) but that will have to do for now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's your sister! We had a great time at the "family reunion". Missed you much. Darryl & Raymond have pix. Touch base with Dan-o and let him know the next time you update your blog.
Love ya much
C