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If it’s still 60s, jump on it.
So before I rented a demolition hammer (easier to handle than a jackhammer), I tried sliding a short handle garden spade under the cement. It seemed a flat edge spade would work since I was able to hammer a small pry bar under it It needed a little assistance with a 5 lb hammer but it slid under. I just stepped on the handle to get a little space underneath and gave a whack with the big hammer. It would shatter into 6 and 8″ pieces that fit nicely into a spackle buck. (I had collected 14 buckets over the 2 year reno.). 3 hours later which included 2 trips to the dump and clean-up, and that was that. I am just grateful, they didn’t reinforce the concrete with wire mesh. All in all 2.5 days to gut the room.
I’m just amazed anyone would take this on in retirement. Not letting anything slow you down RYou. That’s just great. Are you going to put in a shower or are you putting in a tub word?
mspart
Goooooooood evening mspart and everybody!!!!!!!!!!
Also impressed with all of the reno work. Wifey’s car needs a new alternator. Looked at it and decided it was more than I wanted to tackle. Took it to the repair shop.
Have a fantastic day word!One of the big questions when you are thinking about retirement is…What the heck will I do ? The reno is what I decided “to do”. I could have stayed on the job a bit longer especially since COVID was underway, work was a cake walk, but I had been really really bored the last few years. The big motivator, a school buddy of mine, friends since we were 5, died; just keeled over. That hit me pretty hard. I didn’t want to miss my entitlement to “retire”. Also, there was a group of 6 of us at work that were all about the same age and were hired within 2 years of each other. One retired the year before me. That was another bug on me to pull the trigger. Since then (2 years ago) the other 4 retired.
We all got together back in September for a BBQ and a lot of laughs. We were in group of 11. The global director when bonkers having to replace over 200 years of experience and intellectual property. 5 of us were specialists for the firm, sole proprietors of specific technical knowledge. We left a gaping hole the global director had to replace. He didn’t have much success and we just heard he was asked to retire. Our work had been dumped on the 5 that were left behind. Some of those left the firm because they were overworked. The global director saw the retirement hit coming but the powers above wouldn’t give him a budget to hire and start transferring that intellectual property.
Goooooooooood afternoon everybody!!!!!!!!!!
If you enjoy doing it and don’t kill yourself in the process, that is awesome. The next question is, what do you do when the reno is over?
Have a spectacular day word!That’s quite the story RYou. I was told I had 3 mini strokes a few years ago. I never exercised much other than asst coach at the HS wrestling team. But I now exercise everyday. That was my wakeup call. I tried to retire last Nov and was told I could no problem. I would just need to get some other job for another 10 years. Our lifestyle would have gone down dramatically. So I stayed on, hopefully for another 5 years, just need to get my 401K about 50% more so I don’t have to work. That is a big job. But I enjoy what I do and so it is not a huge deal for me. I don’t take my work home so my wife doesn’t suffer, but mostly, there is no reason to take anything home. Just “celebrated” 35 years here. That’s just crazy. I have another 5 to go minimum. Again, just nuts.
But my wife does keep me busy doing less drastic stuff than your renovations. But I am the handyman at the house. Part time mechanic on the cars. Still do the brake jobs on my own. I can do other stuff similar but not much with the car computerized stuff. Helped my son save 800 bucks by helping him change out the oxy sensor on his car. We tried for the oil pressure sensor but it was just too buried. But the O2 sensor should make his car run better. That’s good word!
mspart
Gooooooooooood morning everybody!!!!!!!!!!
Had contemplated retiring in 5 years, we could make it work. It will be much easier to stay for 10 and should definitely be set with 401k and ESOP plus getting to Medicare and not private health insurance until we get there. It will be okay, still like the work most days.
Have a terrific day word!I really can’t wait to get this place done and get back to some traveling. Our last was 18 months ago for few days in Bermuda. Wifey wants it done too so she hasn’t pressured me for time away. I get a bit jealous when you guys talk about your travels. I’ve been browsing for our trip to Italy. Maybe next August or September while it still warm.
September is a good time for Italy. Crowds are down, the Aug vacationers from Europe and US are gone mostly. However, if you want to see something, I would suggest getting tickets for it ahead of time.
Case in point – We went to Italy in Oct 2013 I think, and it was great. You could go anywhere in Rome and get in mostly. The Vatican museum and the Borghese museum you did need a ticket but could get it that day or day before. Now, no way. We walked casually into the Pantheon a number of times on that long ago trip, now it is so crowded you need to get a ticket. It is really a shame. But the same applies to the museums in Florence and the Tower in Pisa. Even the Duomo (cathedral) in Florence you need to have a ticket I believe. We didn’t and didn’t get in. Now, for the Duomo you don’t have to have a ticket, but you wait in a long line forever to get in. With a no wait ticket, you get in right at the time you have on the ticket.
We had a great time but walked ourselves to death. We originally wanted to be in Italy for 4 weeks and spend a week in 4 different places. Well, with 2 weeks, time was short and you want to see everything. So we put in 10 miles plus every day. But Italy is great. We loved it. Food was really outstanding mostly word.
mspart
Gooooooooooooood morning everybody!!!!!!!!!!!
No travel for now, our passports expired. Maybe next year.
Have a tremendous day word!Oh, good reminder. Our passports expire in April which under current rules they are already dead.
So we put in 10 miles plus every day.
No wonder you didn’t add any pasta pounds
Yes, that may be true. Didn’t gain any weight on that trip. I have since gained some back. Yeah, we did a fair amount of walking. In Rome we did take a taxi a few times. Doing so actually made my wife fear for her life. I actually enjoyed the crazy driving as long as I wasn’t doing the driving word.
mspart
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