On Growing Old
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@Mik said in On Growing Old:
Hardscape
We're right in the middle of having a patio put down on the back yard, which is typically like Narnia in the winter, The Somme in the spring, and The Dust Bowl in the summer.
Sadly, we couldn't afford to have the entire yard done, but it will help...
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Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
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Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
What do you think about Houston? We're visiting there in a couple weeks to scout out neighborhoods. The residents must be furious at people like me, driving up home values and property taxes. The taxes are 3+% there and the home values have doubled in the past couple years, from what I understand.
Education is extremely important.
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It's been interesting watching my dog, now 10, gradually age out of being able to jump on the bed. He used to be able to do it at will, but now, he'll fail now and again. After he fails, he may try again in a few minutes, after pacing around the bed, or maybe not. After a consistent failure, he'll take a few days off, or even months, before something motivates him to try again. This motivation can be inscrutable, but is often when my wife is eating breakfast in bed. He just now managed the leap. Not since George Foreman won the heavyweight belt have I been this proud of an older athlete.
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When my cat Popsy grew in age -- or what I thought was aging but was actually illness -- she too had trouble jumping up on the bed. I set up a little stair-step arrangement for her to get up there without strain.
I too was proud of her, because she only required one demo, with me guiding her up the steps with my hands around her middle, for her to get it.
As has been the case with me and most of my pets, she and I had excellent intercommunication.
I miss her a lot.
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I put an ottoman there he could have used as a step. He’s not a dumb dog, but I couldn’t coax him to use it. He won’t let anybody lift him onto the bed either.
@Horace said in On Growing Old:
He’s not a dumb dog, but I couldn’t coax him to use it.
Maybe try putting a shorter item in front of the ottoman, so he's got a 1-2-3 process going on -- from the short thing, to the ottoman (medium thing) and to the bed. Maybe the ottoman looks like being the same challenge as the bed to his doggy eyes and brain, from down there on the floor.
ETA: It could also be that the ottoman doesn't cover enough area. It might look unstable to him. I redd somewhere that dogs will not enter a doghouse that they can't turn around in. Maybe something like that is the issue.
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@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
What do you think about Houston? We're visiting there in a couple weeks to scout out neighborhoods. The residents must be furious at people like me, driving up home values and property taxes. The taxes are 3+% there and the home values have doubled in the past couple years, from what I understand.
@Horace said in On Growing Old:
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
What do you think about Houston? We're visiting there in a couple weeks to scout out neighborhoods. The residents must be furious at people like me, driving up home values and property taxes. The taxes are 3+% there and the home values have doubled in the past couple years, from what I understand.
Like everything else, Houston has good points and bad points. Any big city is way too urban to me. As Texas cities go, I've always liked Dallas, Austin and San Antonio a bit more than Houston. OTOH, Houston is a very diverse city with lots of different cultures, bleeding edge healthcare, and lots of entertainment possibilities.
Texas has no income tax, but watch out for property taxes. Another huge thing to consider is flooding. Houston gets tropical storms and hurricanes. If it's flooded before, it will flood again.
Ain't no fun cleaning out a home that's had even a foot of water in it.
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@Horace said in On Growing Old:
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
What do you think about Houston? We're visiting there in a couple weeks to scout out neighborhoods. The residents must be furious at people like me, driving up home values and property taxes. The taxes are 3+% there and the home values have doubled in the past couple years, from what I understand.
Like everything else, Houston has good points and bad points. Any big city is way too urban to me. As Texas cities go, I've always liked Dallas, Austin and San Antonio a bit more than Houston. OTOH, Houston is a very diverse city with lots of different cultures, bleeding edge healthcare, and lots of entertainment possibilities.
Texas has no income tax, but watch out for property taxes. Another huge thing to consider is flooding. Houston gets tropical storms and hurricanes. If it's flooded before, it will flood again.
Ain't no fun cleaning out a home that's had even a foot of water in it.
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
@Horace said in On Growing Old:
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
Move to the Gulf South. It's the closest green you'll get compared to England.
Mind the heat, humidity and skeeters, though...
What do you think about Houston? We're visiting there in a couple weeks to scout out neighborhoods. The residents must be furious at people like me, driving up home values and property taxes. The taxes are 3+% there and the home values have doubled in the past couple years, from what I understand.
Like everything else, Houston has good points and bad points. Any big city is way too urban to me. As Texas cities go, I've always liked Dallas, Austin and San Antonio a bit more than Houston. OTOH, Houston is a very diverse city with lots of different cultures, bleeding edge healthcare, and lots of entertainment possibilities.
Texas has no income tax, but watch out for property taxes. Another huge thing to consider is flooding. Houston gets tropical storms and hurricanes. If it's flooded before, it will flood again.
Ain't no fun cleaning out a home that's had even a foot of water in it.
Property taxes will be a permanent burden if I move. Here in CA my assessed and taxable home value can't rise more than 1% per year from where I bought it, which was near the bottom of the real estate crash. And the % is low on top of that. My property taxes, should I move to a home in TX of the same market value, would increase 5-fold.
I have to imagine long-time homeowners in these popular areas of TX are being priced out of their homes. They don't have California's proposition 13 which caps the assessed value increases.
