by Pa Rock
The summer is quietly slipping into fall in the Valley of Hell. Today the temperature barely reached 100 degrees, and tonight it will cool down to the low eighties or upper seventies. Before we know it all of the snowbirds will be back and people will begin hanging Christmas lights on the cactus.
I have been house-hunting the past few evenings after work. Most decent apartments are around a thousand dollars a month. I have found one that will do. I also did something today that I promised myself I would never do - I looked at a mobile home. It is a three bedroom, two bath in a well kept park. The older home has a sticker price of $14,000 and lot rent is $355 per month. It was a very comfortable setting. I was tempted, sorely tempted. But then reality bit me in the butt and I remembered that I already own two homes in Missouri - did I really need a third located way out west in an area that I hope to one day leave? Of course not.
There are things about apartment living that I like: no upkeep indoors or out, no taxes, cheap insurance, and when something breaks - call the landlord. There are things that I miss, though, about not living in one of my houses - being able to dig and plant in the yard, having a pet, and knocking out the occasional wall. It's all a trade-off. I think my objective right now is to bounce around until I find the place where I would like to retire.
Maybe in the spring I will spend some time in Puerto Rico or St. Lucia.
No comments:
Post a Comment