February sure has been a whirlwind time moving into our new home. Even though our place was furnished there was still a lot of stuff to buy. We also had several services that we needed to deal with including a couple repairs that had been pointed out during the home inspection. It is a big transition moving from a 360 square foot home on wheels to a 1250 square foot stix and brix. There are many services we did not want or need while on the road that we want now. Our intent is to become Floridians when we get back down here in November, so we will be doing a few things now that will provide proof that we are indeed residents. This will make it easier to get our driver's licences and get registered to vote. We sure don't want to miss the 2020 election.
One thing I failed to mention in the last post from the Elks was the January pasta dinner that was hosted by the campers at the Elks. Campground host Patty cooked the sauces. Yes, there was both meat and marinara and the campers provided the salad and desserts. We also worked as servers, cooks, waiters, dishwashers and busboys. Here are George, Linda, Beth, Nanc and Dennis working the line. We are happy to report we raised over $1,000 for the Children's Therapy Charity.
On the first of February we left Tavernier under sunny skies, but they did not last. Nothing quite like driving Opus through Miami in a tropical downpour. The good thing was it slowed the rest of the traffic down.
We arrived in Stuart and put Opus in long term storage for the first time since 2006, the year before we went on the road. Fortunately, the storage place is less than a half mile from our condo. We made three trips that afternoon. In addition to clothes, we wanted to make sure we removed any food that might invite unwanted bugs or critters. We have been back a couple more times to pick up more things as we settle into the new home.
The first morning we went out to breakfast and then grocery shopping to fill our larder. How about this breakfast on the patio on a nice sunny February day in South Florida.
Our first dinner at home, one of Nanc's famous salads. For Valentine's Day we had one of our favorite home cooked meals, linguini with clam sauce. We also checked out local dining options. Two places, Hurricane Grill and Fresh Catch, are within walking distance of the condo. Giuseppe's, a great Italian restaurant, and Duffy's, a Florida Sports Bar chain, are also very close by.
FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT
The day after we closed on the condo we contacted FPL to have the service changed to our name. It was quick and easy setting up the account. This is a service that we have not needed since our house sold in November 2008. It was a surprise getting an electric bill before we even moved in. FPL advertises that they are some of the cheapest in the country, so we will see if that is true.
DISH NETWORK
One of the first things I wanted to do was discontinue our Dish Network service when we are in the condo, as cable is included in our HOA fees, but have it available when we travel. Simple right? No it is complex. In the end I did get what I wanted but only because our Dish equipment is so old. I was told since we rent the receiver I would have to return it and buy a new one. I asked if I could buy the one we already have and was told no. I then asked where I would turn in the old one and I was told it is so old that I could just throw it away. Really, you won't let me buy the equipment but you want me to throw it away? I need to talk to someone else. After talking to two more people, someone finally figured out how stupid that was and told me I could keep and use my old receiver and "pause" our service when we are at the condo at a cost of $5.00 a month. While it took some time on the phone, I will give a shout out to the Dish customer service person who finally figured it all out.
PNC Bank
As another step in establishing that we are Florida residents, we opened an account at the nearby, within walking distance, PNC Bank. We are in the process of having all our direct deposits changed from Washington Financial. Being a PNC customer will also give us free access to ATMs in a much larger area that we have now.
Nis Air
One of the issues found by the home inspector was the air handler needed annual maintenance to be cleaned. What the technician found was a slow leak of refrigerant. Fortunately, the A/C unit is newer as it was replaced in 2015. So the good news is the replacement part is still under warranty and we will only have to pay the labor. Also, since it appears to be a problem that happened since the home inspection, we turned in a claim with the warranty company that was included as part of the inspection. We are waiting to hear if they will pay the labor costs.
High on our list of things we needed to have done was getting the couch, carpet and tile floors cleaned. ChemDry came two different days to get it all done. They did a through cleaning using only natural products, so now any dirt we find is ours.
Another biggie was pest control. While the HOA fees cover spraying the common areas we wanted to make sure no creepy crawly or flying critters get indoors. When the condos were built they put in a system of hoses in the walls so the insecticide can be easily pumped in. The old owner used the service and said they never saw a bug so we signed up for the same service.
Our new place was also pre-wired for home security when it was built. The service was originally included in the HOA fees but so few people used it the condo association dropped it. In checking out our new community we found that several units use a security service. While this is something that we never had in any of our homes, we decided to sign up since our new place will be sitting empty for extended periods when we are traveling.
We don't have a view of any of the Lexington Lakes but we do see many different birds in the area. There is a resident hawk that we hear and/or see every day. Our neighbor told us her parrot had picked a hole in her screen and would stick its head out and one day the hawk swooped down and got it.
The sunsets sure aren't like those in the Keys but we do occasionally get a decent one from the patio. It sure has been great sitting outside and enjoying the warm Florida winter weather.
Sure Nanc, I'll wash the windows, how hard can that be? Got the screens out and washed, wiped the frame down and washed the windows. Wait a minute, what is this sticky stuff all over the glass. I don't know what it was but I could only get it off using nail polish remover, one of the things the old owners had left behind. The little bit of window washing, four windows, turned into a three hour job! Oh well, happy spouse, happy house.
We gave the futon and trundle bed in the extra bedrooms to Habitat Restore. The futon was shot and a trundle bed seemed to us to be something made for kids. Any guests we have will probably be more our age and we could not picture them dragging out the bottom bed and getting up out of it.
With that in mind we went and bought a new guest bed and mattress. As they do, the salesman tried to steer us toward the most comfortable and most expensive mattress. I had to explain to him we did not want the guest bed to be "to comfortable" as that might encourage longer stays:-)
The guest bedroom with the new bedding. As I wrote earlier, we bought the place fully furnished. In my mind that meant we did not need to buy anything. Well, I was wrong again as Nanc insisted we get all new bedding and bath towels. Sure I knew WE would not be using that stuff except for rags, but did we really need all new stuff for the guests? Apparently we did, so we have done much more shopping than I like. We are on a first name basis with the folks at Bed Bath Beyond.
Not everything came from local stores. Nanc also did some online shopping. That and the fact that she is learning her way around Stuart made me happy since I did not need to accompany her on every shopping adventure.
Our time has not been all work and no play. In addition to the local restaurants we checked out, on Sunday we went to the Jupiter Jazz Society jam session at the Double Roads Tavern in Jupiter. This weeks featured artist was Guitarist Jerome Degey.
We failed to get his name but the Jazz violinist was fantastic. Sunday jams that we have been to several times on our visits here are one of the great things about living in this area. You never know who will show up, but the music is always great.
Our new home is becoming more comfortable everyday. We have got a lot of things in order and it is starting to feel like our home. We still have a lot of stuff in Opus and a few boxes in WashPA that we need to make it look and feel like ours. This week we are looking forward to our first guest. More on that in the next post.
