Big truck week!

Sounds kind of like Shark Week and right now Jim probably feels like he was wrestling with sharks. Today Jim drove down to Kentucky to finalize the deal on the box truck.  He met the owner, they exchanged money and got the title transferred.  Yay - we now officially own a box truck!  The next step was to see if he could get the turbo off of the truck.  Then the plan is to bring the turbo back, get a new one, and take it back, install it and hopefully be able to drive it home.  But easier said than done on a rusty truck, laying on your back in a parking lot with none of your good tools to help out that process.  But he finally did it - it's out!  So as we "speak," Jim is driving back home.

 

Then on Friday, the plan is to go back down to New Carlisle and pick up the excavator.  Bryan is going to help - he's getting a trailer from work - but Jim still has to figure out the details of that project - like chains to tie it down. 

 



The official deed is here!

Whew...the official signed copy of the deed came in the mail today.  Just makes it all the more real.  The journey officially begins!

Excavator search continues...

Jim thought he found two good mini-excavators lately - one was in Virginia and one was on eBay, located in Georgia. Unfortunately, even though Jim had been communicating with the owner in Virginia about the excavator, someone had contacted the guy first and ended up putting money down before Jim could. So we lost that one. Then the one on eBay came due and we bid with 20 seconds left but we were outbid.

So...the search goes on. We leave this morning to go look at a box truck in Kentucky and then back to the equipment place we went to a couple weeks ago in New Carlisle - the guy got another one in that Jim wants to look at. Hopefully we'll have time to see my mom in between too.

First up was the box truck in Kentucky - I was really surprised at how nice it was!  It was in really good shape - well, except that it doesn't run.  Which explains the really good deal that Jim is getting on it.  Small detail.  It apparently needs a new turbo - so Jim is going to buy one and replace it.  The question will be whether he will have the truck towed up here and do the work here or take the turbo down there and fix it there.  Option 2 doesn't sound as good to me - it would be much nicer if Jim could work on it here with all his tools and equipment available.  So we'll see.  Just one of the many, many decisions Jim is working on at the moment.

 

 

 

Next stop was a very brief visit to my mom before heading to Jim's Equipment.  I knew this was good karma...this is the dealer that is literally around the corner from where Jim built his first house.  And it's named Jim so it has to be the right place to buy!  Equipment Jim had gotten this midi-excavator in and hadn't taken it in for service so the price was lower than the first one we looked at.  But as Jim was trying it out, he noticed that one of the rods was bent and causing some issues.  Equipment Jim agreed and is supposed to be calling the Bobcat dealer to see how much it would cost to repair.  Jim wants to negotiate on price and he will fix it himself.  He's supposed to call once he figures that out and they'll talk.  But this appears to be the one!  I like the 1-800-NO SWEAT sticker on it too.   





 

 

So it was a very productive day and we appear to have found 2 big pieces of equipment to check off our list!  Plus these two pieces need to be in place when Jim heads up to the land this fall to get things started.  Of course, in the meantime, he has to finish the outside things here like painting and the chimney work, get the truck running, get the equipment up to the land, design the pole barn he'd like to put up while he's there...my brain hurts just thinking about all of that.  But Jim's still smiling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally...the deed!

We finally got at least a pdf copy of our recorded deed - hopefully the original will come in the mail any day now.

But we love the wording...."To have and to hold the premises herein granted unto the Parties of the Second Part [that's us!], their heirs, distributees and assigns forever."  Sounds like wedding vows to the land...love it.  Then it goes on to say..."That the Parties of the Second Part shall quietly enjoy the said premises."  So no loud enjoyment is allowed.  Makes me smile.

Back on Angel!!

We got up this morning and this was our first stop. It's so gorgeous up here - always gets us excited about getting started. Our champagne bottle remains as evidence of our closing celebration. And Jim looks so happy up here on his new home turf.

 

And Jim looks so happy up here on his new home turf!

We did a few things in the little time we had...went back to the Bobcat store for Jim to order a couple things he will need. We even stopped at a little motel to see about rates for Jim staying about a month.

One of the strangest things happened as we were leaving the lot. We had hoped to find a new State Farm agent in the area - Jim had found 4 in the area. We were literally stopped at a stop sign discussing which agent might be best based on their online profiles. We look up and this sort of obnoxious looking totally decorated State Farm SUV drives by advertising one of the agents! Jim and I just looked at each other and started laughing - can't get much of a bigger sign than that!

Then it was on to pick up the car. We decided not to leave the Honda on the lot - just didn't feel right. So we'll dive both cars back.

All of the car transactions went really well and I'm thrilled with my new car. It's just perfect for me as far as size - I feel really comfortable in it. The 6 speed is a little different to get used to.

We took our time driving it back - took some back roads which were really pretty. Stayed overnight again in Owego - had pizza and beer at The Dugout again. Then drove it slowly home.

So all in all it was a quick but very worthwhile trip.

 

 

Back to New York!

Call us crazy but we're on our way back to NY! Part of the plan for moving is that I would need an AWD vehicle for the weather there, the driveway and even for this winter here in Ohio. We had thought we would get a used CR-V since those are the only manuals available any more. But after the heater core started leaking into the passenger compartment of my 14 year old Honda and it was a very time-consuming repair for Jim, we started thinking a new one would be smarter. I didn't think paying $30,000 for a car we'd be using during the messy building project sounded too smart. We started looking at Suzuki SX4s. They really aren't much bigger than my Honda which I like but they have AWD. Plus they really seem to offer a lot of value for the money. Of course the manuals are hard to find and we wanted the technology package. We test drove one in Cleveland, but they couldn't find exactly what we were looking for in their first 150 mile radius sweep. But it just so happens that there is a dealer real close to our land - and they has just the car we wanted and we got a good deal. So here we are on the road to go pick it up! I'm really excited.

It will be so good to see the land again. Jim still hasn't decided if we are going to leave my Honda there or drive both cars home. Either way we'll take it slow on the way back. We have reservations in Albany tonight and at a hotel we've stayed at before a few hours into the ride back on Monday.

Shopping for excavators!

Now that we have land, one of the next steps is to buy a mini or midi excavator. So today was our first adventure. We started the shopping in Sidney where Jim got to test out the 3 they had for sale. Then it was onto a place only a couple of miles from where Jim built his first house! I think that has good karma. They had a nice midi so we'll see what he can do on price. A fun day!