Day -101 -- Life sometimes gets in the way of Life

I’m baaack.. Well, it was a long vacation, new hometown search, visits, etc. Tomorrow I head back to the office — more on that later. I’ve been busy, planning, then taking, a two week vacation. I was really hoping to blog during it, but was too busy living, to write about life….

Since I left Florida on 8/28, I put over 3500 miles on the truck, and spent more than 75 hours in it. This was traveling up to the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, looking at many neighborhoods there the first couple of days. What I found was too much traffic, and too many people. Until I worked my way up to Livonia, Georgia, I didn’t see a city I’d pick to even go back to visit. Livonia was nice - not perfect - but nice.

I did get to visit friends (Dave and Judy) in Alpharetta, and it was great. A wonderful time. They have a fantastic home, in a very nice neighborhood. It was great to catch up with them.

From there I went to the North West side of the state. No traffic, and very few people. But a lot of the neighborhoods were not quite up to snuff. Too many “dollar stores” and “check cashing” places. I looked at a lot of homes as I drove closer to Chattanooga, Tenn.

The nicest cities up that way were Calhoun and Rome. I like the “historic” downtowns, and the people were quite friendly. I could see living in either (or in the areas surrounding them). They are still on my list for further review.

Leaving Georgia, I headed up to North East Ohio. Mostly Lake County cities were on my original list. Some areas have improved since I last lived in the area in the 70s-80s. Others have, or are, deteriorating. And some, are just now growing.

I stayed in a fairly new Holiday Inn Express in Painesville. The whole area around it is new over the last 7 or so years. Lots of expansion happening. I saw a couple of nice Condos I wouldn’t mind living in within blocks of the hotel. Thus, this is also an area still in the running.

While I wouldn’t totally count them out, Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake and Painesville proper, aren’t likely at this point. Painesville township, or Fairport (near the lake) or Perry, are higher on the list.

Topping the list is Madison / Madison Township. The last home area I looked at was in Madison Township, and the specific house, and its location, was perfect. The neighborhood was very new, the homes spaced nicely so that no construction behind them was likely, there was room for more developments to be built in similar fashion. And all of this was just a mile or two away from the main drag where commercial construction of retail was booming. All of the needed stores were there, and others being built. Plenty of parks and recreation areas are also nearby for photography and enjoyment.

I got to visit with other friends (Les and Elaine) in their cluster-home (HOA - takes care of landscape, but you own outside/inside of house — with a Condo, you own only inside, and HOA owns outside), They are in the Northfield area of Summit County. Another great visit catching up. They are looking fantastic.

That area of Summit County also has been added to the possibles on the list. Another growing area, with nice affordable housing. And not in the “SnowBelt”. That is a plus.

And one more important visitation. I got to see my brothers for the first time in 22+ years.

Also got to visit with Barbara (Bill’s wife), and Karen (Ross’s wife) and my nephew/niece/great-nephew (Bill/Renee/Angelo). Angelo is a cool young dude just starting school this year. And Bill and Renee (still not sure if I met you back in ‘97) remind me of just how old I’ve gotten. I remembered Bill as a youngster, and it was a touch of a shock to seem him. It was truly great to see them all.

Maybe over the next couple of weeks, if work allows, I’ll pull out some of the video/photos and post more on the trip.

I now need to work on the new home-town list (Rome/Calhoun, Georgia—Lake County, Ohiio—Summit County, Ohio) to look at expenses, climate, people-friends-family, etc.) to make decisions.

And, I need to contact bank to open equity-line-of-credit on this house, so I can use that to make my purchase. This seems the most logical way to buy a new place using the equity in the existing one. — And, contact a realtor down here to see what minimal fixes/enhancements I need to make to sell this place.

As I wrote above, tomorrow I head back to the office. Not really looking forward to it. This was the first true vacation I’ve taken in 15? years. It was nice to not have to check in to work for most of that time.

I will start the Pune team training this week. Need to get that set up and schedule the participants. Work tasks, ugh!!.

The first FTE started last week, and I’ll be needing to train him, and his Pune Manager, and then in about 1 month, the second starts, and a month later, the third. The last 100 days will go by both quickly, and way too slow. I’m ready now.

So, there is plenty of life things to do right now, and just as many work ones. Got to keep the balance, at least for another 100ish days.

I hope all is well with anyone reading this.

Enjoy Life