Seems like I have bursitis in my hips from heavy hands jogging in Blue Mountain Preserve. Likely will take a few weeks to recover, and I will go to “Maggie’s” orthopedic specialist who is a retired Navy SEAL doctor.
I need to recover and not repeat this injury. Part of this is age, likely part of this is too much sitting. Anyways I will not let this progress and the situation will get mitigated.
Laying down can aggravate the condition, and if not treated can lead to other bad conditions that are chronic.
“Maggie” will be visiting a friend, and I will be taking care of the grandson in the afternoon. Good thing we went to Trader Joe’s yesterday, because this kid eats all my food. He is in the 55 percentile as far as size, but he also is in the 95 percentile as far as weight.
When we traveled upstate to Saratoga I was expecting more fall foliage to have turned. This was not evident at all, and pretty much the same nightly lows existed in Peekskill and Saratoga, but what differed was that the days did not get as warm in Saratoga Spirings.
We did take notice of the shorter days also further north.
I look upon the world of writing I get immersed into via Maggie as an outsider. Even though I have a MFA, the credential, I see my writing as the means for my personal growth, and to kinda put myself together. I have no need to publish or do anything more. If I write it pretty much will be for myself.
No expectation of writing evolving any further.
In the markets two things come to mind. Even though the war in the Mid East is escalating oil prices have only become slightly elevated in response. It is suggested that prices should be higher, but here in the U.S. not only are stockpiles high, we are pumping lots of oil. In another post I mentioned how OPEC and OPEC+ have been undercut from the power of cornering the market like they once had.
Then there is the half point FED rate cut that is stimulating the economy that seems not needed or can’t be justified. Pretty much one could spin that the FED used a rather timely rate cut that was generous to impact the Presidential election. Pretty much a favorable stock market and strong economy supports an incumbent President or party.
One candidate threatened to insert Presidential influence upon the FED, and I think/believe the FED responded. Pretty much hard to justify a half-point drop in rates, and this excessive rate cut surely has political consequences.
The hosing market here in the Hudson Valley is kinda crazy. Very big inflated prices, and also very big price cuts. My spin is that things are rather unsettled. I think some of this back to work and limiting of work from home going on has unsettled things a bit, and particularly the part of the Hudson Valley that is not really commutable.
Understand that Peekskill is a river-town that has Metro North service, and is about an hour’s train ride to Grand Central. As explained in other posts Northern Westchester cannot really get developed much further because it has a big part of NYC’s watershed. This is a huge asset and one that we do not need. Lots of value added here.
“Location-location-location,” they say…
Of course this effects the supply and demand imbalance, and has caused exaggerated house price inflation. It is astonishing how fast equity built up. This Thanksgiving will be our 4 year anniversary of living here.
When I dig into the price/sale histories of homes around or near Catskill State Park I see how the shift I mentioned above is effecting a market that is of interest to us. Seems easy to frame a change of heart. Lots of updates/renovations/remodeling being suddenly and surprisingly on the market. A lot of money spent that will not get recovered.
We are kinda surprised at the possible opportunity to have more land, more privacy, and some real studio space. We also think that owning two homes would be a liability and want to be sensible. Maintaining a simple life is important to us.
Pretty much we would use the equity we have to be able to put down a 50-60% down payment than keeps our mortgage payment small/tiny. Even at an interest rate north of 6% which is more than twice our current rate it presents a manner that makes financial sense.
Then in two years at the age of 73 Maggie has to take RMD from her 403B, and in a little more than 3 years I will collect my other entitlements at age 70 and have a rather big surplus to pay off any small mortgage in perhaps a few years. Pretty much totally debt free with no mortgage.
Start to finish starting with a suburban Baby-Victorian and paying off a more rural home that suits our needs better in under a decade. I learned from swing trading to sell to lock in profits, and then reinvest… Same thing, same lesson, and the same idea.
Some ideas are a larger house to have attached studio space, Another possibility is a small dwelling for basic living space with perhaps a large outbuilding like a barn. About an acre of land minimum.
Anyways we see opportunities already, but our Baby-Victorian is not yet turnkey. On the outside I have to replace then garage’s hip roof and build a set of carriage doors.
Moldings and paint for the living room and hallway downstairs, and the same upstairs, plus a Reno of the front porch. The equity we already have is huge, but the bigger it gets translates into a larger down payment and a smaller mortgage. This would require selling the Baby-Victorian and renting while shopping for the next home. We would want the cash in hand to move at opportunity.
Anyways we will continue to live well below our means and live modestly. The Baby-Victorian has some limitations for me as far as work space. We would like more seclusion and privacy, also to be in a more natural setting, but not too far from say Kingston. We like an area near Lake Minniwaska.
I kinda see what Snarky Joe suggests. Pretty much north of Albany is like crossing the Mason-Dixon Line for me. I kinda stand out, but especially way upstate. Things get mighty white and red further north.
In the Catskills I would blend in and would be just another old leftover hippy.
Cal
