2024? It's been awhile. in A small but passable life.

Daughter, Grandson and baby daddy were out here for ten days. I hate to say it but I was kinda glad when the chaos left. No, no, it wasn’t for any reason other than I was losing patience with baby daddy. Daughter and I now call him Drama Queen. Holy fuck! Now, I’ve never spent any time around Millennial males, but now I know why some folks are convinced the United States is fucked. Truly fucked.

They packed up and left. They were here Dec. 17th until the 27th. Daughter was ready to get home and enjoy a little time off before she started her new job. She hadn’t had much time off during the one year of school with a new baby.

And the project for the last four months has been to find her and Grandson their own place and then leave Drama Queen. With the rental scene being what it is this was no easy task. Never mind that she’s now making nearly a grand a week. But finally she found a place. Not in the city, but a half hour north in the little town where my brother and sis-in-law live, actually not that far from them. A 2B 2B w/garage duplex. And the kicker is the rent is only $700 a month! How many people can say they’re only paying 25% of their income on rent?

Anyway, Daughter and Grandson are settled into their new place and have retrieved all their possessions (including the giant wooden desk I gave her that she’s been dragging around for the last fifteen or more years) from Drama Queen’s place. And yes, there was DRAMA with the split-up but nothing outrageous or violent. And there will be more drama, but so far no need for lawyers.

And Drama Queen’s latest move is to decide that Grandson will now stay with his mother EVERY night because “he just doesn’t sleep well”, meaning Grandson. But we’re sure he’s the one being inconvenienced. Daughter and I agree that’s a plus and no problem.

So, now Daughter and I are back to OUR plan. That is, find some dirt to buy and get busy homesteading. I still have the cash for that sitting in savings. I’d told Daughter that when she found a place to rent I’d loan her “first and last and deposit” to rent it, but I didn’t have to because she’d saved over three grand during her first few months of work. We’re back on track.

So, as soon as we find land we’ll be putting this place up for sale. I hate to as the prices are rising faster than they ever have. (This county in Arizona was the seventh fastest growing county in the entire US in 2023.) There are several units here that have listed at more than a quarter million. Empty lots went from 28k to 70k since the beginning of Covid. Mom and Dad paid 9k for this lot back in the late 90’s and put a brand new park model on it in 2001. But I haven’t had Mom’s place assessed yet by the resident realtor (Century 21) here. Because I’m not ready to know yet?

That’s the plan. Buy land. Sell this place. Rent a truck. Load all that’s left here. Return to the Ozark’s. Pitch a tent on the land. Build a house. A pretty simple plan.

In the meantime? Ah, retirement! I’ve got the routine down by now. Sleep, read, swim, nap, write a bit, walk a bit.

And bizarrely, the weed situation turned cheaper? Starting this year the weed started selling for $40 a half ounce! The first half ounce lasted me three months, the second half ounce lasted two months. I’m now on my third half ounce of the year. And this is good stuff usually with THC content in the high twenties. $120 for more than six months? Unbelievable, but I’ll take it. (And yes, I’ve went from one or two bong hits in the evening to two or three.) But the results are the same. I sleep well and remember no dreams. That’s the whole point.

I’d given up Instacart and started using the scooter again to go to the grocery store. At 777 miles the charging brick for the scooter quit. After months I finally found another (Amazon, $70). And then something else happened. I ended up replacing the “Kickstand safety switch” (Amazon, $9). It didn’t work. I’m not an electrical engineer and can’t find what surely has to be a simple fix, like a blown fuse hidden somewhere, but I’m stumped. So I started up grocery delivery again, this time directly with Fry’s (whom uses Instacart to deliver?). Anyway, it’s walk four and a half miles to the store and uber home with the groceries or order delivery, both at between $12 and $15 to get grub about twice a month. It works.

The HOA dues here went from $525 a quarter to $630 a quarter. The property insurance went up $89 a year to $536 a year. But now that I’m over 65 I get my property taxes returned to me when I file state. And I’m not making enough to file file federal.

Yeah, retirement. So far, so good.