Robert Hall

Spectrum used to be called Charter...one of the old Midwest/East Coast cable companies, IIRC. 1GB service from them is $79.99 a month, better than Cox which I'm paying $135 a month now for. AT&T has fiber in my new zip code, but not on my street yet. The irony of it all is AT&T is installing fiber on my old street---been digging and installing it in the last couple of weeks.

I'd rather visit New Zealand as far as that part of the world...though the cities of Australia might be interesting to visit and Tasmania. Having lived in Arizona, I have no interest in traveling to see a desert--can't stand the dry dusty void aesthetic..

Should be starting Monday. They did some prep work today and put materials (ladders, paint, etc) in that house. I got the modem and router set up Friday and tested (Spectrum 1gb service). Spectrum had to string a line across the road to a pole and will have to bury the line to the house ( house previously had AT&T, but they don’t have very fast offerings there)

Rented something Professional Grade to day to start my move…hustled 250 boxes from the old house to the new (from the garage to the garage). A relatively new GMC with only 50k miles…old school inside with manual locks, column shift, a physical key but with power windows and power mirrors. I think these have an LS V8, put my foot into it and it moved out pretty well. Though at 65-70 on the freeway it is deafeningly loud with all the squeaks, rattles and crashing over bumps. Did the the job well. Top pic is at my old house, bottom pic at the new place.

My sister used Sherwin-Williams on her last 3 houses in AZ, and it's the local company, so comes recommended. Not sure if I will use it when I paint the current house inside, though. Easier to get it painted before moving in. Been doing a lot of work on the current house prior to moving out and selling it...painted the outside last week, some masonry work this week and a new roof this week. Plan to repaint the inside before it's on the market in a few weeks.. So between closing on the new house and projects on both houses, it's been an expensive couple weeks...fun, fun..

Supporting the local company

Going with an off-white inside. Sherwin-Williams Navaho White. Some of the rooms are too dark now. My sister’s bedroom is a dark brown, the attic walls purple, my bedroom is dark blue and yellow, what will be my office is dark gray, what will be my hobby room is lt gray.

Yeah, that front only lasted 4 years, while the facelift of it lasted 9 years...

Getting the inside repainted next week.. 2nd pic is the finished attic. 5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, laundry room off the kitchen. About 3000 sq ft finished. Going to put a hot tub on the back patio.... Here are pics from the realtor listing..

That is my plan...

There was another dead Merc the carport...a '91 300CE. I drove them both quite a bit when I lived in AZ...my sister's money pits. She sold them both in Jan 2017 before we moved to Ohio.

Raine is alive and well, 10 years old now. The '84 500SEL had 220k miles, was dead due to various old car problems...leaking fuel lines, brake lines, etc.. one of the paperweights in the driveway in AZ...

A fun random photo from 8 years ago that popped up in my FB feed today--from my back driveway in Phoenix....Raine had hopped up on the dead Merc to look over the fence...

I closed on my new house today. All went pretty smoothly. Only 20 miles from my current house, but bigger, one story, much more storage and garage space, almost 2 acres. I’ll be busy the next month or so moving in and then putting my current house up for sale. Icky weather today though. 34 and sleet.

Futura was the 'fancy' trim level on the Falcon. Just like Sprint was the 'sporty' trim level.

I don't think I've ever replaced a wheel bearing...my old Jeep probably needed them as it got older..it was making various noises from the rear wheels and a rear axle whine when I retired it at 170K and 16 1/2 years back in '17.

Listening to the Wheel Bearings podcast this morning, one of the hosts was talking about a current Subaru and described the 'boxer' engine layout using the an analogy of the piston motions being like a boxer throwing punches. Hmm....I'd always thought the use of 'boxer' to describe a flat/horizontally opposed engine was a reference to it being shaped like a rectangular box. The human boxer motion analogy makes sense, though.

Went to the post office and saw this C8 in a gorgeous red. Reminded me of the old Hot Wheels Spectraflame colors.

Reminds of a popular line from school...'party at Rob's!!'

Also thinking about a walk-in tub w/ whirlpool jets in one of the bathrooms, a hot tub for the backyard, and maybe an above ground pool eventually...I really miss having a pool and a hot tub. I'd rather invest in upgrades to my house than an EV that would only irritate me..

I am thinking of getting a whole house generator. The new house has an electric stove top (which is great), 2 gas furnaces and 2 air conditioners. And a fireplace.

Since EV technology is changing so fast, I would only consider a lease. But an EV makes no sense for me since I don’t have a commute. My driving patterns are so variable…depending on what I do on weekends, some weeks I drive 5 miles, some 50 miles, some 500 miles…

I sat in the Lyriq at the auto show in Feb. Really like the interior and exterior design...

Not unlike Cleveland...even with automatic climate control, I find myself tweaking it often...I do like the intuitive up/down arrows for temp and rotary dial for fan speeds.. FCA did a good job on the '14-22 WK2 GC HVAC and radio controls, IMO...most of these are duplicated in the touch screen and there is stuff only in the touch screen pages like the seat and steering wheel heaters, which vents to blow out of, etc. But the basic functionality is all there w/ buttons.

I like a mix of real buttons and touch screens. I don't think I could live w/ a touch screen only interior w/o smashing the screen out of rage/frustration eventually.. ?