2013 ended with news that Jim's company would be selling his division to another company, which, after so many years meant retiring from the old one and going to work for the new one. This lead to lots of speculation about what the future would hold. We decided to cancel our nearly 5 week trip planned to Australia and Indonesia for Feb. 2015.
In November Ziggy disappeared from a friends house in CT while Janet was taking he and Zoe to Cape Cod. After posting signs, speaking to neighbors and putting out a pet lost alert one of the neighbors there caught him and took him inside and Janet went to get him. He seemed non- the worse for wear, but later showed intestinal problems that have taken awhile to clear up- we can only guess what he ate! People advised us to put his carrier outside the place where he stayed and leave some food, but we thought this was more likely attract a raccoon than Ziggy, but it worked- the neighbor caught him when he was by the carrier and food.
This year started with a visit to the same friend in CT- who is up in years now and forgetful and then with Janet flying off to Florida and then to Cuba for a week. She enjoyed it and the stayed in Florida for a couple more weeks to miss some of what turned out to be a rough winter with below average temperatures and above average snow. We got about 60" of snow, but felt lucky it wasn't worse since at least 2 storms were predicted to drop at least a foot more than we got! The Boston Area got what we just missed. When we managed to get to Cape Cod in Early March we decided it was time to sell the house there. The cost of maintaining two places and the driving time were part of the decision, but the changing neighborhood there, and, in particular one neighbor who liked to have parties, finally made us decide. The place had a great location and real estate prices came back up there, so the place ended up selling for what we paid after realty commissions were subtracted. We spent a couple months moving thing out and to the main home and we left many things for the new owners and donated alot. So far we don't have any major regrets.
On July 1 to tranfer of Jim's job took place. In Sept. the new company said there are money problems and offered "buy outs" to all the U.S. employees which were attractive to many who had already planned to leave around the end of 2015. Jim decided to take it as well and retire from the business and focus on hobbies like travel and photography. Oct. 9 was his last day of reporting to the office.
It is now "day 2" (not counting the weekend) of not having to go to the office. He reports that it feels good, but a little disorienting after so many years.
The fall colors in NY are pretty much at peak where we stand- it is always beautiful, but also a reminder of the short, cold days to come.
In November Ziggy disappeared from a friends house in CT while Janet was taking he and Zoe to Cape Cod. After posting signs, speaking to neighbors and putting out a pet lost alert one of the neighbors there caught him and took him inside and Janet went to get him. He seemed non- the worse for wear, but later showed intestinal problems that have taken awhile to clear up- we can only guess what he ate! People advised us to put his carrier outside the place where he stayed and leave some food, but we thought this was more likely attract a raccoon than Ziggy, but it worked- the neighbor caught him when he was by the carrier and food.
This year started with a visit to the same friend in CT- who is up in years now and forgetful and then with Janet flying off to Florida and then to Cuba for a week. She enjoyed it and the stayed in Florida for a couple more weeks to miss some of what turned out to be a rough winter with below average temperatures and above average snow. We got about 60" of snow, but felt lucky it wasn't worse since at least 2 storms were predicted to drop at least a foot more than we got! The Boston Area got what we just missed. When we managed to get to Cape Cod in Early March we decided it was time to sell the house there. The cost of maintaining two places and the driving time were part of the decision, but the changing neighborhood there, and, in particular one neighbor who liked to have parties, finally made us decide. The place had a great location and real estate prices came back up there, so the place ended up selling for what we paid after realty commissions were subtracted. We spent a couple months moving thing out and to the main home and we left many things for the new owners and donated alot. So far we don't have any major regrets.
On July 1 to tranfer of Jim's job took place. In Sept. the new company said there are money problems and offered "buy outs" to all the U.S. employees which were attractive to many who had already planned to leave around the end of 2015. Jim decided to take it as well and retire from the business and focus on hobbies like travel and photography. Oct. 9 was his last day of reporting to the office.
It is now "day 2" (not counting the weekend) of not having to go to the office. He reports that it feels good, but a little disorienting after so many years.
The fall colors in NY are pretty much at peak where we stand- it is always beautiful, but also a reminder of the short, cold days to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment