This is what a “luxury” condo priced at $700,000 will buy you in the Florida Keys. This complex is billed as a waterfront fishing village. (Probably because it is not on the waterfront, fishing is not allowed and it is not a village.) There are two units in this photo, showing they are at least twelve whole feet apart. Right, who needs yard maintenance when you are retired? Even rarer in a hurricane zone are two-storey buildings with a wooden frame. Don’t listen to the sick Florida joke that at least you’ll have someplace to run during a storm surge. There won’t be any stairs. Since the Keys are 14 inches above high tide, you won’t have any silly first floor to worry about after that first wave, anyway.
However, do ask your real estate agent about their “year-round” enjoyment claim, since the police go door-to-door to make sure everybody vacates back to the mainland before every storm. If senior citizen evacuations are your thing, you’ll quickly find a mattress on the floor of an abandoned gymnasium at least the equal of the hotels at Disney World.JZ and I are again toying with the idea of building a house. We definitely have the skills between us and regret not moving on that property in Hialeah in 2003. I hesitate to buy a fixer-upper because the market is already full of those. For 12% more, build new and get it right. The plan is to reactivate the searches I used to do for the cheapest properties of each category (raw land, serviced land, condo, detached) in the State.
One thing I’m careful for is that JZ has only a limited perspective on the long-term effects of poverty. Poverty is simple, but the effects of it are complicated. One poverty I recognize is the complete lack of a supportive parental infrastructure. Thus, when you try to get ahead, every penny invested is a penny taken away from routine maintenance someplace else. Everything you get from the investment will have to be plowed back in to make up for the issues and items that were neglected in order to make the investment. JZ, for good reason, does not understand the fine balance just described. That good reason is that the worst he can possibly do is break even. I'm not quite so lucky.
After hours of rewiring all my equipment, when I got to the gig tonight, each of my CD channels would not play stereo. I caught myself without a computer and without a CD player. That was dumb. It took me two hours of chasing around town to K-mart and Target, and I still could not find a DVD player. The choices were an $80 cheapo or a $180 Audiovox. Not to ever have that exact situation again, I may buy a laptop (which is both a burner and player). No, I won’t be leaving a laptop on stage without some extra precautions.
Otherwise, the gig tonight was one of my better productions. The rewired equipment worked flawlessly and I admit that the bass lines do punch out quite strongly to what many people are used to. That is the idea. I had all the regulars up front and playing along. The impetus to play more country was strongly reinforced.
Remember California Johnny? Supposed to be out of town for 90 days? He showed up for an hour. He has not yet learned that you can’t turn Jimbo’s into a rock and roll club by playing the right jukebox numbers. His friend was also there, the one I’ve had to explain several times that I am not running a jam session, so no, he cannot bring his acoustic and stand in unless he learns a full hour of my material, rehearsed in advance.
During the show, I noted a particularly good-looking lady with the dart team. Kind of out of my league—but don’t get me wrong, I’ve done the wild thing with plenty of women in that category. I just don’t move in on them any more. Good, because during the one break I usually take, she tracked me down and gave me a $5.00 tip. Dang, I wasn’t wearing my glasses so I can’t give you any details from the stage except that she must know all the staff. It was easy enough to determine she has her own house, car and job.
JZ wants to marry her already.
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