smokin george

I took my CPP ( Canada Pension Plan) at a small reduced rate at age 60 and Old Age Security at 65 and retired at 66. By working till 66 the CPP still increased and for 6 years I made sure I put money into RRSP"S to save on some tax money. I never touched any of that money and had a little nest egg saved up.

54 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

You plan on leaving ON or did you already?

We sold last Sept in Ont and rented a place here till the house is built

4 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

Sounds like the perfect retirement home.  We dreamed of building our own little subdivision, with all 4 daughters and their husbands (1 still unattached   ) as neighbors.  Wishful thinking I'm afraid.   *Can you ride right from your house?

Very little snow here and a 4.5 hour trailer to Cape Breton or New Brunswick. We can go out in the sxs on the trails here during the winter

2 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

Nice, thats doable.  We're torn, some nice lakefront still in Maine, but thats far from the kids and we want the grandkids visiting.

Our grandkids are a 5 min walk from our place that's why ended up here. 

Just now, DriftBusta said:

Oooffff.  Thats half of what a decent lot is around here, and no water.  Last weekend we were at a party at a buddies house, that is off the grid, on an island, but right on the shores of Long Island sound.  Just beautiful.  He's all solar and generator, which is too rustic for me, but man, being on the water is nice.  Good lakefront is getting hard to find.

There's a beautiful lot not far from here that's all treed but level 3.67 acres the son has listed for $49K. It's not on water but would make a great building lot

3 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

When we redid our kitchen I went one day with the wife looking at shit.

On the way home I said " hey , I got a great idea , why dont you go pick 3 of everything and bring the pics of them home , then we will choose" 

By then she was already sick of my bitching and jumped on it. I was overwhelmed with the what shade of the 82 shades of white do you like best

We were quoted $30K for the kitchen alone and the wife said she didn't think that was enough lol

5 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

Thats exciting.  Built a new house once, its nice to pick out all the touches, features, colors, etc..  We're going to do it again at some point, good lots are hard to come by right now in this area.  

There's plenty of properties here in Nova Scotia. We bought the lot (1 acre) for $46K two years ago with deeded access to the lake and have a monster dock and our pontoon there

Just now, ArcticCrusher said:

Looks good George, I think we finally got our plan finalized.  Will be starting it late next year.

Builders are hard to find here in NS that you can trust. We've known him for 10 years and he only has a small crew but has all the trades he needs. We got a decent quote and he said if we go over that then we have exquisite tastes lol.

3 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

Awesome.  Wife and I are bouncing around the idea of selling our house and building another house, but smaller this time.  I like the walkout and wrap around deck.  I just want a big ass oversized 3 car for all the toys and yard equipment.  The wife can design the rest.   

We're 1470sq ft with a 24x24 garage. 2 bdrm,2 bthrm with 2 covered porches and one will be screened in. Basement will be the mancave/party room

Concrete has been poured in the frost wall and backfilling should be finished today. The septic tank is in the ground and the well gets drilled next week. We're hoping to be in by the New Year

Just now, DriftBusta said:

Happy birthday George, I like your house.     *And that IS cheap for a cake with that much hand labor involved.  

Thanks! The house is under construction and the garage will be on the right side. They only have a small crew but amazing what they've done in less than 2 weeks

On 8/19/2023 at 9:35 PM, smokin george said:

Sneaky buggers! The wife held off having a 70th B"day party from last month till I was feeling better. I'm surprised nobody spilled the beans lol. 

The wife said the lady only charged her $100.00 for the cake and cupcakes. That was damn cheap so the wife gave her more. I said see if she can make a cake of the house for our open house party.

On 8/19/2023 at 9:35 PM, smokin george said:

Sneaky buggers! The wife held off having a 70th B"day party from last month till I was feeling better. I'm surprised nobody spilled the beans lol. 

The wife said the lady only charged her $100.00 for the cake and cupcakes. That was damn cheap so the wife gave her more. I said see if she can make a cake of the house for our open house party.

A little behind on our build but it's a start. Septic is in and he's doing the last bit of clearing getting ready for the footings

Putting it up for sale soon! 

We're having a potluck dinner and party at the son's house with friends and neighbours. They're all out on the lake with the boats all tied together having fun and I'll join them at the house later.

RIP! Way too early to go and condolences.  

2 hours ago, old indy said:

thats great. cancer drugs are insanely priced.          my dad went twenty years after his first diag.  eventually his psa shot up though and his doc put him on a drug that was only approved in the US a few years ago. i cant recall its name but it dropped his PSA level and kept it low.  4 big horse pills he called them.     yeahhhhhhh this tamsalosin shit comes with side effects of its own and i want to stop taking it but when i skip it i pay the price...  with this nasty tasting oil working nowadays im hoping to drop it.

The testosterone pill gave me hot flashes and a skin rash and radiation gave me the shits  but finally that's getting better.

1 hour ago, old indy said:

 Age just kinda sssssucks. i do a PSA test every 6 mo since my level is high for my age,, so they tell me.    4.15 last test.

 the treating of this type of cancer in men unfortunately slowly drains a man since its treated with estrogen..   my dad dealt with it for twenty years. thats the one thing he constantly complained about was the estrogen sapping his strength.    

A buddy that dates a nurse from a dana farber cancer center told me about that stuff.  she had mentioned it to him so we both have been taking it.  im having great results !  a mmmuch stronger stream and emptying is ffffar easyer/ more complete.  the taste sure is tough to swallow but so far im sold 100%

Ive been on flowmax/ tamsalosin for about four years now and it does help, 

I'm on Earleda ( stops the testosterone) going to the prostate and get an injection every 3 months. Glad it's all covered ($4500) as well as any other stuff I get. They took me off the Flowmax awhile ago. All the friggin side effects I'm going thru sheesh. I'm getting a bit of a bounce in my step the past few days

26 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

Sorry to hear that George, stay positive. Docs told me it’s a slow growing cancer so hopefully they got it early, and life goes on.  I get tested every physical.

The Dr said it's quite treatable and looks quite promising. The side effects from the medication and radiation are knocking the heck out of me but I'm coping. 

We have guys going up cutting trees and told them to be curtious  lol and our builder who's had a few run ins with her over the years will set her straight.