My last post was way to long ago, but we’ve been busy. We finally were able to depart our former state on November 8. The trip to Texas took about five days and included a side trip to visit my son, lovely daughter in law, and grand kids in South Carolina. There were some items I left with him for safe keeping until we are actually in our new home.

Speaking of which, we finally got to visit the house in person on Monday. It was less than ideal committing to this purchase via the Internet, but we just didn’t have the time to get down to the Texas before our seven day option expired.

Fortunately our realtor is very good, used a very thorough home inspector, and our daughter’s boyfriend is familiar with construction as he’s an engineer.

We weren’t disappointed. Mrs. EMS Artifact loved the kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom, and her gigantic walk in closet even more in person than she did on line. While all of those are very nice, I was more interested in the garage where my workshop will be. And the 10′ x 12′ wooden shed out back. Which I’ll put to use for various things besides storage.

One of the guest bedrooms will become my office and I’m actually eager to get back to work, although that won’t be until our belongings arrive and are in the house. Which hopefully will be before the end of the month.

We aren’t sitting around the hotel just waiting. There is a lot to do and much of it different than how they were done in our former state. Some of this I knew, other parts are a learning experience.

It was easy setting up the gas and electrical services. Electrical service is unregulated in Texas and that means that multiple companies broker electricity at various prices. There is only one company that actually generates power, no one can buy directly from them, hence the brokers.

There were at least a dozen providers offering electricity to our area. I picked the one that I thought offered the best deal. Of course customers can change brokers every year or two as contracts expire.

We’re going to be in a “propane community” which means that there are huge propane tanks buried in an obscure part of the development and we all buy from the company that owns the tanks and propane. Not a lot different than how Natural Gas is bought in our former state.

Internet and Cable were similar although there were several options. I decided against cord cutting and stuck with a traditional cable company. Same set up as our old one, but with a different large indifferent provider.

Water was the last utility on the list. Well, technically water/sewer/trash. In our new city there are three separate water providers, however which one you use depends on where you live. Again, different than what we are used to. When I say “different” I’m pointing out a fact, not offering an opinion.

Of all of the services we’re signing up for, the city utility department was the most persnickety. We had to prove that we’re the actual buyers, submit ID, fill out a form, and agree to a “soft” credit check. I was told years ago that the two most important things in Texas are land and water. It sure seems that way because the city expects people to pay for their water on time and no excuses. I will say that the lady in the office couldn’t have been more helpful. She signed us up and recommended that we use direct deposit from our checking account to avoid the 4% surcharge for using a credit card.

Today I signed up for two “TX Tags.” These are for use on the several toll roads in the area. It’s not mandatory to use those roads, but there are times when it’s faster. Plus I inadvertently got on to one today and can only imagine how many surcharges I’ll get on that two mile journey.

Once we own the new house we also have to file for the county Homestead and Senior Citizen tax exemptions. Something that our old state didn’t have and which we kind of like. Well, we really like to be honest.

The house is not perfect, but everything that it needs is normal wear and tear for it’s age. It’s bigger than our old house by about 400 square feet and it’s all on one level. Forty Three years of four sets of stairs was more than enough.

Once my tools get here, I’ll start on the minor stuff and start looking for someone to do the work I can’t do. That includes a new roof, which is number one on the list. It doesn’t leak, but it’s nearing end of life. Then we need to get the HVAC serviced, but that will actually be first as it’s easier and less expensive. Then we’re going to get a whole house generator. This area is not immune to power outages and I am definitely not going to sit in 100 degree weather without electricity.

We have decent punch list from the home inspection, much of what I can do myself.

So, that’s what has kept me from blogging for several weeks. It’s actually a bit exhausting learning all of these new things, and I expect that while not as tiring as packing, we’ll be spending time unpacking things and figuring out where to put them. Sort of like Christmas every day was we open boxes and remember what we actually put in them.

More later.