What we're up to (not much!) - Day 1760(Year 5, Day 291)

Zephyrhills, FL

Mitch still looking for a job.  Still getting lots of return calls but the process is long.  Sigh.

We (ok, Mitch) discovered a leak in the basement and determined it was coming from the pipe between the shower and the gray tank.  So today he spent trouble shooting the exact location (found it), removed the faulty pipe, went to Lowes to buy a replacement and is still currently installing it.  Kudos to Mitch.  He's turning out to be quite the RV handyman!

A few times previously I mentioned how our next door neighbors were growing a garden (more like a farm) with tons of awesome veggies.  (They also raise chickens and often give us fresh eggs.) They give us what they have when it's available.  Today, they brought over some gold potatoes, onions, and green beans (although they ask nothing in exchange, I baked them fresh challah and today, since it's still Passover, gave them some homemade "schmurah" matzah).  I have to confess about the onions...  they were "normal" sized onions on the bottom, and ginormous scallion-like tops.  I learned that that's how onions generally grow and for whatever reason, they don't commercially sell them like that.  The scallions you buy have teeny, tiny ends which really don't resemble onions at all, and the onions you buy don't have scallion stems.  What an outrage!  Kind of like when we were given broccoli greens which you can only get if you grow them yourself.  I'd love to live here very long term just for the fact of our neighbors!

Passover prep - Day 1755 (Year 5, Day 286)

Zephyrhills, FL

As always, not a lot of anything exciting happening here in our lives.  Same old, same old.  Mitch continues to have a number of phone interviews, so the seeds are starting to sprout.  Unfortunately, there is such a large screening process that it can take several months before they make a final decision.  First is the application process, where the recruiter or HR dept. gets hundreds (or thousands) of resumes which they need to weed thru.  They narrow it down to the top 10-20, then to the top 5.  Then they send those 5 to the next level hiring manager to weed it down even further, to perhaps the best 2 candidates, before sending it on to the person who he would actually be working for.  And since everyone has a busy schedule, it could take a week or 2 between getting an appointment for an interview.  So while he's in the running for at least 3 jobs right now, it's still anyone's guess what the final result will be.  We're still in a state of limbo.

Anyway, Passover starts tomorrow and we're getting the "house" ready, as always.  It takes an entire day, but it used to take 2-3 days in the sticks & bricks house, so can't complain.  I think the most time consuming part is covering all the counters with foil and plastic.  Here's Mitch doing that:



In addition, all the appliances need to be scrubbed down and koshered (either by boiling or heating), everyday dishes put away and Passover items (dishes, pots, pans, utensils, etc) taken out, and non kosher for Passover food locked away.  Once everything is all cleaned and koshered, we can't have any "regular" food and this must all be finished by tonight.  So the plan is when we're done, we will go out for dinner; first time in a long time.  Not sure where yet, though.

As for the seder, we will attend a community seder at our shul (Chabad at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel, 18 miles away).  We were invited to the Rabbi's home for the 2nd seder, but being that it's almost 40 miles round trip, and we'll be going Friday night, Saturday and Sunday for services, we didn't want to do it again on Saturday night.  I'll make a nice meal in advance and maybe we'll do our own seder together.

Update on plans - Day 1745 (Year 5, Day 276)

Zephyrhills, FL

We learned that the rig could be taken in as early as next Monday, April 15th.  So we were excited that we would leave here on Sunday, drive the 200 miles, and boondock on the street in front of the dealer (Dick Gore's) on Sunday night.  Then, either stay in a hotel for a day or 2 or move onto a local campground until the job dust settled.

Unfortunately, we had to rethink those plans because I couldn't find anywhere in Jacksonville to stay for the short term.  We have a great place to stay for the long term, if Mitch lands a job there, but they only have 6 or 12 month leases -- no short term stays.  I checked with ALL of the campgrounds within a 40 mile radius of Jacksonville and there weren't any places that had weekly availability.

So... the plan now is to just stay put here in Zephyrhills until Mitch gets a definitive job offer.  Then, hopefully, if it's not in Jacksonville, we'll be able to allot the extra few days to stop in Jacksonville for the RV work if in NC, or move there if the job is there.

Bottom line:  still in a state of limbo.

Things starting to gel - Day 1744 (Year 5, Day 275)

Zephryhills, FL

To use a planting metaphor, all the seeds Mitch has planted over the past few months are starting to sprout and with G-d's help, we can harvest something in the very near future. 

He had quite a few interviews over the last 2 weeks, and at the moment, he is being seriously considered for at least 4 positions (possibly a 4th but they haven't been very communicative, so we don't know).  Two of those positions are in Jacksonville, FL, 1 is as a traveler around the country, the last is in Morrisville, NC (near Cary and Raleigh -- an IDEAL location for us!!!).

We're not sure which, if any, of those positions will be offered to him, but Mitch also discovered that there are numerous IT positions open in the Jacksonville area.  So the plan is.... (and bear in mind the old saying that "Man plans and G-d laughs" or as we like to say, our plans are always made in jello.  That being said....

We need some repair work on our roof.  There is a place in Jacksonville that replaced our roof several years ago and we're hoping they guarantee their work (and that the repairs needed have something to do with their work).  In any event, it needs to be done before it gets to the point of causing major damage, no matter who is responsible and who has to pay.  Whether Mitch gets a job in Jacksonville or NC, it seems to make the most sense to go to Jacksonville to get the work on the rig done and use that location as a jumping of point -- either a place to settle for a few years, or as 200 miles closer to NC than we are now.

Next step is to see when we can get a service appointment and base our travels around that.  Passover is also coming close (2 weeks) and we need to do our Passover shopping as well as have a place to attend a seder.  Jacksonville has a large Jewish community and there will be numerous options, as opposed to here where the closest places to shop are in Tampa -- 1.5 hours away with traffic.

So the plan is, based on when we can get an appointment, to move up to Jacksonville, get the rig worked on, and then either settle down long term or travel up to NC.  My hope is that they'll have something available next week and we can leave here next Sunday.

We're still in a state of total limbo, but at least the plans are starting to gel a little.  Will keep ya'all posted (guess I've been in the South too long!)

Fruit of the vine - Day 1739 (Year 5, Day 270)

Zephyrhills, FL

Well, not really of the vine - more like a tree.  About 2 months ago (I don't remember if I wrote about this previously), we found a fruit tree near the laundry room.  We thought they were little round pears, but when we brought it home, discovered they were small red grapefruits.  They were really sweet and wonderful, if you like red grapefruit.

Today, we learned of a clump of 3 other trees near the office - loquats.  I didn't discover the tree myself -- our next door neighbor who has the "farm" and chickens and bring us fresh eggs every now & then, brought us a few of these tiny fruits and told us about the trees.  They are really, really delicious!!!  Kind of tastes like a mixure of peach, citrus and mango.



On Mitch's job front, still nothing yet but the seeds are starting to sprout.  He's been getting a few calls and had 2 interviews so far (in fact, he's on the phone with another recruiter right now).  He also learned about a company that was doing what he did before for the gas company.  Several folks from his old company are working there now.  He's pretty sure he can get work with them, and it may be a good plan while he still explores his Plan B of getting back into IT.

Will keep ya'all posted.

New business rollout - Day 1727 (Year 5, Day 258)

Zephyrhills, FL

Can't believe I have the fireplace on again every morning this week.  Highs in the 70s but waking up to the 40s again.

Anyway, as I've been hinting to over the past few weeks, I was starting an additional business.  Not giving up my VA business (A-Z Admin Solutions), but now also reselling cute, custom, crocheted collectibles, which make awesome unique gifts (Crocheted Cuties).  Check out the website!  In fact, if you want to order something between now and March 31st, use coupon code Welcome!

Shabbat guests & Mitch's project - Day 1723 (Year 5, Day 254)

Zephryhills, FL

Just a few things I forgot to mention during the last few posts...

This past week, Mitch was working on a semi-large project.  You may recall, going back quite a while, that we were having some problems with the refrigerator, in that it was running hot and we needed to keep defrosting almost every week.  One problem had been that the fan burned out, which was resolved and it was working fine... until this week.  We noticed there was a huge amount of ice on the fins in the back of the frig part, which we've never had before.  Upon researching it, it was concluded that too much air was getting in due to the seal (gasket) around the door being either broken or not tight enough.  Unfortunately, they don't sell replacement gaskets - you have to buy the entire door, at a cost of about $900.  So.... Mitch took all 4 doors apart, cleaned the gaskets, used epoxy to close up some of the cracks and put it all back (and also used a heat gun to try to shrink the rubber a little).  So far (fingers crossed), it seems to be working very well.  Frig is running at a normal temp, no ice buildup, and the doors do seem to be closing much tighter.  Yay, Mitch!

As for Shabbat guests, we've hosted 2 (actually 3) people in the last 3 weeks.  One time, it was a lovely woman and her husband (Carla and Carl) who I know from the group I run on Facebook ("Jews on Wheels") and who happened to be in the area.  (She joined me last month when the shul hosted a spa night).  Last Friday, as we were taking our daily walk, we ran into our neighbor, Ellie, who is a retired musician (although she still jams and does local gigs).  She lost her husband just about a year ago and was feeling extremely down and lonely.  On a whim, we invited her to join us for Shabbat dinner, even though she's not Jewish.  She was so extremely grateful and it certainly did cheer her up (she also enjoyed learning a little about our customs).

Weather: has been in the mid to upper 80s all week, but will be in the 70s this coming week.  Still better than being up north!