Little tin boxes

My dad lives in a “retirement community.” That means it's a trailer park for older people.

It's actually not a bad lifestyle. The trailers are pretty low maintenance. There's lot of activities for people to do. People walk and bicycle all over the place. Dad seems to like it.

I tend to look at systems and self sufficiency. These trailers are connected to city water, the power grid, public sewers, and just about everyone has the phone/Internet/television bundles. Actually, it's not that much different that the way most people live.

Maybe you don't live in a little tin box, but most houses rely on outside systems to keep them going. Cut all the wires and pipes that come into your house and is it livable? Cut the power from most trailers and it's a tin box sitting in the sun. Dad's is somewhat better off than most as at least he has some good shade trees. How's your house situated?

Energy changes everything. Abundant grid tied electricity makes these tin boxes livable. People may look down on the humble trailer, but most “normal” houses don't do any better on the self sufficiency scale. It's not the house, but the systems that keep them going that matter.

Dad's pretty limited with what he can do with his trailer. The park has rules. It's not like he can drill a well, replace his sewer with a composting system, or put in alternative energy. When you move into a park, there are some things that one just has to accept.

Don't be too smug if you own your own house. Is there a homeowners association you must conform to? Sign any agreements? Restrictive zoning? Might as well be living in a trailer.

Rural life is different. Even a trailer out on the woods can be part of a self sufficient lifestyle. The land around the home makes all the difference. A good well, septic system, solar panels, and trees for firewood make my homestead a bit better for the long term.

My income is fairly limited. Because of that, I try and avoid bills that can go up steeply without my control. Electric rates can make huge jumps. A friend of mine is looking at big increases because a major industry that used to use power went out of business. The stranded costs of a big power plants will be passed on to the rate payers. My dad is looking at a 25% increase as his energy company has a couple of failed power plants to decommission.

My local power company will be doing rate increases for much the same reasons, but they'll have to do it without me. I'm completely off grid now. Perhaps they'll pressure government to outlaw off the grid living. I'm not paying for the bad decisions the local power company made.

Some places are being hit with huge water bills, or sewer bills. At least a person could always turn off their TV service and save some money that way. Sadly, TV can be hard to give up in most households.

Affordable and reliant energy makes all the difference whether or not life in the park is viable. On the bright side, it's just a trailer. It's not like leaving a mansion behind. Dad can always bunk in with me if necessary.

-Sixbears

Back they go

One of the things that surprised me this Florida trip is the large number of retirees putting their places for sale and heading north. There seems to be three common reasons for doing so. For any individual person, more than one factor may be involved.

Being closer to family is a big one. Travel isn’t as easy and cheap as it once was. Fewer and fewer people are hopping on a plane for a quick visit with the kids. Those who drive are very aware of the rising price of gas. Being closer to family is winning out over sunshine and days on the golf course. The flip side is that the kids can’t afford a southern vacation anymore.

Ill health is a common reason. Frankly, some are going home to die.

Another reason is that their pensions can no longer support them. It doesn’t cost all that much to live in a trailer park in Florida, but even that low hurtle is too high. Social Security isn’t much to live on. Those living on investments have taken a bit hit. If they are lucky, they have kids or other family willing to take them in.

The phenomenon of retirees heading south has only really existed for a relatively short period of time. Historically, elders would live in extended family groups. For many, those days have returned.

-Sixbears

Just stuff

My dad lives in a retirement community in Florida. There’s nothing unusual about that. Lots of people end up in those places. There’s a fairly high turn over. To be brutally honest, people die there all the time. Relatives are always cleaning up after the funeral.

One of the things that struck me is how little stuff of value most people leave behind. By the time they’ve moved to a trailer in Florida, they’ve cut back on the amount of stuff they own. Life gets pared down to the essentials: some clothes, a few dishes, a TV and a few mementos. There may be a car and/or a golf cart.

Most of the clothes and kitchen stuff is given to charity. Maybe someone takes the TV, but often those are sold or left behind. Someone will claim the car. What surprises me is how many of the mementos end up in the dumpster. Old family photos, albums and albums worth, are tossed away. Too often the things that documented a person’s connection to the people of the world isn’t worth anything to anyone.

A couple of years ago my mother-in-law had a great idea. She gathered up all her old photos. They were put in nice new albums and carefully labeled. Those albums were given to her kids, and grandkids -the only people in the world those photos will have any meaning to. We all appreciated getting them. It connected people to their past and to their ancestors.

Most of us don’t leave much stuff behind when we finally shuffle off this mortal coil. If you want to leave something that means something, better do it before you go. Otherwise, in the haste to get things squared away, the story of your life will go into the trash.

-Sixbears

Shacking up

Remember when shacking up was a big deal? Maybe it still is for you. Back in the 1970s my elders gave me that speech about "living in sin." No doubt plenty of other people out there got the same darn speech. We were all told about the horrors of cohabiting without the benefit of marriage.

Those very same elders are a lot more elderly now, in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Many of them moved into retirement communities. A funny thing happens in those places. With the passage of time, many of the couples that move into those places eventually lose their partner. However, they meet many others of the opposite sex who are in the same boat. Friendships blossom into romance.

Do they then get married? Hell no! Pensions are on the line. Marriage would mean someone would get a big cut in their Social Security payments. No way are they willing to let that happen. So now, shacking up is just fine. If marriage is going to impact their comfort level, they certainly aren't going to do it. Shacking up is no longer a big deal.

Personally, I'm cool with that. I don't hold a grudge about all the crap they gave me back in the day. A lot of other people are shocked at their parent's and grandparent's behavior. How dare they do such a thing! On the other hand, they don't actually want their parent to get married and put the inheritance in jeopardy. All the same, it just burns them up to see their elderly parent spending money on a new partner.

I find it all very amusing. I'm entertained by my elders trying to explain their living arrangement. Let's just say they don't call it shacking up. As for an inheritance, I knew long ago there wouldn't be one. Dying broke is just good planing. If those old folks can go out with a bang instead of a whimper, more power to them.

Still, I'm glad I didn't take those lectures too seriously back in the day.

-Sixbears