We moved in December, 2019. A couple of years prior to our move, we bought into a 55+ development in Florida. I figured I’d go there a couple of months in the winter and it really wouldn’t affect my life. WRONG. We loved it. The clubhouse, the activities, the weather, etc. In addition, since there were about 1,100 houses, I could probably offend at least 600 people without impacting our lifestyle. Bottom line is that we spent a lot more time there than I thought we would.
That made our house in NY, which was large and on an acre, more of a liability than an asset. Some of you were able to visit our layout there, which is something I really enjoyed. If not, here’s a Forum post of a “train day” at Gerry’s.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...-the-morlitz-central
So the layout was dismantled, the house was sold and we bought into another 55+ development in Somerset, NJ. We closed on both houses in December, 2019 and got out of NJ as fast as we could for the warmth of Florida. But we really looked forward to returning, meeting our new neighbors, enjoying the activities, etc. I mean like, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, as we all know, a lot did. So when life gives you lemons, you just try to do the best that you can. The house needed a bunch of work done to it and my back isn’t what it used to be. We were really lucky and got Sid and his crew. Now Sid usually does major housing additions, kitchen and bathroom renovations, etc. But he couldn’t get any licenses last year. So he did our work, including building the train tables. That happened in late July and August. There are pictures of the painted train tabletops and supports in the garage. I did the painting. And a picture of Sid building the tables in the basement. My layout is a 1950’s layout. Green grass, so green table tops. I use orange legs and supports.
I’m attaching a few pictures of what I went through to get to that point. I also did a little bribery to make sure I had helpers. You see them eating. Food and drink always gets cooperation! And Bob and Al are a lot better at this than I am. Interestingly enough, we invited them for a weekend last year and then found out that the weekend we selected was both of their 49th anniversaries. The anniversaries were one day apart. We had to change the date because of COVID quarantining, but coupled it with my 75th birthday to have a nice celebration. Which was really great in 2020.
More to follow as stuff has been done since the tables were built.
BTW, the RR name has a double meaning. Rightfully, my wife calls me a BRAT. But my grandchildren are Becca, Rory, Alexandra, Theo and Samantha. Too good a name to pass up.
Gerry
