Thread Drift

[shootingstar]

I put in blocking and a few grab bars in my bathroom because I don't think old age or infirmity are the only reasons to have them. Merely being weakened by the flu or hurting your knee can lead you to want something to grab so you can steady yourself as you get in or out of a tub. I slipped and fell stepping into a tub in a hotel recently and without the grab bar I probably would have hit my head. And it's now possible to buy some that don't look like you're in a hospital room.

Ny, good point.

For first 4 days after my concussion accident off the bike after cyclist collided into me, I could not stand and take a shower. In fact, I didn't even take a bath. I was too dizzy...even to make simple turns in the kitchen to wash a cup or chop some veggies. There's actually a lot of body turning, and head movement to execute simple daily tasks around home indoors.
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Within the last 5 years, several friends around my age ('50s) and all women who are physically fit, no weight problems etc. have had: broken/sprained wrist/leg/ankle, strained their back (including my 50 yr. old sister who jogs every day for past 15 yrs., has run marathons) where they ended up in bed for a few days /very limited mobility for a few weeks.

We're mortal, and even the strongest of us, will at minimum, fall off our bike at least once in a lifetime. Even those of us who have cycled regularily for past few decades.

[Crankin]

The ones that are in there now are butt ugly, looks like a hospital room. I am sorry, I can't deal with this at this stage of my life. We've had things that made it difficult to move (fractured knee, flu, etc, DH's broken wrists and collar bone) and we never considered putting in bars. We are going to have the tile/bars gutted and put in swanstone surrounds. Maybe I am being stupid, but I just don't want to be old. I've had enough crashes/dumb accidents to know we all can fall, but this will not be part of my interior design right now. You guys are being realistic, and this is a very sore point with me. Everyone in my family lives to 90 with not too much infirmity and generally I deal better with problems of young people rather than older people. I know you are right, but I do not want to have reminders of possible infirmity.
I am aware of that mortgage/financial rule change. I don't think that is it. People looking at this price range are generally pre-qualified. The combination of a contemporary home, on a hill, with no grass, means our pool of prospective buyers is smaller, as New Englanders tend to be somewhat provincial in their ideas about homes. Most people want an 8 room colonial or Cape on an acre lot of grass. The woman with the kids is still interested; our agent had a talk with her today, about getting her husband here. We know we make these decisions more quickly than others, so we are impatient.

[shootingstar]

We just have 1 bar by the bathtub-shower in Vancouver. It came with the place when bought new from the condo builder...over 15 years ago. AFter awhile it becomes like wallpaper: you don't notice it.

Just 1 bar would have been appreciated in this location of home is helpful.

[Crankin]

Murienn, quite a few of the synagogues in the south and west use Shalom Y'all as their motto. My synagogue in Tempe actually sold small posters that said this as a fund raiser, and I had one on my fridge for years! That group sounds like fun... I love Savannah and would like to go back, when I am not under the pressure of boot camp graduation!
Shooting Star, it's funny you used the example of the bars becoming like wallpaper... I hate wallpaper and and we are having all of that removed, too! I went over there after class at the gym (actually felt quite bonked from doing my first step class in 5 months, and it's closer than my house), to see the progress DH has made. All of the appliances are out, new ones coming on Friday. The electrician and plumber came today, to do the line for the gas stove and fix the line for the ice maker. It already feels more like our house, as more and more stuff gets ripped out. DH was starting to rip out the vanities in the bathrooms when I left. We made some initial plans on where to place the couch in the sunroom and the likelihood of having a TV in there, mostly for me to do yoga DVDs. It's a very peaceful room, that overlooks the woods, and will mostly use it for reading, etc. Our big screen will be in the great room.
Raining so hard this morning, now it's thundering. I am praying the hurricane does not hit us directly, after this. DH is leaving for Japan on Sunday, and I've already been through one hurricane while he was texting me pictures of La Morra wine country in Italy! But, it looks like I might get a (cold) ride in on Saturday.

[emily_in_nc]

I surely wish there'd been a grab bar in my FIL's shower when he fell this past spring. He falls a LOT now, being 86. Nothing in their house was set up for accessibility, so I'm very relieved he's now in assisted living and they've sold the house.

One thing I've found interesting here in Mexico is that building codes, so far as I can tell, are very lax compared to those in the US. I see new buildings going up having inspection notices, but in particular, stairways are not required to have handrails. I recently slipped while coming down the steps after yoga practice, and dang, that hurt. The steps have narrow treads (also no building code about that, I guess), are concrete that's been slickened over the years from wear, and there's no railing. I was messing with my bag and trying to get my bottle of water out and owie! Slid down several stairs on my butt and hit the back of my forearm on a stair. I thought I was going to have a terrible bruise on my butt, but fortunately, if I did, it was out of sight, and it never felt sore. The arm is still a bit tender a week later. I have been much more careful coming down those stairs since!

Other than buildings with elevators and/or ground floor units/businesses, this is not a place set up for the elderly or disabled, but they have started installing wheelchair ramps into a couple of businesses, and have made a couple of the beaches accessible with boardwalks.

[Pax]

I surely wish there'd been a grab bar in my FIL's shower when he fell this past spring. He falls a LOT now, being 86. Nothing in their house was set up for accessibility, so I'm very relieved he's now in assisted living and they've sold the house.

One thing I've found interesting here in Mexico is that building codes, so far as I can tell, are very lax compared to those in the US. I see new buildings going up having inspection notices, but in particular, stairways are not required to have handrails. I recently slipped while coming down the steps after yoga practice, and dang, that hurt. The steps have narrow treads (also no building code about that, I guess), are concrete that's been slickened over the years from wear, and there's no railing. I was messing with my bag and trying to get my bottle of water out and owie! Slid down several stairs on my butt and hit the back of my forearm on a stair. I thought I was going to have a terrible bruise on my butt, but fortunately, if I did, it was out of sight, and it never felt sore. The arm is still a bit tender a week later. I have been much more careful coming down those stairs since!

Other than buildings with elevators and/or ground floor units/businesses, this is not a place set up for the elderly or disabled, but they have started installing wheelchair ramps into a couple of businesses, and have made a couple of the beaches accessible with boardwalks.

I remember that about Europe, I spent the year I was 11 in wheelchair and there was nothing accessible anywhere. My brother and parents got very adept at bouncing me up and down stairs.

[OakLeaf]

Yep. All the people who whine about the ADA ....

I remember that about Valencia in particular, in all the parts of town we explored in two and a half weeks, there was one bar that was accessible, and it seemed like everyone in the whole city who used a wheelchair hung out there, because there was just no place else they could go.

[Crankin]

Meh, no one is looking at our house. Another open house this Sunday and we dropped the price again. We decided we are going to move by Thanksgiving, no matter what. The work on the condo has started and I am excited about how it is going to turn out. We spent last Saturday picking out and ordering new living room furniture. We had a really good sales person at Crate and Barrel; he got our taste and needs.

[emily_in_nc]

Meh, no one is looking at our house. Another open house this Sunday and we dropped the price again. We decided we are going to move by Thanksgiving, no matter what. The work on the condo has started and I am excited about how it is going to turn out. We spent last Saturday picking out and ordering new living room furniture. We had a really good sales person at Crate and Barrel; he got our taste and needs.

Fall is a tough time to sell, I think. We've always had better luck in the spring. Though one house we sold closed in January, after a mega-snow, so you never know. I hope your perfect buyers will come along very soon. I know you're anxious to be done with it.

How exciting to be getting new furniture. That's fun. Other than when we bought all new island-style furniture in Belize (which we then left with the condo when we sold it), we've always had mostly hand-me-down pieces with just a couple new things here and there. We've never had the luxury of buying a whole roomful of furniture before. It's nice sometimes to be able to start fresh, as your tastes may have evolved quite a bit over the years, and the old stuff just doesn't suit. Love Crate & Barrel!

[Crankin]

We have had our living room furniture for 35 years! It is beautiful, still in good shape, Danish modern. But, while it is not "formal" looking like a lot of people's living rooms, it is not right for what is really more of a great room. We need a couch where we can slouch and watch TV. I think my son is going to take it, and it will look great in his house. We have had different furniture for the family rooms in all of our houses, more as a reflection of the stage of life our kids were in, and once because the space was smaller and we just used a couch we had in a guest room, that had a pull out bed. We also have had 3 kitchen tables and 3 dining room sets (Had the first one for 20 years, then bought one that was quite beautiful to fit in the dining room of our last house. Too bad we got it about 3 years before we moved here and it didn't fit!). Our current dining room table and the hutch and corner piece will be stored in the basement, and hopefully, we can use it if we buy a place in the Berkshires.
We love Crate and Barrel, too. Our current family room sectional, which is going in the new sunroom/den, as well as our kitchen set, and dining room table are from there. It really reflects our style. When we were first married, our whole house was Danish modern, but, we have become more eclectic as the years have passed. But, both of us hate "froo-froo." There's a Yiddish word that describes what we dislike even better than froo-froo...

[Crankin]

Where is everyone? I have never seen this forum so dead.

[ny biker]

Where is everyone? I have never seen this forum so dead.

I was thinking the same thing.

I have things I'd like to post but am kind of overwhelmed by life these days, mostly due to job issues. Long story short I've been trying to get my current employer to let me transition from a front end developer (user-interface stuff) to a backend database developer which requires them to find someone to take on some of the work I've been doing, though the language I program in is being phased out so there's not much for others to take over. Anyway yada yada yada starting next month they said I will be 100% doing database stuff, mostly things I didn't learn the in class I took to get me started in that area so I have to try to learn it now. (The yada yada yada part includes an episode in which I learned that incompetent + happy is preferred over competent + frustrated by co-workers who don't listen to you and managers who lie to you about supporting your career development.)

Being from Long Island I have to ask -- what's the yiddish word? I wonder if I know it.

[Pax]

Wish it would pick up again, but I'm guessing the forum is going through the same slow death many have since facebook and twitter came around. Seems we've entered a time were the only online communication valued is one with instant response/gratification.

[OakLeaf]

It's been a little distressing to me that when a handful of new people have come on here, they've kind of been ignored.

And again, the link to the forums from the retail site hasn't been restored. Which says to me it was deliberate, and that the forum has just become more hassle to TE (the business) than what it brings them in sales.

[Blueberry]

And again, the link to the forums from the retail site hasn't been restored.

I just tried it, and it's working for me. Might mean there's not good compatibility with their html, but it's there (Community -> TE Forums from the mail page).

I'm just not here much because I'm too busy with other stuff (med school). I love riding my bike and do it as much as I can - I just don't have time to talk about it here as much. I do try to check in every day or 2, but I usually don't feel like I have much to add to the conversation and so I don't post much. I've cut back on other forms of social media too - so it's not one taking over for another with me.