Countdown, Milestones, Paperwork, and Finally “Pulling the Pin”

September 8, 2012September 8, 2012 | Alan

Exciting week in our progress toward retirement and relocation.

Magic numbers: This last Tuesday was 100 days left in my final semester teaching at TMCC. Perhaps because I am in “short timer mode” and nostalgic during this semester, these numeric milestones cause me pause when I reach them.

The event reminded of Chapter 100 from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.”

“Well, here we are at Chapter 100. This calls for a little celebration.

I am an author and therefore in the same business God is in: if I say this page is a bottle of champagne, it is a bottle of champagne. Reader, will you share a cup of the bubbly with me? You prefer French to domestic? Okay, I’ll make it French. Cheers!

Here’s to the one hundredth chapter! Hundred.

A cardinal number, ten tunes ten, the position of the third digit to the left of the decimal point, a power number signifying weight, wealth and importance. The symbol for hundred is C, which is also the symbol for the speed of light. There are a hundred pennies in a dollar, a hundred centimeters in a meter, a hundred years in a century, a hundred yards on a football field, a hundred points in a carat, a hundred ways to skin a cat and a hundred ways of cooking eggplant.”

As a joke a decade ago I had a “Retirement Countdown Clock” sitting on my office desk which counted down days my 30 year anniversary of public service. I would carry the joke further every few years by sending e-mails to friends and colleagues with the subject line, “My pending retirement . . .” and explain that there was only 3,650 days (or fewer days as time passed) until my retirement and I would make my best effort to visit and make my good byes in the “few” remaining days I left. I am now in the “double digits” of days left at the college and there really is only a few days to make time to say good-bye to all those friends and colleagues.

Tuesday of this week also marked 125 days until our target departure date. Our countdown is rapidly working its way down.

Official Paperwork: On Friday, Tracy and I drove to Carson City to file my final retirement with the Nevada Public Employee Retirement System (PERS.) While I had previously given the college my notice to retire, I also needed to complete and submit my retirement application for my pension with PERS. My retirement application had some complexity because I have an overlapping 16 years of law enforcement (Police/Fire retirement) and 20 years of college teaching (Regular retirement) for a combined total of 32 years credit of public service. The application was also an exception because most Nevada college and university faculty contribute to other retirements systems like Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA–CREF) and not PERS. The forms are now signed, notarized, and filed.

I have now officially “pull the pin” and the “fuse is lit” for my retirement effective January 7, 2013.

Cheers!

Alan in his office at TMCC 2012 — Alan in his office at Truckee Meadows Community College, 2012

Our last Rib Cook-off

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012 | Tracy

It's all about the RIBS! — It’s all about the RIBS!

We attended our last Rib Cook-off today. This one like so many in the past was all about barbecue sauce and roasted ears of corn, looking for a place to sit and eat that may or may not have a little bit of shade or somewhere to set down your sampler tray. And this year, like every year in the past I’ve left the dental floss at home. But that negligent aspect aside, it is the smell and the taste of well done barbecue and sweet and tangy sauces that has kept us going back year after year after year.

The Rib Cook-off is but one of the many events hosted in the Reno-Sparks area that we will miss in the years to come, yet as any good organizer knows you cannot add something new without letting something go or you just end up with chaos.

So we said our farewell to the Rib Cook-off with a sampling of excellently cooked and basted pork ribs, roasted corn on the cob, Alan indulged in a bit of deep-fried peaches with whipped cream shared with our son Nick who came along to spend a couple of hours with us out in the smokey, barbecue-flavored haze that is Rib Cook-off.

The foodie in each of us is pleased and our inner organizers plan to substitute barbecued ribs for the annual horse race in Siena in 2013 to keep life balanced and free of chaos while accepting that we will do without the familiar and embrace the unknown as we prepare for a future abroad.

See Alan’s event portfolio.

Portfolio Preview

August 30, 2012August 30, 2012 | Tracy

An Italian Point of View has a new Web site. This new site has portfolios of our favorite photos from excursions we’ve had recently.

Updates will occur as we continue on our journey and our hope is to connect the new Web site and our Twitter, Flickr and You Tube accounts to our Word Press blog. For now I think we may have to memorize all of the Web addresses and add links, but as we become more proficient we expect that these things will also get easier to link together.

So visit the new site and view some our current online portfolios.

And the good news keeps coming . . .

August 30, 2012August 30, 2012 | Tracy

Item number two on our “big list” was to sell Apollo.

A week ago, we listed Apollo on Craig’s List after getting him a bath and taking a few photos of him all bright and shiny. We knew that we needed to act quickly before the winter season set in as it is very difficult to sell a sport car when it’s snowing, especially one that is rear-wheel drive.

So after his mini spa day and photo shoot, we wrote an ad, uploaded some photos of Apollo’s big smiling mug and listed a price we thought we could negotiate around and sent it into the vastness of the Internet to work it’s magic on the right person.

Three days later the right person came along. Exactly the right person — over the age of 40 and could drive a manual transmission, someone who had sports cars his whole life (mainly Corvettes) and who could appreciate a GM product, someone who had a second vehicle and wouldn’t need Apollo as a means of transportation in the winter, and best of all . . . someone with cash.

A quick phone call, a 15 minute meet at the marina, a peek under the hood and a hop into the driver’s seat and he was on his way home with his wife and Schnauzer. The following day, another quick phone call, a 15 minute meet at the bank and finally a quick test drive (my first time in the passenger seat) and Apollo was on his way home with his new family.

Now we are looking forward to getting “big list” item three handled. Number three is selling the Smart car which we are expecting to start in November.

Things continue to move forward and we are grateful and appreciative of all those who are helping us along the way, even if it’s just rehoming a few “big list” items for us!

Kiara is not having fun

August 25, 2012August 27, 2012 | Tracy

About 10 days ago, we made an appointment at Baring Village Veterinary (our vet) for Kiara to begin her export process.

After reviewing all the paperwork for exporting a pet to the European Union and Italy specifically we were happy to realize that on January 1, 2012 the process changed and actually became simpler. Yay for us. But although the process is simpler it still requires some attention to detail.

Kiara must have an international microchip (15 digit number) which will work with a specific hand wand brand used in Italy. No problem, the vet’s office had the right chip, so we had it implanted in February when she went in for her annual dental cleaning (surgical cleaning, chihuahua’s have horrible dentition) however the required rabies shot used in Nevada is a three-year shot done two years prior to her microchipping.

In order to export her to Italy she must receive the rabies vaccine AFTER being microchipped. So we brought her in for her appointment and had her vaccines updated. In addition to the full exam, including having her temperature taken (something she completely despises) it was also time to check her blood work for the medications she takes. So she was poked and prodded a bit more than she was expecting and was not happy about it at all, and then to add insult to injury we had the vet tech give her a pedicure. Displeased was only the beginning of how upset she was when we left.

The following day we noticed that her necked was all bruised and the following afternoon she was moving around in circles and crying. Usually the only time we see this circling behavior is when she is having seizures, so we were extremely worried about this particular behavior especially with the crying because she never, ever cries. By that afternoon we were back at the vet’s office for a sanity check up and set of x-rays to assure us that she hadn’t eaten something that was causing her great pain and making her cry. Thankfully, the x-rays came back clear and the vet didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about. The bruising on her neck was from a blood draw and would fade in a few days. We took her home and haven’t heard any further crying. Thankfully, we have used the same vet’s for over 15 years and they know us and Kiara very well since they see our baby often due to her seizures so they often discount our treatments and visits knowing we are repeat customers.

The next step for her exportation is to wait until 10 days prior to our departure and have the vet sign off on the export paperwork which will then go to the USDA office in Sacramento for certifying. Their web site states that they need 48 hours to turn around the paperwork and if we submit the paperwork with a return FedEx slip they will happily expedite shipping, or we are free to come by the office and pick up the paperwork. Seeing as we are leaving in January, we are planning to use the Priority Overnight option available from FedEx rather than attempting to get over Donner Pass on I-80 in January.

Once we receive her certified documents, she will be able to travel with us throughout the EU as well as in the cabin of the plane on Delta Airlines. Delta is one of the few airlines that transport pets in the cabin of the plane on international flights, a necessity for us as she needs medication twice a day and the flight is over 19 hours. There is another airline that transports in the cabin, but they are affiliated with United and United does not allow pets in the cabin. We are unwilling to take a chance on her being de-boarded or stuck in with the luggage or as cargo, so we are more than happy to fly Delta.

At least for now, she’s all ready to go once we get within our 10-day window. Whew.

Homeless . . . and happy!

August 18, 2012August 25, 2012 | Tracy

We got great news today — the house closed!!

Our beautiful, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, 2 car garage home has a new owner and we couldn’t be happier about it.

Selling the house was one of those “big list” items that was important to both of us to be handled prior to our move. This morning we received an email from our realtor that the house has closed and that there is a check awaiting us at the title company. Woohoo!

After our first buyer didn’t quite work out due to their bank not getting the paperwork together over a rather long nine month period, we had to make the decision to abandon our first buyer and re-list the house. It was a difficult decision as we had been hopeful that the first buyer’s bank could get it together and close the deal, but that just didn’t happen.

So, after a discussion with our realtor we re-listed the house on July 5 at 9:30 am, by 10:30 am there were 25 requests to view the house, by July 6 at 5 pm our realtor took the house back off the market so that we could go through the four offers we had already received. Of the four offers, two were cash. After reviewing each of the four offers we accepted one of the cash offers. The buyer had checked the box on the offer stating he was not planning to live in the house and we figured it was someone interested in flipping the house.

We eventually found out that the buyer wasn’t intending to flip the house but the reason he wasn’t planning to live in the house was that he bought it for his paraplegic brother and sister-in-law. Talk about feeling good about a decision, after realizing what an amazing person was buying our house, we couldn’t help but feel good that we had re-listed the house allowing this new buyer the opportunity to find a house in his price range, leaving enough left over for the renovations necessary to add ramps and remodel the master bath to accommodate his brother.

Thankfully our home had wide hallways, spacious living areas and would need minimal upgrades to accommodate a wheelchair, thus allowing his brother to move into the house within weeks of the purchase and the few upgrades the house would need.

We are super happy for the new owners and hope that they have many happy years in the house, we sure did.

For us, it was a moment of joy to find out that we are now free to move without fear of having an anchor back in the States that we’ll have to deal with from afar. We are grateful to our realtor, Terri Cole with Coldwell Banker and would recommend her to anyone in the Reno/Sparks area in search of a dedicated realtor.

With 143 days left until we move, this news couldn’t have been more timely. Now we will refocus our efforts to selling the cars and finishing our other tasks before moving.

Planning the annual Girls’ Trip for 2012

August 7, 2012August 25, 2012 | Tracy

We are a family who loves to spend time together! Especially the women of my family. For years now we have tried to get together once a year to do some girl-bonding. No husbands, no children is the general rule. This year, the girls are gathering again . . . for a 4-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. Woohoo!

We will be visiting La Bufadora in Ensenada and doing a bit of shopping and sightseeing, and a few of us will try our best at not drowning during a kayaking trip off Catalina Island. Should be wonderful and packed full of memories.

We will be on the Riviera Deck near the front but not close enough to get seasick and have ocean view rooms that will be just lovely.

Our ship for this trip is Carnival’s Inspiration.

2052 passenger capacity
920 crew onboard
855 feet in length

This is a first cruise for a couple of the girls, but most of us are seasoned sailors, yet as with every cruise we look forward to having a wonderful time — from food to comedy clubs to waterslides — we are sure to have an amazing trip in 112 days when we sail!

Woohoo! Cannot wait.

We got it!

July 25, 2012July 25, 2012 | Tracy

We have secured our first apartment in Italy!

50 square meters off via Laura just a block from Piazza Innocenti on a pedestrian street. It has all the features we were hoping for: terra cotta floors, dark beam ceilings, a garden/terrace area and room for company. We were looking for apartments in the historic district and this gem of a place is just a few blocks from the Duomo in Florence. One of the nicest features is that it is a ground floor apartment and all the areas that Kiara needs to access are on one floor, no stairs for her.

Our lease is 18 months and has an option to renew, so we’ll need to decide if we’re staying on a little longer in Florence or making the move to Venice which is stop number two for our Italian adventure.

Master Bedroom - Florence Apartment — Master Bedroom – Florence Apartment

This shot of the master bedroom shows the terra cotta floors (which will help keep the room cool in the summer) and part of the study loft above.

Study Loft - Florence Apartment — Study Loft – Florence Apartment

This is the study loft in the master bedroom which shows the dark, wood beam ceiling as well.

Living Room - Florence Apartment — Living Room – Florence Apartment

The living room, which is actually part of the great room which includes the living room, kitchen and dining room. The space is not very big, but is nicely appointed without being crowded so even the small space looks larger.

Guest Loft - Florence Apartment — Guest Loft – Florence Apartment

The guest loft has two single beds that can be made into a double bed for couples (this is a standard in Italy which allows for a lot of flexibility for hotels and vacation rentals).

Dining Room - Florence Apartment — Dining Room – Florence Apartment

The dining room has a nice view of the terrace garden, we are hopeful that the fountain actually works! This was the shot that sold us on this apartment, we could just picture ourselves having breakfast at this table every day.

Kitchen - Florence Apartment — Kitchen – Florence Apartment

The kitchen is all pretty normal as Italian basic kitchens go, except for that nice big oven. That is definitely an upgrade from the average Italian kitchen and one that we’ll appreciate all winter long.

The statue and greenery are a welcome sight, we never expected anything so beautiful or even a backyard at all, this was such a huge bonus for us.

But as far as apartments go, this one is actually very nice and quite spacious for it’s minimal square footage and it is so beautifully situated within the historic district that it will definitely be a great starting point for us.

Visa Requirements: Check!

July 12, 2012July 19, 2012 | Alan

Successful day for us.

Tracy arranged an 18 month lease for an apartment on Via Laura in the downtown historic district of Florence from Apartments Florence. The apartment is about 1/3 of a mile north of the Duomo, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower), and a block away from Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation.)

Alan obtained travel insurance from World Nomads.

For a greater than 90 days visit, Italy required a full Schengen Visa. Our requested visa is titled “Elective Residency” which requires proof of financial support, a place of residence, and medical insurance. We now have two requirements out of three and statements requested and enroute from the Nevada Public Employment Retirement System (PERS) to demonstrate our financial independence with our pensions. An Elective Residency visa does not allow our employment in Italy. Which is fine with us since our goal is retirement not work.