Getting a rental agreement...

First impressions are lasting and so far the rental agreements regarding our Feb 2012 houses are nothing to write home about. Maybe it's because I'm spoiled from dealing with Michael and Patrick from Casa Dos Chivos. Whenever I write to them about renting their place I receive an email with an attached rental agreement that day or at the very latest the next. Quinta Jabali was not much different. I received an agreement in the mail from Michael Silhol. The thing about the two houses I just mentioned was that I only ask once. I've now ask twice for some rental agreement or facsmile from the owner of Casa La Vista. He wrote back to me this evening and said he would mail one out early next week. That'll be two weeks after we were told the house was available. This is a $2k rental for one week...not pocket change for me. I would expect a better response time. I had to write twice to the Hilltop apartment then when I was finally emailed an agreement I had 5 business day to send it back. Just seems strange to have the onus on me for getting the lease agreement.

The high today in Indiana was 98 degrees. It was suppose to feel like 110 with all the humidity.  I just checked and it's still 87 out and it's suppose to feel like 93. Vieques, on the other hand,  had a high of 88...... about what it is now here in Indiana at 9pm. It's currently 80 in Vieques with clear skies.

:-)

Houses for Feb booked

Finally finished with our houses for Feb 2012. We decided to spent the whole two weeks in Los Chivos this time, we like that area so much. A little different twist this time with the first place being an apartment. It's called Hilltop Apartment

Here's some video of the view from the terraces from the apartment. What's kinda kewl is that you have views of the Atlantic side and the Caribbean side.

The second house is  Casa La Vista

Now the hard part begins ...waiting.

:-)

Feb trip plans almost complete...

We've got our flight booked now, it was $400 cheaper than the November trip. We're in the process of  trying to secure Casa La Vista for one of our rentals. Whats even better is that it's currently for sale so if we really like it we always have the option to purchase....yeah right:

Did you notice that it's priced competitively too!!!

Casa Dos Chivos is booked for the month of Feb in 2012 so it's not a choice. We're thinking about a spectacular appartment for the other rental but have yet to hear from the owner.

:-)

Evening rant #2

I know this blog is mostly about our trips to Vieques with a few things thrown in about our life "after the mortgage", but I just can't help myself on this one, especially since we personally have lived most all of our married life within our means with an ultimate goal of being exactly where we are today. It wasn't easy.  I lost my job 10 years into our marriage and had to totally change careers. This happened without warning (the company moved) and it was while we were building our first house.  But we had planned things so that one of us could lose his/her job and we still could make it. That's called living within your means, not living at the edge of your means or even beyond.

So "cut to the chase" you ask. Well ok.

 Yesterday I see splashed all over the web that our president is declaring that IF the debt ceiling is not raised SSI checks may not be mailed out first of August. Now aside from the fear mongering there's a real problem with what he's saying. Am I the only one that's bothered by the fact that we can't send out SSI without using borrowed monies? Uhh...aren't the deductions off  mine and everyone else's  payroll checks each week supposed to be going into an account to fund SSI? Think about it for a sec. We can't borrow ad infinitum to fund a program that's essentially broke or soon to be broken. Yeah I know..."we have a social contract" with retires. It also seems like we have a social contract with home mortgage owners who borrowed more than they could afford. You know...the tax monies that have been set aside to help pay down principles on peoples home mortgages. You think  that doesn't chap my arse!  Also seems like we have a social contract with the people who have been layed off recently.....we'll I use that term "recently" lightly. Some have been layed off for 3 years. Is that a social contract or a new career path? Seems we also have a social contract with the people who's jobs have been shipped over seas. I have a cousin who's job has been shipped over seas and he tells me he qualifies for assistance with his rent and utilities, plus his college for 2 years.  Think about that for a sec. The company axes him because of labor costs, it's been happening all over the country for years. So with each job we lose  more of our tax base and  now we also incur the cost of re-training these cast-offs. 

I've veered off onto multiple tangents here...I know.

IMHO the bottom line is NOT that those SSI might not be mailed out the first of August. No...it's that the system is broke and government and a large portion of this country is living beyond it's means. It's not going to be easy and it WILL be painful.

Did I ever tell you there's an island off the coast of Puerto Rico that I like to go to because I can get away from it all?

:-)

Now planning Feb 2012 trip...

Since things are squared away for our November trip this year we've already began planning the Feb 2012 trip. What we're finding is that a lot of the rentals we like are already booked for the month of Feb.  We've considered maybe trying a house on the northern side of the island, but have yet to really committ to it. We'll probably have house/houses booked within the next few weeks.  You have to book well in advance for the peak season on Vieques. I'm afraid to look at airline tickets....