My son was talking about his friend's gf and called her a butter face.
I asked what that meant.
He said she's really hot everywhere but-her face !!!

Don't you have bearings to pack?

lol Yeah, that's tomorrow's work. I don't like getting in a hurry on anything to be done outside when there's ice on the ground. I'll get the bearings tomorrow and then wait til Saturday to install them when the temp is up to about 42.
Besides that the fire dept is feeding steak to all volunteers in bout an hour !!! ;)

and back to the topic of this thread, I'm thinking about going to Florida with my trailer loaded down with tools and finding work there. My brother-in-law's parents have a house I can stay in and exchange repairs and painting for rent. So I hope to have a new zip code soon and really start over too !!!

I think about this EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!

I know someone who has spent years working in Florida on other peoples yachts. He is an excellent wood worker, and works when there is business. When there isn't, he doesn't stress.

He just recently got a offer and has all his tools packed up and is moving on someone elses dime in HI to work on some yacht there for a year or so....

Fing, I just read your opening comment to my wife and her immediate response was "He should write a book. He sounds smart and eloquent."

You are correct. Its a real "diamond in the rough" area that most people do not ever visit. Very in-expensive in this area, I have a few friends living in this area and its well worth looking at for many reasons.

Joe A

I would vote for a move to Germany and become an instructor at the Nurburging.

Sounds like it's time to buy sunscreen !!! lol

Your age will be a show-stopper for emigration to a lot of countries. Hate to say it, but they want young people with skills, not older people even with skills. Older people can potentially cost them a lot of money in benefits after retirement and they consider that.

Naturally the U.S. doesn't seem to give a damn when you look at our own immigration standards/policies by comparison. Come on in, if you end up costing us a few hundred thousand bucks for each one of you, hey! It's just taxpayer money. Not like it's real money or anything! We'll just raise taxes! Welcome, go stand in that line!

You will need a assistant/photographer... especially when we go to publish the book...

I will make the sacrifice and volunteer to go along.

want to escape?

how to start over in foreign lands or relocate........TONS of good info here:

Living Overseas - International Real Estate, Overseas Jobs - Asset Protection - Expatriate Resources - Overseas Retirement

I really HAVE been paying attention to the thread.

I HAVE lived in Key West on an earlier sabbatical. Spent a week there once in the motorhome while waiting for the FAA to process the paperwork on a new airline based in Daytona Beach. Had a great weekend (completely solo), sitting, reading and lounging on the beach all day, and having great food in fun conch-style restaurants at night. Kept a low profile, was the reason for the sabbatical. When I showed up in Daytona a week later, tanned, rested and ready to go back to work, everyone (all locals) asked where I 'disappeared' to...? When told them, and that it was the 'friendliest city' I had ever been to, they all went to the floor.

It was only then that they informed me it was also the gayest city in all of Florida.... Oh well, I didn't have any problems of any kind, and while I would certainly go again, it might 'color' how I felt.

The Austrailia idea is a common one as well, but for a pilot, you are required to surrender your pilot's license at customs, and retrieve it when you leave. I guess the pilot's unions there are militant about keeping 'foreigners' out. Probably because we here in the states do the same, so that's out.

Romainia, Hungary, and the rest of the Eastern Block. Yes, all said is true. But have BTDT, and to work/live there 'legally' is a whole another thang. Same goes for most all of Asia, especially Singapore and Thailand. They are rsponding to how the USA treats them when they try the same thing here.

Central America. Some good, some bad, but like most banana republics, you gotta have a grubstake or suffer working 'under the table'.

Bike ride/car drive. Have done a lot of that, and am always amazed at how fast you can go thru cash and credit. A breakdown, or bad weather will strand you in some amazingly small towns. The 'Route 66' option has disappeared pretty much, no one trusts anyone anymore, and rightfully so.

Peace Corps and the like. You'd be surprised where those guys go these days. Places where there are no shots for whats there. Or you can get your shots in country, and go home in a box.

Flying jobs are pretty scarce, even places other then here. I am a year behind the ex-pat rush that most pilots made when the well went dry here.

Teaching. Have considered this. Problem is, most spots are in locales where the cost of living cannot be met by the pay for teaching alone. Sad. The shepherds of future generations (of everything) are the lowest paid on the planet.

Sex jobs. Probably what got me to where I am. I have whored myself out to rich guys with big planes and big watches for a lot of my career. When the going gets tough, you lose the yacht and the jet, and bum rides off of the rich friends that still have their jets.

Government flying. Have done a lot of that, most of which I still cannot talk about. The best jobs are always under Democrats in the White House, but the one that is in there at the moment, does not care about actual intel, or preserving his sources and pathways to respectability, so he has no need to preserve a fleet of 'on demand, immediate action' people. Couple that with a SecState that is always 'chasing the wabbit' rather than implementing a strategy or policy, and what you have is a simple need to use existing MAC flights to move from photo op to photo op. This WILL come home to roost, and probably soon. The people who were there with me over the years are leaving in droves after HO's photo op with the caskets, and his photo-op lobby appearance in Langley where tourists had to be brought in so that it appeared there were employees interested in meeting the prez. Follow that with a double agent murdering 7 long-time career civil servants in cold blood without repercussions of any kind, and those agencies are suffering senior retirements at record rates. People who cannot be replaced by machine politicians from Chicago. So that's out.

My path to some sort of salvation is pretty slim at the moment. Even Joes' driveway and a couch in Philly is looking good! (I don't know how to change the font to green)......

Vista?

I picture this as

• retired military
• VA medical
• vested in a private pension
• recent non-mortgage property purchase

You're not really starting over like someone that just graduated from high school, you want to do something rewarding and income is not your primary concern.

Will call you later tonight. Am heading out to dinner shortly here in Dallas but back at the hotel in a bit.

fing...living in the gayest city in the world has it's benefits. imagine a bunch of sexually frustrated women hanging with a bunch of tan, muscular gay dudes that only want to be friends? enter, fingpilot, hetero extraordinaire! odds go up from there. whatever you do, you will need a steady stream of pusy.

other than that, florida isnt my fav. nice fishing, and hunting tho.

Joe, thanks!

vash;

Yeah, I think I remember using that line of thinking way back then, but really didn't/wasn't aware while I was there. It was a non-issue. I have always been very tolerant of other people's lifestyle choices (especially in my business), so it just didn't 'pop up' (pardon the pun).

pwd72s. The 'vista' threw me, but then I thought of the 'where'. Yes, spent some time there.

rick-l. Am not retired military. Private pension went in a corporate bankruptcy years ago, no VA medical, had to drop the private healthcare insurance a year ago after my premium tripled in 2 years for no reason whatsoever. After 55 years of NEVER a claim, NEVER a medical issue, and a 1st class medical every 6 months since 1968. Recent non-mortgage purchase? Does a new prepaid cellphone count?

you mentioned "niche business" in your original post. what are your hobbies, or things you enjoy doing?