Hmmmm…. IS it time to get outta here?
I’m thinking, the more I contemplate events of the past week or so, that it surely is time: that I need to get on the road NOW, not later. Hire a Realtor to unload the palace. Pack up the chariot. Toss the dawg in and jump in after her. And take off in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.
This situation is NOT good. At best, we’re looking at weeks or months or — gawd forfend, more(!) — of harassment and hassle from the Authorities. Having to hire a lawyer. Putting up a fight while pretending to be on my best behavior.
At worst, we’re looking at my son being prosecuted, me being adjudicated, my home being lost to pay lawyers’ fees…holeeee shit!
Dayum.
Where would I go?
I dunno. La Maya and La Bethulia took up residence in a trailer on the Pacific Coast. I might make my way to their trailer park and try to buy a place there.
Colorado, maybe? I rather like DXH’s home town, Grand Junction. It’s a little hickish for my taste. But still…it does have its rustic appeal. With any luck, maybe it’s too far out in the sticks to attract nosy social workers.
Where else?
Mexico. Low cost of living. Balmy (often hot) weather. Awesome Mexican food! 😀
Deeper into Latin America? Hmmm…a bit more of a Learning Experience than I care to take on at this age. But…ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I guess.
Great Britain? Been there, done that. Not fond of being that cold. Or damp.
Moving: it really doesn’t appeal to me. Especially not moving out of the country. So that leaves, as a choice, hanging in here and taking my chances with Big Brother and his social workers.
And that DOES leave me not knowing which way to jump. Common sense tells me to get the Hell out of here while I can. But inertia tells me to lean back, prop my feet on the hassock, and relax.
Whoa, hold the phone! I know having those folks show up must have been a huge shock, and I’d be out of my mind with worry if they showed up at my door, but I don’t think drastic action is required.
I don’t have any inside knowledge,, but I understand that these agencies get a lot of concerned calls, and they have to investigate all of them, but they know a fair number will turn out to be unsubstantiated. They’ve had a chance to talk to you, and presumably they can talk to your son if they think they need to. (Yes, a hassle and a chunk out of his work day, but something he can handle.) My guess is that they’re now convinced you’re not a prisoner in your own home nor being financially drained by your son or abused in any other way and will close their investigation.
I know a reader expressed concern on a previouspost that your son had taken your car and then your bike. Do you think that could be the root of this? Not necessarily that reader, but someone who shared that concern? I’m glad you’re looking into Uber and grocery delivery and other ways of handling grocery shopping and transportation.
Best of luck, and I hope the situation resolves itself smoothly.
Yeah… I dunno who tattled on me. I have an idea, though. Raw luck, it was, that they showed up within a couple of hours after Wonder Cleaning-Lady had shoveled out the house. They probably think I’m some sort of miracle housekeeper! 😀
No, I don’t think the car & the bike antics had anything to do with it. We’re SO centrally located that, truth to tell, you don’t need anything but a decent pair of shoes to get around. I’m 3/4 of a block to a main drag where train tracks bear regular trips of clean, new light-rail trains all the way from the top of our neighborhood down throgh the central corridor of the city and drop riders off in the downtown business district. On the way, the train passes a block from my son’s house: making it easy for me to pester him without benefit of a car. I’m within walking distance of…well…let’s count’em up:
A Sprouts
A Fry’s Supermarket
A Walgreen’s
A computer repair and retail store
A Walmart
A CVS pharmacy
A liquor store(!!)
A beauty shop
Several hole-in-the-wall restaurants
A veterinarian
There are more…you get the idea. This neighborhood is served by a plethora of convenient, handy, and dandy businesses. In theory, you could go for days and maybe even a couple of weeks without ever going outside the neighborhood…or navigating the place in any other way than on foot.
A-a-a-n-d now that we have an Uber driver right across the street…well, the truth is you really don’t NEED to own a car here. At all.