1976 Ford Pinto, didn't blow up on me, but I was never rear-ended 1976 Honda CVCC--my friends called this a beer can. Because it looked like one to them. Could reach over and roll down the window on the passenger side while driving, without leaning over. Small! 1988 Pontiac LeMans-the car they brought back from the 60s only uglier and less durable. The first car I ever ever bought. 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse-At this time, Mitsubishi, Dodge, and Eagle (remember them?!) were in collusion, I mean had agreements, in place and Eagle made the Talon. Daddy liked my Eclipse so much he bought a Talon. 1990 Mazda Miata--you know how I feel about that one!!!! 2011-1990=21 years old. Still running strong. After bankruptcy, foreclosure, and divorce... AND it got flooded, there is no A/C (I don't care), no heater (I don't care), the driver's window doesn't crank up or down, I can pull it instead, and the radio just went out. I might fix that. I did just get a brand new convertible top and it'll likely work another three or so years. My parents owned, during my lifetime, and I rode in: '67 Jaguar XKE (CHECK THIS CAR OUT!!!!) Late 70s Grand Torino Ford, Pinto (the same one) A really huge and old Oldsmobile that I learned to drive on. Ugh. Cars my boyfriends/husbands have owned, and I drove/owned: 196? VW Bug (two of them) 198? Honda CRX (two of them) 1986 1/2 yes, a half year??? Toyota Celica, Supra (two of them) Oldsmobile Cutlass Nissan pickup Mazda 626 Mazda Protege Isuzu Rodeo The weird thing is, the two bugs, two Hondas, and the two Supras are the same two guys. Both guys onwed all those cars in succession. Where they deviate? After I broke up with boyfriend of eight years, he bought a Nissan Pathfinder. The one I married and stayed married to for 11 years, owned an ordinary Nissan pickup. Weird!!!!!

Rusty is right. JD dumped many small dealers and now you have to drive for parts. They don't follow the successful Walmart program of many little profits making a huge profit. Bad move in my mind. As a part time job, I service, on average, one machine every day of the year. 90% are Sears, or MTD. I really have to do almost no repair on the bodies, mostly routine stuff on the engines. I always loved my Wheelhorse 312A, non-Toro, but when I bought a used JD316, I have to honestly say that JD has it all over my Wheelhorse. Neither one has nickeled and dimed me, but my Eaton hydro pump did fail on the Horse after about 1000 hours. That set me back $800 for the part.

It was on the Wednesday before New Year that the car had a really hard time starting ... then was noisy, indicating that more work was needed on the exhaust ... and it was missing, only a few of the cylinders operating, so it was somewhat weaker, and I didn't try to drive in fifth gear on Wednesday, as I visited the garage, who said that they were not too busy and to bring it in tomorrow. I visited son and we had some discussion about getting his car going and my possibly borrowing it for a few days. It was overnight going to Thursday that the catheter blocked, and in the early hours of the morning I wondered whether I could get through emerg and get to the garage about opening time ... but it turned out that some complicating factors meant that I didn't get going till time to go directly to the garage. Then I took a cab to emerg, and after the new catheter was installed I walked back to the garage ... and they told me that the car couldn't be used - they didn't want me to even drive it home. The car did me a favour, as I was about 55-45 about replacing, or fixing, it - and it made the decision for me. I stayed with son till Sunday, walked a few blocks to downtown and caught a bus that dropped me right in front of the church, ten minutes before church time. One of the generous parishioners drove me home. I spent a quiet New Year's eve, contemplating the year ahead, along with my future. It was a few degrees above zero F. through most of the week with snow on several days, and a fairly heavy wind through most days of the week. The neighbour has a small building with a boiler near his house that sends hot water in to heat the house, and the smoke from that fairly high stack has been sent flying over the field at a fairly stiff pace ... which discouraged me from showing my nose outdoors, let alone hitch-hilking. As cars drive through patches of snow on the road and a dusting of snow flies up - the wind sends it scooting into the nearby field at speed (not quite a fast as the car). My landlord's son lives in the near edge of the city, his truck was parked near the shop on Wednesday, and he agreed to drive me to the city when he went home that afternoon and I was all packed and ready to go at five ... but he didn't show. I'd visited my neighbour to call my son (as my phone isn't working) to tell him of my expected trip to the city, but the next morning it was pretty windy and cold and I didn't walk the third of a mile or so to warn him that the plan had fallen through: old guys aren't supposed to leave people who care about them hanging like that, you know. During that week of enforced isolation, with little of consequence to do, I did quite a lot of checking to find my credit card ... without success. I'm to take oranges and bananas regularly related to one of my medicines, was out of bananas for much of the week and was running really low on orange juice and milk. On this week Tuesday I was to have a blood test for my urologist, the weather was mild(er!), with no snow forecast and little wind, so I decided to head for town. Left home just after 2, walked a half mile to a rather busier corner, was soon picked up and the family was going right near where I was to have the blood test and I needed to get some money from the bank to pay the body shop for opening the hood of son's van. Took a bus to near son's place and we got his van mobile this (Wednesday) afternoon. Let me assure you, in no uncertain terms, that I was over the moon to have our own wheels under me as I drove the six blocks from the body shop to son's place. I'm to take son and friend shopping in the morning, to go to the Old Farts' coffee and conversation, after two missed weeks ... ... and the next item on the agenda is to look for serviceable (rather ole) wheels for ole joyful! Wish me luck. ole joyful

@cpartist asked, Where will the dining table go? We’re not fans of dedicated dining rooms simply because they (for us) receive little, if any, use. So, one dining table will be in the great room. We mostly eat in front of the TV or outside when weather permits. Because Phoenix has mild weather most of the year we plan to have a dining table outside under the covered loggia adjacent to the Media Room on the courtyard side. @cpartist asked, Why does the pantry get two outside corners? The pantry is being revised and will have no outside corners; however, the adjacent scullery (thank you @3onthetreefor that word. . .hadn’t heard it in decades) will (and should) get the light through planned windows. Here's my rough sketch to the architect conveying the revised pantry concept: @cpartist asked, How will you arrange furniture in the great room? We’ll purchase new furniture for the home and expect the space will be divided into a seating area will a large sectional and a dining area. @cpartist asked, Why is the kitchen so large with lots of inefficient space? My wife likes the size and shape of this kitchen (I do too) as well as the adjacent pantry/appliance storage space. We’ve walked through a kitchen with an almost identical layout. Here’s the inspiration photo. Our plan is to have large windows on the far wall and no upper cabinets. (Question: I’m curious about your thoughts on how it’s inefficient. Please clarify?) @cpartist asked, What is the purpose of the separate room with a sink in it? I think you’re referring to the pantry. See my earlier comment. @cpartist asked, Why do you need such a large bath/shower area? Of course, I actually don’t need it, but it’s what I want (although my wife is fighting the concept and prefers something more private). The shower also serves as a transition space between the master bath and an adjacent covered loggia and private planned spa. My wife wants more privacy, even though we back up to open space. She’s asked the architect to provide an alternate design. I don’t like the current bathroom layout and want more symmetry. So, he’s working that. Current shower concept photo: @cpartist asked, Why is the master toilet so far from the master bedroom? Separation. Bathrooms are noisy (running water, toilet flushing). We want that nosie away from where we sleep. I’m not so broken down that I can’t take a few extra steps to reach the bathroom. (besides, the distance may shrink with the pending changes to the master bath/master closet.) . @cpartist asked, Why does the powder room need the toilet separate from the sink? No one is going to wash their hands in the sink while someone is doing their business in the powder room! #1 Toilet plume. (I never understood those who criticize enclosed toilet rooms which help contain airborne dispersal of microscopic particles.) My question is why would you not want a separate space for the toilet? #2. Also, that door to the toiler has been a discussion point. My wife wants it to go away. I want it to stay as a pocket door for the reason I stated above + I like the separation. @cpartist asked, Why a wasted hallway into the powder room? It’s not wasted. The space leads to a closet and creates a buffer between “private business” events in that bathroom and public spaces. @cpartist asked, Why does the laundry room need to be so large? I want a large laundry room. Also, there will be a pet wash/supply storage area and probably two washer/dryer sets. @cpartist asked, Why do you have two doors into/out of the mudroom that are practically touching? I caught that too. The innermost door is being removed and the opening widened to 4’-ish. Also, I’ve asked for the door into the media room be widened from 3’ to 4’ and be able to be closed off with a pocket door. So, that entire immediate area is being reworked. @cpartist asked, What is the purpose of the media room? See the previous post immediately above yours for the concept. It’s really a flex space. @just_janni wrote I had not realized this is a retirement home. WIth that lens - it's WAAAAAYYYYYY too spread out and super unfriendly to anyone that could have mobility issues in the future. While I understand your comment, I disagree. By retirement, I mean that I don’t plan to move from this home. I’m 55 and in excellent health and my wife is younger. The home is a single story, with zero-height thresholds to transition to the outdoors (and zero entry showers), and mostly wide spaces. The overall size isn’t a problem, the issue would be whether or not a disabled person safely navigate using a wheel chair/walker/cane (and I’m sure there are areas that could be tweaked to improve accessibility). If the home were to become problematic because of its size (which I doubt), then we’d move. @just_janni wrote, I can see a casita for a caregiver being advantageous but not the others. Consider aging parents or guests. Personally, I prefer guests to have a separate, dedicated space and not use my office for sleeping. I suspect the space will be more than pleasant for any guest given the privacy and proposed window seat with views to adjacent park. @just_janni wrote, this could be defined as a one bedroom with 2 outbuildings (assuming you have to go outside to get to both the 2 bedrooms and the other separate one.) (1) That’s not correct. You’re misreading the plan (There are actually four bedrooms each with a closet and own bath.) There is only one space that not contiguous (bedroom 2). The entry space that faces the street between the great room and the office spaces is conditioned. The other entry (facing the park) is an open, unconditioned space accessed through a door from the park-facing porch and separate bedroom 2 from the rest of the house; however, it’s all connected under the same roof. (2) Appraisal will not be an issue. My other project has a similar separate space and had no appraisal problems. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I appreciate (and consider) everyone's comments and understand that some folks like smaller homes where space is used more efficiently. We want space (not to mention that getting the building to wrap around the large courtyard requires a larger footprint). The courtyard—the #1 feature for me—has to be large enough to enclose a pool, large trees, seating + enough area create an open, airy space surrounded by a building on all sides. Some aspects of the home are driven by views, setbacks, HOA directives, and most importantly, personal preference to the extent those preferences don’t conflict with community requirements. We will break some rules for the sake of achieving a certain look and some of that may happen in the kitchen (where, btw, I have zero input). . .but that's why this is a custom build.