First, an update on getting a credit from Jet Blue. It was nearly impossible to get a hold of them on the phone (told it was a 3 hour wait on hold, and then after 2 hours, I was disconnected!) I decided instead to put in a claim with Paypal (which is how I paid for it). Within a few days... viola! The credit appeared in my Jet Blue account.
Two days ago (June 23rd) was our 7 year "RVersary", which commemorates the official start of our nomadic lifestyle (see https://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2014/06/today-is-day-real-beginning-of-next.html). It is very interesting that this year, June 23rd, was the first day that we are officially starting on the road to the next chapter in our lives, which is settling down somewhere. Mitch lost his job late on Tuesday afternoon.
I know I've discussed potential plans previously, but now we are forced into making a critical decision about what comes next in our lives. Quite honestly, at 63 years old, most companies are looking for fresh out-of-college folks, not those who have decades of experience under their belts. Plus, they probably are thinking that someone of this age is planning for retirement, not planning on being with the company for the next 10+ years. Not that Mitch isn't going to still look for work, but it may just be something to bring in money, not something career related. We shall see how that goes. We also do have some money in savings and 401Ks and are eligible for Social Security (although not the full amount yet), so we'll need to decide what the best financial course of action is to pay the bills.
Of course, there is also the issue of where we want to live. Since the truck was totaled at the end of March*, we did decide not to replace it but rather either pay a hauling company to move it to our next (and final) location, or try to sell it first. Our best case scenario is: Our "home away from home" synagogue in Cary, NC has been in the process of constructing a brand new large building on a few acres (it took 2 years just to get through all the zoning and permits and they haven't done a ground breaking yet, so it could still be a year or 2 down the road before it's finished). We spoke to the rabbi there a few months ago, when we were just in the "what if" stage, about building an RV pad there so that we could live on their property in our RV permanently (maybe even build another pad or 2 for other travelers). In addition to rent, we could offer our services as groundskeepers and anything else that would be needed at the building (like setting up for holidays, preparing the kiddush lunches, opening the door for services, etc). I reached out to him again yesterday to revisit this proposal and he said it was actually still being discussed with the architects and in the plans. It will take 3-6 months before they will know if it's feasible to do this (it's not just putting in concrete, but also running electric, water and sewer to the site, which may be too expensive to do).
As I said, this is the best case scenario, but I am not holding my breath as I suspect this is a pipe dream. In the meantime, our first priority right now is downsizing (it's hard to believe just how much crap we've accumulated in 7 years!), organizing closets and cabinets and getting the RV ready for sale (in addition to photos, I want to create a video walk-thru). I am researching places to live within a 3 hour drive to Jessica (in NC, SC or VA) and investigating apartments and campgrounds/mobile home parks. Major criteria is it needs to be within 10 miles or less to a Chabad, and unfortunately, the latter is much more limited. Whether we land up moving the RV to a park, or moving into an apartment will depend on how quickly we can have the rig ready for sale and how quickly we can sell it. Obviously, if it sells before the shul decision is made, we'll forego the shul.
So that's the plan. But as I always say, "plans are made in bubbles," or "Man plans, G-d laughs." But at least we have some direction, and lots of faith that this can be a good change for us.
*another thing to keep watch on coming down the pike is that we are being sued as a result of injuries that happened in the accident; one very severe. The insurance lawyer feels confident that it can be settled and our insurance will cover the costs. Right now they're just in the fact-finding stage and need to wait for the medical prognoses.
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