Still loving the forum and I love to follow it (perhaps I come back)

@cdw057

A lot of specialist forums have lost out to Facebook groups where you can monitor multiple interests at one website. I think that might change as people are getting fed up with adverts, requests for money, hackers etc. I'm hoping sites like this might make a comeback as people drop out of social media websites.

@fidobsa

I did drop social media long ago, kept just Vkontakte.

But yeah as progresses goes as both X and Fb became paid service it will lead to alternatives.

    @cdw057
A lot of specialist forums have lost out to Facebook groups where you can monitor multiple interests at one website. I think that might change as people are getting fed up with adverts, requests for money, hackers etc. I'm hoping sites like this might make a comeback as people drop out of social media websites.
   

    -@fidobsa

Personally, I've never been in Facebook, Instagram or Tik-Tok or even Linked-In.   Haven't got the time for any of that.  That model is over now.   My kids say that Facebook is for older people. They are all in Instagram and Tik-Tok.

Meh.

That's both an advantage and a disadvantage of be retired.

Now I usually have a bit of time to mess around online.

When I worked I didnt even have an e-amil address and never went online.

We went through several computers and I never opened an account.

Too much free time on my hands these days...

Or rather we make our own time now.

Everything in Budpaest is so easy to get to and take care of, no real drive time so I have extra free time.

Makes me feel quilty often because I should be twisting my husbands arm to make some flat repairs instead of being online.

We used to be allot more active here , running from village to village, taking photos and seeing local events in villages.

Not that we've seen it all but in some ways we have.

My husband was the one who suggested I get on this site. I think he's lived to regret it!

Yes, I can imagine there is a lot less to do, living in a flat in Budapest. Living in a village house always gives you things to do like gardening, running repairs, pest control etc. It is not up and running yet but this summer I installed a pellet stove as an alternative to burning logs for the central heating. It will be a lot more convenient, with no more getting up to a cold house but not having to cut and split logs will free up more time, a resource I already have in abundance! There is still plenty to do with the house renovations but money is tight for buying materials these days,

My husband is always online checking out properties and prices all around Hungary.

He even saved many adds from 15 years ago.

I wish those prices were still good!

He says he will buy a house for our son but for us, no way. too much work.

Our son however lives in Japan and is not a handy person with building skills, not even close.

I'm not sure he even knows how to use a hammer!

One thing with having a house and land, you're always busy fixing something.

For a second my husband was thinking of selling our old flat and upgrading to a new built one.

Talk is cheap however....

I've got best of both worlds here in Hungary. City and forest. I also have a home in the uk but visit less and less. I'm an Internet junky so use a fair amount of social media. The best for me are podcasts. Radio is very poor reception and limited stations out in my part of the countryside and the Internet is very weak. When I'm involved in art work I have to have a listen to something.

So in a way podcast music and shows give me a boost .

@Marilyn Tassy I am lazy or uncapable in doing things myself, better to buy a good finished house, what is what we did and we did well. Prices in Hungary going a bit down, perhaps in a year things are really good for buyers,

Who knows, but a property with help, no way

@cdw057 I really do not understand why people want to do things themselves (professionals exist)

    @cdw057 I really do not understand why people want to do things themselves (professionals exist)
   

    -@cdw057

If you can do it yourself why waste the money?

        @cdw057 I really do not understand why people want to do things themselves (professionals exist)        -@cdw057If you can do it yourself why waste the money?        -@SimCityAT

Exactly.

We changed our bathrom sink and added a cabinet.

Took a few trips to Pratiker t get the proper drain pipes but I'd rather do that then spend hundrads of dollars vs the $30. or so we spent on fittings.

We once drained our swimming pool ourselves, did an acid wash on it, added a new diving board with the help of my BIL and saved literally thousands of dollars.

It was actually a bit fun to do the work ourselves. It meant more to us when  it was finished that we were able to be so handy ourselves.

We've stripped wooden floors in our home, made a few mistakes and redid the work but we know now the value of these jobs.

We know repair men always over charge and their work isn't always good.

The gas,co here chaged out all the gas meters about a year back. We paid fr the new bxes and they sent over 2 young guys to do the work.

I swear, I might be the only one to smell it but I know I smell gas near the meter box.

Sloppy work.

I keep asking my husband to get it checked out, good thing we don't smoke!

There is a feeling of being an able bodied person doing your own repairs unless you have a physical limitation .

Our next project is a water damage frm our silly upstairs neighbors shower.

They hired an idiot to remodle their flat and their new shower leaked on our kitchn cieling.

The house piad for the damage but we weren't in the mod to fix it at the time.

My husband says he can do it hmself but I don't want him up on a ladder for hours at his age.

We may hire someone but be sure we will defo make sure we aren't getting scammed on the price.

I can live with the damage rather then overpay for so-so work.

In fact we've fund out we aren't the only ones with such water damage. in the house. Seems these old flats are due to fall apart sooner or later no matter who does the work.

Like they say, can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Next time we will just get a good lease and ring up the manager if we ever need a repair.

In Vegas they came the same day and did any repairs needed as part of the lease.

    @cdw057 I really do not understand why people want to do things themselves (professionals exist)        -@cdw057

Sometimes this is forced on you by circumstances.

I started repairing my North American hobby car after the local mechanics refused to fix it as it was too old and they couldn't be bothered to look up solutions (everything is in English, not Hungarian and not a VW, Ford etc).    It wasn't a hobby car then, it was just my "daily driver" I didn't really bother about that much.

But since the mechanics refused to deal with it, it's taken on a life of its own.  It was too good to scrap and not good enough to ignore faults.

So  I spend time researching and obtaining parts for it.   I have all the manuals and had an encyclopedic knowledge of that one particular model.  Getting parts is getting much harder but there are plenty in the USA and Canada. I have to import them into HU or the UK (and transport them back personally, thank you Brexit).   

But my knowledge is expanding unexpectedly - two of my international colleagues have the same manufacturer's vehicles and I have the manuals for theirs as well, so I could help them out selecting the spare parts they needed.   We spent half a day on selecting parts for them - mainly airco and suspension spares.  It was more interesting than our real work.  I got my dopamine hit.

I'm also able to do electrical work on my house as professionally I have some skills in that area.   No need to hire people for that  - unless it involved heavy lifting or some specialism I don't know about.   Next year I'll be rewiring my shed for the 3rd time. 1st time was a quick fix, 2nd time as just to make it easier for me and 3rd time will be a complete renovation of the building including airco/heat pump, new windows and doors, roof etc. I reckon it will save me 2-3K EUR if I do the electrical work myself and won't take more than a week or two.   Might get a dopamine hit on that one.

@SimCityAT At the time in Hungary I did some consultant assignments, one assignement for a month would represent a year salary for a professional. Why would I do something bad where I can work somewhere else and getting a better result. Yes I a m lazy and not capable, but being practical is also good.

@cdw057 By the way, I waste(d) a lot of money either in Hungary or in Turkey, as long as I am not in debt I think all is fine, my health is horrible, my wife suffers from that, but we have some savings, if I die all goes to her (which is good as she is a very good wife)

Doing things myself (no way (I think my mind is still OK (even if myself wonder if this is the case), walking for even 200 m is even a challenge, but talking and giving presentations are fine (even for the latter I am getting too weak (old))

@fluffy2560 We bought a house in Hungary very nice made by an engineer. Very well done. The electricity was a nightmare though, in Hungary we hired (through our gardener I have to say) an electrician, inclusive of new equipment for the pond house and the main house, just EUR 150, it worked very fine ever since (I never ever could have done a thing like that).

My speciality is in finances (fundmanagement, taxes,..) repairing a car is far above my reach.

It's fun to do repairs when you aren't pressed to have them done fast.

Satisfaction for doing a good job youself is priceless.

Sometimes it's not a choice to do it yourself, it's the cost involved, time and knowledge needed.

Our son bought a car from one of his casino players.

2 well off brothers who had a huge American car in great running shape.

They were your typical silly older players who only drove the car back and forth every day of the week to get to the casino with.

( Yes, some people live to play and throw out cash daily)

They purchased the big car because one of the bros was handicapped and they needed the room in the car.

Well, the driver was not very good and got into the lane with a huge truck.

The truck slammed into the passenger door and really pushed it into the body of the car.

No other damage.

They needed another car because the one bro didn't wish to sit in the back seat all the time.

My son bought the car from them for pennies on the dollar.

He only drove it to work and didn't need the passenger door working.

My husband changed out the door himself when we visited Vegas.

Searched for months at wrecking yards for a door that matched in color etc.

Hired a come to your home body man and his assistant because we needed their equipment to straighten out the modling of the door frame on the body of the car.

Only cost about $400. in total for the door and help.

Made back all the money he paid for buying the car and using it for 2 years.

Felt good too to sell it to an older man who had been taking the bus all over town.

He got a deal, we sold the car even Steven with 2 years of useage on it and everyone was happy.

If we took it to a body shop it would of cost more then a couple thousand bucks for a new door and getting it put on. We only charged for the car what we had spent and bought it for, not what it was now worth.

Over the years we must of saved a years worth of work income just on doing things ourselves.Perhaps even more then that.

For the last 20+ years my wife has dealt with everything at home, I went to work at 5.30 AM and returned at 18.00 PM, nothing to worry about, she cooks great, wine is available and sometimes to our restaurants.

At the time I have to admit it was a big house, very big (in Luxembourg) 400m2 with a lot of animals, so many things to do.

I abandoned my job, but my wife did not (still doing everyhing). The only thing I do is bureaucracy and finances. Yes I feel guilty. But then again over the marriage we have acquired enough finances (please note not millionaire).

    @cdw057 By the way, I waste(d) a lot of money either in Hungary or in Turkey, as long as I am not in debt I think all is fine, my health is horrible, my wife suffers from that, but we have some savings, if I die all goes to her (which is good as she is a very good wife)
Doing things myself (no way (I think my mind is still OK (even if myself wonder if this is the case), walking for even 200 m is even a challenge, but talking and giving presentations are fine (even for the latter I am getting too weak (old))
   

    -@cdw057

Being old and being weak are two different things.

Bad health is why you get tired so easy, not age. Man,I just turned 69 last week and fell stronger then ever most days after having a serious illness that would take down anyone no matter what thier age was.

2 years ago I could hardly walk across the room, now I am walking all over town again.

You need to work on your health and not worry abut your age.

It's not too late to start good habits and get healthier.

@Marilyn Tassy Question is why to live, OK I help my wife in certain things and she will be happy if I am still around (talking, restaurants, support in issues, ..), but honestly what is the use of a pensioner to society?

@Marilyn Tassy In any case (at last) a discussion on the forum (I missed that)

    @Marilyn Tassy Question is why to live, OK I help my wife in certain things and she will be happy if I am still around (talking, restaurants, support in issues, ..), but honestly what is the use of a pensioner to society?        -@cdw057

Good grief, don't be so negative.

If we all thought we were useless then no one should even be born.

We aren't born for our own pleasure but for the glory of God and to share with others.

Our life experiences overall are only for a few moments in time even if one lives to be over 100.

There are many so called, ."useless" people in the 20's out there, age has nothing to do with anything important. No one is useless but by your logic everyone can be called useless.

A person who never was a mother or father could be called useless to society and someone who lives off the gov. could be called useless by some as well. No one is useless though. There is a larger picture to things and everyones life has a course to follow. We are not all the same.

You have allot of good things in your life, it's just silly to talk so negative and not see what you have at hand.

Even a homeless person has worth. Even a bug has worth in it's own way.

I understand if a person is in pain they are not themselves. Hard to think clear when one is in pain.

i'm sure your wife wants you around for more then a driver and a compainion for going out to eat.

I hate to say it, you may need a hobby or do some sort of volunteer work to get out of you own negative thoughts.

There are many people who could benefit from your life experiences with you work experiences etc.

Maybe go to a childrens home and help children without familes. They could use people to read to them and listen to them.

If a person only listens to their own needs and let's themselves get depressed it's not a good thing.

Sharing with others will make you feel needed.

I hope you get some help ,perhaps a short supply of anti-depressents may temp. help.

Helping others will help you also.

This time of year gets many people down, don't give in to emotions like depression and fear or anger.

Like that silly old song, "Don't worry, be Happy". We all die that's for sure but no need to die everyday by wrong thinking.

Life is more then that.

My internet went down... Happens allot here lately...

Anyways.this is a depressing subject.

It makes me think of that movie, "Soylent green" where they offed everyone at a certain age and made food out of them.

Some people only live a day and others into a very old age.

Who is to say who's life is worth more and who deserves to life or die?

We never as far as we can remember asked to be born and we don't ask to die either.

Often if we focus too much on material things and not spiritiual ones, we feel empty and worthless over time.

It's a blessing to have more then one needs but only going after material objects in life is going to leave one empty inside.

You must find a way out of only seeing the wrld by what it has to offer you in material ways and rather find a purpose, even if it's going to smell the roses everyday.

I know more people who have crossed over then are still living.

All I can say is what's the rush to take your leave?

        @cdw057 I really do not understand why people want to do things themselves (professionals exist)        -@cdw057

If you can do it yourself why waste the money?
   

    -@SimCityAT

My mother painted her own home inside and out several times over.

Changed out broken glass windows herself and only asked for help when hanging wallpaper up.

Needed more then one pair of hands for that job.

My step-father got a crane and took out his engine from a few cars and rebulit them himself.

Did all the mantainance on all of his many cars. Worked on his motorbikes,, changed out clutches and did a simple oil change or brake job  in short order on a early Sat. morning before anyone in the house was ever awake.

I just grew up around people who did things.

My uncle was born with a deformed left arm.

It was small and almost useless.

He turned his one story house into a two story all by himself.

My grandmother lost her arm when she was 12. Didn't stop her from raising 8 children and doing all her housework by herself.

In my case I've never had a well paid job so always look for the cheapest option with solving problems or upgrading. I also have the attitude that most tradesmen are just ordinary people like me. If they can learn to do something, why shouldn't I? My dad was always quite good at house repairs although he would not touch plumbing. He sometimes built brick walls, something I would not attempt, unless it was going to be plastered over or hidden in some way. One job I do struggle with is ceramic tiling. I did do the bathroom but find it more difficult with the large modern tiles than the old 4" square ones that used to be the norm. For that reason I've still not done tiling in the kitchen. I did a couple of jobs in UK for other people with wetwall, a laminate material, the modern equivalent of Formica.  I would like to use that for the kitchen but it does not seem to be available in this part of the world. There is also satisfaction from knowing you have personally transformed a house, vehicle or whatever from dilapidated to usable or nice condition.  As well as houses I've restored motorcycles and cars.

    It's fun to do repairs when you aren't pressed to have them done fast.Satisfaction for doing a good job youself is priceless. Sometimes it's not a choice to do it yourself, it's the cost involved, time and knowledge needed.....Over the years we must of saved a years worth of work income just on doing things ourselves.Perhaps even more then that.        -@Marilyn Tassy

I agree it's not always about the money, it's about the satisfaction of doing something well and successfully.  I reckon it gives you a slug of dopamine straight in the brain. The same brain level reward you get playing and winning video games or even betting on the horses or just making some special dish.  But by doing it yourself, it's a better reward ratio.

I always thought if one learnt something each day, then it wasn't a wasted day. It doesn't have to be anything practical, it could be just noting an important phrase from a movie or reading about nuclear powered aircraft carriers in Wikipedia.  You never know how useful that might be if you come across a stranded and abandoned aircraft carrier near Balaton. 

And doing it yourself, you've increased your knowledge just in case you need it.  Probably it keeps your brain active and will extend your life.  People with more brain stimulation surely must be getting more anti-dementia infusions.

    In my case I've never had a well paid job so always look for the cheapest option with solving problems or upgrading. I also have the attitude that most tradesmen are just ordinary people like me. If they can learn to do something, why shouldn't I? My dad was always quite good at house repairs although he would not touch plumbing. He sometimes built brick walls, something I would not attempt, unless it was going to be plastered over or hidden in some way. One job I do struggle with is ceramic tiling. I did do the bathroom but find it more difficult with the large modern tiles than the old 4" square ones that used to be the norm. For that reason I've still not done tiling in the kitchen. I did a couple of jobs in UK for other people with wetwall, a laminate material, the modern equivalent of Formica.  I would like to use that for the kitchen but it does not seem to be available in this part of the world. There is also satisfaction from knowing you have personally transformed a house, vehicle or whatever from dilapidated to usable or nice condition.  As well as houses I've restored motorcycles and cars.
   

    -@fidobsa

I know what you mean about tiling.  It's so important to get it all flat and even and make sure the adhesive covers all parts of the tile otherwise the edges/corners will collapse under weight.  We used those little white spacers to make sure they are all correctly aligned.  Odd shapes I have problems with.

I'm OK with plumbing. I've got all that kind of gear. I've put in radiators, brazed pipes and so on.  I cannot find 1" adaptor gas bottles for Benzomatic gas (very good for brazing).   They don't seem to sell the bottles in Hungary.  I tried to buy some in Serbia from a supplier with business outlets on both sides of the border.  There's some problem with it.  I think the Benzomatic system is not allowed in the EU now.   It's a real shame because it's a lot less of a hassle than oxyacetylene (welding) bottles.

The thing I'm no good at is plastering.  I just cannot get it flat. I was getting better at it but ran out of places to do it   When I do my shed, I might do the exterior rendering on top of the insulation.  It's only a shed so it doesn't have to be perfect. Probably no-one will notice too much.

    @cdw057 By the way, I waste(d) a lot of money either in Hungary or in Turkey, as long as I am not in debt I think all is fine, my health is horrible, my wife suffers from that, but we have some savings, if I die all goes to her (which is good as she is a very good wife)
Doing things myself (no way (I think my mind is still OK (even if myself wonder if this is the case), walking for even 200 m is even a challenge, but talking and giving presentations are fine (even for the latter I am getting too weak (old))
   

    -@cdw057

If, god forbid, your wife precedes you, and on your departure,  you can always leave all your savings to me.

I promise that I will spend it purposefully and usefully - for example,  I'll look for a house with enough land for a helicopter landing pad and hanger.  I'll also need a helicopter for it.  And a Tesla for when I'm not flying the helicopter. I'm prepared to compromise on the landing pad if I can build my own landing strip instead.  I could therefore have a fixed wing plane.  But I'd still need the Tesla.

Joking aside,  I'm actually wondering what we will do with my MIL's house when the time comes.   Needs a  lot of investment. 

I'd love to be rich enough to be a philanthropist - set up social and diversity programmes, low cost housing, refugee scholarships etc.

My dad is 83 and still does his own decorating, he does have a gardener that's only because of the size (1 acre). The grass needs cutting every week.

    My dad is 83 and still does his own decorating, he does have a gardener that's only because of the size (1 acre). The grass needs cutting every week.
-@SimCityAT

Nice place.  And solar panels too.    I am thinking of those for my house.

Looks like it's big enough grass area for a good kids game of football.

        My dad is 83 and still does his own decorating, he does have a gardener that's only because of the size (1 acre). The grass needs cutting every week.-@SimCityATNice place.  And solar panels too.    I am thinking of those for my house. Looks like it's big enough grass area for a good kids game of football.        -@fluffy2560

Very nice and cute. My first thought was swimming pool in the backyard, then maybe a small garden gazebo. Although it looks like he has a nice garden room set up already.

Nice large plot of land there.

            My dad is 83 and still does his own decorating, he does have a gardener that's only because of the size (1 acre). The grass needs cutting every week.-@SimCityATNice place.  And solar panels too.    I am thinking of those for my house. Looks like it's big enough grass area for a good kids game of football.        -@fluffy2560Very nice and cute. My first thought was swimming pool in the backyard, then maybe a small garden gazebo.Nice large plot of land there.        -@Marilyn Tassy

Assuming in the UK, the weather won't be so great for an outside pool.   It could be OK with a pool building. 

Gazebo sounds good though.   

We were supposed to have one in our building plans due to the planning rules. We could have a gazebo in the plans because a gazebo is not a building because it doesn't have a roof and doesn't count as built in area.   But all that would mean knocking down my shed and I like the shed more than a gazebo.   The shed has been there more than 10 years  (more like 50 years ago) and even though built "illegally", it's now (apparently) got retrospective planning permission.  No-one from the government has turned up to complain (so far, fingers crossed).

My husband put up tiles on our kitchen wall,The thing is the walls in this old 124 year old place aren't exactly straight.

We know this old place needs to be gutted and redone from the inside out.

We have no interest in making it into a show place.

I know he can do almost all the work himself but the stress of it is not something i wish him to go through.

We did allot of wrok on our old house in Ca. before we sold it.

I only lived with the new repairs a couple of years before we moved.

My husband at the time was super busy so we sent to Hungary for his step-brother.

He was a master mason and had been doing long term jobs in Russia in large work crews.

It was still commie in HU so he was happy to get a free trip to the US and get paid cash for his work.

We paid him $10. per hour in 1987. Free room, board, smokes and drinks.

Litle do we know however that he smoked a good 2 packs a day and drank a 12 pack of beer, a gallon of wine a day. Later we discovered he found our liquior cabinet and drank every bottle dry. PLus trips to SF, Mexic, Vegas and f course Disneyland. He made out like a thief.

He was expensive after all.

Before he arrived we sanded our wooden floor in 2 rooms. Not as easy as it sounds, the sanding machine we rented started to spit out oil on the unfinished wood floor.

Holy Cow, had to redo it with a replacement machine.

Tried to remove the wallpaper in our son bedroom.

Half the plaster came down with the old paper.

The house was about 50 years old at that time.

With those bad experiences with a 50 year old home, we are more then afraid to start on a 124 year old place at our age.

It might be the last thing we ever do, it could kill us!

I'd guess on the cheap it would cost a min. of $25,000 to $30.000 to do what we'd like with this place.

Overall it much easier to just trade up and sell this as a fixer upper.

We learned with our house in Ca. that most people are going to redo wrk just t mkae it their wn even if you fix everfything nice.

Our Armenian neighbor knew hw much we put into our house repairs and saw the work being done, we even put up a new brick wall on our corner property. Reinforced the brick wall between his home and ours for earthquakes and put in a diving board.

He bought it as an investment property.

A cuple eyars later we drove by the house.

I wanted to cry... The lawn was messed up, my flower garden all weeds and the home had been repainted a very ugly color.

As we drove by I said I will never look at it again.

All that hard work and sweat for nada...

We actually lost money by fixing it up. The cost of repair, the BIL situation and the fact that the market was lower by a good $45,000 by the time we decided to sell.

Lesson learned, if you don't plan on living somewhere till your dying day, then it's a waste to fix it up more then you need to be comfortable with.

Our old next door neighbor gutted his bathroom with the help of his son.

They put in a nice new modern shower stall with jets etc. They were so busy with the shower that they forgot to leave enough room for a sink.

My God, they had to fit in the smallest sink I've ever seen in my life or take out the shower stall.

Planning first is always a good idea.

We like to say , we are still in the planning stages!

    My husband put up tiles on our kitchen wall,The thing is the walls in this old 124 year old place aren't exactly straight.
We know this old place needs to be gutted and redone from the inside out.
We have no interest in making it into a show place.
I know he can do almost all the work himself but the stress of it is not something i wish him to go through.
We did allot of wrok on our old house in Ca. before we sold it.
.....
Our old next door neighbor gutted his bathroom with the help of his son.
They put in a nice new modern shower stall with jets etc. They were so busy with the shower that they forgot to leave enough room for a sink.
My God, they had to fit in the smallest sink I've ever seen in my life or take out the shower stall.
Planning first is always a good idea.
We like to say , we are still in the planning stages!
   
    -@Marilyn Tassy

It's not just old buildings. Our house doesn't have straight walls either and those bits are almost brand new.   You can see by the way the tiles are laid out.  I've never seen anything like it.  If it wasn't for the tiles, you'd never notice.  We also know they made mistakes - our chimney is about 30cm (12") out of position. It was supposed to be inside the wall next to it.  But as it happens, there's enough room to put some shelves and narrow cupboards in the space between the chimney and the wall.   Looks like we planned it!

When I did bathroom renovations in a previous house, I drew it out on the floor using chalk so I could make sure there was enough floor area to maneuver  around the various fittings.   It was quite a challenge to fit it all in.  Like a big 3D jigsaw.