HOW' IT GOING IN PRESCOTT?

So you ask, “how’s it going in Prescott?”  Well, here’s a report on how things have been going.  We have been in our new home since the last week of September and have been getting settled in, unpacking and organizing.  We’ve got most stuff put where it belongs and we are actually able to get two cars in the garage.  We held a open house and invited the neighbors and others that we met in Prescott.  With the help of our friends Duane and Shari from San Diego we had a great little party.  The neighbors seem to be happy to see us as there was apparently bad blood between them and the previous owner.  Most of our neighbors have lived here for years, and several met each other for the first time.  Different times than when everyone knew all their neighbors.

We’ve been learning our way around town and finding the short cuts.  I have been walking on nearby trails, which are plentiful.  Now that’s it winter, it’s cold walking just before sunrise, but I’m getting use to it.  But I must say walking at 14 degrees with a frozen water bladder is a little unnerving.

Are there pluses having moved to Arizona, you betcha.  There are a few minuses too, the biggest of which is medical care.  We had to change our medical insurance and our new carrier is no way close to what we had before.  We had  insurance with Kaiser Permanente for years but they’re not in Arizona.  Our new insurance with United Healthcare doesn’t come close to the service we received from Kaiser.  When United assigned us doctors, a different one for each of us, neither of them were accepting new patients.  So I called to find a doctor who was taking new patients.  80-90% of their doctors we not accepting new patients.  I went around and around with them over this and finally gave up.  A friend recommended their Nurse Practitioner and luckily she was taking new patients.  They assigned me Cardiologist but I couldn’t get an appointment for 4 months.  I raised hell with them, and finally got in to see a doctor.  But luckily that's about it for the bad news.  Everything else has been positive.

Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Humboldt-Dewey make up the Quad Cities.  With a combined population of 130,000 we don't lack for most services.  And if need be, Phoenix is 80 miles away.  People for the most part are friendly and welcoming.  We have not encountered any negativity about all the Californians moving here.  Not to say it doesn't exist, we just have not experienced it.  And there are a lot of new people moving here, the place is booming.  Lots of new construction, and the cost of housing going up.  So, I suppose, depending on how you look at it, there is both good and bad.  If you're looking for someone in the trades to do some work for you, plan on waiting.  One side effect of the growth is people in the construction industry are busy, really busy.  Here's an example:

We needed to move our propane tank as it was right in the middle of where I want to build a shop.  So we need to run a new gas line from the new tank location to the house.  100 feet of new line.  So I started calling plumbers to get bids.  The first problem is getting them to return my calls, but finally one company said they would come out and give me a bid.  And they did.  $8,300!  I looked the guy straight in the face and said, "that ain't happening".  So after several attempts, to find a plumber, I gave up and called the local propane company.  They came out, looked at my situation and said if I dug the trench, they would lay the pipe for 3 bucks a foot and $100 an hour.  How long would it take? I asked.  "Oh, 2 to 3 hours."  This was becoming a no brainer, but I still had to dig the ditch.  I started looking for someone with a backhoe to dig the ditch.  I called 6 companies.  3 never called me back, 2 said they could get to me in 2 months, and, as luck would have it, the one guy I text a message to, texted me back within 15 minutes and said he could be there the next day.  How Much, $400.  So in the end when all was said and done, It cost me $2100, and that included 400 gallons of propane.  And as a bonus, they hauled away my old propane tank, which started leaking on the day of the switch.  A far cry from $8,300.  So, the shop will take a while.  The 1st step is in process as the plans a being drawn.  After that I'll have to wade through the process of finding a contractor.

OUT WITH THE OLD

IN WITH THE NEW

We're finding new friends and getting to know our neighbors.  Dan and Martha from next door invited use to one of the local hang-outs to a blues jam, which was fun.  We trade picking restaurants with them for occasional breakfasts.  

We've been experiencing the seasons here, with monsoon rains, hail storms, summer heat (not too bad) and snow with temps in the teens.  A far cry from Southern California's two seasons, Sunshine Season, and Tax Season.

Speaking of the government. I made a trip to the local department of motor vehicles to take care of registering our cars here in Arizona.  What a pleasant surprise.  For those poor souls who still have to deal with the DMV in California, I feel sorry for you.  I made an appointment for the following day.  In California you're lucky if you can get an appointment.  I arrived at the appointed time and found this....no line.  I was offered a chair, in California, they don't have chairs, and my business was concluded in no time.  I thought it might have been a fluke, but no.  On a return trip I was greeted with the same, no line and a pleasant and competent clerk who took care of me.  And if you register your car for 2 or 5 years at a time, they give you a discount.

Next week we head back to California for two reasons, one to do our California taxes for that last time, and so we can congratulate ourselves for making the move to Arizona.

Till next time........