Finally left JAX!

After rehabbing 4 houses in Jacksonville, Florida…… We are finally able to leave and see the rest of what the USA has to offer. We had fun, we had excitement, we had turmoil, we had frustration but the most important is we learned a lot. Surprisingly not so much about rehabbing and flipping, we learned more about “People”.

The real estate market was cheap and easy compared to the highly priced and competitive Southern California market. That was what we had expected out in Jacksonville, Florida….. but we were not prepared for all the ignorant and idiotic people we had to go through to find some real gems. Yes, there are some pretty great people in JAX but they are a lot harder to comeby than all those dummies we had to filter through. I have realized why so many are where they are…..they just don’t want to work when opportunity is right in front of them. I certainly don’t feel sorry for the poor who just choose to keep on being poor. If there is one thing these poor folks need, it is definitely “Common Sense”. What school teaches that I ask……

Well, we are now on to bigger and better things. We certainly enjoyed the Historical homes we did built in the earlly 1900′s and they sure turned out beautiful! The Live Oak trees out in JAX with the Spanish Moss and Ressurection Fern attached were AMAZING!

Our Friendly Nieghbors

 

Ed & Lois with me with our beautiful Spring Lake behind us!

Cesar and I have met some really nice people while in Jacksonville, Florida.  Ed and Lois saw our blog with the photo of the Ghost in St. Augustine.  They sure did top our paranormal encounter by telling us about how their late son John had come back to contact them by phone AFTER his passing!  Yes, their phone would ring for months on a regular basis at 5:00 pm with no one speaking on the other end.  It wasn’t until they were told by others that it may be their late son trying to contact them to make sure they were OK.  Lois said she then would try to communicate with him next time the phone rang.  As predicted, the phone rang  and she picked it up with no one on the other end, but this time she did say to her son that she and his Dad were doing fine……After that day the phone stopped ringing at 5:00pm.  Hmmm what an interesting encounter to say the least!   What a great spirit to have watching over Mom & Dad from above!

 

Janina Hard at Work in Rehab!

No, I have not gotten into Drugs & Alcohol !  The only Rehab I have done lately is with Cesar.  When it came down to finishing up the Duplex we bought to do the Flip on…… we were behind schedule.  Of course Cesar and I had to spend some late nights playing catch up!  Here I am learning how to lay tile…..

This is Harder to do than I thought!

 

 

 

 

This is the step a bad contractor would skip to save $$$. You probably would notice when you start seeing Mold as your new roommates!

Back in Florida

After a great trip to Costa Rica, Cesar and I decided to check out Ft. Lauderdale. I enjoyed the beach there and can see why so many kids love to celebrate their spring break there. I just happen to be there 30 years too late for “My High School Spring Break!”

Janina Late for the Party.....

 Now of course Cesar had other things on his mind rather than the Beach…. Here is Cesar infront of his true Dream Boat!

Just a little expensive$$$ ... but it is only Money!

Janina & Cesar Go to Costa Rica (for a lot of Education and a little fun)

Beautiful view flying into San Jose, Costa Rica…… Very, very green!!

Our “Suite on the Beach”…..SWEET!

Cesar getting comfortable …..

 

 

 

 

Iguana visiting us a breakfast, they were all over the grounds of the resort roaming freely.

 

 

Now for the education,  Cesar and I went to learn international land development in Costa Rica.  We spent a lot of our time learning in class but enjoyed getting fed over and over again with a great staff at the resort and a terrific Chef!  The view from the eating area which opens up to the beach was quite the scene!  I wish college could have been this wonderful, maybe I would have learned more… Hmmm

 

Cesar took time out to learn how to roll cigars and was happy to take home his super fresh and tasty creations.  He had to of course try out his creations every night after dinner…….

Cesar learns to wrestle a Crock….

 

 

 

 

Looks like he is getting into it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

OH NO!  Who is Winning???????

 

Stay Tuned……  the saga continues…

Never Fear, Janina is Here!

Well, actually the truth is “What Janina Feared the Most”!

Cesar left to San Diego for a week after setting up our coach comfortably in an Atlanta Georgia resort spot.  Just as he left, I thought…. I will be fine as long as I don’t have to move the coach!  I had the Smart Car to run errands and was looking forward to getting a lot done while Cesar was back in San Diego.  I dropped Cesar off at the Atlanta Airport and thought I would stop at the groceries on my way back to the coach….Not a good idea!  I came back to the coach to see water GUSHING OUT from under neath  and flowing down the street!   Cesar was filling up the water reserve in the coach for me in case an emergency arose while he was gone….. Unfortunately he forgot to shut it off before we left to the airport.  I fortunately figured out how to turn it off and no damage to the coach, just a lake around the campsite thanks to Cesar.

Leave it to bad timing on our part or bad luck on my part, but the very next morning I woke up to the electricity in the coach not being able to let me use the microwave and the Dishwasher at the same time.  The power would go off completely and I had to go out side and repeatedly flip the main breaker switches.  Turns out the resort was not wired correctly for a 50Amp coach like ours.  Hmmm, that was not the only problem.  The weather turn rainy and I mean a torrential down pour.  Shortly there after the owner of the resort came knocking on my door to tell me I had to move the coach to a different space because the sewer trap at our space had to be repaired.  Only problem….. Janina does not know how to drive a 45 ft diesel coach.

Janina's Virgin Tour

I had eventually wanted to learn how to drive the coach so I could help Cesar out along the way but we had yet to get to the lessons.  Now was not the time when Cesar was 2000 miles away.   The owner came back in the afternoon and said it was necessary the coach get moved so I spent 1 hour unplugging and packing up the coach.  Luckily I had watched Cesar go thru that process along with moving all 4 slides in.  Then with Cesar on speaker phone, he talked me through how to Drive the Coach and off I went…. without mishap!  I am glad I succeeded but am not ready to hit the streets yet working a Jake Brake or a Tag Axel and hauling a 20ft trailer behind me.  Thank God I have a manly man of a husband who can handle the driving.

Cesar To The Rescue!

Here we were traveling happily along our way across the USA and Cesar gets the call from the Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego. They had to have Cesar save their Roof Top Bar from its horrible looking and dis-functional fire pits. Cesar packed his bag and left me in Atlanta Georgia to fend for myself. More on that later….

Obviously the previous work was done by amateurs...

There were about 8 fire pits that the FAST & Fabulous Crew of Cesars (Cesar, his son Cesar Jr. and his Dad Cesar Sr.) quickly transformed!

 

 

After!

 

Now Thats how to do a Roof Top!

If you are ever in Downtown San Diego, please stop by ‘Float’, the roof top bar of the Hard Rock.  Enjoy the beautiful views of the Coronado Bay Bridge as you enjoy the warmth and radiance of the smokeless fires dancing off the custom made blue reflective glass. Cheers!