Hey y'all, thought I'd give this place a try.

I just joined! Now a little about me:

I am a 68 year old man currently living in northern Utah. I am however a relatively recent transplant, only been here about 4 years now. Moved here from Florida. I am originally from Louisiana and have lived in a lot of places, more years in Florida than anywhere. To be honest I miss living on the Gulf Coast, Utah is not a bad place, but I don't like the cold winters and sure miss the Gulf of Mexico. Long story as to why I am here, the biggest reason is my wife, she is a Utah native.

I am in the process of retiring, have been a consulting engineer for most of my career. Slowing down and hope to be 100% retired within a year or so. One of my reasons for joining this place is an ongoing search for what to do in retirement. I think it is a bit harder for me having relocated far from my long time friends. Maybe I can make a few here?

Two things in my life on my mind right now:
  1. I have recently lost a lot of weight (over 100 lbs) and am getting fitter, and
  2. I love fishing. I am not really a good fisherman, I just love getting out and doing it. Have not been able to get into Utah fishing, so far anyway.
Only a couple of details that came to mind, hard to tell a life story in a paragraph or two.

One question, I wanted to post a picture from my computer but could not see how. Is that possible?
 

Welcome to the forums, 'gator.

My wife and I retired and relocated to another state six years ago. For me, this has been a time to pursue many of those things I had wanted to do but never had the time for. There are still too few hours in the day but I'm enjoying every minute.

Best of luck to you. I'll look forward to hearing about your transition to retirement. :)
 
Hi Alligatorob,welcome aboard,glad you found us
Congrats on losing the weight,I'm sure you feel alot better
Ck out the 'retirement section' on the website,posters there can give you advice
You'll meet wonderful group of members from around the world here at SF which makes this forum unique
Sue in Buffalo,NY
 
I admire men who put their wive's happiness first. That is a big sacrifice. I'm sure you will always stay in touch with your Florida friends. It's so easy now with Zoom and Face Time. A flight there once a year will help too. Ever thought of being a snowbird there"? Winter in FL and summer in Utah?

Well, Welcome to the forum, Rob.

Come on in, the water's fine ☺️

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welcome-aboards-sign.jpg

You'll be able to post a picture after a certain amount of posts or a week or so of being a member.....
 
Ever thought of being a snowbird there"? Winter in FL and summer in Utah?
Yes, but the wife does not want to be gone much. I have already made a few trips back solo, just trying to work that out. I am thinking next winter I may just go for longer and see if I can get her to visit occasionally. Some version of your idea is where I think we are going...

I really like snow and cold, for about 3 days every few years anyway! A whole winter of it is not much fun... Talking with friends electronically just ain't the same as going fishing.
 
I really like snow and cold, for about 3 days every few years anyway! A whole winter of it is not much fun... Talking with friends electronically just ain't the same as going fishing.
I hear you. It's a dilemma. We all want to feel at home. I know a couple where the wife is living in Florida full time and her husband visits occasionally while living on a beach further north where they lived a long time and raised their kids.

He just sold his house though and moving to Florida. I visited his house with a realtor when I was looking to buy and he was having a hard time because he had put so much time and love into the house and had a workshop, chock-o-block full of little various parts for a hobby of his...meticulously organized. I have no idea how he ever moved all that.

All the best to you.
 
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I just joined! Now a little about me:

I am a 68 year old man currently living in northern Utah. I am however a relatively recent transplant, only been here about 4 years now. Moved here from Florida. I am originally from Louisiana and have lived in a lot of places, more years in Florida than anywhere. To be honest I miss living on the Gulf Coast, Utah is not a bad place, but I don't like the cold winters and sure miss the Gulf of Mexico. Long story as to why I am here, the biggest reason is my wife, she is a Utah native.

I am in the process of retiring, have been a consulting engineer for most of my career. Slowing down and hope to be 100% retired within a year or so. One of my reasons for joining this place is an ongoing search for what to do in retirement. I think it is a bit harder for me having relocated far from my long time friends. Maybe I can make a few here?

Two things in my life on my mind right now:
  1. I have recently lost a lot of weight (over 100 lbs) and am getting fitter, and
  2. I love fishing. I am not really a good fisherman, I just love getting out and doing it. Have not been able to get into Utah fishing, so far anyway.,
Only a couple of details that came to mind, hard to tell a life story in a paragraph or two.

One question, I wanted to post a picture from my computer but could not see how. Is that possible?
Welcome buddy. Same here; a newbie.
 
I just joined! Now a little about me:

I am a 68 year old man currently living in northern Utah. I am however a relatively recent transplant, only been here about 4 years now. Moved here from Florida. I am originally from Louisiana and have lived in a lot of places, more years in Florida than anywhere. To be honest I miss living on the Gulf Coast, Utah is not a bad place, but I don't like the cold winters and sure miss the Gulf of Mexico. Long story as to why I am here, the biggest reason is my wife, she is a Utah native.

I am in the process of retiring, have been a consulting engineer for most of my career. Slowing down and hope to be 100% retired within a year or so. One of my reasons for joining this place is an ongoing search for what to do in retirement. I think it is a bit harder for me having relocated far from my long time friends. Maybe I can make a few here?

Two things in my life on my mind right now:
  1. I have recently lost a lot of weight (over 100 lbs) and am getting fitter, and
  2. I love fishing. I am not really a good fisherman, I just love getting out and doing it. Have not been able to get into Utah fishing, so far anyway.
Only a couple of details that came to mind, hard to tell a life story in a paragraph or two.

One question, I wanted to post a picture from my computer but could not see how. Is that possible?
The fishing in Utah is not all that great IMO, although I have not fished since the kids grew up. My son hikes, all over, and the hiking is great. How north are you? Ogden, Brigham City? Salt Lake County? How are you liking the rain and snow in April? 😢. Welcome to the forum.
 
He just sold his house though and moving to Florida. I visited his house with a realtor when I was looking to buy and he was having a hard time because he had put so much time and love into the house
I can relate to that. We lived in an old beach house, a ground level house right on the beach. It had long been my dream to have a waterfront house, and after years of saving and looking I finally found one I could afford. Problem was it was too low, flooded in a few hurricanes, one did a lot of damage.

I am an engineer, so I studied the various failure modes I could see in our area and reinforced the house to survive the storms, it still flooded and had some damage, but survived. In the end it was the last surviving ground level house on the beach for miles. However we could not survive the federal flood insurance thing, our rates climbed to over $10,000 a year and we were told it would continue to rise 20% per year, forever. And the coverage kept dropping, this was for only $180,000 with a $5,000 deductible, no where near replacement value. And I was not comfortable trying to go without insurance. It just became unaffordable to stay. We could have torn down and built on pilings, but that was too expensive, and I did not want to live in a penthouse overlooking the beach, I wanted to live on the beach.

So hard as it was we sold, fortunately the land alone was worth a lot more than we had paid for the house. At that point my wife collected on my old promise to move her back to Utah "one day". And now here we are. ...All that flooding helped keep our possessions to a minimum, so the move was not too hard. Funny how you can learn to live with, even get used to mother nature's assaults. Cold and snow is my new one, still not sure how to deal with it, less damaging but a whole lot less comfortable.
How north are you? Ogden, Brigham City? Salt Lake County?
Near Brigham, about as far north as you can get and not be in Idaho.
How are you liking the rain and snow in April?
Not much, LOL

Thanks to all for the welcomes, this seems like a nice place.
 
I can relate to that. We lived in an old beach house, a ground level house right on the beach. It had long been my dream to have a waterfront house, and after years of saving and looking I finally found one I could afford. Problem was it was too low, flooded in a few hurricanes, one did a lot of damage.

I am an engineer, so I studied the various failure modes I could see in our area and reinforced the house to survive the storms, it still flooded and had some damage, but survived. In the end it was the last surviving ground level house on the beach for miles. However we could not survive the federal flood insurance thing, our rates climbed to over $10,000 a year and we were told it would continue to rise 20% per year, forever. And the coverage kept dropping, this was for only $180,000 with a $5,000 deductible, no where near replacement value. And I was not comfortable trying to go without insurance. It just became unaffordable to stay. We could have torn down and built on pilings, but that was too expensive, and I did not want to live in a penthouse overlooking the beach, I wanted to live on the beach.

So hard as it was we sold, fortunately the land alone was worth a lot more than we had paid for the house. At that point my wife collected on my old promise to move her back to Utah "one day". And now here we are. ...All that flooding helped keep our possessions to a minimum, so the move was not too hard. Funny how you can learn to live with, even get used to mother nature's assaults. Cold and snow is my new one, still not sure how to deal with it, less damaging but a whole lot less comfortable.

Near Brigham, about as far north as you can get and not be in Idaho.

Not much, LOL

Thanks to all for the welcomes, this seems like a nice place.
I am in SLC, going to drive to Idaho and get a lottery ticket when the snowing stops 😂. Have not gotten a ticket in over a year. Ogden has a really good farmers market if you haven’t been there, hopefully it’s back this summer.
 

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