Alabama Q&A

Since we are still recovering from a nasty bug and have not accomplished much, I thought today I would answer some questions I have received from blog readers about our move to Alabama.

Q. Why didn’t you and Terry hire a moving company instead of doing the job yourselves?

A. I looked into hiring professional movers to handle the job, but the cost was prohibitive and they could not do the move in the time frame we needed.

Q. Instead of hauling everything yourselves, did you consider having a pod delivered to your old place and then transported to the new house in Alabama?

A. Again, the cost was too much for what we would have received. Having enough large pods for everything we moved was not that much less than a moving company.

Q. Now that none of us are no longer spring chickens and healthcare is more important, will you have the medical support you need in Alabama?

A. Yes, Tuscaloosa has a variety of excellent health care providers and a VA hospital, and Birmingham is close by with even more to offer.

Q. You left the land of hurricanes to move to the land of tornadoes. Does your new house have a tornado shelter?

A. In addition to hurricanes, Florida also has tornadoes. In fact, one killed a person in our little Florida subdivision a couple of years before we bought our house there. In answer to your question, our new house does not have a tornado shelter, but we are having one installed within the next two weeks,

Q. Will property taxes on your eight acres and home be significantly more than what you were paying in Florida?

A. Our property taxes here are actually less than what we were paying for our house on a small lot in Florida. Homeowners and automobile insurance are also less here than in Florida. And lower costs for water, electricity, and other utilities.

Q. I know that cell phone coverage and internet can be problematic in rural areas. Will that impact your ability to blog or do the research you do for your books?

A. We have anywhere from 3 to 5 bars of cell phone service here, and sometimes even 5G. We got a T-Mobile hotspot device and have fast internet service as well, for less than we were paying for Spectrum internet in Florida.

Q. I know you had a Florida CCW permit. How hard will it be to get one in Alabama?

A. As I understand it, I have to go the county sheriff’s office and pass a background check to get a concealed carry permit. However, as of January 1, 2023, any adult who can legally possess a handgun can carry concealed in the state without the need for a permit.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I wonder what kind of problems this place has had with long-haired girls in the past.

Thought For The Day – Dear middle finger, thank you for always sticking up for me.