WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[Laura Knotek]

I'm just here waiting for Rue to buy a chateau at this point...

Me too!

 

[Laura Knotek]

You can also go this route as well. This is the band I'm using for the work watch. It's in the same style as what moto had used with the 360 smartwatch line. View attachment 141302

That looks sharp. I like the watch face also.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Me too!

In all honesty I would hesitate to buy a chateau even if I had the money.

A lot of the ones that are around to buy are either tied up in inheritance issues with the families and falling to pieces or they're simply falling to pieces.

You'll spend hundreds of thousands to fix them (if not millions). Then there's the upkeep and all the regular costs of just living there. Going by some shows I've seen on smaller chateaux the cost of just heating the places is €10,000+ per month.

So unless you're ridiculously wealthy you'll have to figure out a way to live and have the chateau make money for you. So starting up a business is necessary if you're not wealthy.

You can find chateau for around €300,000. If you get lucky sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough. Typically these are not the best properties. The nicer ones tend to be around €500,000 to 1 million mark. They still will need lots of repairs and lots of money thrown at them.

There are some crazy people out there willing to take them on but at my age I'm simply not interested.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Deep breaths, sir. Looks like I was pulling your leg a tad harder than you'd like.

All moves are costly in their own way. I downsized two years ago literraly right after I graduated, and with no job lined up. It was a kick in the nuts, really; in some ways I'm still recovering from that now. Yours was a bigger sized move than mine, and yet we both are doing with we can to get to "even" in our individual circumstances. Not easy at all.

The truth is that is rough on everyone across levels as income for most is constantly being outpaced by expenses. It's also why when politrickians go up their spewing that high volume bullspit I want to knock a few off them upside the head.

Sorry for that I just think that sometimes people may have a warped perception of my situation.

Both my wife and I come from low income single parent families. Neither of us had any expectations of being where we are now. We've been lucky in a lot of ways and have made sacrifices that some people probably wouldn't think of making to be here.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Sorry for that I just think that sometimes people may have a warped perception of my situation.

Both my wife and I come from low income single parent families. Neither of us had any expectations of being where we are now. We've been lucky in a lot of ways and have made sacrifices that some people probably wouldn't think of making to be here.

I was never one of those people.

I get where you come from. My friend who is a pilot out in Hong Kong now would talk about the exact same issue as we grew up in high school. His parents were small business owners who had to scrap for everything they had. People would see what they had and assume wealth, but when you peel back the curtain, it wasn't. It is something to be in a position to own certain things and it takes the same level of work to maintain it as it took to acquire it.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I was never one of those people.

I get where you come from. My friend who is a pilot out in Hong Kong now would talk about the exact same issue as we grew up in high school. His parents were small business owners who had to scrap for everything they had. People would see what they had and assume wealth, but when you peel back the curtain, it wasn't. It is something to be in a position to own certain things and it takes the same level of work to maintain it as it took to acquire it.

I think I knew a few of those people that looked one way from the outside and different in reality. Growing up in a general working class area you run into every situation. At the time I would probably tell you that everyone was doing better than my family but I wouldn't doubt that there were people who may have thought we were doing OK. My mum was always concerned about appearances.

I'm not the same as my mother in that way. I personally don't care how people see me but at the same time I don't want people too assume too much.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I think I knew a few of those people that looked one way from the outside and different in reality. Growing up in a general working class area you run into every situation. At the time I would probably tell you that everyone was doing better than my family but I wouldn't doubt that there were people who may have thought we were doing OK. My mum was always concerned about appearances.

I'm not the same as my mother in that way. I personally don't care how people see me but at the same time I don't want people too assume too much.

I prefer when people make assumptions that they only make asses of themselves and not me as well. Especially when I know I cannot control the lunacy of people.

Many old school parents were always concerned with appearances, my mother was no different. While it has its purpose, I've always been the function over form type.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Monday, Monday...

Who are you and why are you here again to annoy me? Lol.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I prefer when people make assumptions that they only make asses of themselves and not me as well. Especially when I know I cannot control the lunacy of people.

Many old school parents were always concerned with appearances, my mother was no different. While it has its purpose, I've always been the function over form type.

My wife had a similar experience as she spent a lot of time with her grandparents. They were definitely old school.

As for people making assumptions. My brother is one who has his own ideas about me and hasn't really changed them since I was a lot younger. We're way too different from each other and if it wasn't for family ties he'd be someone I'd quickly forget. Not that I have anything to do with him now anyway. He might as well be a stranger.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Monday, Monday...

Who are you and why are you here again to annoy me? Lol.

Definitely Monday here.

 

[N_LaRUE]

So yesterday I was in Paris. We decided to go to the area of Montmartre. At the top of Montmartre sits Sacre Coeur. It's the highest point in Paris. Has a great view. It's a tourists hotspot as well with all that goes with it.

 

[N_LaRUE]

While in the area we decided to try brunch. In what can only be described as odd, Australians have brought the Australian brunch to Paris. We didn't have the whole brunch menu as it was too much food.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Also as promised some more chateau pics and garden. No editing. Just some minor cropping.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Looks like Rue has adjusted nicely to the cameras for the X 1.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Looks like Rue has adjusted nicely to the cameras for the X 1.

I still have a few hit and miss.

Lighting was playing havoc with most of pictures.

 

[worldspy99]

Monday is here. And I an slightly sore from the adventure yesterday.

The view from the top

 

[raycpl]

Also as promised some more chateau pics and garden. No editing. Just some minor cropping.

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Great collection of shots

 

[raycpl]

Monday is here. And I an slightly sore from the adventure yesterday.

The view from the top

Looks like awesome trek

 

[worldspy99]

Looks like awesome trek

It was. 18.5 miles round trip. 5500 ft elevation gain. Peak is 11,503 ft above sea level. I managed it just around 10 hours with a fairly long break at the top.

 

[libra89]

It was. 18.5 miles round trip. 5500 ft elevation gain. Peak is 11,503 ft above sea level. I managed it just around 10 hours with a fairly long break at the top.

Wow! Sounds like a lot but what a view and a hike!