Transport from Orlando to Sarasota/Venice

[carlos123]

Just curious...that's all...but I am wondering...

Would you ever consider having me park in your driveway, no use of your house in any other way, so that I can have an address in Sarasota as a base for doing window cleaning in the area?

In exchange for my driving you to and from the airport in Orlando / Tampa or whereever?

Mind you...I live in my vehicle...but please do not assume that I am your typical live-in-vehicle type of person. I am clean cut, professional, work, and am not dependent on any government assistance of any kind. I just choose to live in my vehicle as a way of saving money and being able to travel more freely.

You can look up my name and read my various posts on this forum if you like.

This wouldn't be right away mind you. Probably a good 3 months from now at least.

I am a committed Christian, am honest to a fault, will never steal or otherwise from anyone, and will never give you any cause to be sorry about any such arrangement.

Again, I am just curious, but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Carlos

[Big House]

Originally Posted by carlos123

Just curious...that's all...but I am wondering...

Would you ever consider having me park in your driveway, no use of your house in any other way, so that I can have an address in Sarasota as a base for doing window cleaning in the area?

In exchange for my driving you to and from the airport in Orlando / Tampa or whereever?

Mind you...I live in my vehicle...but please do not assume that I am your typical live-in-vehicle type of person. I am clean cut, professional, work, and am not dependent on any government assistance of any kind. I just choose to live in my vehicle as a way of saving money and being able to travel more freely.

You can look up my name and read my various posts on this forum if you like.

This wouldn't be right away mind you. Probably a good 3 months from now at least.

I am a committed Christian, am honest to a fault, will never steal or otherwise from anyone, and will never give you any cause to be sorry about any such arrangement.

Again, I am just curious, but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Carlos

Carlos,
I think thay are holding out! LOL, Maybe if you throw in a free window washing.

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by Big House

Carlos,
I think thay are holding out! LOL, Maybe if you throw in a free window washing.

Maybe...I will have to wait and see if they respond to my offer to trade rides to the airport for parking in their driveway (it would be good security for their house too ). Maybe they found another solution. We'll see.

Regardless it was a good suggestion on your part anyway Big House. Thanks.

Carlos

[Big House]

Originally Posted by carlos123

Maybe...I will have to wait and see if they respond to my offer to trade rides to the airport for parking in their driveway (it would be good security for their house too ). Maybe they found another solution. We'll see.

Regardless it was a good suggestion on your part anyway Big House. Thanks.

Carlos

Most people have pools that need someone to put chlorine in once in a while too. If the house is being checked on it is likely to be more secure - that is true!

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by Big House

Most people have pools that need someone to put chlorine in once in a while too. If the house is being checked on it is likely to be more secure - that is true!

Gosh...it sounds like I might have an unending stream of potential parking spots in Florida! In exchange for parking in their driveway I can watch their house, put chlorine in their pool, drive persons to and from the airport, and even collect their mail while they are gone so that it won't look like no one is home.

I'll have to look into such an exchange Big House. Thanks very much for the heads up on this.

I venture to guess that most people would say no but you never know. My new vehicle, that I hope to get down there, will have closed circuit television in it so that I can detect any hoodlums coming up to the truck and record any misconduct on their part for potential future prosecution. The back part of my truck where I will live...won't have any windows in it. At least not obvious one's. So I will need some kind of closed circuit television to "see" out.

I might get a dog too. Excellent companions and very effective alarm watchdogs.

Carlos

[Big House]

Originally Posted by carlos123

Gosh...it sounds like I might have an unending stream of potential parking spots in Florida! In exchange for parking in their driveway I can watch their house, put chlorine in their pool, drive persons to and from the airport, and even collect their mail while they are gone so that it won't look like no one is home.

I'll have to look into such an exchange Big House. Thanks very much for the heads up on this.

I venture to guess that most people would say no but you never know. My new vehicle, that I hope to get down there, will have closed circuit television in it so that I can detect any hoodlums coming up to the truck and record any misconduct on their part for potential future prosecution. The back part of my truck where I will live...won't have any windows in it. At least not obvious one's. So I will need some kind of closed circuit television to "see" out.

I might get a dog too. Excellent companions and very effective alarm watchdogs.

Carlos

Carlos,
Seriously, to add to the window cleaning, you could add pool car, lawn service, and checking on houses so they don't have newspapers piled up etc.... is a serious concern for a number of snowbirds. You can read through some of the posts and you will find that service requested often.

Good Luck - when is the move planned.

[carlos123]

That's the beauty of window cleaning. Not only do I make an excellent hourly wage doing it directly but also there are all manner of add-on services that I can offer to make additional income from existing customers. Up here...I have made thousands offering driveway sealing to existing customers as an example. I have also done some concrete repair.

Window cleaning keeps me pretty busy though.

I am thinking of coming down at the end of October or early December at the latest. I can buy a flight to Orlando (all taxes and everthing included) for $305 as long as I buy it by mid-September.

It's kinda scary a bit, given that I will land with no vehicle, no local driver's licence, and no nothing...but little more than the clothes on my back, my laptop, and a few things that are precious to me (like a photo my dad gave me, my grandmothers parasoul umbrella, and so forth). In a relatively strange city to top it off (Orlando).

Depending on what happens in Orlando after I land...I may take a Greyhound to Sarasota, Melbourne, Tampa, St. Petersburg, haven't decided yet. Or I may stay in Orlando. The immediate goal is to find a cheap room and then either a quick, menial job to add to my savings, or use what savings I have to buy a vehicle to sleep in (once I fix it up).

I also will need to re-equip myself with window cleaning stuff since I won't be bringing any of it on the plane .

Once I get a vehicle I can travel all over central Florida to find the best window cleaning opportunities.

Of course...I am comforted in that I lived in Florida for ten years previously and if worse comes to worse...I can head out to Melbourne and my old stomping grounds and friends there. Still...it's a bit unerving. But as I said before...I gots to get out of here! Winters a coming...big time. I have a feeling this one is going to be a real bad one.

I will be trying to sell my business in the next week or so. If it sells before the fall season gets under way (September and October) I'll be inclined to come down pretty quick (so that I won't spend what I get on living expenses here). If it doesn't sell at all or until after the fall season...I will be coming down later while I get as much as I can during the fall window cleaning season.

There are a couple of considerations I need to take into account. One big one is that if I come down before December 1, I will loose an $80,000 dollar exemption from most US taxes for citizens living abroad (except for self-employment taxes but that too is taken care of by a Canada / US tax treaty where I pay the lower 9.5% Canadian rate). That's because if I come down and spend longer than 30 days in the US in a calendar year I loose the exemption for that year.

The other consideration is that of the bad economy in Florida. Do I want to work at a menial job there, and make $7-8 per hour, to add to my savings? Or do I want to work at a menial job here, and make $15-17 per hour? The better part of wisdom would say...stay here...and endure a little winter at least until December some time before coming down.

Problem is my truck requires some work and I will need to spend time fixing it, in preparation for October and possibly the beginning of December if I stay here too long. It's not winterized and it needs some serious work. I can do the work myself mind you but, I would just as soon sell it to a junkyard and come down early and not spend the money to fix it.

So many options....so many options....and so much uncertainty about various things like whether my business will sell...whether I will find a cheap room down there...and so on.

All that to say...that my tentative goal is to come down by December 2 (or within 30 days of the end of the calendar year) . Earlier if I just can't stand the beginning of winter and feel like I will go nuts (loss of the US tax exemption notwithstanding).