CNN
—

Als John Flores und Michael Leitz nach einem Zuhause für den nächsten Lebensabschnitt suchten, stellten sie fest, dass ihr Wohnort in San Francisco zu teuer war.

Stattdessen begannen sie, weiter in die Ferne zu schauen – und kauften schließlich ein wunderschönes, 120 Jahre altes, dreistöckiges Haus im ländlichen Spanien für weniger als 50.000 US-Dollar.

Sowohl Flores als auch Leitz arbeiteten vor ihrer Pensionierung im Bildungswesen in den USA – Leitz war Geschichtslehrer an einer High School, während Flores Verwaltungsangestellter an der UCLA war.

Obwohl sie sagten, dass sie beide ihren Lebensstil in San Francisco genossen, erkannten sie, dass es unbezahlbar wäre, in einer Mietwohnung zu leben und deren Renten weit unter ihrem Gehalt lägen.

„Europa war für uns eine naheliegende Wahl“, sagte Leitz. „Ich bin teils Deutscher, teils Ire, daher hatte die Familie europäische Wurzeln. John ist zum Teil Mexikaner, was für eine spanische Verbindung sorgt, und er spricht auch fließend Spanisch.

„Der kalifornischen Lebensart kommt man in Europa am nächsten, man kann sie in Spanien finden, daher fiel uns die Wahl leicht.“

Gonzalo Azumendi/Stone RF/Getty Images

Das Paar begann seine Wohnungssuche in der spanischen Stadt Valencia, fand es aber zu teuer.

Leitz und Flores sind nicht allein. In den letzten Jahren sind immer mehr Amerikaner aus geschäftlichen Gründen und im Ruhestand nach Europa gezogen – wobei sich Spanien laut einem Bericht des Migrationsberatungsunternehmens Global Citizen Solutions zu einem Top-Reiseziel entwickelt hat.

Ein Teil der Attraktivität ist wahrscheinlich auf Spaniens ganzjährig mildes Klima und einen entspannten Lebensstil gepaart mit relativ günstigen Grundnahrungsmitteln, einschließlich hochwertiger Speisen und Weine, zurückzuführen.

Auch Visa- und Aufenthaltsbestimmungen wurden in den letzten Jahren deutlich erleichtert. Spanien möchte ausländische Staatsangehörige zum Leben und Arbeiten anlocken, um einem enormen Entvölkerungsproblem, insbesondere in ländlichen Gebieten, entgegenzuwirken, und heißt digitale Nomaden ebenso willkommen wie wohlhabende Privatpersonen, Rentner und Ferienhausbesitzer.

Den richtigen Ort zu finden und in ein anderes Land zu ziehen, war für Flores und Leitz keineswegs einfach.

„Wir waren uns bewusst, dass der Umzug nicht ohne Hindernisse verlief“, sagt Leitz. „Ich hatte noch nie ein solches Unterfangen unternommen, aber viele Jahre bevor ich ihn traf, hatte John etwas Ähnliches in Phoenix gemacht, deshalb hatte er mehr Ideen als ich.“

Bei dem Umzug musste das Paar zwangsläufig zahlreiche Herausforderungen meistern. Der Kauf und Verkauf von Immobilien in Europa unterscheidet sich stark von den USA. Der gesamte Prozess ist viel formeller und umfasst Notare, Grundbuchämter und Beamte wie vereidigte Übersetzer.

Und dann sind da noch die Sprachbarrieren und Kulturschocks. Als Rentner mussten sich Flores und Leitz keine Sorgen um Schulen und Bildung machen – ein wichtiger Aspekt für angehende Expats, die mit Kindern nach Europa ziehen.

Siestas und verschlafene Sonntage

Stefano Politi Markovina/Alamy Stock Foto

Schließlich ließen sie sich in der charmanten Marktstadt Xatavia nieder.

Da beide als Lehrer tätig waren, hatten sie reichlich Urlaub und nutzten diesen, um im Vorfeld ihres Umzugs Spanien und Europa zu erkunden.

Spanien ist ein riesiges Land mit vielen verschiedenen Regionen, von schneebedeckten Bergen im Norden bis zu den Stränden und Inseln des Mittelmeers. Es gibt ländliche Täler, kleine, romantische Dörfer und große Städte wie Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Sevilla und Malaga.

Flores und Leitz nahmen sich Zeit und reisten über mehrere Jahre hinweg überall hin, um kulturelle Veränderungen wie die langen Siestas in Spanien, zahlreiche Feiertage und die Tatsache, dass Geschäfte sonntags nicht geöffnet sind, einzuschätzen.

Nachdem sie sich für Spanien entschieden hatten und der Ruhestand noch einige Zeit entfernt war, begannen sie mit den Vorbereitungen, indem sie die Landessprache auffrischten – etwas, das sie bereits aus ihrem Leben in Kalifornien kannten.

„Mein Spanisch zu perfektionieren ist jetzt eigentlich meine Priorität, da alles andere geklärt ist“, sagt Leitz. „Für den Alltag ist es einfach so wichtig, mit den Arbeitern und den Einheimischen kommunizieren zu können.“

Als es um die Wohnungssuche ging, war ihre erste Station Valencia, eine wunderschöne Stadt und Hafenstadt am Mittelmeer im Südosten Spaniens.

Valencia – berühmt für Orangen, das Nationalgericht Paella, Architektur, Keramik und Kultur – wurde für drei Jahre ihre Heimat, da sie in Mietwohnungen lebten.

Michael Leitz

Das Paar beschloss, das Erdgeschoss seines neuen Zuhauses zu öffnen, um einen offenen und luftigen Raum zu schaffen.

Allerdings lag die Stadt außerhalb ihrer Preisspanne, wenn es um den Kauf einer Wohnung für ihre Renten ging. Sie waren auch auf der Suche nach einem ländlicheren Ort – am liebsten nach einem besseren Ort, den sie nach ihren Wünschen restaurieren konnten.

„Unsere Hobbys sind Geschichte und Kunst und wir wollten einen Ort, an dem beides sowie Natur und Wald vorhanden sind“, sagt Flores. „Eine weitere Überlegung waren öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und gute Zug- oder Busverbindungen in andere Teile Spaniens.“

Als sie die ländlichen Dörfer rund um Valencia erkundeten, entschieden sie sich schließlich für eine historische Kleinstadt namens Xativa, die über eine beeindruckende Burg und einen Wachturm sowie Museen, Kunstgalerien, Bars und Restaurants verfügt.

Entscheidend ist, dass es auch eine Schnellzugverbindung nach Valencia und darüber hinaus gibt.

Was das Paar wirklich anzog, waren die engen Gassen mit vielen älteren Gebäuden, die dringend renoviert werden mussten – einige ziemlich heruntergekommen, andere in einem vernünftigen Zustand.

Auch die freundlichen Bewohner – Einheimische wie auch andere Expats, die sich dort bereits glücklich niedergelassen hatten – überzeugten sie. Sie sagten, sie hätten ein Gemeinschaftsgefühl gespürt, das sehr ansprechend sei.

Nachdem sie sich für einen Wohnort entschieden hatten, galt es nun, eine passende – und bezahlbare – Immobilie zu finden.

Anstatt zu einem Immobilienmakler zu gehen, wandten sie sich an Idealista, eine der beliebtesten Immobilienverkaufs-Websites in Spanien, und fanden fast sofort einen Ort, der ihnen zusagte.

Händeschütteln und Hürden

Michael Leitz

Sie haben auch eine überdachte Terrasse voller Pflanzen angelegt.

Es war ein dreistöckiges Steingebäude, groß genug für ihre Bedürfnisse und zu einem vernünftigen Preis angeboten. Sie sagten, sie seien überrascht, wie niedrig die Preise im Vergleich zu Valencia und anderen Orten in Spanien seien, die sie sich angesehen hatten – und natürlich im Vergleich zu den USA.

Es bestand aus mehreren kleinen Räumen im Erdgeschoss, nur einem Badezimmer und zwei Schlafzimmern. Sie konnten das Potenzial erkennen.

Der nächste Schritt waren Inspektionen, um sicherzustellen, dass das Haus baulich einwandfrei und wetterfest war.

Dann war da noch die rechtliche Seite des Kaufs – etwas kompliziert durch das Alter des Gebäudes – es ist etwa 120 Jahre alt. Wie so oft im ländlichen Spanien gingen im Laufe der Jahre viele Aufzeichnungen verloren. In früheren Zeiten wechselte Eigentum häufig per Handschlag den Besitzer.

Schließlich handelten sie mit dem Verkäufer einen Preis von 45.000 Euro inklusive Steuern aus. Es gelang ihnen, eine Hypothek aufzunehmen, was bedeutete, dass die Bank einen Teil des Papierkrams erledigte.

Nachdem der Kauf abgeschlossen war, begannen sie, Pläne zu schmieden. Sie beschlossen, die Innenwände im Erdgeschoss herauszureißen, um einen großen, hellen Raum zu schaffen. Das Obergeschoss würde ebenfalls umgestaltet, um ein weiteres Schlafzimmer und ein Badezimmer zu schaffen. Sie wollten auch eine Klimaanlage installieren, was angesichts der hohen Sommerhitze in Südspanien eine Notwendigkeit war.

Nachdem ein lokaler Architekt und Bauunternehmer gefunden wurde, der bereit war, die Arbeiten für 40.000 Euro (ca. 44.000 US-Dollar) zu übernehmen, begannen die Arbeiten im Erdgeschoss.

„Hier fanden wir die meisten Probleme“, sagt Flores.

Sehen Sie sich diesen interaktiven Inhalt auf CNN.com an

„Es gab vier kleine Zimmer und der Raum fühlte sich ziemlich eng an. Außerdem war die Decke ziemlich niedrig, also haben wir den Architekten gebeten, nachzusehen, ob darüber feste Balken vorhanden sind. Es gab welche, und keine davon erwies sich als faul. Dennoch sprühten die Arbeiter alles mit einer speziellen Lösung ein, um zu verhindern, dass Holzwürmer in die Balken gelangen.

„Nachdem die Trennwände entfernt worden waren, hatten wir einen großen, luftigen und sonnigen Raum und die Decke wurde um 3 bis 4 Fuß angehoben. Das machte den Unterschied.“

Darüber hinaus entfernte das Paar das eine Schlafzimmer im Erdgeschoss und erweiterte das Hauptschlafzimmer im zweiten Stock um einen begehbaren Kleiderschrank, ein Gästezimmer und ein weiteres Badezimmer mit Badewanne und Dusche.

Dann folgten die letzten Handgriffe. Es gab keinen Garten, sondern eine überdachte, geflieste Terrasse.

„Wir haben darüber nachgedacht, die Terrasse zum Himmel hin zu öffnen“, sagte Leitz. „Aber man muss den Einheimischen zuhören, die Bescheid wissen. Sie rieten uns dringend, die Terrasse geschlossen zu halten, da es manchmal zu starken Regenfällen kommt und das Haus überflutet werden könnte. Deshalb ist es jetzt mit einem transparenten Dach bedeckt, das viel Sonnenschein hereinlässt.“

Michael Leitz

Das Treppenhaus vor der Renovierung.

Sie verfügen nicht nur über eine Terrasse, sondern auch über eine Terrasse mit vielen Topfpflanzen. Um ihren künstlerischen Interessen nachzugehen, richteten sie im Dachgeschoss ein Atelier ein. Leitz sagt, dass er gerne malt, während Flores farbenfrohe Keramik herstellt. Ihre Werke sind im gesamten Anwesen ausgestellt.

Die Einrichtungsgegenstände sind eine Mischung aus aus den USA gelieferten Artikeln und lokalen Akquisitionen.

„Einige Dinge haben wir aus Kalifornien mitgebracht, darunter einen Perserteppich, der schon lange in Familienbesitz war, andere haben wir bei Ikea gekauft, aber unser bester Fund war ein Möbelgeschäft, das auf Immobilienverkäufe spezialisiert ist“, schwärmt Leitz. „Wir haben dort die schönsten antiken ländlichen spanischen Möbel gekauft.“

Die Renovierungsarbeiten am Haus dauerten etwa sechs Monate, doch es dauerte noch lange, bis die örtlichen Behörden eine Baugenehmigung erhielten.

Michael Leitz

Das neue, offene Treppenhaus.

Nachdem der Architekt Pläne, Anträge und andere Unterlagen eingereicht hatte, wurde das Paar bald mit dem Konzept von „mañana“ vertraut – ein Wort, das wörtlich „morgen“ bedeutet, in Spanien aber eigentlich jede Zeitspanne bedeuten kann.

„Das Schwierigste war das lange Warten auf die Genehmigung und der bürokratische Aufwand“, sagt Flores „Aber die Bauarbeiten selbst dauerten nur etwa sechs Monate und verliefen ohne größere Probleme, außer der Suche nach dem besten Platz für die Klimaanlagen.“

Nachdem die Arbeiten im Sommer 2022 abgeschlossen waren, konnten sie einziehen und sagen, dass sie nun vollständig in die Gemeinschaft integriert sind.

Sie haben viele Freunde gefunden, darunter Einheimische und andere Ausländer, und sagen, dass sie es lieben, wie sich alle auf der Straße begrüßen.

„Sogar unsere Katze, die mit uns aus Kalifornien kam, ist glücklich“ sagt Flores.

Sie haben sich auch an das Leben in einer kleinen, verschlafenen Stadt gewöhnt, in der zwischen 14 und 17 Uhr alles geschlossen ist

„Je älter wir werden“, sagt Leitz, „das ruhigere Leben passt zu uns.“ Wir brauchen keine Nachtclubs und Bars, obwohl wir manchmal Konzerte und Theater vermissen. Aber dann ist Valencia nicht mehr weit.“

The post San Francisco was too costly so that they moved to Spain and purchased a fantastic home for $50,000. Right here’s how they did it appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Eventually they settled on the charming market town of Xatavia.
(Stefano Politi Markovina/Alamy Stock Photo via CNN)

By Inka Piegsa-Quischotte | CNN

John Flores and Michael Leitz. (Michael Leitz via CNN) 

When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next stage of their lives, they realized that where they lived in San Francisco was too expensive.

Instead, they began looking further afield – eventually buying a beautiful 120-year-old, three-story home in rural Spain for less than $50,000.

Both Flores and Leitz worked in education in the US before retiring – Leitz was a high school history teacher while Flores was an administrator at UCLA.

While they said they both enjoyed their San Francisco lifestyle, they realized that it would be unaffordable to live in rented property on pensions much lower than their salaries.

“Europe was an obvious choice for us,” said Leitz. “I am part German and part Irish, so there were European roots from the family.  John is part Mexican, which makes for the Spanish connection, and he is fluent in Spanish too.

“The closest you can come to the Californian way of life in Europe is in Spain, so the choice was an easy one for us.”

Finding the right place

The couple began their home hunt in the Spanish city of Valencia, but found it too expensive.(Gonzalo Azumendi/Stone RF/Getty Images) 

Leitz and Flores aren’t alone. In recent years an increasing number of Americans have moved to Europe for business and retirement – with Spain emerging as a top destination according to a report by migration consultancy Global Citizen Solutions.

Part of the appeal is likely down to Spain’s year-round mild climate and a laid-back lifestyle paired with relatively cheap essentials, including high-quality food and wine.

RELATED: What’s the Bay Area’s most competitive rental market?

Visa and residency requirements have also been made much easier in recent years. Spain wants to attract foreign nationals to live and work to help counter a huge depopulation problem, especially in rural areas, and welcomes digital nomads as well as wealthy individuals, retirees and vacation homeowners.

Finding the right place and relocating to another country was by no means easy for Flores and Leitz.

“We were well aware that the move was not without obstacles,” says Leitz. “I had never undertaken an enterprise like this but, many years before I met him, John had done something similar in Phoenix, therefore he had more ideas than I had.”

Inevitably, the couple needed to navigate numerous challenges in making the move. Buying and selling property in Europe is very different to in the US. The entire process is much more formal, involving notaries, land registries and officials like sworn-in translators.

And then there are the language barriers and culture shocks. As retirees, Flores and Leitz didn’t have to worry about schools and education – a major consideration for would-be expats moving to Europe with kids.

Siestas and sleepy Sundays

Eventually they settled on the charming market town of Xatavia.(Stefano Politi Markovina/Alamy Stock Photo via CNN) 

Since they both worked in the teaching profession, they had plenty of vacations and used them to go exploring Spain and Europe in anticipation of their move.

Spain is a huge country with many different regions, from snow-covered mountains in the north, to the beaches and islands of the Mediterranean. There are rural valleys, tiny, romantic villages and big cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.

Flores and Leitz took their time and traveled everywhere over several years, sizing up cultural changes like Spain’s long siestas, numerous public holidays and the fact that shops don’t open on Sundays.

Having decided on Spain and with retirement still some time away, they started preparations by brushing up on the local language – something they were already familiar with from living in California.

“Perfecting my Spanish is actually my priority now, that everything else has been resolved, “says Leitz. “It is just so important for everyday life to be able to communicate with workers and the locals.”

RELATED: California Exodus: Once growing rapidly, state population projected to remain the same through 2060

When it came to house hunting, their first stop was Valencia, a beautiful city and port on the Mediterranean in southeast Spain.

Valencia – famous for oranges, the national dish paella, architecture, ceramics and culture – became their home for three years as they lived in rented accommodation.

Fixer-upper

The couple decided to open up their new home’s ground floor to create an open and airy space.(Michael Leitz via CNN) 

The city was, however, out of their price range when it came to buying a place on their pensions. They were also looking for somewhere more rural – preferably a fixer-upper that they could restore to their liking.

“Our hobbies are history and art and we wanted a place where both were present, as well as nature and woods,” says Flores. “Another consideration was public transport and good train or bus connections to other parts of Spain.”

Exploring the rural villages around Valencia, they finally decided on an historic small town called Xativa, which has an impressive castle and watchtower as well as museums, art galleries, bars and restaurants.

Crucially, it also has a fast train connection to Valencia and beyond.

The couple says what really appealed was the narrow streets filled with plenty of older properties crying out for restoration – some quite rundown, others in reasonable shape.

They were also won over by friendly residents – locals as well as other expats who had already happily settled there. They said they sensed a feeling of community that was very appealing.

Having decided on a place to live, they now had to find a suitable – and affordable – property.

Instead of going to a realtor, they turned to Idealista, one of the most popular property vending websites in Spain, finding somewhere that appealed to them almost immediately.

Handshakes and hurdles

They also created a covered terrace filled with plants.(Michael Leitz via CNN) 

It was a three-story stone building, big enough for their needs and offered at a reasonable price. They said they were surprised how low prices were compared to Valencia and other places in Spain they’d looked at – and of course as compared to the US.

It consisted of several small rooms on the ground floor, just one bathroom and two bedrooms. They could see the potential.

The next step was inspections to confirm the house was structurally sound and weatherproof.

Then there was the legal side of the purchase – complicated slightly by the building’s age – approximately 120 years old. As is often the case in rural Spain, many records had been lost over the years. In times gone by, property frequently changed hands with a handshake.

Eventually, they negotiated with the vendor a price of 45,000 euros (about $48,000) including taxes. They managed to secure a mortgage, which meant that the bank took care of some of the paperwork.

After finalizing the purchase, they began to make plans. They decided to rip out internal walls on the ground floor to create one large, light space. Upstairs would also be reconfigured to produce another bedroom and bathroom. They also wanted to install AC, a necessity given southern Spain’s high summer heat.

RELATED: 841,065 left California. Where will you find them?

After finding a local architect and builder willing to take on the work for 40,000 euros (about $44,000), work began on the ground floor.

“This is where we found the most problems,” Flores says.

“There were four small rooms and the space felt rather cramped. Also the ceiling was quite low, so we had the architect look and see if there were any solid beams above. There were, and none of them turned out to be rotten. Nevertheless, the workers sprayed everything with a special solution to prevent woodworm getting into the beams.

“After the dividing walls were removed, we got one big, airy and sunny room and the ceiling was lifted by 3-4 feet. This made all the difference.”

In addition, the couple removed the one bedroom on the ground floor and extended the master bedroom on the second floor, adding a walk-in wardrobe, a guest bedroom and another bathroom with tub and shower.

Then came the final touches. There was no garden, but a covered tiled patio.

“We considered opening the patio up to the sky,” Leitz said. “But you have to listen to the locals in the know. They strongly advised us to keep the patio closed because there are sometimes strong rainfalls and the house could be flooded. So, it is now covered with a transparent roof which allows lots of sunshine.”

The quiet life

The staircase before the renovation.(Michael Leitz via CNN) 

Not only do they have a patio but also a terrace with plenty of potted plants. To indulge their artistic interests, they installed a studio in the attic. Leitz says he loves to paint while Flores makes some colorful ceramics. Their works are displayed throughout the property.

Furnishings are a mix of items shipped from the US and local acquisitions.

“Some things we brought back from California, among them a Persian rug that had been in the family for a long time, some we bought in Ikea, but our best find was a furniture shop that specializes in estate sales,” Leitz says enthusiastically. “We bought the most beautiful antique rural Spanish furniture there.”

Work to renovate the house took about six months, but that followed the considerable time taken to get building permission from local authorities.

The new, open plan staircase.(Michael Leitz via CNN) 

After the architect submitted plans, applications and other paperwork, the couple soon became familiar with the concept of “mañana” – a word that literally means “tomorrow,” but in Spain can actually mean any length of time.

“The most difficult part was the long wait for the permit and the red tape,” says Flores  “ But the building work as such took only about six months and went without major problems except to find the best place for the AC units.”

With work completed in summer 2022, they’ve been able to  move in and say they are now fully integrated in the community.

They have made many friends, including locals and other foreigners, and say they love how everyone greets each other in the street.

“Even our cat that came from California with us is happy,” says Flores.

They’ve also gotten used to life in a small, sleepy town where everything shuts between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“As we get older, “ Leitz says, “the quieter life suits us. We don’t need nightclubs and bars although we sometimes miss concerts and theaters. But then, Valencia is not far away.”

The-CNN-Wire
& © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

View more on
The Mercury News

The post San Francisco was too costly so that they moved to Spain and purchased a lovely home for $50,000. appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Gradient, a company built by thermal scientists to rethink HVAC and build products that are good for the planet and great at cooling and heating homes, is announcing the development of its first product, a replacement for the window AC. Gradient will replace the conventional home window AC with a more efficient, space-saving, better-designed solution that keeps homes cool with advanced heat pump technology and a climate-friendly refrigerant. Customers are invited to sign up now for the exclusive beta program at Gradientcomfort.com.

Air conditioning is essential to quality of life and work productivity, but the basic design of window air conditioners has not changed in 50 years. Too often, the very same air conditioning that makes life tolerable in hot weather is also contributing to making climate change worse; heating and cooling systems are responsible for 20% of global carbon emissions.

“Gradient has a mission to cool the world by transforming every home to be more comfortable and healthy for the people who inhabit it — without compromising the environment. We believe we can build a better home air conditioning solution while fighting climate change,” said Vince Romanin, CEO of Gradient. “Air conditioning is one of the most essential amenities to keep people comfortable and productive in a warming world, but too many people are struggling with antiquated window AC units that are clunky, noisy, heavy, and inefficient. Gradient offers a beautiful, intuitive design, a more efficient, sleek, quiet air conditioning experience, and climate-friendly refrigerants. Building a better air conditioner is one of the most effective ways to help people stay comfortable at home while helping to slash carbon emissions from HVAC systems.”

The Gradient is designed to be easy to install and does not block the view like a traditional window AC unit. It provides the benefits of a professional-grade heat pump system at a fraction of the cost.  It can provide cooling and heating year-round and is easy to use via mobile app.

Gradient was founded in 2017 and has raised over $13MM in venture funding; investors include Ajax Strategies, At One Ventures, Prime Coalition, Incite Ventures, Autodesk Foundation, Urban Us, Magic Hour, and leading Silicon Valley angels. The company has also received over $9MM in government grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, and California Strategic Growth Council.

“Home air conditioning is an underrated aspect of the overall conversation around climate change, and we see a big opportunity for Gradient to disrupt the home HVAC space by developing a much-improved, climate-friendly replacement for the traditional window unit AC,” said Milo Werner, Partner with Ajax Strategies. “Millions of Americans need an air conditioning solution, but their options are limited to out-of-date window and floor units that block their view, make a lot of noise, and contribute to climate change. The current technology has not improved in decades. As more people work from home, there is a higher level of consumer interest in getting a high-quality home air conditioner that really works. Gradient has a great product and an excellent team who are thinking creatively about addressing the needs of this market with a beautiful, intuitive, consumer-focused solution.”

Gradient spun out from Otherlab, a private R&D lab in San Francisco that has leveraged over $40MM in government grants to incubate hard tech companies in the manufacturing, energy, and robotics industries. Founded by thermal scientists and engineers, flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, the Gradient team is uniquely qualified to solve this problem.

The Gradient solution will be available for sale nationwide in Spring 2022.  In the meantime, you can learn more and sign up for Gradient’s exclusive beta program at GradientComfort.com.

About Gradient

Gradient is rethinking HVAC. We build products that are good for the planet and great at keeping your home comfortable, starting with a replacement for the window AC. Gradient is founded by thermal scientists and engineers and flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, all aligned behind a mission to cool the world. Gradient aims to reduce the carbon emissions from heating and cooling systems, which represent 20% of emissions globally. Backed by Otherlab, Gradient has secured over $9M in non-dilutive grants and over $13M in venture funding. To learn more, visit GradientComfort.com

Media Contact for Gradient:

Rebecca Silliman, Whipsmart PR
(510) 254-7615
315022@email4pr.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/its-time-to-replace-the-window-ac-introducing-gradient-beautiful-innovative-climate-friendly-hvac-solutions-designed-for-consumer-needs-301339528.html

SOURCE Gradient

The post It is Time to Exchange the Window AC. Introducing Gradient: Stunning, Progressive, Local weather-Pleasant HVAC Options Designed for Client Wants appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The dangers of Alaska aren’t limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love.

Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Peggy Townsend’s The Beautiful and the Wild, which is out November 7th!

It’s summer in Alaska and the light surrounding the shipping-container-turned-storage shed where Liv Russo is being held prisoner is fuzzy and gray. Around her is thick forest and jagged mountains. In front of her, across a clearing, is a low-slung cabin with a single window that spills a wash of yellow light onto bare ground. Illuminated in that light is the father of her child, a man she once loved. A man who is now her jailor. Liv vows to do anything to escape.

Carrying her own secrets and a fierce need to protect her young son, Liv must navigate a new world where extreme weather, starvation, and dangerous wildlife are not the only threats she faces. With winter’s arrival imminent, she knows she must reckon with her past and the choices that brought her to the unforgiving Alaskan landscape if she is ever going to make it out alive.

A story of survival in the wilds of Alaska, The Beautiful and the Wild explores the question of whether we can ever truly know the person we love—or ourselves.

1.

The silence was so thick I felt like I was drowning.

It filled my ears and throat with a watery quiet that made it hard to breathe. I leaned my forehead against the cold steel door that imprisoned me, and willed myself to draw in small gulps of air until finally the feeling of suffocation began to lift. It was only then that I turned to look at my surroundings.

I was locked inside a rusted shipping container, its walls pockmarked with tiny holes that let in slivers of light. A mildewed mattress on a low frame sat in one corner, with a ragged upholstered chair and a steamer trunk next to it. There was a shelf with an old-fashioned lantern on it, a small woodstove that vented through the back wall of the space, and a cluster of fifty-five-gallon drums in the corner near where I stood. It looked as if someone had once lived here but had abandoned it the way people did in ghost towns, leaving everything behind as disaster and illness struck. I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter around me.

Gray light filtered through a high rectangular window and I pushed myself away from the door to look.

Outside, the sky was pewter with dark clouds that scudded in the wind. Dense stands of spruce pressed around the container. In the distance, a muscular line of serrated mountains poked the sky. Everything here in Alaska seemed oversized and unrestrained. Even the summer daylight had no boundaries. I didn’t have my phone or a watch but I guessed it was after midnight.

In front of me was a clearing that had been hacked out of the wilderness. A small greenhouse, a couple of graying outbuildings and a scattering of broken equipment edged the compound. A good-sized vegetable garden had been planted in the center of the opening, although the plants looked tired and anemic. On the far side of the garden was a sagging, low-roofed cabin with a set of weathered antlers nailed above the door.

Yellow light spilled through the front window of the hut, illuminating a male figure bent over a table as if performing some intricate work. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and his golden hair was long.

He was my husband, the father of my child. A man everyone said was dead, and yet here he was, very much alive.

He was also the one holding me prisoner.

I couldn’t help but wonder how everything had gone so wrong.

2. THEN

I met my husband, Mark, nine years ago when I was still struggling to find my way. I was living in Sacramento with three roommates and waitressing at a cheap diner where the mediocre food was matched only by the sullenness of its customers. I sometimes wondered if the meals were what made people grumpy or whether the sourness of the customers caused the cook to do only a halfhearted job because he knew he would never please anybody. Either way, I felt like I needed to blow off a little steam and decided to go to this country-and-western bar called the Holdup with another waitress from work. Mark was the first person I saw when I walked in.

I was wearing a short denim dress and a pair of cowboy boots I’d borrowed from my housemate Maggie, and he was sitting at the bar in faded Wranglers and a white T-shirt. He had shaggy golden hair and boyish blue eyes; when he smiled, a dimple appeared in his left cheek. I tried not to stare but I couldn’t help myself. I was like a moth with a beautiful yellow flame in front of it.

When Mark caught me looking, he came over with a bottle of Coors and sat at my table. My friend got up and went to the dance floor. My whole body vibrated with his nearness.

First, he asked me questions about myself and then told me he was a freelance filmmaker who’d studied at UCLA and just finished a documentary about a Marine amputee who’d run the length of Africa as a penance, basically, for being alive when the rest of his squad was dead. He told me about watching a sunset in Morocco, hiding from bandits in Uganda, and surfing at J-Bay in South Africa. He seemed confident and adventurous. One of those people who went off to climb mountains or motorcycle across Siberia just because the unknown was out there waiting to be experienced. He was so different from me and yet, from that moment on, he was the only thing I wanted.

I could say it was the beer I drank followed by three whiskeys on the rocks but I would be lying. We closed down the bar with talk and I went home with him, where we made frantic and then slow love on a mattress on his bedroom floor. I would have gone with him sober. I never left after that night.

When his Africa documentary won the grand jury prize at a prestigious New York film festival four months later, the combination of excitement and optimism caused him to propose marriage and we drove up to South Lake Tahoe, where we tied the knot in a wedding chapel off the main drag. The truth was, as we lay in our hotel bed that night-the new Mr. and Mrs. Russo, as the officiant had loudly announced-I felt like, even though I didn’t deserve it, I’d won some kind of prize too.

After that, we rubbed shoulders with celebrities at Sundance and spent a weekend at a fancy house in Tahoe with some hedge fund guy who introduced Mark to a couple of big-time producers. We went to elaborate parties in San Francisco and LA and spent all day in bed just because we could.

Life seemed shiny and bright then, especially after the two producers Mark had met hired him to replace the cinematographer on their most recent film, a guy who’d had an unfortunate accident involving a BMW, a power pole and a bottle of Don Julio tequila. Mark was flown to Utah in a private jet. Three weeks in, everything fell apart.

First, the producers told Mark that they had to make cuts to the budget and then that they wanted to take the film in a different direction: more commercial, more explosions, and with a love story. Mark told them they would ruin the film and made the mistake of sending an email to a fellow shooter telling him what a clown show the production had become and how the married director had been having sex with an eighteen-year-old girl on set. The story somehow made its way into the trades, including the detail that almost everyone on set called the two producers the Brothers Dim. Mark was fired and told he would never work in Hollywood again. He took a Greyhound bus back to Sacramento.

The next day, I found him passed out on the couch, an empty bottle of vodka on the carpet next to him. It was three in the afternoon. I helped him into bed and went to work, thinking he would sleep it off. He didn’t. For the next five days, he huddled under the blankets, refusing to speak, refusing to eat, refusing suggestions to get up and take a shower. His stillness felt scary and dangerous, like a hand grenade had been deposited in our bedroom.

On day six, just as I was getting ready to call Mark’s brother to ask if this had happened before and what I should do, Mark stumbled out of the bedroom. His hair was wild and his smell zoolike, and he went into the kitchen and fried himself three eggs.

“Don’t,” he said, and held up a hand when I started to ask how he was.

He spent the next two weeks on the phone. No one would take his calls.

After that, he got a job at one of those big-box hardware stores and started a portrait business on the side. Then, one day, he burst into our apartment and said a guy he knew from film school worked as a fire lookout in Washington State and needed someone to fill in for him while he went off to take care of his ailing father.

“Think of it, Liv. We’ll be on top of the world and no one will bother us. We’ll be part of nature, free from the money-grubbers, the phonies, the idiots. Just us.”

It scared me a little but he folded me into his arms and said: “Trust me, you’ll never feel more alive than when you don’t know what’s coming next.”

And he was right.

By the time fire season was over, I was weightless from the freedom of being unchained from rude customers, routines and responsibilities, and so we kept traveling. We crisscrossed the West, sleeping under the stars, drinking beer in dimly lit bars and getting temporary jobs when we were low on money. Once, we worked clearing out hoarder houses for a rehab outfit in Los Angeles. Another time, we spent three weeks in a commune outside of Portland, Oregon, where we canned vegetables, milked goats and fixed fences.

Then I got pregnant and Mark shifted from the restless wanderer to the superhero of fathers. He’d come into a little money after his mother died-his cardiac surgeon father had passed three years before-and he made a down payment on a house on the outskirts of Sacramento. It was beige stucco, 1,120 square feet, and had been built in 1939 when the Depression was still fresh on everyone’s minds. There was a tiny front porch, two small bedrooms, noisy plumbing and a galley kitchen that looked out onto a sprawling elm tree in the backyard. And yet it was ours.

He carried me over the threshold with my seven-months-pregnant belly. Later, we laughed about how he had grunted with effort when he hefted me up.

When Xander was born, Mark dove into fatherhood as if he had been destined to do just that. He changed diapers, read child-development books and paced the floor for hours when Xander had colic. When Xander began missing some of his milestones, Mark was the one who insisted we take our boy to Stanford.

See also

I remember sitting under a buzzing fluorescent light in the tiny exam room and listening as the doctor spoke about genes being deleted from a certain chromosome that would make our son’s health as fragile as an old man’s and leave him with developmental delays. He said, however, that surgery could repair part of what was wrong with our son’s heart and that if we did a lot of occupational and physical therapy, we could get him fairly close to “normal.”

He smiled when he said it, as if we should have thanked him for such wonderful news.

Instead, Mark’s eyes lasered in on the doctor. “Who the hell wants normal?” he said. “Normal is just a prescription for unhappiness. You should know. Look at you.” The doctor reared back on his wheeled stool. “My kid is perfect,” Mark said, “an old soul who was placed here for a reason, and he’s going to change the world.”

It turned out both he and the doctor were right.

Xander was an old soul, a beautiful boy who changed our lives. But he also needed surgery to enlarge his narrowed aorta and therapy to help him learn to walk. Our hearts filled while our bank account drained.

I started cleaning houses because of the flexibility the work offered and Mark took on different jobs: shelf stocking, house painting, hardware clerking. We tried to keep alive some vestiges of our former life with overnight camping trips to the mountains and watching old movies on the couch with a bottle of wine between us. Eventually, however, our lives dissolved into routine and I couldn’t help but think we were traveling the same stretch of road day after day, never getting anywhere except the state of exhaustion.

We worked and ate and fell into bed, sometimes without even a good night kiss. We still had sex but it tended to be more hurried and less intense than in the old days. A few times, I faked an orgasm but most of the time I didn’t have to. Mark was always careful to make sure we were both satisfied.

Still, I was never quite sure what Mark saw in me. I wasn’t thin or tall or beautiful like the women in LA, who all appeared to have stepped out of the pages of a magazine. I was shorter and more compact but my hair was thick and the color of roasted coffee beans and my cheekbones were high and sculpted. Mark always said my looks reminded him of a warrior princess.

“How could I look at another woman when I have you?” he would say.

Despite that, there was a part of me that suspected he wanted more than me and our little house, our low-paying jobs and our suburban lives, so when he got a job at a custom-motorcycle shop delivering bikes to customers all over the West and discovered a subject for a new documentary, I was thrilled.

But maybe our quiet life was what I should have wanted. Maybe that should have been enough.

3. NOW

I awoke on the bare mattress under a striped wool blanket I’d found in the steamer chest. My eyes were full of grit and my mouth dry as dust. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was, and when I did, panic fluttered inside me.

I sat up and told myself to calm down, that Mark couldn’t keep me locked up forever, although I could no longer be sure of that fact. Not since so many things I thought I knew about him had turned out to be wrong.

I pushed myself out of bed, my back muscles protesting against the lumpy mattress on which I’d slept. The plywood floor was rough under my bare feet. I went to the window, which was set high enough so that my chin just came to its bottom sill. I wiped away the desiccated corpses of a half dozen flies and tapped the barrier with my finger. Plexiglass. No way to escape there.

Outside, the sky had turned cornflower blue and a hard breeze sent cloud shadows racing across the garden. The dirt was dark with moisture. It must have rained during the few hours I’d slept.

I thought of my drive here: the pouring rain through Seattle, the graveled highway with its frost heaves and the dark forest pressing in on either side, the fast food Xander and I had eaten so I could surreptitiously charge my phone because my twelve-year-old Subaru was too ancient to have a charging port. Somewhere in the Yukon, however, the fast-food places disappeared and I had to be even more creative. Once, I tried to charge my phone at an outlet I found behind a gas station/mini-mart and was chased off by the attendant, who threatened to have me arrested for theft of electricity. Pretty soon, though, finding outlets didn’t matter. Cell service became so spotty it was basically nonexistent. It made me feel cut off from the world but free in a way too.

Excerpted from The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend Copyright © 2023 by Peggy Townsend. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Like this:

Like Loading…

The post Learn An Excerpt From ‘The Lovely and the Wild’ by Peggy Townsend appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Inka Piegsa-Quischotte, CNN

(CNN) — When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next stage of their lives, they realized that where they lived in San Francisco was too expensive.

Instead, they began looking further afield – eventually buying a beautiful 120-year-old, three-story home in rural Spain for less than $50,000.

Both Flores and Leitz worked in education in the US before retiring – Leitz was a high school history teacher while Flores was an administrator at UCLA.

While they said they both enjoyed their San Francisco lifestyle, they realized that it would be unaffordable to live in rented property on pensions much lower than their salaries.

“Europe was an obvious choice for us,” said Leitz. “I am part German and part Irish, so there were European roots from the family.  John is part Mexican, which makes for the Spanish connection, and he is fluent in Spanish too.

“The closest you can come to the Californian way of life in Europe is in Spain, so the choice was an easy one for us.”

Finding the right place

Leitz and Flores aren’t alone. In recent years an increasing number of Americans have moved to Europe for business and retirement – with Spain emerging as a top destination according to a report by migration consultancy Global Citizen Solutions.

Part of the appeal is likely down to Spain’s year-round mild climate and a laid-back lifestyle paired with relatively cheap essentials, including high-quality food and wine.

Visa and residency requirements have also been made much easier in recent years. Spain wants to attract foreign nationals to live and work to help counter a huge depopulation problem, especially in rural areas, and welcomes digital nomads as well as wealthy individuals, retirees and vacation homeowners.

Finding the right place and relocating to another country was by no means easy for Flores and Leitz.

“We were well aware that the move was not without obstacles,” says Leitz. “I had never undertaken an enterprise like this but, many years before I met him, John had done something similar in Phoenix, therefore he had more ideas than I had.”

Inevitably, the couple needed to navigate numerous challenges in making the move. Buying and selling property in Europe is very different to in the US. The entire process is much more formal, involving notaries, land registries and officials like sworn-in translators.

And then there are the language barriers and culture shocks. As retirees, Flores and Leitz didn’t have to worry about schools and education – a major consideration for would-be expats moving to Europe with kids.

Siestas and sleepy Sundays

Since they both worked in the teaching profession, they had plenty of vacations and used them to go exploring Spain and Europe in anticipation of their move.

Spain is a huge country with many different regions, from snow-covered mountains in the north, to the beaches and islands of the Mediterranean. There are rural valleys, tiny, romantic villages and big cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.

Flores and Leitz took their time and traveled everywhere over several years, sizing up cultural changes like Spain’s long siestas, numerous public holidays and the fact that shops don’t open on Sundays.

Having decided on Spain and with retirement still some time away, they started preparations by brushing up on the local language – something they were already familiar with from living in California.

“Perfecting my Spanish is actually my priority now, that everything else has been resolved, “says Leitz. “It is just so important for everyday life to be able to communicate with workers and the locals.”

When it came to house hunting, their first stop was Valencia, a beautiful city and port on the Mediterranean in southeast Spain.

Valencia – famous for oranges, the national dish paella, architecture, ceramics and culture – became their home for three years as they lived in rented accommodation.

Fixer-upper

The city was, however, out of their price range when it came to buying a place on their pensions. They were also looking for somewhere more rural – preferably a fixer-upper that they could restore to their liking.

“Our hobbies are history and art and we wanted a place where both were present, as well as nature and woods,” says Flores. “Another consideration was public transport and good train or bus connections to other parts of Spain.”

Exploring the rural villages around Valencia, they finally decided on an historic small town called Xativa, which has an impressive castle and watchtower as well as museums, art galleries, bars and restaurants.

Crucially, it also has a fast train connection to Valencia and beyond.

The couple says what really appealed was the narrow streets filled with plenty of older properties crying out for restoration – some quite rundown, others in reasonable shape.

They were also won over by friendly residents – locals as well as other expats who had already happily settled there. They said they sensed a feeling of community that was very appealing.

Having decided on a place to live, they now had to find a suitable – and affordable – property.

Instead of going to a realtor, they turned to Idealista, one of the most popular property vending websites in Spain, finding somewhere that appealed to them almost immediately.

Handshakes and hurdles

It was a three-story stone building, big enough for their needs and offered at a reasonable price. They said they were surprised how low prices were compared to Valencia and other places in Spain they’d looked at – and of course as compared to the US.

It consisted of several small rooms on the ground floor, just one bathroom and two bedrooms. They could see the potential.

The next step was inspections to confirm the house was structurally sound and weatherproof.

Then there was the legal side of the purchase – complicated slightly by the building’s age – approximately 120 years old. As is often the case in rural Spain, many records had been lost over the years. In times gone by, property frequently changed hands with a handshake.

Eventually, they negotiated with the vendor a price of 45,000 euros (about $48,000) including taxes. They managed to secure a mortgage, which meant that the bank took care of some of the paperwork.

After finalizing the purchase, they began to make plans. They decided to rip out internal walls on the ground floor to create one large, light space. Upstairs would also be reconfigured to produce another bedroom and bathroom. They also wanted to install AC, a necessity given southern Spain’s high summer heat.

After finding a local architect and builder willing to take on the work for 40,000 euros (about $44,000), work began on the ground floor.

“This is where we found the most problems,” Flores says.

“There were four small rooms and the space felt rather cramped. Also the ceiling was quite low, so we had the architect look and see if there were any solid beams above. There were, and none of them turned out to be rotten. Nevertheless, the workers sprayed everything with a special solution to prevent woodworm getting into the beams.

“After the dividing walls were removed, we got one big, airy and sunny room and the ceiling was lifted by 3-4 feet. This made all the difference.”

In addition, the couple removed the one bedroom on the ground floor and extended the master bedroom on the second floor, adding a walk-in wardrobe, a guest bedroom and another bathroom with tub and shower.

Then came the final touches. There was no garden, but a covered tiled patio.

“We considered opening the patio up to the sky,” Leitz said. “But you have to listen to the locals in the know. They strongly advised us to keep the patio closed because there are sometimes strong rainfalls and the house could be flooded. So, it is now covered with a transparent roof which allows lots of sunshine.”

The quiet life

Not only do they have a patio but also a terrace with plenty of potted plants. To indulge their artistic interests, they installed a studio in the attic. Leitz says he loves to paint while Flores makes some colorful ceramics. Their works are displayed throughout the property.

Furnishings are a mix of items shipped from the US and local acquisitions.

“Some things we brought back from California, among them a Persian rug that had been in the family for a long time, some we bought in Ikea, but our best find was a furniture shop that specializes in estate sales,” Leitz says enthusiastically. “We bought the most beautiful antique rural Spanish furniture there.”

Work to renovate the house took about six months, but that followed the considerable time taken to get building permission from local authorities.

After the architect submitted plans, applications and other paperwork, the couple soon became familiar with the concept of “mañana” – a word that literally means “tomorrow,” but in Spain can actually mean any length of time.

“The most difficult part was the long wait for the permit and the red tape,” says Flores  “ But the building work as such took only about six months and went without major problems except to find the best place for the AC units.”

With work completed in summer 2022, they’ve been able to  move in and say they are now fully integrated in the community.

They have made many friends, including locals and other foreigners, and say they love how everyone greets each other in the street.

“Even our cat that came from California with us is happy,” says Flores.

They’ve also gotten used to life in a small, sleepy town where everything shuts between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“As we get older, “ Leitz says, “the quieter life suits us. We don’t need nightclubs and bars although we sometimes miss concerts and theaters. But then, Valencia is not far away.”

The-CNN-Wire
& © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco was too costly so that they moved to Spain and purchased a stupendous home for $50,000. Right here’s how they did it appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

CNN
 — 

When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next stage of their lives, they realized that where they lived in San Francisco was too expensive.

Instead, they began looking further afield – eventually buying a beautiful 120-year-old, three-story home in rural Spain for less than $50,000.

Both Flores and Leitz worked in education in the US before retiring – Leitz was a high school history teacher while Flores was an administrator at UCLA.

While they said they both enjoyed their San Francisco lifestyle, they realized that it would be unaffordable to live in rented property on pensions much lower than their salaries.

“Europe was an obvious choice for us,” said Leitz. “I am part German and part Irish, so there were European roots from the family.  John is part Mexican, which makes for the Spanish connection, and he is fluent in Spanish too.

“The closest you can come to the Californian way of life in Europe is in Spain, so the choice was an easy one for us.”

Gonzalo Azumendi/Stone RF/Getty Images

The couple began their home hunt in the Spanish city of Valencia, but found it too expensive.

Leitz and Flores aren’t alone. In recent years an increasing number of Americans have moved to Europe for business and retirement – with Spain emerging as a top destination according to a report by migration consultancy Global Citizen Solutions.

Part of the appeal is likely down to Spain’s year-round mild climate and a laid-back lifestyle paired with relatively cheap essentials, including high-quality food and wine.

Visa and residency requirements have also been made much easier in recent years. Spain wants to attract foreign nationals to live and work to help counter a huge depopulation problem, especially in rural areas, and welcomes digital nomads as well as wealthy individuals, retirees and vacation homeowners.

Finding the right place and relocating to another country was by no means easy for Flores and Leitz.

“We were well aware that the move was not without obstacles,” says Leitz. “I had never undertaken an enterprise like this but, many years before I met him, John had done something similar in Phoenix, therefore he had more ideas than I had.”

Inevitably, the couple needed to navigate numerous challenges in making the move. Buying and selling property in Europe is very different to in the US. The entire process is much more formal, involving notaries, land registries and officials like sworn-in translators.

And then there are the language barriers and culture shocks. As retirees, Flores and Leitz didn’t have to worry about schools and education – a major consideration for would-be expats moving to Europe with kids.

Siestas and sleepy Sundays

Stefano Politi Markovina/Alamy Stock Photo

Eventually they settled on the charming market town of Xatavia.

Since they both worked in the teaching profession, they had plenty of vacations and used them to go exploring Spain and Europe in anticipation of their move.

Spain is a huge country with many different regions, from snow-covered mountains in the north, to the beaches and islands of the Mediterranean. There are rural valleys, tiny, romantic villages and big cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.

Flores and Leitz took their time and traveled everywhere over several years, sizing up cultural changes like Spain’s long siestas, numerous public holidays and the fact that shops don’t open on Sundays.

Having decided on Spain and with retirement still some time away, they started preparations by brushing up on the local language – something they were already familiar with from living in California.

“Perfecting my Spanish is actually my priority now, that everything else has been resolved, “says Leitz. “It is just so important for everyday life to be able to communicate with workers and the locals.”

When it came to house hunting, their first stop was Valencia, a beautiful city and port on the Mediterranean in southeast Spain.

Valencia – famous for oranges, the national dish paella, architecture, ceramics and culture – became their home for three years as they lived in rented accommodation.

Michael Leitz

The couple decided to open up their new home’s ground floor to create an open and airy space.

The city was, however, out of their price range when it came to buying a place on their pensions. They were also looking for somewhere more rural – preferably a fixer-upper that they could restore to their liking.

“Our hobbies are history and art and we wanted a place where both were present, as well as nature and woods,” says Flores. “Another consideration was public transport and good train or bus connections to other parts of Spain.”

Exploring the rural villages around Valencia, they finally decided on an historic small town called Xativa, which has an impressive castle and watchtower as well as museums, art galleries, bars and restaurants.

Crucially, it also has a fast train connection to Valencia and beyond.

The couple says what really appealed was the narrow streets filled with plenty of older properties crying out for restoration – some quite rundown, others in reasonable shape.

They were also won over by friendly residents – locals as well as other expats who had already happily settled there. They said they sensed a feeling of community that was very appealing.

Having decided on a place to live, they now had to find a suitable – and affordable – property.

Instead of going to a realtor, they turned to Idealista, one of the most popular property vending websites in Spain, finding somewhere that appealed to them almost immediately.

Handshakes and hurdles

Michael Leitz

They also created a covered terrace filled with plants.

It was a three-story stone building, big enough for their needs and offered at a reasonable price. They said they were surprised how low prices were compared to Valencia and other places in Spain they’d looked at – and of course as compared to the US.

It consisted of several small rooms on the ground floor, just one bathroom and two bedrooms. They could see the potential.

The next step was inspections to confirm the house was structurally sound and weatherproof.

Then there was the legal side of the purchase – complicated slightly by the building’s age – approximately 120 years old. As is often the case in rural Spain, many records had been lost over the years. In times gone by, property frequently changed hands with a handshake.

Eventually, they negotiated with the vendor a price of 45,000 euros (about $48,000) including taxes. They managed to secure a mortgage, which meant that the bank took care of some of the paperwork.

After finalizing the purchase, they began to make plans. They decided to rip out internal walls on the ground floor to create one large, light space. Upstairs would also be reconfigured to produce another bedroom and bathroom. They also wanted to install AC, a necessity given southern Spain’s high summer heat.

After finding a local architect and builder willing to take on the work for 40,000 euros (about $44,000), work began on the ground floor.

“This is where we found the most problems,” Flores says.

View this interactive content on CNN.com

“There were four small rooms and the space felt rather cramped. Also the ceiling was quite low, so we had the architect look and see if there were any solid beams above. There were, and none of them turned out to be rotten. Nevertheless, the workers sprayed everything with a special solution to prevent woodworm getting into the beams.

“After the dividing walls were removed, we got one big, airy and sunny room and the ceiling was lifted by 3-4 feet. This made all the difference.”

In addition, the couple removed the one bedroom on the ground floor and extended the master bedroom on the second floor, adding a walk-in wardrobe, a guest bedroom and another bathroom with tub and shower.

Then came the final touches. There was no garden, but a covered tiled patio.

“We considered opening the patio up to the sky,” Leitz said. “But you have to listen to the locals in the know. They strongly advised us to keep the patio closed because there are sometimes strong rainfalls and the house could be flooded. So, it is now covered with a transparent roof which allows lots of sunshine.”

Michael Leitz

The staircase before the renovation.

Not only do they have a patio but also a terrace with plenty of potted plants. To indulge their artistic interests, they installed a studio in the attic. Leitz says he loves to paint while Flores makes some colorful ceramics. Their works are displayed throughout the property.

Furnishings are a mix of items shipped from the US and local acquisitions.

“Some things we brought back from California, among them a Persian rug that had been in the family for a long time, some we bought in Ikea, but our best find was a furniture shop that specializes in estate sales,” Leitz says enthusiastically. “We bought the most beautiful antique rural Spanish furniture there.”

Work to renovate the house took about six months, but that followed the considerable time taken to get building permission from local authorities.

Michael Leitz

The new, open plan staircase.

After the architect submitted plans, applications and other paperwork, the couple soon became familiar with the concept of “mañana” – a word that literally means “tomorrow,” but in Spain can actually mean any length of time.

“The most difficult part was the long wait for the permit and the red tape,” says Flores  “ But the building work as such took only about six months and went without major problems except to find the best place for the AC units.”

With work completed in summer 2022, they’ve been able to  move in and say they are now fully integrated in the community.

They have made many friends, including locals and other foreigners, and say they love how everyone greets each other in the street.

“Even our cat that came from California with us is happy,” says Flores.

They’ve also gotten used to life in a small, sleepy town where everything shuts between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“As we get older, “ Leitz says, “the quieter life suits us. We don’t need nightclubs and bars although we sometimes miss concerts and theaters. But then, Valencia is not far away.”

The post San Francisco was too costly so that they moved to Spain and acquired a good looking home for $50,000. Right here’s how they did it appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

(CNN) — When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next stage of their lives, they realized that where they lived in San Francisco was too expensive.

Instead, they began looking further afield – eventually buying a beautiful 120-year-old, three-story home in rural Spain for less than $50,000.

Both Flores and Leitz worked in education in the US before retiring – Leitz was a high school history teacher while Flores was an administrator at UCLA.

While they said they both enjoyed their San Francisco lifestyle, they realized that it would be unaffordable to live in rented property on pensions much lower than their salaries.

“Europe was an obvious choice for us,” said Leitz. “I am part German and part Irish, so there were European roots from the family.  John is part Mexican, which makes for the Spanish connection, and he is fluent in Spanish too.

“The closest you can come to the Californian way of life in Europe is in Spain, so the choice was an easy one for us.”

Finding the right place

Leitz and Flores aren’t alone. In recent years an increasing number of Americans have moved to Europe for business and retirement – with Spain emerging as a top destination according to a report by migration consultancy Global Citizen Solutions.

Part of the appeal is likely down to Spain’s year-round mild climate and a laid-back lifestyle paired with relatively cheap essentials, including high-quality food and wine.

Visa and residency requirements have also been made much easier in recent years. Spain wants to attract foreign nationals to live and work to help counter a huge depopulation problem, especially in rural areas, and welcomes digital nomads as well as wealthy individuals, retirees and vacation homeowners.

Finding the right place and relocating to another country was by no means easy for Flores and Leitz.

“We were well aware that the move was not without obstacles,” says Leitz. “I had never undertaken an enterprise like this but, many years before I met him, John had done something similar in Phoenix, therefore he had more ideas than I had.”

Inevitably, the couple needed to navigate numerous challenges in making the move. Buying and selling property in Europe is very different to in the US. The entire process is much more formal, involving notaries, land registries and officials like sworn-in translators.

And then there are the language barriers and culture shocks. As retirees, Flores and Leitz didn’t have to worry about schools and education – a major consideration for would-be expats moving to Europe with kids.

Siestas and sleepy Sundays

Since they both worked in the teaching profession, they had plenty of vacations and used them to go exploring Spain and Europe in anticipation of their move.

Spain is a huge country with many different regions, from snow-covered mountains in the north, to the beaches and islands of the Mediterranean. There are rural valleys, tiny, romantic villages and big cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.

Flores and Leitz took their time and traveled everywhere over several years, sizing up cultural changes like Spain’s long siestas, numerous public holidays and the fact that shops don’t open on Sundays.

Having decided on Spain and with retirement still some time away, they started preparations by brushing up on the local language – something they were already familiar with from living in California.

“Perfecting my Spanish is actually my priority now, that everything else has been resolved, “says Leitz. “It is just so important for everyday life to be able to communicate with workers and the locals.”

When it came to house hunting, their first stop was Valencia, a beautiful city and port on the Mediterranean in southeast Spain.

Valencia – famous for oranges, the national dish paella, architecture, ceramics and culture – became their home for three years as they lived in rented accommodation.

Fixer-upper

The city was, however, out of their price range when it came to buying a place on their pensions. They were also looking for somewhere more rural – preferably a fixer-upper that they could restore to their liking.

“Our hobbies are history and art and we wanted a place where both were present, as well as nature and woods,” says Flores. “Another consideration was public transport and good train or bus connections to other parts of Spain.”

Exploring the rural villages around Valencia, they finally decided on an historic small town called Xativa, which has an impressive castle and watchtower as well as museums, art galleries, bars and restaurants.

Crucially, it also has a fast train connection to Valencia and beyond.

The couple says what really appealed was the narrow streets filled with plenty of older properties crying out for restoration – some quite rundown, others in reasonable shape.

They were also won over by friendly residents – locals as well as other expats who had already happily settled there. They said they sensed a feeling of community that was very appealing.

Having decided on a place to live, they now had to find a suitable – and affordable – property.

Instead of going to a realtor, they turned to Idealista, one of the most popular property vending websites in Spain, finding somewhere that appealed to them almost immediately.

Handshakes and hurdles

It was a three-story stone building, big enough for their needs and offered at a reasonable price. They said they were surprised how low prices were compared to Valencia and other places in Spain they’d looked at – and of course as compared to the US.

It consisted of several small rooms on the ground floor, just one bathroom and two bedrooms. They could see the potential.

The next step was inspections to confirm the house was structurally sound and weatherproof.

Then there was the legal side of the purchase – complicated slightly by the building’s age – approximately 120 years old. As is often the case in rural Spain, many records had been lost over the years. In times gone by, property frequently changed hands with a handshake.

Eventually, they negotiated with the vendor a price of 45,000 euros (about $48,000) including taxes. They managed to secure a mortgage, which meant that the bank took care of some of the paperwork.

After finalizing the purchase, they began to make plans. They decided to rip out internal walls on the ground floor to create one large, light space. Upstairs would also be reconfigured to produce another bedroom and bathroom. They also wanted to install AC, a necessity given southern Spain’s high summer heat.

After finding a local architect and builder willing to take on the work for 40,000 euros (about $44,000), work began on the ground floor.

“This is where we found the most problems,” Flores says.

“There were four small rooms and the space felt rather cramped. Also the ceiling was quite low, so we had the architect look and see if there were any solid beams above. There were, and none of them turned out to be rotten. Nevertheless, the workers sprayed everything with a special solution to prevent woodworm getting into the beams.

“After the dividing walls were removed, we got one big, airy and sunny room and the ceiling was lifted by 3-4 feet. This made all the difference.”

In addition, the couple removed the one bedroom on the ground floor and extended the master bedroom on the second floor, adding a walk-in wardrobe, a guest bedroom and another bathroom with tub and shower.

Then came the final touches. There was no garden, but a covered tiled patio.

“We considered opening the patio up to the sky,” Leitz said. “But you have to listen to the locals in the know. They strongly advised us to keep the patio closed because there are sometimes strong rainfalls and the house could be flooded. So, it is now covered with a transparent roof which allows lots of sunshine.”

The quiet life

Not only do they have a patio but also a terrace with plenty of potted plants. To indulge their artistic interests, they installed a studio in the attic. Leitz says he loves to paint while Flores makes some colorful ceramics. Their works are displayed throughout the property.

Furnishings are a mix of items shipped from the US and local acquisitions.

“Some things we brought back from California, among them a Persian rug that had been in the family for a long time, some we bought in Ikea, but our best find was a furniture shop that specializes in estate sales,” Leitz says enthusiastically. “We bought the most beautiful antique rural Spanish furniture there.”

Work to renovate the house took about six months, but that followed the considerable time taken to get building permission from local authorities.

After the architect submitted plans, applications and other paperwork, the couple soon became familiar with the concept of “mañana” – a word that literally means “tomorrow,” but in Spain can actually mean any length of time.

“The most difficult part was the long wait for the permit and the red tape,” says Flores  “ But the building work as such took only about six months and went without major problems except to find the best place for the AC units.”

With work completed in summer 2022, they’ve been able to  move in and say they are now fully integrated in the community.

They have made many friends, including locals and other foreigners, and say they love how everyone greets each other in the street.

“Even our cat that came from California with us is happy,” says Flores.

They’ve also gotten used to life in a small, sleepy town where everything shuts between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“As we get older, “ Leitz says, “the quieter life suits us. We don’t need nightclubs and bars although we sometimes miss concerts and theaters. But then, Valencia is not far away.”

& © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

​THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2023 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The post San Francisco was too costly so that they moved to Spain and purchased a stupendous home for $50,000. Right here’s how they did it | Life-style appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 22.05. until Sun, 28.05
***
Record last week: 2-4 (Agg: 27-26)
Running differential last week: -1 (Total: +42)
Stand: 1st Place in AL Central (1.0 GA)

Last week’s game results:

Game 48 | SF 4, MIN 1: Ober Faceplants, Bats Can’t Pick Up
Game 49 | SF 4, MIN 3: Offensive and bullpen together cause a brutal loss
Game 50 | MIN 7, SF 1: Twins avoid sweep in error-filled blowout
Game 51 | GOAL 3, MIN 1: The lineup falters again as the crisis continues
Game 52 | MIN 9, GOAL 7: Twins Ride Rookies, Willi Castro to the big win
Game 53 | GOAL 3, MIN 0: Another embarrassing offense non-appearance

NEWS & NOTICES

The Twins are playing really badly at the moment and it’s getting worse, not better.

While the past week could have been argued that poor referee calls and unlucky breaks were the key factors in losing multiple winnable games, the past week has been one of undeniably poor play from start to finish. Even Minnesota’s two wins weren’t particularly impressive, as both sleepy teams shot the ball around on Wednesday and the Twins almost blew a huge lead on Saturday.

They’ve got to start tackling it and they’ve got to stop wasting time because the Tigers under .500 are suddenly on their heels, a game behind them at the Central. It would be nice if the good news started to outweigh the bad health news, but we’re not there yet.

The stall begins Trevor Larnach‘s career unfortunately goes on; The outfielder is now on the injured list due to severe pneumonia. The former first-round draft pick’s last two seasons have been hampered by injuries as he seeks to finally establish himself in the big leagues. He has struggled to perform consistently for the Twins this year and will now be out for a while, which is particularly unfortunate for Larnach given how well his replacement has done in a short span of time.

HIGHLIGHTS

Let’s start there: Matt Waller provided a crucial jolt for this occupation. He delivered one of the best individual offensive performances by a Twins all season on Saturday when he went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs while also shooting down a second-place runner with a laser beam throw. Wallner followed up with two walks 2-on-2 on Sunday and hit base in all eight plate appearances between the two games.

The organization’s reigning minor league player of the year finally showed his full potential on the MLB stage, and at a crucial time, though ironically he was selected for logistical reasons after Sunday’s game.

The struggling twins begged for someone to step in, and it was the newcomers and roleplayers who answered the call. Wallner was not alone at the weekend.

Edward Julien joined the fun on Saturday with three hits, including two doubles and a home run. Earlier in the week he went deep against San Francisco, notching four walks in his six starts. A few rookie mistakes on the field and down the base paths brought out Julien’s greatest strengths – namely, a disciplined plate approach and tremendous raw power on the other end, and particularly down the center left.

Also contributed to Saturday’s night run burst (almost all of which was needed). Willie Castrowho, even on the fringes of the squad, makes a powerful argument, with an impact that makes it, one might say, “disturbingly valuable”.

While the limitations of his game won’t stop anyone from considering him a star, as we’ve seen of late, Castro’s defensive versatility and ability to organize a powerful, powerful attack on the plate make him a solid asset to do with he is well positioned to weather some tough squad decisions ahead.

Much like the lineup, some key plays keep the bullpen afloat while others fail and languish. The rising star of unity is Brock Stewartwhose surprise rise to become virtually the most trusted builder on the team for a burgeoning relief corps was life-saving.

Stewart still has 14 appearances to charge and he pulled off his greatest high-stakes acrobatic performance to date on Saturday, averting disaster by recording three outs to stave off an inherited late threat against Toronto. That outing gave him the best WPA in the Twins bullpen (.86) despite starting nearly a month into the season.

Yes, Stewart’s WPA actually outperforms John Duran, but there is no doubt who is the king of this unit. While less unexpected, Duran’s continued dominance is the stable foundation that is keeping the Twins’ bullpen from collapsing. He notched four strikeouts over 1 ⅔ clean innings this past week, contributing to his illustrious footprint in the record books. He set a new franchise record Wednesday by hitting 104.6 MPH with his fastball and also unleashed multiple triple-digit splinter hits in the same game.

Now that it’s become routine, I almost have to remind myself from time to time: This isn’t normal. This is something special. Duran is an incredibly rare breed and while there is still a lot of room for improvement around him in the bullpen, you couldn’t ask for a better centerpiece.

LOWLIGHTS

As this line-up consistently exhibits a sense of explosiveness and power, it becomes increasingly difficult to see past the player who should be their beating heart. Byron Buxton shook off some renewed knee pain to start all six games last week and did hit a home run on Tuesday but was a net negative overall, finishing 4 of 25 with the following performance off his home run: three singles, no runs scored , no RBIs, no walks, 10 strikeouts.

We all know Buxton is a mixed bag player by nature and analyzing him in the middle of a downturn like this is bound to underestimate his worth. But that gets to the heart of the matter, which is that Buxton’s winning streak doesn’t outweigh his streaks to the extent the team needs. Yes, he leads the team’s positional players in Win Probability Added – a poor performance in this roster – thanks to some great moments, but all too often those moments feel like oases in a desert of surrounding emptiness.

Last week was a perfect example. Buxton hit the home run but otherwise delivered a barrage of outs, stranded runners and substandard bats. He looks like he’s guessing full force on almost every pitch with no plan or protocol in place.

What makes Buxton’s recent fainting even harder to bear is the increasing discomfort of his situation and the side effects that result.

As short-cuts continue on offense and mistakes mount defensively, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the elephant in the room: Addressing Buxton’s needs means the Twins field one of their best defensive players at DH every day while they, in turn, are forced to skip underperforming batsmen (ie Michael A Taylorwho went 2-on-19 with 12 strikeouts last week) and make tough defensive concessions like playing Castro in midfield or Julien at second base.

Unfortunately, the situation shows no signs of changing. By all accounts, the Twins feel this deal is the only way to keep Buxton on the field and that’s hard to dispute in the wake of another knee crisis.

Minnesota needs Buxton in the lineup, but they can get him there as long as he’s healthy. You just need him to get better and find a way to mitigate those terrible slumps, even if it means taking a physical break. The same goes for of course Carlos Correa, who himself apparently dodged an injury scare last week but continues not to click the plate despite being completely off balance. After a 1-4 on Sunday, his slash line sits at .216/.308/.392 and he’s on track to finish the season with a 1.2 fWAR, which would be lower than Gary Sanchez released in 2022.

On the pitching side, George Lopez has officially established itself as a major problem. His brilliant April, in which he conceded no earned runs, has given way to a terrible May, in which the right-hander allowed an 8.10 ERA and a 1.042 OPS. His troubles worsened over the past week, with López conceding defeat on Tuesday when he kicked off a two-run home run and on Saturday threatening to turn a lopsided win on its head by giving up three earned runs , but no outs from Der Ninth.

Unfortunately, López looks just as confused as he did in the second half for the Twins last year. His confidence has waned and his body language on the hill was alarming. If there is one positive result it’s that his speed and everything is fine suggesting the issues might be solvable but I’m not sure how anyone who has watched him as a twin would have any confidence at all can have in his mental strength.

Given the pivotal role López played in the design of this bullpen, its implosion would have dire consequences if it continued like this. Durán (again) cannot carry the entire burden alone.

TREND STORY

Reinforcements are on the way. The team announced this after the game on Sunday Max Kepler And Royce Lewis will rejoin the team this week in Houston, with Garlick and Wallner being relegated to make room. Polanco also seems close after training on the field alongside Kepler on Sunday.

Swapping Kepler for Wallner isn’t the most exciting move given how well Wallner did and how mediocre Kepler has been over the last 20 years, but there was a small selection. What’s exciting is the much-anticipated return of Lewis, who is claiming to be at 120 percent after hitting an absurd .333/.371/.727 slash line with four homers and 10 in eight games at Triple-A laid down RBIs.

The twins are in desperate need of a spark. It’s hard to imagine that there are many people better able to do this on more than one level, while not wanting to put too much pressure on the child.

LOOKING AHEAD

If the Twins don’t start playing better baseball soon, things will get ugly. They travel to Houston for a three-game series against the dynastic (albeit underperforming Astros) and then it’s back home where they play four games against the Guardians, who could still be the biggest threat in the division in the long run .

MONDAY 5/29: TWINS @ ASTROS – RHP JP France vs RHP Sonny Gray
TUESDAY 5/30: TWINS @ ASTROS – RHP Brandon Bielak vs. RHP Joe Ryan
WEDNESDAY 5/31: TWINS @ ASTROS – RHP Hunter Brown vs. RHP Louie Varland
THURSDAY 6/1: GUARDIANS @ TWINS – RHP Tanner Bibee vs. RHP Pablo Lopez
FRIDAY 6/2: GUARDIANS @ TWINS – RHP Hunter Gaddis vs. RHP Bailey Ober
SATURDAY 6/3: GUARDIANS @ TWINS – LHP Logan Allen vs RHP Sonny Gray
SUNDAY 6/4: GUARDIANS @ TWINS – RHP Cal Quantrill vs RHP Joe Ryan

The post Week in Assessment: Lovely Climate, Ugly Baseball – Twins appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

celebrities

From Jack Hobbs

February 20, 2023 | 3:42 p.m

The ‘Mary Poppins’ actor has revealed that being married to someone almost half his age makes him ‘feel young’.
Paul Morigi

Dick Van Dyke will celebrate his 98th birthday later this year, and the Hollywood veteran is showing no signs of slowing down.

The “Mary Poppins” legend – who wowed crowds with a recent live performance on “The Masked Singer” – spoke about defying the aging process in an interview with Yahoo, saying there are four things that help it to preserve his youthful vigor.

Van Dyke first credited his good genes with making him feel fabulous at the age of 97.

Second, the actor said his 51-year-old wife, Arlene Silver, was instrumental in making him feel young.

“Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me [helps]’ the actor gushed of his 11-year-old wife.

Meanwhile, Van Dyke added that a “positive attitude” is key to staying healthy, explaining, “I get that from my wife.”

Van Dyke and Silver tied the knot in 2012 and have been happily together ever since. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Finally, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star said exercise is important for people of all ages — but especially the elderly.

“I wrote a book called ‘Keep Moving’: I still go to the gym and work out three days a week,” he shared.

“I advise everyone to do this because that’s what ages people – it’s just a stiffening and not a workout for their muscles and lungs,” he added. “Exercise is the answer.”

Last year, the actor was photographed looking fit and fabulous as he left his local gym in California.

He told Closer back in 2019, “I’ve always been an athlete and I still am… I go to the pool and work out. At my age it’s important to keep moving. Put me on solid ground and I’ll start tapping.”

Van Dyke revealed that he does aqua aerobics, lifts weights and walks on a treadmill.

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star said exercise is important for people of all ages – but especially the elderly.Getty Images

Van Dyke has also spoken to Closer about his relationship with Silver, who he first met at the 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards when he was 81 and she was 35.

The couple initially became friends before their relationship turned romantic.

“We share an attitude,” Van Dyke cooed about his wife. “She can go with the flow. She loves to sing and dance, which we do almost every day. She is just lovely.”

The star initially worried that fans would think his much younger spouse was a gold digger, but was grateful his fears were unfounded when no one expressed such sentiments.

The happy couple are pictured together in 2017. moviemagic

Elsewhere in his interview with Yahoo, Van Dyke spoke about how Brits slammed him for the Cockney accent he used as Bert the Chimney Sweep in Mary Poppins.

“Americans really weren’t too critical,” he said. “But the Brits have never let me off the hook to this day because of my horrible Cockney accent.”

The actor revealed that Disney even sent a dialect coach to teach him how to speak in the distinctive voice and his co-stars never criticized his take on the traditional East London twang.

“Here I was, surrounded by actors who were all British and no one had ever said anything about my accent,” said Van Dyke. “I just did my best. But the Brits still joke with me, ‘Erm, which part of England would you be from again?’”

“Americans really weren’t that critical,” the actor said of his Cockney accent on Mary Poppins.Courtesy of the Everett Collection

During his recent appearance on The Masked Singer, Van Dyke received praise from the show’s judges.

“I love you so much, we love you, the whole world loves you so much. It’s an honor to have you on our show,” said Nicole Scherzinger. “I can’t believe you’re here, I’m trying to keep my cool. You look so gorgeous, you look so good.”

“This is the most experienced and successful entertainer we’ve ever had on our show, ladies and gentlemen,” said host Nick Cannon after the reveal.

Load More…

{{#isDisplay}} {{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}} {{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}} {{/isSRVideo}}

https://nypost.com/2023/02/20/dick-van-dyke-97-says-beautiful-young-wife-half-my-age-heeps-me-going/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign =site%20buttons

Copy the URL to share

The post Dick Van Dyke, 97, says ‘lovely younger spouse half my age’ retains me going appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Gradient, a company built by thermal scientists to rethink HVAC and build products that are good for the planet and great at cooling and heating homes, is announcing the development of its first product, a replacement for the window AC. Gradient will replace the conventional home window AC with a more efficient, space-saving, better-designed solution that keeps homes cool with advanced heat pump technology and a climate-friendly refrigerant. Customers are invited to sign up now for the exclusive beta program at Gradientcomfort.com.

Gradient will replace the conventional home window AC with a more efficient, space-saving, better-designed solution that keeps homes cool with advanced heat pump technology and a climate-friendly refrigerant.

Gradient will replace the conventional home window AC with a more efficient, space-saving, better-designed solution that keeps homes cool with advanced heat pump technology and a climate-friendly refrigerant.

Air conditioning is essential to quality of life and work productivity, but the basic design of window air conditioners has not changed in 50 years. Too often, the very same air conditioning that makes life tolerable in hot weather is also contributing to making climate change worse; heating and cooling systems are responsible for 20% of global carbon emissions.

“Gradient has a mission to cool the world by transforming every home to be more comfortable and healthy for the people who inhabit it — without compromising the environment. We believe we can build a better home air conditioning solution while fighting climate change,” said Vince Romanin, CEO of Gradient. “Air conditioning is one of the most essential amenities to keep people comfortable and productive in a warming world, but too many people are struggling with antiquated window AC units that are clunky, noisy, heavy, and inefficient. Gradient offers a beautiful, intuitive design , a more efficient, sleek, quiet air conditioning experience, and climate-friendly refrigerants. Building a better air conditioner is one of the most effective ways to help people stay comfortable at home while helping to slash carbon emissions from HVAC systems.”

The Gradient is designed to be easy to install and does not block the view like a traditional window AC unit. It provides the benefits of a professional-grade heat pump system at a fraction of the cost. It can provide cooling and heating year-round and is easy to use via mobile app.

Gradient was founded in 2017 and has raised over $13MM in venture funding; investors include Ajax Strategies, At One Ventures, Prime Coalition, Incite Ventures, Autodesk Foundation, Urban Us, Magic Hour, and leading Silicon Valley angels. The company has also received over $9MM in government grants from the US Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, and California Strategic Growth Council.

“Home air conditioning is an underrated aspect of the overall conversation around climate change, and we see a big opportunity for Gradient to disrupt the home HVAC space by developing a much-improved, climate-friendly replacement for the traditional window unit AC,” said Milo Werner, Partners with Ajax Strategies. “Millions of Americans need an air conditioning solution, but their options are limited to out-of-date window and floor units that block their view, make a lot of noise, and contribute to climate change. The current technology has not improved in decades .As more people work from home, there is a higher level of consumer interest in getting a high-quality home air conditioner that really works.Gradient has a great product and an excellent team who are thinking creatively about addressing the needs of this market with a beautiful, intuitive, consumer-focused solution.”

Gradient spun out from Otherlab, a private R&D lab in san francisco that has leveraged over $40MM in government grants to incubate hard tech companies in the manufacturing, energy, and robotics industries. Founded by thermal scientists and engineers, flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, the Gradient team is uniquely qualified to solve this problem.

The Gradient solution will be available for sale nationwide in Spring 2022. In the meantime, you can learn more and sign up for Gradient’s exclusive beta program at GradientComfort.com.

About Gradient

Gradient is rethinking HVAC. We build products that are good for the planet and great at keeping your home comfortable, starting with a replacement for the window AC. Gradient is founded by thermal scientists and engineers and flanked by talent from juggernauts like Tesla and Nest, all aligned behind a mission to cool the world. Gradient aims to reduce the carbon emissions from heating and cooling systems, which represent 20% of emissions globally. Backed by Otherlab, Gradient has secured over $9M in non-dilutive grants and over $13M in venture funding. To learn more, visit GradientComfort.com

Media Contact for Gradient:

Rebecca SillimanWhipsmart PR
(510) 254-7615
[email protected]

SOURCE Gradient

The post Lovely, Progressive, Local weather-Pleasant HVAC Options Designed for Client Wants appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.