This was the first Sunday in a very long time that I didn’t have at least one real estate related appointment, so I decided from the time I got up, there would be long over-due menial chores to be completed.
My first order was to get the grass mowed behind my office and pull a few weeds in and around the alley that were starting to go to seed. It’s becoming all the more evident that whomever was cleaning out the public flower beds in our Historic District of Downtown didn’t know the difference between weeds and flowers, as well as rogue trees that are getting all the taller in and amongst the bushes. What I did notice earlier in the Spring, was someone using a chain saw to cut back the bushes. I think they should have made sure there were not tree seedlings growing before they started sawing. You don’t cut tree seedlings because they just grow right back. One must pull them out by the roots so to bring them to their end.
My next order of the day was to get some office furniture moved around. It took me quite a bit longer than I expected, but at least it’s a more comfortable arrangement. We’ll see how quickly I grow accustomed to my newly altered work area. One of the big changes was getting rid of my personal desk chair to make room for a new replacement. Hopefully it will be just as comfortable if not more so than my previous. My old chair was a Christmas gift to me not long after I started working for Holtz Realty as an associate broker. It has served me well for more years than I would’ve imagined. It just goes to show how well built items out-last what’s now being offered in our big box stores. My new one has far more adjustments on it which I’ll have to investigate further.
After reading an email sent to me yesterday by a contractor who’s been late getting an agreed-to project completed, I started seeing red when realizing he hadn’t even looked at the project until he went over to get started on it. He’s insisting I get more prep-work done before he begins. Unfortunately for him, I do remember what he said he would and wouldn’t do, and what he now wants me to do, is what was he agreed by phone, but not in his written bid. In the beginning I believed his bid to be exceptionally high, but I’ve now found him to be a bit of a liar along with being lazy bugger. I’m going to work very hard at finding a replacement for him and his “weak” company. North Iowa has too few fairly priced and reputable companies from which to choose, and if I have anything to say about it, their numbers will increase in time.
One of my chores today was to do some heavy duty weed pulling. The ones that most people shy away from are the thistles and others of the like which have either prickly leaves or stems, or even both. About a month ago I ordered a very good pair of real leather garden gloves which I thought to be expensive at the time, but soon discovered they certainly did the trick, which is all that matters. Most don’t realize that if you cut a thistle off at the ground, it will grow all the more, and even spread by sending out more shoots underground. With our soil still being moist, I was able to pull nearly all of them up by their roots. Yeah!
The above photo is of my well used pair of thorn-resistant gloves. I think every active gardener deserves a pair just because real leather is better.
