It certainly wasn’t a stellar day with the blanket of gloomy gray skies mounting above our City until it finally started drizzling rain. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear we were having Pacific Northwest weather, where heavy gray clouds move in slowly and release misty rain for hours, and sometimes days on end.
My journey to Northwood on business was a real reminder that winter is around the corner. Many of the soybean fields have already been harvested along with some corn. Seeing those fields reminded me of an article I recently read concerning modern farming. There’s no doubt in my mind that in perhaps 20 years or less, there’ll be un-manned machinery doing nearly all the field work while being controlled by one person seated somewhere in a home office far and away. With the advent and subsequent sophistication of GPS technology, there’ll be no reason to have people driving farm machinery.
And we all think computers are not a threat to humanity? When artificial intelligence is released into the world, look out, because it could have disastrous effects on millions. It always has to be all about money and control, but there’ve been times over these thousands of years since we fell out of the trees when that mentality backfires and then everyone suffers.
I’ve mentioned a book before, but I think it’s again time to put in a plug for one of my recent favorites which is, “Man’s Greatest Fear”. It’s scholarly written and filled with facts that may create a few sleepless nights, but it’s real, and it’s happening. When the market starts slowing, I’m going to the take time and re-read it.
In the darkness, I was busy early this morning placing open house signs out along with sold riders on a few of my recent sales. The open house I’m having this weekend is located at 103 – 28th St. SW here in Mason City which offers nearly a 1/3 of an acre of yard, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a double garage. We’ve had several offers on it since I listed it, but couldn’t seem to get the buyers and sellers together on price. At least I was able to sell one of those buyers another home that fit their needs perfectly, and happy I was able to accommodate them.
There’s another condo closing over at Prairie Place on 1st tomorrow morning which brings us one unit closer to having them all sold. While speaking to a buyer about them today I said, “It’s almost as though there’s some great invisible force at work where each and every new owner of these units are a perfect fit for its growing community.” The more I’m over there showing those condos, the more I see why the current residents like living there so much.
A retired friend of mine mentioned today how much he’s enjoying his golden years. After telling me all the volunteer programs he’s involved in, I couldn’t help but say, “Good for you! I see you’re not like many who are sitting in their pity-pot puddles waiting for God.” He laughed and said, “Yeah. I know far too many who tell me they’ve lost their purpose in life, yet refuse to get up and out of their puddles and go help some poor soul in need.” His words were just one more reminder that people really must do some extra planning for their golden years. It’s not all about being monetarily secure, but rather being all the more mentally engaged and prepared for their new worlds of retirement.
