For whatever reason, our supposed warm temps really didn’t feel so mild today due to the dampness in our air and the cold wind ever-blowing from the north. I was surprised to find the City workers clearing snow away from the curbsides in the Downtown today. I think they held off on doing it until they realized it wasn’t melting off fast enough–especially on the east/west streets. I’m glad they were getting rid of it since those snow mounds were becoming all the more hardened and dangerously slippery.
Since my office is still running exceptionally low on active listings, I’ve become all the more pro-active in going after potentials. Several recently reported sold homes raised a few eyebrows after discovering what they went for–especially one that I was fully familiar with since I’d shown it several times before it sold. Wow! I feel sorry for the poor devil/devils who purchased it because as far as I’m concerned they paid way too much for it. It appears there are desperate buyers ready to buy nearly anything just to say they now own a home. I pray our market doesn’t crash like it did in 2007/2008 because if it does, there’ll be an great number of “upside-down” toxic mortgages in Mason City and North Iowa.
At one time or another, we find ourselves on a mission to find an item which may no longer exist, yet refusing to go “on-line” to buy it from an internet seller like Amazon, I continued with my search. All I was looking for, was a claw-foot bath tub drain stopper that would fit an opening of one belonging to a client. The one that was there, was too small, so anyone wanting to take a bath would have to do it quickly because the water would continue to be slowly draining past that overly-small plug.
In having a little free time yesterday, I drove out to Menards and then over to FleetFarm, and to my surprise, neither of them had them in stock. Thank goodness while I was out on the east-side of our City on an appointment today, I happened to notice Kramer Ace Hardware on Illinois Ave., so I figured I might as well give them a try.
As I walked in, the gentleman at the counter asked if he could help me find something. I told him what I was looking for, and wouldn’t you know it, he said they had them in stock and was even good enough to walk me down to where they were in an aisle. Remembering the size that was too small being 1 1/2 inches, I was delighted to find they sold 1 5/8 inch stoppers. I guessed it to be the correct one, so decided to purchased it, and then drove to the home in need of it. I was elated to find it was a perfect fit. Yeah! I found my personal needle in a haystack.
That find has given me a very good reason to put in a great big “plug” tonight for Kramer Ace Hardware here in Mason City and Clear Lake. They’re not like the monster do-it yourself stores, but they certainly offer a little of a whole lot, and above all, they’re locally owned. Believe it our not, they even have all natural, and made in the USA dog chew bones. Once in a while, I buy one for my dear old client’s dog who goes crazy when seeing me drive up, and only because he knows he’s in for another treat.
The highlight of my day was spending some quality time with several newly arrived residents of Prairie Place on 1st. I asked how their Easter was, and they said since their family had been there weeks before, they had a pretty quiet day of it with the exception of going to church Services and then to their weekly Sunday dinner at Good Shepherd. I smiled and said, “You would have seen me there had I not changed my mind at the last minute.” I was endearingly informed that I’ll be getting a call in the near future to join them for their weekly Sunday dinner. Most times I turn down dinner invites, but I’d say they’ll be an exception due to my belief they’re the most precious of of our City’s elder residents, and I’ll likely never stop thinking the world of the both of them now, as well as my going forward in time. Don’t you think that’s what is considered a real relationship?
My one-liner for tonight is: “Any surplus is immoral”
