After visiting with several people today about the lack of ducklings and goslings in our City, every one of them said something similar to, “Oh you’re right. I haven’t seen any either.” It’s just one more by-product of Mother Nature’s decision to keep us in the throes of a brutally long winter.
It was one of the days where I have nearly no clue where the hours went other than getting caught up on office accounting, bill paying, and returning phone calls. I did have my meeting with a couple who’s planning on selling their home soon, and after today’s visit, it looks like they’re going to hire me. While driving back to my office, I was again thankful for Holtz Realty being in business for so many years due to many of our older ones being fully aware of our long years of service to North Iowa.
Unfortunately I got caught in the rush hour traffic on my way to an appointment in Clear Lake this afternoon. The storm clouds in the west looked pretty ominous, but at least I wasn’t there long enough to get caught in it. On my way back, I stopped at a convenience store for something cold, and when I went to pay for it, I overheard two young clerks talking about the shortage of rentals. I couldn’t help but say, “Give me a call at the end of the month because I may have something for you.” Yours truly back-tracked rapidly after finding he, and the friend he’s living with, have a very large and hairy dog. As I was walking out I teasingly said, “Don’t be expecting a call from me as long as you have that hairy monster of a dog living with you.”
Before leaving Clear Lake, I took a few photos of their charming Downtown. If only Mason City would start appearing similarly by filling our storefronts with lasting commerce. Tonight’s photo is the one I like best.
Thank goodness I’m beginning to get a few more listing lined up since nearly all my office’s inventory is sold. I always grow fearful of my office growing “list-less”. I’ve seen times like these a very many years ago, and remember fully how overly competitive real estate agents become. What’s making it even worse now, are the number of for sale by owners that are cropping up. Too often buyers think they’re getting a steal of a deal because they’re getting a property for less due to a Realtor’s fees having been discounted out of the seller’s price. Oh how naive they are!
As I was going thru some of the recent home sales, I couldn’t help but notice one particular home that was bought cheap and sold high. What struck me the most was the lack of trim around its interior windows. It appeared nearly all of them were just squared-off with drywall. I’d be walking quickly away from an older home with an interior that was designed to appear ultra-modern. Windows missing either natural or painted wooden trim always reminds me of office windows. Perhaps those buyers wanted the feel of “office” in their new home.
Oh, I must mention something crazy I read a week ago. Without authorization, a young lady was giving a flimsy excuse for installing cheap curtain rods on trim that already had custom window blinds that are those metal ones which are very much room darkening.
She said something about working a shift where she had to sleep during daylight hours, and that’s why she haphazardly installed them. I laughed to myself when thinking, that poor girl must’ve not known how to close those blinds, but in fact I’m sure she and her boyfriend had other reasons for making sure their bedroom would be all the darker. While working thru some of these crazy days, we all just have to keep our mouths shut and move onward and upward.
I got into a bit of a “back and forth” with a well known of mine today while we were doing some very “hard” teasing. After being hit with too may overly-smarting comments, I was compelled to say, “Tit for tat, butter for fat, you call me this, and I’ll call you that.” When name calling gets too much out of control, I always pull my “tit for tat” trigger. And yes, we all gotta have a little fun each and every day.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Sacrificing yourself for a bad cause is certainly not a moral act.
