Holtz Realty

The race was on again today with getting carry-over work from last night completed before I had to head off to Clear Lake for another continuing education session.  First and foremost, was to get in touch with a seller and get his signatures on a purchase agreement before he drove off to Minneapolis to catch a flight out West.  Fortunately, I managed to catch him before he headed out.  Upon arrival to my office, I presented to him a pint jar of grape jam compliments of the grapes he so willingly allowed me to pick on Sunday morning.

He was actually shocked that I made jam out of them because his mother would only make grape juice.  I didn’t dare tell him that I discovered why that’s what she did with them, because making jam out of Concord grapes is a daunting task that took many extra evening hours spanning three nights.  He was very thankful for it which made me happy.  From the jam giving, we hurried thru the purchase agreement so he could get on his way out of town.

Now back to that grape jam.  The recipe I followed that came from the internet mentioned that it would have a delightful sweet and sour taste.  Hmmm.  I would say it was more like eating a grape flavored SweetTart.  I gave a half pint jar to one of my favorite guinea pigs, so we’ll see what the reviews are.  Of the 3 full pints and 17 half pints, all of them sealed except one which made me very happy.  I’ve never relished having to go thru the process of re-sealing a jar.  I did mention to my “guinea pig” there’d be another good use for it, and that being a condiment for either lamb or pork.  Several of my old family members would always have homemade applesauce which would be used when eating pork roast.  I think I would rather have my grape jam as the side-spread of lamb instead of the more popular mint jelly.  If the review is good, I’ll be doing some jam giving this Christmas.

The topic of today’s continuing ed was Trump: The Art of the Deal.  Six hours were spent reviewing each section of that book.  Having never really explored the “life of” our president, I left knowing a whole lot more about him.  One thing I did point out was his birthday which is June 14th, also known as Flag Day.  I mentioned to several in the class how it was likely beyond coincidence Trump used the American flag all the more in his campaign.

I was once again reminded how short many people’s memories are when I mentioned how nothing has been written about the mastermind of Trump’s shoestring campaign in Iowa who is from the town of Greene which is not that far from here.  I read somewhere that Chuck Laudner nearly guaranteed Trump’s victory if he would follow his advice.  Well, he followed it and won the Iowa primary which helped to spring-board him to the National stage.  The rest of it’s history.

When talking about a particular building Trump had built, the instructor was asking us for a word to describe a restaurant or bar, or even hotel we’ve been in that really “wowed” us.  I suggested “ambience”, which he didn’t think appropriate, but never did come up with a word or phrase that was suitable.

While driving back from my appointment to show that charming in-town acreage located at 801 West Main in Fertile, a French definition came to mind which was likely what he was looking for which is:  je ne sais quoi.  You would normally use that when describing some one or some thing which possess that certain little something that causes a person, place or thing to stand up and above the crowd in a delightful way.  We could be speaking about a home, a building’s interior or exterior, the way a person dresses or carry’s him or herself, or even the mannerisms of a given individual.

So if someone would ever say to you, “You have a certain je ne sais quoi about you.” Do take it as a great compliment.

Tonight’s one-liner is:  My best friend is the person who when wishing me well, is wishing it for my sake alone.