In spite of the higher temps, we’re at least getting some wind which always helps to keep the humidity down. I was shocked when reading that Washington DC got hit with flash-flooding today. You can be sure these weather happenings are growing all the more violent and un-predictable. Someone mentioned several days ago something about that arctic vortex we had this past winter which sent our temps down into the minus 40 degree range, and just talking about it sent a shiver thru me. We might as well be living in northern Siberia where such wicked winter weather is commonplace.
Late this morning, we had another office listing close with a soft landing. I couldn’t be happier for both the buyer and sellers because that home was a good stepping-stone for their journey of homeownership. They’d taken very good care of it which is certainly why it sold quickly. I said to the seller, “Oh if only I had a garage as nice as yours.” He quickly commented, “Yeah, and now I’m gonna have to wait to build one like it because when I started moving my stuff out, I realized how much it actually held and then having a heck of a time trying to find a place to put it all.” Yes, those monster garages are definitely the icing on the cake for many buyers.
I have another closing coming up mid-week, so I busied myself with getting all the docs the banker was asking for, just to make sure they had them more sooner than later. Since that bank is located out on the west side of our City, I ran them out before the noontime rush hour started.
While I was there, one of the previous customer service reps of Bank of America came up tapped me on the shoulder. Oh what a delightful surprise! If there’s any real honest-to-goodness bank customer service rep that wants the best for you, she’s the one to go to. I was worried she wouldn’t find a good fit for herself, but now finding she’s working out at NSB Bank, my fears have been relieved. I did mention to the loan officer how many times she went above and beyond the call of duty for me while over at Bank of America.
I have an appointment with a seller tomorrow to talk about a price reduction on her home. As much as it frustrates me that it hasn’t yet sold, it looks like a price reduction is needed to spur more activity on the best rock-solid buy in its price range. I thought for sure there’d be some young buyer or retiree out there who’d recognize its value, but I guess all the many have more money than foresight because I just read again today how many more Americans are feeling the pain of making ends meet, and much of their debts are due to high mortgage and credit card balances.
Since the phones were more quiet this afternoon, I sat down for a good bill paying session. Most businesses don’t place that much attention to the creeping up of charges, but just this past year I’ve been noticing how a few dollars added here, and a few more there, begin adding up. If my phone service provider doesn’t stop raising my bill, I’m going to be looking for another because there’s no reason they should be that much higher than they were when I first signed up with them. I can’t wait until we get our City’s fiber optic build-out completed, and perhaps then, there’ll be more competitive pricing being offered to our residents and businesses.
I somehow got on the subject of chickens with a customer today which ended up being more than comical. Now that her chickens are rapidly reaching maturity, she’s found a number of them to be roosters instead of being all hens as expected. I asked her where she purchased them and what breed they were. When she told me how cheap they were, I then asked, “It sounds like you must’ve bought a straight run from that hatchery.” It didn’t surprise me that a straight run being exactly what she ordered. Unbeknownst to her, and likely because she wasn’t reading the description, a straight run of chicks are a group that haven’t been sexed. For whatever reason, whenever I’ve encountered straight runs, there always seemed to be more roosters than hens. That little tidbit of information was definitely not to her liking. Oh well, we have to live and learn when finding that oft times we get what we’re paying for.
Speaking of chickens, I’m seeing all the more backyard chicken coops being created around North Iowa. I personally think it a good hobby as long as a person is willing to take proper care of them. Some years ago I happened to see some of the most elegant plans for backyard coops that would certainly grace even the most regal of landscapes.
I had to laugh at someone several days ago who kiddingly threatened to start raising chickens in her garage because of how persnickety her neighbors are becoming. I laughed when telling her, “If you thought you had problems with rodents in your garage in the past, you’ll certainly have one yell of a big problem if you have chickens running around in there.” We both got a good laugh out of her chicken coop car park.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Little things seem as nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless, but altogether perfume the air.
