I was glad to find the temps back up in the 20’s this morning, but had to be a little more careful driving because the streets were “greasy” from the slushy snow. One can never be too careful when out on surfaces that’ve recently been exposed to great swings in temperatures.
My first appointment out of the office, was to open up one of my recently sold units at Prairie Place on 1st for some measuring that needed to be done for new window coverings. While inside the unit, I pointed out how wonderful it was to find the low-angled sun sending streams of light deep within. Anyone who curses the dark days of winter, would certainly enjoy living in those units.
After they left, I did my white glove test on the four remaining units for sale. I found all of them in presentable condition which is what I want, because I’ll be hosting a public open house over there on the 29th of this month. It may sound like a waste of time when being so close to the holidays, but you never know who could be visiting aging parents who’re looking for more suitable living quarters for them.
Not to be bashing my competitor’s new build-outs when saying, “I’d much rather be in one big building where there’s more opportunities for interaction, than being confined in a “row-house” setting.” As far as I’m concerned, the elderly need all the more interaction with others on a daily basis because it’s not like they have daily employment where they can interact with co-workers, clients, and customers.
When I returned to my office, and just as I was removing my coat, the mailman walked in with the package of transfer documents I’ve been waiting for. Thank goodness I’ll not be worrying about them arriving on time for this Friday’s closing. I made copies of each, and then dropped them off at an attorney’s office for his final approval.
Now that I have the originals in my folder, I can safely say, I’m ready for two closings this Friday. That’s all we have left, is for the buyers to schedule their final walk-thru’s, and then heading to their banks for closing. I was happy to find one is scheduled to close early Friday morning, and the other at mid-afternoon which will keep me from having to race from one to the other. You can bet I’m very happy the weather is continuing to hold out for those buyers, so they can get moved in before Christmas Eve arrives.
Speaking of Christmas, I had a very soulful conversation this afternoon with a prominent colleague about how in these times, many of our traditional denominations are moving farther away from standard Advent and Christmas hymns, and likely in hopes that they’ll be able to lure back into their fold, the younger crowd who’ve embraced the evangelical and more new-age churches that’ve sprouted up across our Nation.
In some of the recent articles of research I’ve read, it’s being said that this falling-away from tradition, started with the baby-boomers, and when becoming parents, there was no real guidance given and/or traditions instilled in their children who are now adults and likely getting married and having their own families.
One of the researchers said that there doesn’t seem to be any great desire for many of them to align themselves to any given house of worship. My take on what I’ve read, is that this is the end product of how a number of parents of baby-boomers didn’t create any sort of hard and fast religious rules with their children as they were growing up. We’re now seeing the end product of this multi-generational transitioning away from spiritual growth and development. Isn’t it funny how the chasing after of higher incomes and subsequent possessions by dual-income households, instilled into the minds of their children that acquisition of “wealth” was paramount in their lives. It makes me laugh to myself when remembering “Star Trek” and the mentality of the Ferengi.
When speaking about the changes going on in one particular in our area, I mentioned how they’re likely causing more financial problems for themselves than they realize because of how they’re going over-board with their music and liturgical changes. I dryly said, “They’ve forgetting about the elderly in their congregation who’re the ones with deep pockets and fat checkbooks, and if those seniors find themselves being dishonorably dismissed, they’ll stop attending, along with turning off their financial faucets.” I went on to tell how many seniors I personally know that’ve stopped going on a regular basis because of their feelings of having been disenfranchised within their communities of faith.
When in conversation with one of our area farmers this afternoon, and then listening to him complain about corn and bean prices, I strongly encouraged him to diversify his crops and plant other grains like barley, rye, or oats. And if more of our farmers would get their fields organically certified, there’d be a wind-fall of profits to be made by selling their grain to specialty millers. Have any of you checked to see how much more expensive flour is that had been ground from organically grown grains? There’s no question in my mind that this business of going organic is not a passing fad, and in time, will be all the more in demand.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Always do your best, because what you plant now, you will harvest later.
