When looking at our weather, it appears our first day of being above 60 degrees will take place on Monday of next week, so don’t even think about putting your woolies away any time soon. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be nearly so bad, if only that north wind would stop blowing.
Most of my day was spent finishing up on my my market research project, along with getting myself pulled into another. Oh well, I agreed to do it, so I must follow-thru on my promise. Today’s inspection was more standard which was a blessing, but there’ll be some extra time spent online finding viable comparable sales.
Just today I discovered there’d been a very recent sale of a commercial property to an out of town buyer, and when I saw the price paid, I almost fell off my chair. There’d be no way in “yell” I would’ve paid such a high price for that building, and whomever purchased it, will soon be wishing they’d never laid eyes on it. Seeing that sale, was another example of this impetuous buying spree we’re in to where buyers are jumping first before even thinking once. I’m hoping the person either plans on moving to Mason City, or has a very trustworthy person to be on call 24/7. The sad part about it, is our illustrious City Assessor will use that sale as a reason to jack up other commercial properties owned by people who’re already struggling to make ends meet. That sale caused me to remember that old saying, “A fool and his money will soon be parted.”
I’m still wracking my brain in an attempt to remember what grocery store was originally in that brick building which is the second one south on the west side of the intersection of N. Federal and 12th St. NW. I know it wasn’t Fareway, Safeway, Grupp’s, or Britven’s. For whatever reason “Clifton’s” comes to mind. As a last resort, I’ll be visiting our library to go thru old city directories. It’ll be interesting to see how much business that new owner will be getting when considering all the other liquor stores we currently have in our City. They’ve certainly beefed-up the look of that building on the outside.
When showing a home this afternoon in the 1400 block of N. Pennsylvania, I just happened to walk behind its garage and looked at the neighbor’s yard and house. Oh my goodness! That home looked as if it was willfully returning to the earth, and I won’t even begin to mention what was in its back yard. I didn’t have time to go around and look at the front of it, but for whatever reason, that home is in shambles. That structure’s in much worse condition than what our City’s recently condemned.
After getting a good look at KIMT’s webpage, and then migrating over to the Globe-Gazette’s, I’m really getting tired of their continuous posting of mugshots. Do we not have some pleasant news to share? Why can’t they start printing some heartfelt stories about joyful happenings in the daily lives of our citizenry? They could also begin interviewing family-owned businesses in our area, just so they could talk about how they’ve had to adjust their business models during this pandemic. What I’ve always liked about The Northwood Anchor newspaper which is published in Northwood, are the many community-oriented stories they’re always willing share. You’d think our newspaper and television stations would’ve realized by now, that bad news causes people who’re considering a move here, to start thinking twice. I still remember a situation where a husband and wife decided to purchase a home for a widowed parent, and not six months later, and because of what she was reading about our City, and mostly coming from another singularly-owned online news service we have in our City, she insisted of moving elsewhere. This sensationalism has got to stop because it’s having an affect on the mentalities of our seniors.
While driving to my afternoon showing, I happened to notice a number of Magnolia trees that’d been “burned” by our recent frosts. They didn’t look as bad as I’d expected, but we still have a few more freezing nights ahead of us. Not to worry, our temps will soon be rising, and our outdoor activities will be permanently underway for the season. My tomatoes and peppers are still growing in their containers, and hopefully they’ll soon be planted. Of course I’ll still have to place plastic covers over them, just to keep them warmed overnight.
I was forced to waste even more of my time today with my online battle with “Windstream” who now used to be my landline phone provider. Those people are really getting on my nerves. Today they sent a message saying they’ll be sending a pre-paid return box for me to pack up “their” telephone equipment. My stinging email back was, “My telephone equipment is what I paid for. Your company supplied nothing.” The second and most annoying line, said something like, “You’ll still be responsible for at least 30 days billing after disconnect as per your contract.” By that time, I was seething when saying, “I’ve never under contract with you, and nowhere did I ever read that I’d be paying for another 30 – 45 days of service after my dis-connect.” I also added a statement about my getting in contact with our State’s regulators if they’d dare send me such a bill. Don’t you think such practices are bordering on extortion? Business practices of such, deserve to be publicly shamed into bankruptcy.
When personally seeing what a ten acre parcel of land just recently sold for, and then-after the buyer having erected a monster building, I’d say by the time they have whatever home they’re planning on building on that site, they’ll be nearing a half million dollars. I’ve yet to figure out what’s going on with this burning desire of our City’s residents to get out of town. I fully remember the Savings and Loan crisis, and the acreages being the first hit. Regrettably, over time, our market is just a continuous big sweeping forward and back of an invisible pendulum.
Tonight’s One-liner is: So few people clearly know what they want, as most can’t even think what to hope for, just before they throw a penny in a fountain.
