It was another pleasant early morning to where I didn’t have to don layers of clothing to keep from being cold, and for the most part, I didn’t have to wear anything other than my wool sport jacket whenever I was outdoors.
Pretty much my entire day was filled with banking, accounting, returning phone calls and inspecting several properties, and when I happened to look at the time, it was a bit of a shocker to find it was already Noon. I guess it was just another example of how time flies when you’re either very busy or having fun.
I did place a call to my dear friend to share the rest of the story regarding my having gone down my rabbit hole yesterday, and after I filled her in with a little more info I’d found, she helped to fill in the last missing piece due to her remembering a past association a person had. Like they say, many combined minds and helping hands make little work. I was touched when she mentioned my journal page of yesterday, being one of the better ones she’s read, which I took as a great compliment.
In my search of late for qualified HVAC persons, I’ve come to the troubling conclusion that what I read about five years ago, is becoming a reality. Our colleges need to forget about promoting various non-essential degrees, and start pushing high school graduates into the building and trades, because they’re become far too scarce all across our Nation. Look at the shortage we already have of nurses and those shortages are going to continue rising with health care and the trades. Just for example, I have to wait three weeks before I can even get an HVAC person to meet me at a home just to give me an estimate for the installation of a central air unit. Now how crazy is that?
Now let’s talk about the factories which are so back-logged with orders, the average wait time is now running around three months, so with that said, if you’re planning on ordering replacement windows, having concrete work done, or re-shingling a home, you’d best get on a contractor’s list, because you’ll be waiting longer than you believe.
Of course if you want immediate attention, be prepared to pay a premium price for the labor. If you’d ask me, “Why would they do that?”, my knee-jerk response would be, “Because they can.”
Having mentioned something yesterday about the siding on ‘The River’ apartments, I made a special note to drive by it for another look this morning, and what I saw, was just another confirmation of what I said yesterday. I can’t imagine how long those structures are going to last. For sure, that whole build-out is a classic example of planned obsolescence. I can only imagine what it’s going to look like ten years from now. My next prophecy, is when their ten year tax abatement is over, it’ll get sold to an investor, and they’ll keep moving on to other bloated villages to build all the many more of those ticky-tacky shoe boxes, and I’m sure they’ll get free land and long-term tax abatements from their short-sighted village governments. Such things always remind me of that tongue-in-cheek saying that we’ve heard that goes, “If it’s new, it must be good.” Yea right!
Oh my goodness! Was I getting the calls from past customers who’d just received their new real estate assessments in the mail today from our City Assessor’s Office. I was in shock when hearing one person who’s retired and on a fixed income, had his assessed value raised well over $30K. I’m already bracing myself for the number of phone calls I’ll be getting tomorrow, with those callers asking for some sort of direction, but unfortunately, there’ll be little I can do, and only because of how insane these home sale prices have risen since the pandemic arrived in 2020. So here we are, three years out, and they’re still climbing, and only because of our shortages of inventory. Who knows where it’ll all end. Unfortunately, those rising taxes, are likely going to go to waste on keeping the monies flowing into the pockets of David Rachie and the likes. I’m surprised there aren’t more people sending letters to the editor of the Globe Gazette, who’re verbalizing their disgust over the bridge to no where, the ghost hotel, and those skeletal remains of the Southbridge Mall. I actually can’t think of anything they’ve thrown away money on that’s self-sustaining. Yes, next year’s tax bills will be staggeringly high.
When visiting with a wise man today who’s very much against these many alt-right politicians who’re pushing forward their agendas, more than once he said, “This Country and State is slowly turning into a dictatorship.” Both times I said, “Please don’t say that, because if your words are true, I’ll be outta here before it happens.” It wasn’t so much hearing those words, but coming from the mouth of a very intelligent and well-read person, was very disturbing. What I kept insisting on, was my belief there’ll be another wave of voters who’ll be kicking back in the next elections, and only because they will have finally realized we’re heading down a very dark path.
While driving down North Delaware Ave., I happened to notice First Congregational Church, just put up a new banner on its tower which could be seen by all those drivers and pedestrians. If I think of it, I’ll take a photo of it and share with you tomorrow. The words are simple, but meaningful. After reading it, all I could think of was, “Yes, if only our society would live those words, and maybe then, we could all come back together as one Nation.”
I’m pretty much ready for another closing that’s coming up mid-week, so that’ll be another sale I’ll be thankful about. Yes, I need to keep on cranking, and only because January and February were toxic months for me. Thank you all again for your loyalties!
Tonight’s One-liner is: Before you begin anything, plan carefully, along with looking long-term ahead.
