Those Who Live In Fear

The cold wind we had today, was definitely on the nippy side, but at least our temps rose well above freezing by the time afternoon rolled around. While in conversation with a professional this morning, I once again mentioned how much different this month of November has been in comparison to the many others, and to the point where I’m actually starting to like it.

Last night’s strong gusts of wind definitely created some issues for our residents, and when pulling up to the rear of my office, I noticed a piece of roofing material from the building next door had blown into my back lot, so I placed it near their back door and called the businesses owner, just to tell her what must’ve happened in the night, and where I placed that long piece of metal.

Of course just before I unlocked my back door, I was suddenly seeing red after noticing an item of mine was missing which I had placed out of sight behind several bushes that are planted near my back door, and when later having the time to check on my security camera’s history of last night, I became even more enraged because shortly after sundown, a ‘hooded’ woman which a white scarf over her face and wearing tight blue jeans, walked straight from the alley and directly to my item, bent down, picked it up and hurriedly walked off, which meant she’d been milling around my back door during daylight hours. Unfortunately for her, I recognized her profile and the way she was walking, so the next time I see her and that male ‘compatriot’ of hers digging in the various dumpsters in our block, I’ll be confronting her. Yes, You’ll know you’re living in the last outpost when you finally come to the understanding that you’ll never see it all. In my book, any and all forms of thieves, are the filthiest of monkeys.

I was late this month with getting all of my accounting done, which was mainly due to our ever-slow moving snail mail. My gosh! It took nine days for a bank statement to get delivered to my office which was mailed at the end of October. Thank goodness all of my accounts balanced to the penny which always makes me happy, because even if I’m off one cent, the digging begins. Yes, I’m a bit of a maniac when it comes to balancing books, which likely comes from my years of working in a bank, and in spite of them having a small margin for ‘errors and omissions’, I rarely if ever used it.

Back when we managed well over 250 rental units for a family of investors, there were various times when Roger or Helen Holtz would call upon me to help find their accounting errors. I’ll never as long as I live, forget the marathon that was created when discovering there were discrepancies which had gone un-noticed for a number of months. I can freely say I worked on that entanglement for at least 12 hours over a two day time period, but I finally got those accounts unraveled and back into balance. In spite of having been away from accounting for at least 15 years, I was rather proud of myself over such and achievement, and especially since those skills had been mothballed for that many years. I can still see that desk-high pile of adding machine tape I’d created. Sounds like something one would see in a comedy hour series.

Many years ago when Pioneer Federal Savings and Loan was in business, the head of their mortgage department decided to nickname me ‘Bulldog’, and after the first time he called me that, I asked him why, and his devilish reply was, “Well, you’re just like a bulldog because it seems every time you get your ‘teeth’ into something, you never let go.” Today, I’m still not sure that was the best of nicknames to describe me, because I’d say I’m more on the tenacious side to where I remain steadfast at getting something I’d started, fully finished. As we’ve all learned, mothers almost always know best, and when someone once said to her that I was one who picks fights, her knee-jerk response was, “I’ve never seen him pick a fight, but I’ve seen him finish all the many.”, which brings me full circle to that text-a-thon I was pulled into last month where an evil entity picked a fight with me, but I do believe I finished it to where I’ll likely never hear from that vile creature again.

I received a text early this morning from my dear friend, just to relay the good news regarding the positive outcome of a surgery one of her family members had yesterday. I was exceptionally happy to hear such good news, which was a confirmation for me, that my prayers for that person were answered. There’s no question in my mind that selfless and soulful prayer, truly makes a difference, and today’s text was one more illumination of that fact.

Yesterday I received a call from a past client asking if I’d meet her late this morning at the home she’s planning on selling which I agreed to do. When I pulled up, I noticed a few changes had been made to the outside, and just as I walked in, I was mentally taken back to what it used to look like when I sold it to her. After getting a good look at it, I made some suggestions on improvements which she was agreeable with, so hopefully I’ll be able to get it listed in a week or two.

Come tomorrow morning, I’ll likely have another one of my listings under contract, so that’ll be one more for the month of November. Yes, it looks like things are picking up, and just this afternoon when visiting with a past client/customer, I’ll be meeting with another member of that family who’s now looking at purchasing a home. Like I’ve said a number of times, I’m ever-grateful and thankful for the loyal and faithful long-term clients I have.

As a follow-up of my words of last evening, I must also share the words of our Savior which are, ‘Those who live in fear, dwell in darkness.” Oh, how very true!

Tonight’s one-liner is: Don’t taunt the alligator until after you’ve crossed the creek.

Joe Chodur

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