It was another slushy and overcast day again, but at least the city workers were out attempting to get most of it push to the curbsides where it’ll melt and run down our storm sewers. Of course I consider conditions like this ‘cat track’ weather where all the more sand and dirt gets tracked indoors.
A call came in around mid-morning from a gentleman who did a great deal of buying and selling with our office in years past, and after getting his real estate questions answered, I brought up the subject of Alliant Energy’s stranglehold it has on our city, and since he’s familiar with the workings of Mid-America Energy, he also agreed that Alliant Energy’s billing rates are prohibitively high for our market. Of course I also shared my belief that they’re a major contributing factor to our negative economic growth, because their bloated rates make it even harder for industries and store-front shops to keep themselves above water. He was quick to point out all the recent closings that’ve taken place, and if they get the rate hikes they’re asking for, there’ll be a whole lot more. Shame on them! As a footnote, I can safely say their ‘robotic’ customer service leaves much to be desired.
The lunch date I had with my two out-of-town relatives went very well to the point where we went way over the lunch hour with our sharing of family histories of which few of the younger ones have been made privy, and only because I was still at home when my father’s father lived with us, and then years later my mother’s mother, so I managed to get a double dose of information straight from the sources.
Before leaving, one of them mentioned how much she looks forward to my historic narratives, and especially when getting the rest of the stories involving happenings, choices and decisions that were made back then which had generational effects our extended families. I went on to say there’ll be a very many nieces and nephews who’ll live out their lives being near-completely in the dark in regards to the various characters of those that came before them. But, it’s absolutely no fault of mine because nearly all of them had their opportunities to take the time and simply ask and listen. Of course many of them have distorted my extended family’s history to the point where if I heard any narratives about the ‘old ones’, I likely wouldn’t even recognized who they were talking about. Yes, it’s that bad. One of them while in casual conversation had the audacity to flatly say my mother was a sex maniac. Oh, if that didn’t get my blood boiling, and to this day, I’ll likely never forgive that person for saying such a wicked thing. Yup, you simply can’t fix stupid.
When I arrived back at office, I sat down and composed an email to an out-of-State client, just to let him know everything’s progressing well on the sale of his home, along with mentioning there’ll likely not be any issues regarding the title work we’ve been waiting on.
A call came in later in the day from a gentleman who has a friend that’s wanting to sell his home, so we set an appointment for me to go look at it tomorrow. Once I was off the phone, I proceeded to do some online investigating of the home, just so I’ll have more of an idea about what I’ll be inspecting. I doubt it’ll get listed tomorrow, but hopefully in the coming weeks we’ll have the listing up and running. Considering the neighborhood it’s in, I’d say it’ll sell quickly if it’s priced right.
For the remainder of my afternoon, about all I did was putz around the office and going thru cabinets and drawers while looking for things which are no longer useful, and most of what I sent to the shredder, were old files and notes I’d taken years ago which were taking up space. Perhaps I’m ahead of myself with ‘Spring cleaning’.
It didn’t surprise me when reading the results of the New Hampshire primaries, which in my mind were just as much of a farce as Iowa’s, and in DeSantis’ words, the projected turnout of voters were grossly over-estimated. So why is everyone rushing to say D.T. will have the delegates he needs to become the Republican candidate when so few registered Republicans have been showing up? I’m sure our Governor’s not very happy about DeSantis dropping out because she endorsed him early-on, so you can bet D.T. isn’t gonna to forget about that.
While walking into the Post Office this morning, I ran into a gentleman whom I’ve known for a great many years, and since he was on the subject of politics, I couldn’t help saying, “Thirty years ago if you would’ve told me our political arenas would be like they’ve recently turned into, I would’ve said you’ve been smoking ‘crack’.” He got a laugh while acknowledging his similar feelings. Yes, there are some very wealthy people who’re funding these politicians just to fulfill their own agendas, and some of them are darkly hidden.
We also talked about how in these times, some of our not so honest and forthright employees in our government bodies, are obsequiously climbing their ladders of success by sucking up to their supervisors and bosses, but unfortunately they don’t have the hard-won experience of those who’ve worked diligently over the years at perfecting their abilities. I know the ‘buddy’ system has been with us since the invention of the wheel, but for whatever reason, I’m noticing it more in all levels of government, and unfortunately those department heads haven’t a clue they’re being used. Back when I was in a supervisory position at a bank, any time one of the workers started getting unctuous with me, it came to a screeching halt. Oh well, I’m just another one of Mason City’s ‘know nothing’ natives.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Push yourselves to the limit as often as possible.
