I managed to make it to office a little earlier than normal, and only because I had sold signs to pick up and a few deliveries to make, so I figured it best I get those chores done before the morning traffic started getting heavy. Since we haven’t yet got off daylight savings time, it’s very much dark before the hour of six.
Of course when I arrived at office, there were some nocturnal characters milling around in that vacant lot across the street, so I made sure not to dally while walking from my car to the front door of my office. Regardless what anyone says about the lighting in my office block, it’s pretty darned dim as far as I’m concerned. Someone once told me that one of our city officials is very much against light pollution, which I can understand, but when one’s personal safety comes into play, I’ll vote for more lighting.
One of my appointments was to meet a drain cleaner at a property belonging to a client of mine, and once again, it was discovered there were tree roots in the line, but at least those lines weren’t Orangeburg pipe which has become a curse for many homeowners around our country. A number of years ago I was brought up to speed on what they were made of, and believe me, the cost of replacing those collapsed pipes can be staggering. If I’m not mistaken they were being used as sewer line components from the 1940’s on up into the 1970’s. When there are large trees close-by those lines, you can be sure it’s a ticking financial time bomb ready to go off. Back in those days, it was likely one more cost-saving material for home builders, and years later, the homeowners had to end up paying for their penny-pinching. Thank goodness the tree roots weren’t as much of a problem as I’d thought they’d be for the owner of that home.
I would say the highlight of my day was a belated conversation with a friend of mine who some months ago, moved to a metro area to start a new job. For whatever reason, the two of us can share our thoughts and insights on just about any subject, and because she’s highly educated, she’s up to speed with whatever subject we touch upon.
Of course I had to share my near sixty day experience with the ‘needful’ individual who for whatever reason, must’ve thought I was going to be a fixture into perpetuity, and when I shared what happened those last two days, she was very much surprised I was able to bow out gracefully. She did agree there’s likely some manic depressive issues going on which have never been addressed. I also had to admit how much I hated being in that person’s house because of there likely being a build-up of bad energy within. Before moving on to another subject, I had to admit I almost got side-swiped by that person’s character. When I say ‘side-swiped’, I mean it in the sense where I didn’t walk away feeling my soul/spirit had been damaged, which is something most can’t admit, and likely because they’d been pulled far enough in to where their wholeness had been eaten away. Yes, I’m very thankful and grateful for my having been calm and collected before quietly walking away from that troubled individual.
Yes, that long visit with my friend definitely gave me a good uplift, and before she left, I had to give her a friendly hug and a soulful well-wishing. I’m sure there are those who’d consider her intimidating, but definitely not me because from the first time we met, we seemed to ‘click’. Now how often does that happen? Another character feature I truly appreciate about her, is that she’s not one who brags or complains. Oh, and I did have to share my ‘The path we’re on is our own asphalt.’ which she got a much agreeable laugh out of.
The remainder of my afternoon was spent meeting several tradespeople on behalf of a client of mine, so by the time I managed to get them taken care of, the bulk of my afternoon was used-up, and since I was still out and about, I made a quick stop at Diamond Vogel to get some additional supplies I’d be needing at my extended project.
By the end of the day, I must’ve had four people from various trades talking about our City ‘fathers’ taking away another parking lot which goes completely against their so-called promotion of our Downtown businesses. One of them insisted, “If they want business to boom in our Downtown, how in the ‘yell’ can it when they’re giving away all the public parking lots, along with increased enforcement of the two hour parking.” You can bet I wasn’t a happy camper when having to twice pay a $20 parking ticket for being ‘over-parked’ in front of my office. I can assure you, any of those people who’ve come here to shop in the Downtown that’ve ended up getting a twenty dollar ticket, will likely never come back, because getting that hefty of a fine, would leave a bad taste in just about anyone’s mouth, and especially if they’re senior citizens with out of County license plates. I dare say the mindset of our city’s administration is getting curiouser and curiouser.
Tonight’s One-liner is: To want friendship is a great fault, as friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.
