Again, all of my Saturday morning chores were finished before it started getting hot outside. I’ve noticed these last several days how exceptionally blue the skies have been. The day before yesterday was so blue I thought I was overly reacting when another mentioned the same thing. The recent storms we had must’ve cleared the skies more than normally. While I was out, I couldn’t help but notice a young man riding an expensive lawn mower while mowing the grass on his average sized City lot. I’m surprised he didn’t have a six pack in a holder at the rear of his rider such as I’ve seen before. It absolutely doesn’t make any sense to me seeing a thirty-something male mowing his average sized yard with with a rider. I’m growing more convinced people really work at being sedentary. It’s no wonder there are so many overweight and out of shape young people driving around. I think that particular young man wanted to let his neighbors know that he was better than the rest of them because he could afford to buy a riding lawn mower. Not impressed.
My public open house at 37 Oak Drive was a success today where I had someone there nearly all the time. One of the visitors who arrived towards they end stayed longer so to get a good “feel” for the place. I simply said, “Take all the time you want.” Since I do know him, I was glad he came since he’s one of the few of our City who can be quite verbally captivating. I told him his brain power came to him honestly since his parents are similarly blessed. He’s just a darned nice person who does much for others but only quietly. Several days ago I got a good laugh out of some clients of mine who earlier told me their mortgage company called and wanted them to refinance their home. I said, “Why would you want to do that when that’s all they’ll drop is 1 ½% in their interest rate compared to what you have now?” The husband replied, “They said there won’t be any out-of-pocket closing costs for us.” I jokingly snapped back, “Nobody does anything for free except sometimes me, but I keep very quiet about it. Now you call them back and ask if they’re going increase your mortgage balance for their re-finance costs.” The next day he called back and said, “You were right. If we agreed to re-finance our home with them, our mortgage balance would increase almost seven thousand dollars, and I told them there’s no way were going to do that.” It absolutely amazes me the lengths some companies go to take advantage of the average consumer. It upsets me to know this is likely happening to un-informed homeowners all over the country and they’re getting away with it.
After showing several homes this week that didn’t have dishwashers in their kitchens, I began thinking how unfortunate it was that they were invented. I can remember as a child as many who lived in a dishwasher-less home, how many conversations and debates took place with siblings, parents, or grandparents in front of kitchen sinks while washing and drying dishes. I remember countless times my mother and I having delightful chats, heated arguments, and deep debates while doing the evening dishes. Now that we have automatic dishwashers, with whom do we have to exchange ideas, or have two brains working on the same problem? I think many of our young now have no clue how much can be learned in front of a kitchen sink. Nearly all of our fine modern kitchens have no room for debate. The above photo was taken in 1944. If you look closely you can see it’s a great example of a mid-century kitchen filled with debate.
