Today, whenever the opportunity would arise, I would ask people who’re considerably older than me if they ever remember a Spring like this. They all emphatically replied, “No”. Nearly all would say they recalled one-time dumps of snow in April, but never the near weekly storms we’ve had since mid-March. I read again where if there’s an extended cold in Spring, it’ll be followed by a sizzlingly hot summer. We’ll see what May and June holds in store for us.
Another “soft landing” closing took place this morning with one of my listings. Everyone seemed exceptionally happy which made me all the more glad it was a good match-up with buyers and sellers. That’s another home I wish I had twenty more listing just like it, because they’d all be sold before high summer arrives. The inventory of homes available in Mason City and North Iowa is growing all the shorter to where I’m afraid our market is going to dry up if we don’t get more good homes in desirable neighborhoods listed.
I was deeply saddened after hearing about Younkers closing its doors in June, because generations of my family shopped there for years. They always offered a good selection along with fair prices. It just added itself to that heaping bucket of Iowa-born companies that could no longer survive in our digital age. The loss of both Penny’s, and now Younkers, will certainly make Southbridge Mall another modern-day dinosaur that’ll be falling all the more into dis-repair.
A client mentioned something today about how he does a great deal of his shopping thru Amazon. I normally keep still about people buying online rather than existing brick and mortar stores in our area, but after hearing about the closing of Younkers, I decided to no longer be still and be more opinionated regarding Amazon and the likes of them.
Just think forward about ten years from now. How long do you believe our North Iowa merchants will be able to keep their doors open while Amazon continues to lay waste to all those many home-grown businesses which have served us for generations?
I’m now all the more determined to never purchase anything online unless I absolutely have to, as well as checking if something’s “Made in China”, because if it is, I put it back and continue searching for something similar. Why must we continue to feed monsters while knowing full well, they’re ruining our cities and towns, and most of all, our Country.
For years I’ve said, “If you have to comparative-price to save a few nickels or dollars, then you really can’t afford to be buying it.” Our society has long been duped by corporations into believing that newer is better. Just remember, consumerism cannot sustain itself. Now don’t get me wrong, because I believe people who’ve worked very hard for what they have, should reward themselves for their efforts, but not to the point of buying something just for the sake of showing the world they’re big spenders.
I did my days forward-and-back calculation again today. As of tomorrow morning, we will be 119 days forward from the winter solstice. So after counting backwards 119 days before the solstice, we would return ourselves to the date of August 25th. I’m sure many of you can remember how warm and wonderful that last week of August can be, and certainly in possession of fond memories to prove it. Unfortunately for me, three years ago on that date, I was deeply insulted by several who’d always been considered to be full of sugar, spice, and everything nice. After counting back those days today, those memories of 08/25/15, of which I’d sent down nearly three years ago, were once again resurrected and back into my memory.
I took the above photo this afternoon from the front door of my office. It’s quite the sight isn’t it? I’m in full agreement that an April snow always brings us woe–especially when we have to shovel such heavy stuff.
My one-liner tonight is: Confusing yourself is a way to stay honest.
