It didn’t surprise me in the least when finding we had rain again last night and not just because of the high temps yesterday, but also how thick the air was. For me, that’s usually an indication a storm front will be moving in. What really surprised me was hearing that St. Ansgar got over two inches in the night, which is telling us again how all the more intense even the isolated thunderstorms are becoming.
My arrival at the office was much earlier today because I knew there’d be an Alliant Energy representative stopping by to give me an explanation for something “Michael’s” freely did at the back of my building yesterday. “Michael” happens to be the sub-contractor they hired to bury all the electric lines in Commercial Alley so there will no longer be those monster over-head wires feeding many parts of the Downtown.
Without a doubt, I was not the least bit happy when arriving back from an appointment yesterday and hearing/feeling a jackhammer out back. I went out there and discovered while I was gone, three of their workers had opened a trench about thirty feet long within the confines of my lot, and in so doing, they also jackhammered out a perfectly good footing that I wanted preserved for future expansion. Thank goodness I took enough photos before they started scurrying off.
After hours, the head foreman called me on my mobile while apparently trying to lay weak blame on everyone else but his company, but no matter what excuse he was trying make me believe, I insisted they’d entered private property and started digging without authority, and above all, my permission. All I could say was, “I think you’d better notify Alliant Energy before I make my call to them in the morning.
At just after 7:00 am this morning, a representative from Alliant Energy arrived at my office door. After visiting for about a half hour along with inspecting the damage, he agreed to make it right and fix what they’d done along with placing a new pole in another area which would create a win/win situation for both Alliant Energy and myself.
As we were walking out, I commended him on his level-headedness and sensibilities which we normally don’t find in today’s corporate world, and especially glad he didn’t get combative with me because it would’ve got uglier before it got better.
One thing he did tell me which caused me to shake my head in dis-belief, was Alliant Energy’s offer to fully pave all of Commercial Alley starting from where Fareway’s parking lot is, and all the way to Soutbridge Mall, if only our City would pay for half the cost. That was a discovery which angered me because Commercial Alley happens to be a component of our Historic Downtown, and should be treated as such. And later when thinking about it, I was all the angrier because our City “fathers” didn’t even notify us business owners of Alliant’s offer. Why didn’t the City go to the owners and say, “Since Alliant Energy is paying half, would you split the other half of costs with us?” Without a doubt, the paving of Commercial Alley would be a great asset to both the business owners and our general public as a whole. It sounds a bit too simplistic for consideration doesn’t it?
One of my extended sale files happened to hit a few bumps in the road which had me very nervous this week to where I was nearly fit to be tied with worry over it falling thru, but luckily the the loan officer called late this afternoon to tell me it was going to get approved. Thank goodness for small miracles! That was just one more example of why I never allow sold signs to be placed on properties until there’s a closing date and time scheduled because you just never know what could happen with a loan that’s being processed by an out-of-town lending institution.
I’ve still got my hopes up for getting more Prairie Place on 1st condos sold, and as chance would have it, one of the people who’d looked at one of them last fall, stopped by my office today for a visit. Without being pushy, I reminded him of all the extra benefits those units have to offer versus any of those “used” condos that are being offered for sale in Mason City.
While driving from point A to B today, I thought about some Rodney Dangerfield type of jokes I could share with all of you about my family members which I could throw out there on occasion just so you could get an all natural non-GMO healthy/hearty laugh or two. I’ll have to ask a few of my readers if they liked the one I posted last night because I have all the many more stored away in memory.
It certainly turned out to be a pleasant day, and perhaps tomorrow will be a repeat. Don’t you think we’re long over-due for some beautiful North Iowa days?
Tonight’s one-liner is: Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
