It was quite the storm we had late yesterday, and likely received enough rain to bring our grass back to green. And speaking of green, I’ve been noticing a whole lot more dead and dying trees around our City and I really can’t figure out what’s been happening with them. I’m not sure if it was the extreme cold of last winter, or if there’s something in the air that’s affecting them. The species of trees that are being affected is all over the map, which means the problem isn’t specific to one, and also finding the deciduous and coniferous are both getting hammered. I came around the corner of a block today and noticed a once healthy half-matured sugar maple, deader than a doornail. That was a shocker.
I had to run over to Clear Lake around mid-morning to get a document initialed which I just happened to miss when going over it with a client. He was more than willing to drive to Mason City, but I insisted on going there because it was my oversight. Once again, I must say the traffic on Hwy 122 is a beast during certain times of the day, and today was no exception.
When reading the news channel, I discovered the Clear Lake City Council approved a development agreement with a builder wanting to build a hotel and convention center east of I-35. I was quite surprised how quickly their Council came to a decision. It looks like the smaller the town, the faster things get approved and moved forward. We’ll soon see how much another convention center in close proximity to our Downtown will affect our City’s current plans.
My afternoon appointment was to take a look at a home in great need of repair. One of the owners was waiting for me so I headed on in for a full inspection. I made as many mental notes as possible, and then walked back out to have a chat about condition. As always, sellers expect me to have an instant opinion regarding price, and today was no exception. I assured them I’d be getting back with a value in the next few days.
The rest of my day was spent working on existing files and accounting which always seems to make the hours pass quickly. It really doesn’t bother me because it affords me time to quietly process information without distraction.
One of my out of State clients called just to see what’s been happening on my side of the world, and it sounded like all was well with him. Since he’s normally very busy, I always consider it an honor getting a social call from him, instead of something having to do with business, which brought to mind something I shared with a dear client yesterday regarding a very generous gesture I made last year to one of our business people, and in spite of it being very helpful to him, he never even bothered to give me a call or send me a note of thanks. Well, it came as a bit of shock to him when calling several days ago and asking for a similar favor, and my response being, “I’m sorry, but no.” It was just another example of how people consider themselves automatically entitled, and believe me, it spans all age groups.
Later this afternoon, I shared my frustration with another in the Downtown regarding all those tar spots that’ve dirtied up the once clean pavement on N. Federal Avenue. I’d like to know how they think they’re going to get them removed because many of them have been “hard-pressed” by the tires of numerous cars and trucks that’ve driven down North Federal since Country Landscapes started replacing those pavers. Don’t you think Country Landscapes has got to have some sort of accountability for what they’ve done to a once near blemish-free stretch of N. Federal?
Another stop I had today was to take a look at a very well built mid-century ranch which hasn’t had much if any cosmetics done since it was built. Unfortunately, it’s going to take the right buyer because most of our younger crowd would walk thru it, shake their heads, and walk right back out. Conservatively speaking, I’d say it would take another 35K dollars to bring it up to the expectations of our general buying public. But, there is one person I’ve been working with who may be willing to take it on because of its location and layout. We’ll see.
I don’t know if many of you noticed the rainbow early this morning out in our western sky, but I did get a shot of it, just so to share with you tonight. That was one of the bigger ones I’ve seen for some time. Seeing a rainbow doesn’t always invoke thoughts of the Wizard of Oz, but this morning’s triggered Judy Garland’s voice in my mind as she was singing, “Over The Rainbow.” Judy had a marvelously earthy voice which made her stand out from the crowd. Now come on, can’t you now hear her singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow…”?
Tonight’s one-liner is: The simplification of anything is always sensational.
