I guess when we asked Mother Nature to smile down upon us with rain, she must’ve been feeling pretty generous at the time. Yes, I’m glad we’re getting the rain, but will certainly be happy when the sun re-appears from behind these days of cloud cover.
Several hours were spent this morning in preparation of several files that are now ready for title companies. Yours truly works hard at making sure there are no questions coming back from the abstract company or the examining attorneys, because it just makes the process all that much slower, and of course whether we want to admit it or not, individual Realtors do have established reputations with our banks, abstract companies, and attorneys, as to the level of their proficiencies when it comes to providing all the needed information they’re always wanting included in those requests.
There was additional correspondence that came in this week that needed attention, so I made sure to take care of that as well. I don’t know if any of the rest of you are getting emails from Alliant Energy as to having sent out their bill to you, but I’m getting rather annoyed by them these past six or so months. I have no idea what’s got started with them, but they really must stop such nonsense because I’ve not to my knowledge, even been close to being late on getting them paid on time. Once again, it’s another example of attempted control of our general public’s behavior via the information highway.
I received a phone call after hours yesterday from a man whom I’d crossed paths with about five years ago who was at the time, working with a now retired real estate agent, and the reason for his call, was that he was wanting to help a “friend” find a home in the $50K – $70K price range. I asked about financing, and he said his friend would be paying cash, so I told him I’d do some research on available listings today, which of course I did, but then when I called him back this afternoon, my call went automatically to his voice mail, so I left a message, and I’m still waiting for his return call. More than a hundred years ago the Western States were considered the Wild West, but I’m thinking that in these times, North Iowa is undergoing a de-evolution into being the Wild North.
When visiting with a dear friend/client this afternoon, I was brought up to speed even more so in regards to the bikers riding their expensive bicycles up and down back alleys in the middle of the night, and likely looking for garages and homes to break into. I can attest to the “nightriders” in our Historic Downtown, because I’ve seen them on my surveillance cameras that are mounted on the back of my office, and the real “traffic” starts in the time frame of 2:00 – 4:00 am. Now why in the world would people be out riding bicycles down alleys at that time of the night? Well, you can start drawing your own conclusions, because mine has already been drawn; they’re up to no good. It’s just one more reason why our City fathers should have a curfew for such nighttime drug trafficking and larceny.
Since the weekend is already barreling down on us, I decided to host a public open house over at 902 – 1st St. SE this Saturday morning from 10:00 to Noon. I thought for sure that home would be sold right out of the gates, but I think part of the problem, is that it’s located off the beaten path where unless you have a reason to be on that dog-leg street, you’d miss seeing my for sale sign. No matter what anyone says, I could see myself living in that charming home. It may be smaller than the average, but its location makes up for it, as well as being of a well-planned design. Of course I’m always a push-over for open front porches.
I called one of my colleagues today asking about the availability of a certain home, and after visiting about it, we ended up on the China-virus that seems to be growing in numbers in Cerro Gordo County. She’s taking exceptionally strong precautions by wearing a mask, as well as insisting her clients and customers wear them while in her presence. We both are of a similar belief that the “second wave” of this pandemic is going to be the most deadly, and likely due to our general public having for the most part, let their guards down.
We also talked about the spiking of real estate sales in our City, and we’re both now wondering if there are more people coming here from the more infected areas of our State and Country to purchase since our number of infections are much lower. I think it’s great we’re getting newbies to our area, but I’m praying not one of them will be asymptomatic upon arrival, and subsequently creating a North Iowa hotspot of infection.
Since I had to go over to City Hall, I happened to notice the City had a giant flag flying in front of the Chamber of Commerce building, which was so big, it had to be hoisted up atop an extension ladder belonging to one of our City’s fire trucks. I thought to myself, “What the heck are they doing now?” Well, curious me went around the block, and when I came to the four-way stop sign at the corner of State and Federal, there stood some silly looking cardboard or possibly wooden figures representing trumpet players and the like. Oh my goodness! They had a one-way created for people to drive down that block and “pretend” they were watching a parade. I’m sure someone “thought” it would be a good idea to create some sort of faux beginning of the Band Festival that was originally scheduled for this weekend, but canceled because of the coronavirus. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t the least bit impressed by their weak attempt at getting us in the mood of marching bands. I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but that Band Festival will more sooner than later, become a thing of the past, because as I mentioned before, we will not be going back to the way things were after this pandemic if fully over. As for the Music Man Square, I’m still in disbelief how a select few are still being allowed to pump money into that dying white elephant.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Good humor is the health of the soul, and sadness is its poison.
