If there were to be one more thing go wrong today, I’d have been ready to go out and spit. Ninety-nine percent of today’s problems were all associated with this satanically cold weather. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t have the wind blowing and creating a deadly windchill. As I’ve always told people, “When it comes to winter, prepare yourselves for the worst.” Just for an example, I received calls beginning this morning about a furnace that quit working in the night, another about a drain pipe having frozen which created a plug, another about a lockbox on a house that decided to suddenly die, and finally, a heavy duty padlock refusing to open after the key was turned. So much for heavy duty padlocks made in China. It certainly wasn’t fun having to call a locksmith to have it sawed off.
Driving down the highway this morning to an office in Northwood really made a believer out of me how deadly the windchill can be. The highway was extra bumpy due to the pavement contracting from the cold and likely my vehicles springs not being the springiest. I shivered when noticing a deer caracas in a ditch with about six crows pecking away at its flesh and bones. I rolled down my window for a moment or two just to get a “feel” of how cold it really was. Oh Mercy! I wager anyone stranded out on a country road would have been fighting just to to stay alive. At least the wind went down with the sun this evening and hopefully it won’t be back tomorrow.
One of the powers that be in our City stopped by my office today. We found ourselves on the subject of people wanting to be noticed in bad ways. There were examples given and comments made. I couldn’t help but say, “Well you know, some adults are like children. If they can’t get a controlling form of attention in a good way, they’ll dream up bad ways.” If we would all stand back far enough and look at the history of those trouble makers and pot stirrers in our communities, we would take the cue of turning deaf ears.
Having been fortunate enough to work with the crosscut of society and remembering to take note of patterns that emerge, it’s really not so hard for me to recognize the markings of devious and manipulative minds. Just today I was handed a letter that was written by one such person, and that’s all I chose to do was dismiss it as another attempt at wanting to be in control as well as noticed. Remember, the sociologist have said we are now living in the age of “Look at me!”.
Whenever I hear someone speaking in a guarded voice and carefully chosen words is usually an indication there’s some relevant truth that’s being withheld. I would love to have a wooden plaque mounted above my door that reads, “In Nomine Veritas.” Surely most would ask what it means, and perhaps it would help to set the tone for a more productive meeting once I supply its translation.
The first business day of 2017 has certainly taken off with a bounce. I spent about half my day out and about with real estate appointments, and the other returning emails and text messages. I hope it’s a good sign of the activity we’ll be seeing for the rest of this year.
I’m glad we haven’t yet received the amount of sleet that was predicted. Those little granules of ice balls that started first-off this morning were the most treacherous to walk over. I just about landed on my derriere while stepping over a curb at a home in spite of having my pair of Uggs on. Oh well, it’s what’s expected when living on our Northern Plains in wintertime. I continually hope for everyone to be all the more careful when weather conditions like these arrive.
With it being the first day of 2017 and nothing pressing at hand, I decided to go on a long drive across the top of Iowa. Having no end destination at all in mind, I just told myself I had to be back in the City before dark. As chance would have it, I managed to make it back as darkness was beginning to fall. What a perfect day it was for a long drive. The sun was shining, the pavements were clean, and the traffic was nearly non-existent. I was sure to take my camera with me just in case there was something worth stopping for a quick shot, and yes there were many.
To my surprise, there were people coming and going nearly the entire two hours I was at my public open house today. I believe the word is finally getting out about the home’s great value as well as location. There were more than just a few commenting on how light and bright the home is, which is what I’ve said from the very first time I entered the home. I have a very good feeling the future owner of the home was in attendance today. From what I could see, it’ll be a perfect fit. Sure wish I had a garage as new and nice as the one located on its property. The beautiful afternoon that unfolded was likely a big help with the traffic.
With it being the last business day of 2016, I’d say it was quite the hectic one. I’m glad I started out with a full tank of gas today after finding I’d been back and forth across the City a number of times. After the number of interruptions there were, I finally had to barricade myself in an office to get some necessary phone calls made and documents prepared. There’s nothing that causes mistakes more easily than having lost one’s train of thought by being distracted or pulled away from an important task at hand.
As we’re approaching the last days of 2016, I’m sure many of us can look back on this year as being a real eye opener. While having lunch yesterday with a colleague, I asked, “Just one year ago, did you ever expect our world to be in its present state?” The answer was a quick and determined, “No!” I couldn’t help but fully agree in knowing I’ve had my own shocking surprises this past year.
After arriving at work this morning, I found myself suddenly aware my office was beginning to take on the appearance of dishevelment and wondering why I’d not noticed it until today. Some have always considered me to be a bit more than picky about how their homes should present themselves for marketing, and there I was this chiding myself for having so subtly allowed my office to turn into a paper filled pigsty. Fortunately I had several free hours to get the bulk of it sorted out by either filing it or sending it to the shredder before my first client arrived. I guess I’ll have to watch myself more closely so to keep from subconsciously loading up on paper.
Walking on, and driving over the washboards of ice today wasn’t what I considered the most delightful of experiences. Having fully remembered the fall I took on a curbside some years ago just from an innocent wrong step and subsequently cracking a rib, I fully understand how quickly someone can hurt themselves on ice and endure its pain for months. I do hope everyone is exceptionally careful when out on the nastily slippery ice that’s plaguing our City sidewalks and streets.
As I’d expected, the City crews were not out yesterday to at least do a once over on the streets to remove the slush, so therefore we now have streets that look and feel like driving over endless washboards of ice. I do hope our temperatures rise enough this coming week, which it looks like they won’t, or we’ll be doing our share of bouncing around on side streets until we have another thaw.