Hitch Rides

I don't think the light rain we received this morning did much good other than keeping the humidity high, but at least it wasn't as hot as yesterday. I was shocked this morning when reading Mason City's temps topped out at 109 degrees yesterday. Now that was definitely a remarkable occurrence for the 26th of August in the year of Our Lord 2024.

As I suspected, I was already getting pounded with text messages from other agents regarding my new listing over at 23 - 15th St. NE, so as of now, there'll be two showings scheduled for tomorrow morning. I always smile to myself whenever in homes of that vintage because more than likely it was built by either an employee at one of the cement factories or Decker's meat processing plant which was once a major employer in our city, and let me tell you, they worked hard, but the pay was good and their jobs were something they could count on, which brings me full-circle back to my insistence we need more good paying factory jobs in our community. Just remember, the middle class of America has always be our country's backbone.

I had a curious past client stop by my office today whom I'd not seen in a decade or more, so we sat down and had a nice chat, and before leaving, she happened to notice a piece of furniture which wasn't a part of my office the last time she'd darkened my door, so I had to give her the full story regarding the condition it was in when I purchased it, along with sharing the two vintage photos I had atop which was indeed proof of its authenticity. Up until just recently, I didn't know there was actually a word which is used when tying two or more items together which verifies the time, and sometimes the place from which it came, and that word is 'provenance'. As chance would have it, there are several other items in my possession which has provenance attached to them. Yes, I was glad to find her happy and well today, along with bringing her up to speed with the happenings in my life this past decade.

Just yesterday I was thinking about the number of air conditioning units that likely went on the fritz during the heat, and wouldn't you know, I received a call from a tenant of a client of mine saying theirs went out late yesterday, so I had to place a call to my client, along with sharing the name of the HVAC company I normally use. I'm sure Alliant Energy is gloating over the high electricity bills they'll be sending out in the near future.

While out and about this morning, I couldn't help noticing all the damage those vile Japanese beetles had done with our Oaks, Crabapples, and Lindens. Some people think their leaves are burned from the sun, when in actuality, they're from those devil beetles stripping their leaves. If it not those biting gnats, it's those munching beetles, which leaves me wondering, “What's next?” Much of what we're now having to endure, is but one more by-product of globalization where many of those insects managed to hitch rides on shipping containers coming from other continents.

For whatever reason, I've come to realize over these many years, my having somehow evolved into a 'confessor' of sorts where casual and sometimes close acquaintances come to me looking for either acknowledgements, understanding, advice or simply someone to share their joys, sorrows or angers, and today I was once again another's 'confessor'.

Today's bending of my ear was all about some of our so-called professionals and semi-professionals freely and willing gouging their customers and/or clients, which I've know has been happening for quite some time, but unfortunately it's become noticeably worse since the pandemic arrived. My visitor was a bit shocked after realizing I was fully familiar with the 'likes', so my only response after I got an earful was, “This is the very reason why people must get as many opinions and/or bids on work they're planning on having done, along with making sure those service providers are fully licensed and qualified. I also shared a conversation I had with a certain 'nameless' service provider who flat-out told me his goal, was to make as much money as he possibly could, and then sellout at a much younger age than we'd normally consider possible. Yes, it's a brave new world in which we live. Right?

Tonight's One-liner is: A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

original post ... https://niowarealty.net/life/2024/08/27/hitch-rides/