How We Manage to Spoil Ourselves
It was definitely another above average temperature day again, and perhaps the rain we're supposed to be getting tomorrow, will cool things down a bit. I can't wait to see what our monthly averages were for September when comparing them to previous years. Unless I'm completely wrong, I'm very much certain we will have broken a record this year.
I'm a bit surprised the farmers aren't out in full force with the combining of their soybeans because if we get rain, that'll set them back a few more days, and from what I've been seeing, nearly all the bean fields are ripe for picking. Back in the old days, they'd be out in their fields with shift changes so they'd be able to run for 24 hours straight. Perhaps our big farmers can't find the help they need to get their crops harvested. I mentioned to one of my friends several days ago how likely in the very near future, there'll be man-less combines out harvesting and the only human involvement will be someone sitting behind a desk and watching a monitor. It may sound too far-fetched, but I can assure you they're already off the drawing boards and now being tested in secretive locations. Whether we want to admit it or not, the advancements being made on a daily basis with computerization, is forcing all the more workers out of jobs. We can thank corporate greed and computerization for the soon death of our middle class.
It was a hectic Wednesday, and for the life of me, I can't believe how quickly the hours passed, and likely due to the "immediate attention" I had to give various individuals. Not to worry because I did manage to keep everyone happy.
Our office has two closings which are scheduled for tomorrow and Friday morning. I have all the docs readied for both of them, so all that's left is to issue checks and do a final walk-thru on Friday's closing. My closing Friday is with a gentleman I've known for well over twenty years, and I was very thankful he called me to start showing him homes. Since he was in the lower-priced bracket, you can be sure I was showing him some real over-priced dumps, but fortunately I managed to get him into a home the day it was listed, and before the sun went down, we had it under contract. I can't begin to tell you how many times he's thanked me for watching out for him.
An interesting call came in today from another Realtor who happened to notice the plants in the front window of my office. His first question was the names of them, and the second being, where they were purchased. I went on to tell him the two big jade plants are likely 13 years old, and the plumerias being about 2 years old. I went on to say all of them were gifted to me, so I had no clue as to where he'd be able to find them. There've been a great number of people stopping at the front window and getting a better look at those beauties. Unfortunately, and as I suspected, those plumerias will likely never bloom because they're definitely tropical plants, and being in the front window of my office during the winter, sets them back too far. If they don't bloom next summer, I'll likely be gifting them to someone with a greenhouse, or possibly an individual moving to Florida or California.
The avocado tree which I grew from seed about 15 years ago, and then had to gift it to a dear friend who lived out of State due to how large it was getting, a number of months ago I received a text photo of it, and glad to see it was growing beautifully. They say avocados have to be at least 10 years old before they'll bear, and since it's well over that age, I'll be waiting to see a photo of its fruit. In spite of Florida and California being States where you can grow just about anything year-round, I'd still not want to live in either one of them. Without a doubt, I'd be going into a long-term culture shock.
The mid-afternoon showing at one of my listings went well, but unfortunately it was another one of those video tours being taken by a relative due to the buyers being far out of State. We were there for a good hour, and pretty much had all their questions answered, so we'll see what comes of it.
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My last showing of the day was a "no show" which always causes me to bristle, and especially after texting the buyer after I'd arrived, and no return text back. I even went to the extent of sending a reminder yesterday, of which I did get a confirmation. If only such buyers would realize how much of an un-necessary imposition it places on the sellers as well as the Realtors they've left hanging. Luckily this is only the second or third "no show" I've had so far this year, and hopefully it's the last.
In my spare time, I've been working on the canning of my San Marzano tomatoes which are now ripening, and after getting a good look at them this evening, I'd say there's going to be a great number needing to be picked in a few days. I can't wait until I'll be using them for anything calling for tomato sauce, but first I'll have to investigate what the substitution ratio is when using paste instead of juice or sauce. Once I've used it, I'm afraid I'll become addicted to it, and then afterwards, wanting to make sure I have enough on hand until the next crop. Isn't it interesting how we manage to spoil ourselves with the little things?
After getting two estimates on work needing to be done by contractors today, I'm all the more convinced there's a mindset growing with them which I really don't like, and that being, "If we can get away charging such high prices, then we will." It's no wonder they can go vacationing in Mexico during the winter, drive around in their shiny Ford F350's, and drink expensive vodka while watching their monster televisions. Shame on them!
Tonight's One-liner is: Most people who want to be great, aren't willing to do the work to make it possible.