Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds
It's come as no surprise so many are taking off for warmer climes to enjoy a week or ten days of shady palms and sunny beaches with our wind was right back at it again today, and always wanting to blow from the north.
My first project of the morning was to get some late checkbook balancing done due to my bank having been delayed in sending out their end of the month statements. I actually called them yesterday asking where they were. It always makes me a little nervous when mailings don't arrive at their normal times because the first thing that comes to mind, is someone having intercepted them.
Just today a business person told me about a check that was intercepted while en-route to a company in Indiana, and the most scary thing about his story, was the fact that he for some reason he checked his bank account online and noticed there was a check he supposedly wrote for over $7,000 being posted against his account that day. Well, the crazy thing about it, was that check just so happened to be "scrubbed" by thieves, then changed the amount of the check from $700 to $7,000, along with inserting a person's name on that account. Believe it or not, his bank was ready to honor that check.
Long story short, his bank alerted him that now these bank account thieves are intercepting checks in the mail, using some sort of chemical to "lift" the names and amounts off the faces of those checks, and then inserting new names and amounts. For Heaven's sake, what's next? Just when we thought writing and sending a check being the best way to safeguard against bank fraud, they come up with this "check scrubbing".?Of course it all goes back to those who'd rather steal from someone than go out and get a regular job, and just remember, there are an abundance of good-paying jobs out there.
I got a message from a dear one today saying "Pies and More" are closing their doors for good. Now that was a shocker because that's been the "go to" lunch cafe for decades. As many times I've been in Willowbrook Mall around lunchtime, there'd almost always be people standing and waiting for tables. Yes, that's how popular it was. I'd eaten there several times and will say the food was good, but the only thing I didn't like, was how close their tables were to each other. Anyone with even the slightest bit of claustrophobia in their systems would have that "trapped" feeling while eating.
For sure we'll have to get some forward-thinking cook who'll fill the shoes of "Pies and More" because there are a great number of seniors who'd frequent it. Of course everyone likes homemade pie, so if they could find a top-notch baker, they'd have it made, and especially if it were somewhere in the Downtown area. I'm sure there are still those living here that remember the Green Mill Restaurant. Well, I was there enough times to say they had very good food and a pleasant atmosphere. Back when I worked at a bank in our Downtown, many of their officers would lunch there on a near daily basis.
I had a call this morning from a client who lives out of town asking if I would be free to go and look at her home this morning, and since my schedule was relatively free, I agreed and headed out. It didn't take me long to do my walk-thru along with offering suggestions on what should be done before listing it. Fortunately my advice didn't fall on deaf ears, so perhaps in a month or so, I'll have a new out of town listing.
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On my way back, I decided to take the back blacktops, just to get a more leisurely view of the countryside. When I came up over a hill, there in a field not far from the road stood at least fifteen fully-grown female deer. Of course the first thing that came to mind was how many more there'll be running around after they've had at least one and likely two offspring each. I'd wager that herd by the time high summer arrives, will be numbering around forty or more.
When I got back to office, I called an "in the know" deer hunter to tell him what I saw, and his response was their numbers are now growing all the faster because there's been an active push on ridding North Iowa of the many coyotes that've invaded our area. Ok, that's fine and good, but the DNR had better loosen their restrictions on bag limits and allowable days of hunting those vile creatures. As a matter of fact, today was the second time in a week I've seen a herd of deer numbering more than ten during daylight hours which means there's likely many more roaming around at night.
With my listings continuing to sell, I have to put another plug in on 1125 W. State Street and 201 S. Vermont here in Mason City. For the strangest of reasons, I have no clue as to why those two homes are still not under contract. First and foremost, they're both in highly sought-after neighborhoods, and secondly they're exceptionally well-built and ready for occupancy. All I can do, is hope and pray their "perfect fit" buyers arrive on the scene more sooner than later. Personally, I could easily live in either one of them because of how well care-for they are, so please put the word out.
Just for you to have an idea how tight our market actually is, I plugged-in some parameters in my MLS program this morning and found that as of today, there are only 25 homes for sale which are in the $90K - $250K price range that offer at least three bedrooms, and at least a single car garage. Now you have a better understanding as to how few homes there are for buyers to choose from in our City. Pretty scary isn't it?
Have you noticed that Putin hasn't made a public appearance or speech for at least three days now? I wonder if his supposed Parkinson's Disease is getting more noticeable.
Tonight's One-liner is: Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.