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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

It is time for a break

How come I am perspiring while sitting in my window when it was so chilly overnight? Well, I guess you could say the weather got over it! According to the radio website the temp at the moment is 70 above zero and is expected to stop when it gets to 80. Normally 73 or there about is the low temperatures here so having that be the near high is a bit startling to some, especially me! I knew this was coming so it was no big surprise to me, as over a week ago I checked the 15-day forecast and saw the low temps. Up north, where my people live, they are experiencing near freezing temps, praying for mittens. My one sister has been pleading with her apartment building manager to turn the heat on, as it was around 62 degrees in her apartment when she got home from work yesterday. The "rule" for the building is evidently the middle of October for turning the heat on, which seems a bit arbitrary to me.
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Once again I made the serious mistake of stopping at my mail box and found just over 20 pieces of mail, of which only three were keepers. The rest went into the trash, including catalogs and the endless mailings from the financial people. My friend, Diane, who recently changed companies, told me that Prudential and the others are obligated by law to mail investors the reports and prospectus, but we are NOT obligated by law to read them!! Fair enough! A couple nice pieces I got were greeting cards, one for a baby shower and one a thank you note from one of the church ladies. So thoughtful!
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Monday night, in case I did not mention it, Twila came over to watch a movie. At lunch that day she reminded me that we had planned to watch "Ghost Town" and decided, since our Monday plans were all goofed up, we would watch that night. Pizza was ordered and delivered just as she arrived, which worked out perfectly. Wally, the computer guy, was supposed to be coming by with my laptop at 5:00 pm or so but did not come until well after 6:00 pm. Since Twila and I were just finishing up, we sent the balance of the pizza with Wally. "Ghost Town" was just a hoot, save for a few filthy words which the move could have survived without. The best part for me was the scenery because it is filmed and takes place in NYC. I got to see many familiar sights, including the Metropolitan Museum, where the female star worked. Twila did not know that the Egyptian display really existed, thought it was just part of the movie and I got very excited to tell her about it. We were just there in May, Justin and I, on Memorial Day. Man, it was great to see it all again in this movie!
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Yesterday I had lunch with Brenda and dinner with Joanne. My fridge holds the remainder of my meatloaf meal from Cracker Barrel, which is where we would have gone if Bible study would have been held. Seth, our "usual" waiter, already knew what I was having but it messed him up having someone different at the table with me than the usual Tuesday night crew. He knew to bring me the take-home box even before I had made a dent in the dinner, and kept my soda glass nicely filled at all times.
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Joanne is busier than ever in real estate, most of her struggles are with the short-sales she is handling. These transactions are the ones where the seller simply cannot continue in the home and are selling it for less than what is owed, in agreement with their lender. This is different than foreclosure, where the bank has taken back the property from the owners (as the bank actually owns the home) because of their failure to make the payments. She said she has never worked so hard in real estate in all her career, taking sometimes months to get to a settlement agreement for the buyers. The lenders certainly would rather have "some" money for the property vs. getting the entire piece back in foreclosure, but they, too, are just buried under the number of properties being sold in "short sale". It has become a bureaucratic nightmare. One of her seller packages includes 98 e-mails between her office and the lender simply to end up NOT closing!!!
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I have been working on the newsletter for The Palace this a.m. but since there was no BOD meeting, there is little to add to the letter. Much tap-dancing is going on here as I glean pieces of information from various other sources to fill the letter. At least I have two new residents to write about, not new Owners, but tenants. We need some people to come and buy our "For Sale" units because we also need to fill most of the seats on the BOD and I don't want to do it!!!! I would not like having people hate me and say nasty things about me....which is not to say that does not happen already! Just not to my face, like happens to the current BOD members. Yikes!
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My doors are in the open position, the temps are so nice, and no longer am I perspiring as the sun has moved around the building some. Tonight is a birthday dinner for our friend, Brian, at Ted Turner's restaurant, and I have to suck it up and eat there, for Brian! I can do it! Justin said he ate there once when his friend's mom treated. I hear the food is good and the company certainly will be, and then we go to choir. 'Twill be a great night, I can see that already!

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