Showing posts with label picking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label picking. Show all posts

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Busy Day Off


A day off is never simply a day off anymore. While there are occasions when I have taken some time to travel or go to different events, lately that hasn’t been the case as there are simply too many things that need to get done or appointments that need to be scheduled. Yesterday was a prime example of this new, self-created, reality as I originally took the day off to speak at an event in the afternoon and go to my son’s appointment in the early evening. Well, that isn’t exactly how things ended up working out.

Having slept in an extra thirty minutes on Sunday, I told my wife that I would take care of breakfast for our son in the morning. It is actually pretty fun spending the time with him and he is usually pretty patient with me when it takes a little longer to prepare his meal. By the time he was done eating and I had finished waking up, half of the morning was already gone and the first appointment of the day was about to begin. When I previously said that I needed to get more estimates done for the various projects around the house I wasn’t kidding.

As I discussed all the options and what exactly needed to be done with the garage door company, my wife headed out to a local event as one of the orchards in the area with our son. After my meeting was done and the quote in hand, I got in the car and drove the ten minutes down the road to meet up with them. It was actually pretty interesting watching my son walk along the long rows of strawberries eating all of the fruit out of the small basket almost as soon as my wife put it in there. When we finished picking our pile (pile and a half when accounting for all the ones our son consumed), we got back in our cars and headed home where we finished feeding out son his lunch, played a bit, and put him down for his nap.

Just as we were about to take him upstairs, the doorbell rang and the second appointment of the day began. This time we received a quote for my office doors (and a few ballpark figures for the deck and porch that we would like to add later). Like the first quote of the day, it was much lower than the initial estimates that I received. Unfortunately, that was the end of the estimates as the third appointment had to be rescheduled for next week… honestly, I don’t know if they are going to be able to beat the price I just got from this company but we will have to wait and see.

After taking a short break when I was able to check the mail, send a few emails, and waking up our son for his snack, we got back in the car and headed north to the pediatrician’s office. It was a great checkup that I will write about later and, fortunately, the waiting room wasn’t filled with Gosselins. Like many days away from the office, time seemed to evaporate from by grasp and before we had another moment to catch our breath, the day was winding down and we were planning for the follow day. All of this and I still wasn't able to fit everything into my schedule. And, at the moment, it looks like my next day out of the office will be just as busy next week.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Reality of HGTV


More and more I find my mind wandering during the day. Sometimes it is because I am working on and jumping between projects constantly which gets to the point when my mind needs to take a break. Other times it is the exact opposite when I am just sitting there listening to a conference call or presentation when my thoughts just go on a little jaunt around the block. Admittedly I think about other work projects during this time knowing that I am not under deadline with them… the enjoyable kind of work. Other times I am thinking about some of the pieces missing in the genealogy and I brainstorm how and where I might fill in those gaps. Lately, I have been relaxing by going online and looking at real estate on Zillow or Trulia (sometimes other websites).  

I have written extensively about the issues with our current apartment so this new habit should not be a surprise. At the office, when we have a little bit of time to take a family lunch we always have fun offering our commentary during the various HGTV real estate shows and this is kind of the same thing that I do when looking at listings. It adds a little fun given the fact that all of the properties are within the area to which we will eventually consider moving. It is a long way off but it is fun to see both the reality of the market and the outrageousness of certain areas.

It really is amazing to see the variety that is on the market both in terms of location and size as well as quality and price. But I guess you could say that I am still in the luxury of criticism state so that I can pick and pick at all the little ‘flaws’ in a property until there is nearly nothing left. The real problem is that the one that I can’t find those little items they usually have one huge issue… price. But I guess those properties fit into the time of day when I am looking at them as they will be little more than a day dream at this point.

Regardless of what we find down the road, I am looking forward to having a home. Whatever it is we can change things that need to be changed, customize to fit our needs, and make it our own. After all, that is really what we want so sometimes picking a property apart is simply a matter of looking past the present. So, until the day we find our home (and probably after) I will continue to day dream about what can be done the only difference being that right now I don’t know what the starting point is going to be.