Business week, the flu, help

This week will be focused on our business. I am still working full-time and have to occupy those hours engaged in tasks for my employer, but this week I get to tiptoe into our business in some very direct ways. Tomorrow I will attend an auction in Montague, TX. Less than an hour away – just past Bowie where Grandma and Grandpa live. I have not registered for the auction so I will not be able to buy any of the properties for sale, but I want to get a feel for how the auctions are conducted. In the very near future, Mama and I are going to start picking up some homes in Texas so this will give us an introduction to the process. Maybe I can meet one of the lawyers involved in the sale and l get more information about other nearby auctions. It is helpful to be able to recognize someone in these settings. A familiar face is normally a welcome sight. Also, today our realtor will be closing on our second property in Lawton. Work will begin on that property as work continues on our first property. Hopefully, since they are across the street from each other we can get the remodel moving forward on both in rapid succession.

I have taken a day of vacation Wednesday. I will drive to Fort Smith, AR, the county seat of Crawford County. It will be our first Arkansas auction. From the list I have compiled, there are several homes I would be interested in acquiring, but I don’t know if Mama and I would really be interested until I look at them. I am planning on leaving the farm early enough to look at most of the properties that seem promising before I go to the courthouse to register for the auction. I am not sure how scattered out the properties are, but I will drive by as many as possible. The ones I see are the only ones I will be bidding on – provided they are good prospects for purchase. So far everything is an “if” and a “maybe”. Wednesday’s road trip will give me and Mama a lot of information and insight into these auctions so we can decide whether or not we want to take on those investment opportunities or stay closer to home. It will be a long day. Nine to ten hours of drive time with the auction in the middle of the day. Chances are that this will be a survey trip. Mama and I do not want to be “house poor” too early on in developing this business. And there are many more auctions to look into in Arkansas.

Thursday is the day I am looking most forward to. I get to pick Mama up at the airport. I am accumulating extra time Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to make up for the time off I will need to meet her mid-afternoon flight. Maggie is recovering well – in spite of some lingering nerve pain. However, Kathryn is in the throws of the flu. We have gone very high tech on the flu lately. Now there are differing categories of the flu. Type A and Type B. Each have characteristic symptoms related to the diagnosis. Neither can be treated. But now you can brag about how long it took to recover from either one of the types, or from both if you are the lucky person who gets the combination of the symptoms that we just used to call the flu.

Somehow it seems to make people feel better, more informed to say, “She had the Type A flu,” or “He had Type B flu.” And we all know how horrible it must have been when we hear, “She had both Type A and Type B flu, poor dear.” Still, the treatment for the flu remains the same; plenty of warm liquids and plenty of rest.  The fact that the illness has somehow acquired bragging rights is a little troubling to me. Now when we hear that someone has the flu we can respond with “Was it Type A or Type B?” and if the poor soul sharing their concern for the ill person happens to say, “Well, I don’t know.” We can somberly inform them of the different symptoms and help them nail down a diagnosis. Not that it matters all that much since it is the flu, but we feel better for having issued an informed opinion. Don’t get me wrong. Getting the flu is not laughing matter, especially for those in the throws of the viral infestation, but I find it awkwardly humorous that we have consoled ourselves as though we have actually helped a person by “diagnosing” their particular strain for the virus.

For the past week Victoria and I have been muddling through with the care of all our farm animals. Occasionally, Grandma and Grandpa have been called in to help. Today is one of those days. I left the house at 5:30 and Victoria will leave at 6 am. On these days we call Grandma and Grandpa to do the morning feeding. It happens a little late, but it saves Victoria and I from having to do things in the dark. The only concern is for the bottle babies. On the good side, they will be hungry when the bottles are fed to them.

All our critters will be happy when Mama gets home.