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Today I drove to a client's home to inspect their property and make sure that they are insured properly. This part of my business is the part that is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I really enjoy meeting with my clients on their "home turf." They're more relaxed, they show me pictures of their family or their pets or their latest project. We talk about how long they've lived in their home and inevitably the memories and the acompanying stories will spill forth. I love the easy way they laugh or scratch their pooch behind the ears or follow behind me, proudly showing me what improvements they've done, with their own hands, often. That part, well, that part is great.
The part that turns the corner around the other edge of the sword, that part is the inspection itself. I live in an area of California commonly referred to as the Wine Country. Here we live amidst the rolling hills dotted with scrub oak and manzanita. In the spring, the vineyards are striped with row upon row of yellow mustard and wild radish and purple lupin. Dewy mornings are veiled in tatters of mist that hang beneath the valley oaks laced in Spanish moss. Postcard perfect, it is quite lovely.
Unless, of course, you're traipsing on aforementioned hillsides in heels and pantyhose, in a boiled wool coat and skirted business attire, clipboard in hand, Nikon SLR in the other, pen clenched between your teeth, snapping pictures and taking notes as the client's dog enthusiastically nudges his nose in your rearend, attempting to get beneath your skirt. You, of course, knowing full well your client is watching, smile brightly, acting as though you adore having dog nose driving into your parts, whilst balancing everything and keeping your footing and making sure you don't miss some feature of the home that you'll need to remember when you get back to the office.
The beauty, of course, is that my schedule can not always be planned with certain days for inspections and certain days for appointments in the office and certain days with business meetings offsite. I go from one thing to the next to the next, which sandwiches a home inspection between a business meeting and a new client meeting, with no time between to change from skirt, heels and pantyhose to jeans, mud boots and woollen socks and back again. I need a SuperMan presto-chango phone booth trailered behind my car and I'd be set.
But the amusing inconvenience is far outweighed by the way my client thanks me as I leave, pressing into my arms a bottle of their own wine, walking me out to my car as their dog gives me a parting shot up my skirt. These are the moments in my days that make me realize that business is done one relationship at a time, making a living being a part of people's lives in a small but potentially significant way. Listening to their stories, advising them about their insurance, and sanctioning the wet-nosed canine jostle of their beloved pets. This is the sort of double-edged sword that can be wielded to round out the sharp edges of my life, reminding me that there are days that, when taken in their entirety, come close to perfect.
5 Wonderful Things:
- Driving to a part of my valley that I had forgotten exists
- A strong handshake
- Feeling appreciated
- Laughing with my staff
- Sending flowers to someone who is not expecting them at all
FOOD TIMING:
Bed time: 12:35
Wake time: 6:30
Weight: 238.6
7:30 - 8:30 - tea
9:50 - breakfast
9:50 - 1:20 - tea
1:50 - lunch
2:10 - 8:00 - tea
8:30 - dinner
9:00 - 11:30 - tea
Didn't have soy nuts again today as I was out and about, but I did manage to have tea in a large insulated mug the whole time I was out of the office today. Woke up earlier than normal, now more tired than normal at nearly midnight.
View Diet Calendar, 07 January 2010:
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1590 kcal
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Fat: 66.61g | Prot: 127.11g | Carbs: 134.59g.
Breakfast: turkey, cheddar cheese, focaccia, raspberries, Wallaby Organic Lowfat Yogurt, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, green tea. Lunch: green tea, trader joe's salad. Dinner: mushrooms, 77%, bell pepper, chicken breast, arugula, peppermint/green tea, Smart & Delicious Low Carb High Fiber Whole Wheat - LARGE. more...
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