FIRST PERSON
— they’re all good.
When I started selling homes, we had no computers, cellphones or Global Positioning System. When agents wrote a purchase offer (by hand), we would make a copy and drive it to the listing agent’s office, leaving it in a locked box outside the office if it was after hours.
Fax machines represented a huge breakthrough, as did the original mobile phones — which were bulky, heavy “bag” phones that we happily lugged around.
Multiple Listing Service books arrived at our offices in bulk every week, filled with hundreds of pages of listings that we could share with clients. We also made the most of newspaper advertising and mailers, which were all we had then.
I had many incredibly positive experiences and just a few truly negative ones.
On different occasions, I found myself struggling to reach for several days the owners (my clients) of two nice properties I’d listed. In both cases, I ultimately saw the homeowners on the evening news in handcuffs. Neither of those deals ended well — for my clients or me.
The first property I sold to an investor was a three-family unit where a double murder had occurred. When we first looked at the property, we were approached by a group of sweet neighborhood children who tried hard to dissuade us from entering; they were convinced that the house was haunted.
Then there was a young man who had inherited a property in a less-thandesirable neighborhood, and he rented it out. He called me one day because he had evicted his tenant for nonpayment and decided that he no longer wanted to be a landlord.
When we went to look at the property, we had a difficult time getting the front door open. We both worked at it, and, finally, he just threw himself at it. Sitting about 5 feet away, facing the door, was a chair in which a shotgun had been lodged between concrete blocks with a heavy string tied around the trigger and then attached to the knob.
The hope was that the gun would fire when the door was opened.
Fortunately, the contraption failed.
The incident, though, marked the first and only time that I refused to accept a listing.
Blackstrap molasses is a byproduct of sugar cane’s refining process. Sugar cane is mashed to create juice and then boiled once to create cane syrup. A second boiling creates molasses.
After this syrup has been boiled a third time, a dark viscous liquid is left that is known to Americans as blackstrap molasses. It has the lowest sugar content of any sugar-cane product.
Blackstrap molasses is touted as a superfood. It’s no miracle cure, but, unlike refined sugar, it contains vital vitamins and minerals. Some uses:
Diabetes-friendly sweetener: Although blackstrap molasses is derived from sugar and contains as many carbohydrates as other sugars, it might be digested more slowly, which might help stabilize blood sugar. You can use blackstrap molasses to bake sweet treats such as gingerbread.
Bone booster: Everyone knows that calcium is needed for strong bones, but not everyone knows the importance that magnesium plays in growing them.
Blackstrap molasses contains both, so it can help you guard against osteoporosis. About 2.5 ounces (5 tablespoons) contains 50 percent of the recommended daily allowance of calcium, 95 percent of iron and 38 percent of magnesium.
Good for the blood: People with anemia — a condition in which your body doesn’t have enough red blood cells — often feel tired and weak. One type of anemia is caused by a lack of iron; blackstrap molasses is a good source. About 2.5 ounces contains 95 percent of your daily allowance of iron.
Besides adding the molasses to recipes, you can add it to hot water and drink it as a dietary supplement.
Hair de-frizzer: Blackstrap molasses has been used to smooth bleached, permed or colored hair. It can be mixed with warm water or coconut milk and applied to the hair for 15 minutes.