2023 Winding Down.

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I just deleted 49,728 emails that were in my Outlook “Other” folder, which is an email folder where Outlook moves incoming email that is not ‘primary’ and also not ‘junk’.  It works pretty well, except with the volumes of emails we all get, “Other” is not a much better place to land than ‘junk’ if you are a ‘sender’, since who routinely gets to check that, when it’s hard enough staying up with your Primary.  So currently, I’m deleting the entire “Other” inbox that I suspect has a fair amount of interesting emails in it, just maybe not emails from individuals - mostly lists I’ve signed up for over the years such as Delancy Place, a daily email that provides a quick and interesting review of some book - I enjoy it, and the reviews are a place to learn about the book and general time and place it takes place (both the writing and the topic).

But, who needs Delancey Place to remind you of how slow my reading has become and how many books I’m not getting to?  I nearly always have a good book going but God if I read 4 pages at a seating that a lot.  That means each book takes forever to finish.  But, the consolation is that I’m reading, which is important and has always been important.  I probably digest as many written words as anyone I know, and definitely as many or more from the actual printed page be it a newspaper, magazine or book.

I’m reading Demon Copperhead right now, another book by Barbara Kingsolver.  I read The Poisonwood Bible last summer, and enjoyed it enough to move right into another by her - separated by a mostly failed attempt to get through 1000 page non-fiction account of the beginning of the oil industry - fascinating for sure, and to be more fair to myself, making it 300 pages before needing a break isn’t terrible in my book (forgive the pun).

I’m currently at the Biltmore, the 175,000 sq ft 245 room Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville North Carolina, where the temperate climate brought George Vanderbilt here in the 1870’s, where he then built this home that opened for Christmas in 1892.  Of all the things I’ve learned, the macro thought of how quickly these guys built their fortunes caught my attention. Oil, rail, steel, transportation - this went from zero to largest fortunes ever seen in less than 30 years.  George V was the grandson of the Commodore, aka Cornelius, the patriarch transportation mogul who rode the acceleration of travel speed and option into a conglomerate only rivaled by his fellow Robber Barrons, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Frick, and others. 

We did their Christmas Extravaganza package, and it’s funny, when you aim that high, you need to nail it, and I’ll give them a B, only because the level of service that type of package ambition implies is hard to pull off.  Just nice to see others falling short of their ultimate vision too.

Not sure if I wrote it before, but 2024 is shaping up to be along the lines of 2021 in terms of business and profits, and 2021 was a gigantic year by any measure, including the highly compensated NYC professional.  With 6 homes already in contract and being built and another 4 under construction with buyers yet to be identified.  We are by far the best at what we do.  Homes constructed, homes sold, homes resold, homes reserved, duration of the effort, - all adds up to an extended effort of perseverance, improvement and success.

My annual dinner party at my home in Milford was a big hit, 3rd year running.  Oversubscribed at 31 people, we learned that my home can accomodate that type of crowd, a fact I was unaware of before.

Back home on the 27th, heading out to work with the office colleagues, tying up loose ends and organizing for the new year.  It’s raining here today.  It has rained weekly for months.  Deluges, complicating my life as we move earth and machines.