Karun Karun Karun e...

In the ongoing debate over whether it is more beautiful in Armenia in the Spring or in the Fall, I have to vote for spring. There are some nice displays of leaves changing and great weather and lots of good fruit in the fall, but for me, the green grasses, fresh leaves, and loads of wildflowers outweigh all that in favor of Spring. This wild Iris I saw yesterday is a perfect example. It was during this ongoing hunt for a bit of land, which is a difficult thing to search for, since so few places are actually listed with brokers. People almost prefer to rely on word of mouth.

I saw a place yesterday in the paper and called the guy, since there was no price. It is absolutely ridiculous how many places listed for sale in the paper do not have a price. So I asked yesterday finally what the reason was. As usual, that illogical explanation boggled my mind. According to the "logic", if you put a price in the paper, it is not accurate if you are willing to come down a few thousand dollars, so why put a price at all? And also, if you are willing to come down on your price, and someone sees the price you put in the paper, and assumes you won't come down on price, then they'll never call. Huh? It is also hard to get other exact details, such as how far from a good road, etc. So many people seem to feel like buyers have all the time in the world to just call every ad that sounds half-way interesting to find out the price, and even when you call they are very reluctant to tell you price, instead trying to get you to "just look at the land", then talk. Does this tactic actually work?? I just don't get it. I told him it was just ridiculous not to put the price, and that I rarely ever even bother call a number to find out the price. I assume if you don't put the price, you're asking too much.

On Tuesday, this old guy driving the truck I was in asked if I minded if he smokes. I said yes. He had quite the tizzy fit, it was actually somewhat amusing. He said he was tired, stressed, needed a cigarette. He also informed me that a girl passenger last week didn't mind that he smoked. I asked why he bothered ask if I minded if he was going to act that way if I did... then I said smoking is poisonous, and asked why this country had embraced this poison so thoroughly. He of course has to (as if I didn't know) inform me that it comes from "my country". So I asked, of all the good things they could have adopted - which they haven't, why did they choose this one...? In the end he said he was going to keep a cigarette in his mouth without lighting it to make himself feel better.

Anyway, today is the official ribbon cutting for the new US Embassy. I'm going to head over for some paperwork in the morning, then maybe stick around for that...