Expecting the Unexpected is Easier Said Than Done in Hawaii

The mongoose is an invasive species in Hawaii.

Expecting the unexpected is something I try to avoid due to careful planning and organization of my life, but you can’t really live well this way. One pretty much needs to expect the unexpected in order to prepare for it. In the case of my Sacramento real estate practice, for example, this ability, predicting future problems and avoiding them, is very handy for my clients. It is also rather rare for me to get freaked out over something, especially when I’ve witnessed so many oddities in life. Still, there are things that freak me out.

Weird things that make me laugh at my reaction to them. For example, yesterday an internet lead followed up with me and called. She apologized profusely for taking so long to return my phone call. She rambled on and on about how she had picked me exclusively to represent her because I’ve been in the business since 1974. She was impressed by my online reviews. She really wanted to meet with me to discuss selling a home in Orangevale. I was her agent.

From what I recall, her property turned out to be a mobile home unsecured to a permanent foundation, so, not real property. Second, she stated in her email the structures on the property were old, dilapidated yet she believed the acreage was worth at least $800,000. Except I could not find any documentation to support this theory. She wanted to meet with me on Monday. When I disclosed Monday is not possible because I am in Hawaii, she did not ask when I would return. I expressed my confusion over her estimate of value, explaining the comps show her property is worth $250K or so. She cut me off and hung up.

I was not expecting the unexpected to happen. Although it was for the best, I tell myself. But the thing is even delusional people can be educated. I have patience. I will take time to explain the reality of Sacramento real estate to people because I realize they don’t really know what I know. I find when people understand the facts, often their opinion is altered. My job is not to avoid ignorance, it’s to transform it.

Within minutes of this phone call, I suddenly noticed a squirrel on our patio. Right by the sliding door, looking at me. This was unexpected. It was even stranger because my brain shifted, and I realized this was not a squirrel. It was a mongoose, an invasive species to Hawaii. I have never seen a mongoose that up close and personal, and certainly not in my yard. I was not expecting the unexpected.

Although, I don’t know why. Another example: I hired a housecleaning service to come in and tidy up things before we arrived at our house in Hawaii. Dust. Vacuum. Clear out any geckos. I do not want to find another dead baby gecko, like I did just before I left in June. It was rolled up on its back with its little gecko legs in the air and had been hiding under the toaster. Those baby geckos are so small they can slide under closed doors. When they don’t find food, they die.

Then, I removed a clock from our wall to relocate it to a different spot. I had bought a hand-painted scroll from Bali to hang over the bronze buddha resting on a stand because the clock in that spot seemed unnatural. What? Inside the back of the clock was a baby gecko. I managed to drop the clock without breaking it, and called my husband, official gecko remover. Shared my technique of quickly covering the gecko with an empty yogurt carton, only because I had already broken a glass doing that, and then slowly sliding a wok spatula under the carton and carting all outside. Problem solved.

I picked up the clock again and examined the back of it to assess whether I had broken any part of it. Holy shit. Another gecko! Another baby gecko! This time the clock flew across the living room and onto the ceramic floor, while the baby gecko flew in the opposite direction of our bedroom. My husband tried to stomp on it but it slid under a bamboo transition piece. You never know what you will see or where you will see it in Hawaii. You’ve gotta expect the unexpected at all times.