Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that certainly doesn't mean my eyes will soon be red ~ we love the Arizona monsoons, as do the cactus on our land! The rain this past week has brought out the beauty of the barrel cacti at the Prosper in Peace memory care village property and I was blessed to witness their vibrant colors so I had to share with you.
A barrel of love
The Anaconda “River”
A barrel of sunshine
Interesting to note on my trip out this week is that Anaconda Road, the one that will access the manager's home, basically becomes a waterway for the wash when heavy rains hit. Good thing we designed an alternate path to the home from the paved parking lot of the business!
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." ~Dolly Parton
That was the only place where I saw a water issue on the property; the land appears to drain pretty well. On the other hand, some roads will need some county attention, specifically the I-10 frontage road which had multiple washes flowing across at a pretty strong flow.
I was turning around at the first one when a kind gentleman in a large truck with a trailer offered to spot me going through. We continued on down the road for about 5 miles with him offering me a barrier when needed. I happened to notice the sign on the side of his truck was for a saguaro removal company. You know who I will be calling when the time comes. That kindness deserves my business.
"Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." ~Tennessee Williams
While the first construction company is working on their estimate, I need to find at least one more and preferably two other quotes for comparison. A challenge I am facing with this task is the hybrid model I've developed to deliver excellent memory care is larger than a standard residential project, and much smaller than a standard commercial project. I've always been a little different, makes life more interesting. I sent inquiries out to 5 companies and know the right one will be revealed through this process.
I called the electric company to see if we are any closer with ground line availability and found out we are not. The closest transformer is approximately 4000 ft away from our corner. We’ll continue with the solar plan for now. I would like to keep as many sustainable building practices as possible while providing safe care for those with dementia.
I reached out to the accountant to let him know we are getting closer to investor discussions and asked him to review the budget and options for funding. He and I will get together this week or next. I am excited to have him dig into the numbers and let me know his opinion.
"I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I sure can pick smart colleagues." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Networking took up some significant time this week as I attended my normal Spotlight meeting and attended a new group of assisted living professionals. Both meetings were productive for new contacts and I even won a new Keurig coffee machine with a Starbucks gift card at the Spotlight event! I also participated in a phone bank session for the Walk to End Alzheimer's committee.
These connections are opening doors for me to meet new colleagues and future friendly competitors. This is important in this business as we support each other to ensure we provide the quality care needed to all people with dementia.
If the competitors' rooms are full, they can refer to me and vice versa. I am also using these connections to find a mentor who currently owns a home to tap into their expertise.
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." ~Isaac Newton
On the mentoring front, I have reached out to my SCORE mentors to request a touch base and am awaiting their response. Karen, my SBDC mentor, and I met to review the assumptions list from the business plan projections and let her know about the builder update. She is also looking for builders that can provide quotes.
Educational offerings I attended this week included a session on employee retirement plans, a motivational LinkedIn seminar, a second session on the SunZia power project, and I passed my CPR/BLS class so I am safe to be around plastic models again.
Last but not least, I woke up feeling hopeful yesterday morning so I reached out to Dr. Sanjay Gupta via his Facebook account. His autoreply let me know his assistants would review the content and reach out if interested in following up. I don't know why they wouldn’t be interested…quality memory care is his main jam and as he would say ~ Stay Sharp until we meet again.
