Comings and Goings and Goings and Comings and Not Soon Enough:

* Spring! (We think.) 

The previous week's hints at an on-time arrival, foiled by an unseasonably cold first week of April, finally resulted in the mercury approaching 70F yesterday. This convinced the masses, including me, and more and more neighbors, and folks on assorted drives, seemed to finally be coming out of the woodwork.  Our snowplow stakes disappeared sometime around midweek (the contract ended on the 1st, and we again this year paid the 10 percent penalty for snowfall in excess of 100 inches- I've always likened it to the Chinese government practice of executing criminals by firing squad and then charging the family for the cost of the bullet), I took our storm windows out yesterday, Eleanor took her first bike ride of the season, and last night we ate al fresco on the patio for the first time.  None of this guarantees a complete absence of further snowfall, and I have the over-under on the next occurrence set at 4/20.

We're also seeing lots of new-to-us doggies, on our walks or theirs.  There's a new and loud Rottie in town who Pepper would very much like to get to know ::swoon::, and then there's the canine of unspecified species who's definitely trying to get to her.  Doggie's humans have a solid wooden fence all around their back yard, but there's enough of a gap in it at one corner for us to have seen the full head, and the better part of the shoulders, sticking out from under that gap before we walked out of sight.  I decided to look up the owners' name to let them know they might want to fix it, which led me down one of those bizarre Internet rabbit holes:

Through a tax search, I found the owner's name. Googled THAT. Got a phone number, but also got a reference to a 2008 Erie County Surrogates Court case which suggests that said neighbor was involved in a six-figure dispute with heirs of a guy who died in 2001. He was ordered to pay money over to the heirs, and while there's no hint of anything other than a civil dispute amongst them all, it did serve as a cautionary tale: it all apparently came about because of the deceased's desire to "avoid probate," and the seven-year battle probably wound up taking way longer and costing way more than if he'd just done it through the court in the first place.

Now it's going to be a way more awkward conversation if I call to tell him about the fence.

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* Coaches. 

The Sabres' season came to a merciful end last night, as they did two things they hadn't done in either weeks or months: they won a game on the road (first since late January), AND won two games in a row (for the first time since mid-December).  This morning's paper brought strong hints that their second-year coach, former player and Hall of Famer Phil Housley, would survive the tire fire of the past four months and be brought back. Then another former Sabre in the coaching ranks got the boot from Florida- a team which finished 10 points ahead of Buffalo in the standings and beat the Butterknives in four out of five tries this past season- and we wondered, how does Housley still keep HIS job?

Answer: he doesn't. The Grim Reaper of Coaches arrived for Phil shortly after noon, and a replacement- probably the head man on the Amerks, who's doing quite well with that bunch this year- will be announced soon.  Tuesday night, we find out where we will pick in the first round of the upcoming draft. And for the ninth straight year, the only April game played by any seriousness by Sabres players will be golf.

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* Malls.

Those brick-and-malltar palaces of late 20th century life, which killed downtown city retail and turned frozen orange drinks and hot pretzels into culinary staples, are facing end-of-life decisions of their own.  Just last week, the closest mall to our home was sold at auction to a local developer for way less than the bank debt on it. Its Sears and its Macy Men's store sit empty, and the remaining Macy's and Penney's anchors aren't looking good, either. Preliminary plans are to repurpose much of the existing space into the retail flavor of the month called the "town centre" concept, with housing and entertainment venues built into the structures.  In other words, just like the downtowns of 50 years ago which they replaced.

Meanwhile, Rochester brings a different spin on the concept.  The mall closest to our last home there also has an empty Sears as well as an ex-Bon Ton, but  its only Macyspace has also been long-defunct.  That store began life as a Sibley's department store, but may now become a hospital outpatient orthopedic department:

Henrietta Town Supervisor Steven Schultz confirmed in July that UR Medicine was highly interested in using the 150,000 square-foot former department store as a new orthopedic center.

The medical plans came forward after Swedish retail chain Ikea, which had been discussing the possibility of a store at Marketplace with officials, changed its business model to focus more on urban centers and online sales.

...

A public hearing is scheduled for April 15 to air Wilmorite's request to Imagine Monroe (formerly the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency) to use eminent domain to help the company consolidate about 25 acres of parking areas at the mall site into a single parcel that includes the vacant store.

"Malls are often subject to complex agreements that govern property rights like building height, public signage and parking restrictions," said Sleezer. "To proceed with redevelopment, the company has asked that Imagine Monroe assist by using its power of eminent domain or condemnation to acquire these rights."

 

(Funny how corporations don't mind government regulation when it helps them or puts money or property in their pockets.)

This may be the only future for dead shopping malls. Old people are the only ones who remember their heyday anyway. We can even repurpose the existing storefronts. Old Navy Injury. Victoria's Secret Irritable Bladder. H(ernia) & M(iniscus). And of course, Dick's wouldn't have to change its sign at all.

But there'd still be a Spencer Gifts. Because not even an atomic bomb can get rid of one of those

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* The Week Ahead.

I've tried tuning out of work on the weekends, turning off call forwarding to my mobile and deactivating incoming emails, but with these next two weeks promising to be insanity, I succumbed to the stress and turned the Outlook back on. And,.... my, all'yall have been busy little beavers.  Nothing that settles, cancels or otherwise acts as dot removal for the coming days, but lots of little reminders of OTHER things, currently lacking dots, that I'm going to have to work in between all the appointments and drives and whatnots.

But no estate disputes. Yet.