in the realm of the fictionman

One of those About Me posts

These questions were answered on a friends LiveJournal. I pressed for the story to one answer, so I figured I'd answer them myself...

1. Who was your first love?
   Amy, my wife.
2. Who was your first kiss and when?
   Amy again. We met during the summer after my Junior year of high school and started dating after that. I think the first kiss was on her driveway.
3. Who was your first prom date?
   I didn't do prom. I did go to homecoming (the year after I graduated, natch) with a friend named Jessica because she asked.
4. Who was your first roommate?
   For some reason the name Mike comes to mind. I had roommates for about half of college.
5. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk the first time?
   Peach schnaps and Mountain Dew.
6. (missing...)
7. What was your first job?
   Running a drill press at a neighborhood printer. That didn't last for long, and then I bussed tables at Hackney's in Lake Zurich.
8. What was your first car?
   The first one I drove was a green (1982/4?) Mazda GLC sedan. The first one I owned was a gold (1986??)Mazda coupe, which I bought from my parents some point during or immediately after college.
9. When did you go to your first funeral?
   That was probably Mary Anne, a great aunt (or some combination of grands and greats). Junior High or so?
10. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
    College doesn't really count because I came back for summers. I didn't really leave the area until '93 for the Army for four months. Then there was the motorhome in '98/99.
11. Who was your first grade teacher?
    Don't remember at all. The first teacher's name I can remember was Mrs. Loving, 4th grade.
12. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
    Disney in Florida, (Junior High or so?)
13. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with?
    It was with Amy. Her mom didn't really let us go anywhere much. She did take me to one of her school dances (called socials).
14. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
    4th grade or so? Often it was with Forrest, one of the neighborhood friends.
15. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends with them?
    The first one was Adam. We moved out of that house to a different neighborhood around second grade. We didn't see each other again until high school. He was in that most popular group, and didn't really ever seem to notice me. At our ten-year reunion he made a big deal out of seeking me out, which was very cool.
16. Who was the first person to send you flowers, or who was the first person that you sent flowers to?
    I don't think I've ever sent any. First ones sent might have been co-workers at Sara Lee after my knee surgery.
17. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house?
    I moved into an appartment in Melrose Park with Amy.
18. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
    Amy
19. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen?
    The only wedding I've participated in was my own.
20. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
    1 - go to the bathroom. 2 - start coffee.
21. What was the first concert you ever went to?
    White Snake, with my friend Marty. Early high school or so.
22. What was your first major surgery?
    There was some kind of hernia repair when I was very little. I only remember it happened because of the scar.
23. First tattoo or piercing?
    One earring, while living in the motorhome, so 1999.
24. First celebrity sighting?
    Amy and I went to a sci-fi convention called Visions while dating the first time. I don't recall who was there. Probably somebody from Dr. Who.
25. First celebrity crush/obsession?
    Can't think of one. First celebrity hero figure was Carl Sagan.

I am a cuddler. - True
I am a morning person. - False
I am an only child. - False
I am currently in my pajamas. - False
I am currently pregnant. - False, although Amy is
I am currently single. - False
I am currently suffering from a broken heart. - False
I am left handed. - False
I am married. - True
I am addicted to my LiveJournal/blog. - False
I am online 24/7, even as an away message. - False
I am a little shy around the opposite gender at first. - False
I bite my nails. - True
I can be paranoid at times. - Falst
I don't like anyone. - False
I enjoy country music. - False
I enjoy jazz music. - False
I enjoy smoothies. - Not really.
I enjoy talking on the phone. - False
I have a car. - True
I have a cell phone. - True
I have/had a hard time paying attention at school. - False
I have a hidden talent. - True
I have a lot to learn. - True
I have a pet. - True
I have a tendency to fall for the "wrong" guy/girl. - False
I have all my grandparents. - False
I have at least one brother. - False
I have been to another country. - True, if Canada counts. :-)
I have been told that I am smart. - True
I have been told that I have an unusual sense of humor. - Very true
I have or have had broken a bone. - True
I have Caller I.D. on my phone. - True for the cellphone, false otherwise.
I have bathed someone. - True
I have changed a diaper. - True
I have changed a lot over the past year. - True
I have done something illegal. - True
I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color. - False, never dyed it.
I have had major/minor surgery. - True
I have killed another person. - False
I have had my hair cut within the last week. - Yesterday, actually.
I have mood swings. - True
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. - Mostly false.
I have rejected someone before. - True
I have seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy. - True
I have seen the television show The O.C. - False
I like Shakespeare. - False
I like the taste of blood. - False
I love to cook. - Love - false, like - true
I like to sing. - True, but only in private
I love Michael Jackson. - False
I love sleeping. - True
I love to play computer games. - Too true
I love to shop. - False
I miss someone right now. - False
I own 100 CDs or more. - maybe true
I own and use a library card. - False
I read books for pleasure in my spare time. - True
I sleep a lot during the day. - False
I strongly dislike math - False
I was born in a country other than the US. - False
I will try almost anything once. - True
I work at a job that I enjoy. - True
I would classify myself as ghetto. - False
I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free. - False
I am currently wearing socks. - True
I am tired. - True
I love to paint/draw/sketch/sculpt. - False
I have had/have a broken heart. - True
I have a screen name. - True

Wait, The What? A.K.A Google hits

Earlier today someone found my blog with the following search string on Google:

88+jayco+pop-up

It's not that the search found me, out of 12,600 responses, that caught my attention.

It's that I was the first one listed...

Cold Weather Shoppers and other stuff

Yesterday the three new sales people started. For the longest time they had had one salesman, or a couple of part time ones. Now there are four of us. The new ones look promising so far.

Now, when they hire me and the other one, and for a while had three, they were worried. They were accustomed to salesmen that didn't generate work, they just handled the people who came in. They didn't follow up with anyone, they didn't try to bring in their own traffic. So at first they were worried about having three. They didn't feel there was enough traffic to divide the sales between three.

But they've been watching me doing some of the things I'm supposed to do. So now, because I follow up on leads, instead of having five people come in on a Saturday, there are seven or eight, and two or three are asking for me specifically. Suddenly they really can't afford to have just me.

So now they're starting to see what could happen if it was four of me. The same five or so people come in, but there's four of us to handle them very well. Plus, if we've each got two or three people coming back in to see us, suddenly there's more than double the normal traffic, with people who are even more likely to buy.

Yesterday, with sub-zero weather, there were still four people/couples that came in out of the blue, and one couple that came in to see me because I had been following up with them over the phone. I sold pop-up campers, one to that couple and one to a walk-in couple. At least anyone who comes out in sub-zero weather to see a camper probably intends to buy one, not just browsing.

So yesterday I pulled my boss aside and explained the whole needing three weeks for the baby. I told him I had wanted to wait until the hiring happened. He ended up appreciating that part.

He's not happy with it, but he doesn't want to lose me. On one hand he says he's not deciding anything then and there, and we'll talk more about it, but on the other hand he says we'll find a way to make it work out. Yet again, we'll see. I think a lot is going to depend on how the new people do. If nothing else, there's a bigger dealership hiring. I think Wednesday I might call them and see what their pay and benefit plans are, just to have it. (Hey, they're 7 miles closer, that's a plus... :-)

Yikes!

It's 12 below outside! That's not including wind chill.

I'm thinking slow day at the store today. On the other hand, anyone that comes out in below zero weather to look at something is probably serious, eh? :-)

We'll See...

Well, there's a new batch of potentials going through the same recruiting/training program I went through when I started at the dealership. This time it's looking like a smaller class, so we'll see how many get hired.

And then the big RV show will start a week from today. We'll see how many (if any) we have after that.

And I still have to break it to my boss that I'm taking three weeks off for the baby. They're trying to say they can't afford me to take more than two, and a couple of them don't even believe that two weeks is necessary.

So it's time to buckle down and explain to them that family is going to come first, even if I spend more time with them than I do with my family. So some of the extra days they want me aren't going to always work out. If they can be okay with waiting three weeks, then I'll be happy to come back. If not, then I'll find something else. Personally, I'd like to think they're more concerned with the other 49 weeks than these particular 3...

But we'll see (which is a phrase I'm using rather a lot these days, isn't it?)