Had to take my car to Junior's Automotive to get new ignition wires and also have them fix my tire that keeps going flat. Apparently I had a nail in the tire. What a waste of a day sitting there waiting. It's too cold to walk back home and then walk back to Junior's again.

10:00 am appointment in Brockton on Porter St. to show a multifamily to my customer. I waited until 10:45 inside one of the units but Hector never showed. I finally told the tenants that if he shows up, to tell him that I was here and that he needs to reschedule. I hate waiting! Got a call later from him that he showed up just after I left.

Time for the inspection of the Brighton condo I have listed. It didn't go that well. Actually, the inspector wasn't concerned about anything but the buyers got nervous. There wasn't any hot water--it was only lukewarm. We couldn't open the boiler room, either.

Met up with Hector in Brockton again to show him the multifamily. This time he showed up! Brought his brother along, too. His brothers name is also Hector...

Met up with J.U. from my old office and now in the Westwood office of RE/MAX so we could chat. We met at Starbucks in Westwood. You know, I've never been a fan of Starbucks but I had the best beverage today--caramel macchiato! Wow. It's absolute heaven. It's snowing like crazy again.

Showed 2 condos to E.S. in Framingham tonite. Took a new way which wasn't my brightest move but it seemed to be better than backtracking. I finally found the place and waited for E. to show. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a cell phone and she got lost, too. I tried to be efficient so I had to return some calls while I was waiting for E. Unfortunately, she tried to call me from a payphone but I couldn't get the other party to stop talking long enough for me to pick up the call waiting. They were a bit excited--these are the buyers who didn't like the inspection at the condo I had listed.

We go into the first condo and I was a bit surprised at how many people were inside. And they all live there. Not a bad place though.

On the way to the next condo, E followed me and, of course, I got lost. Luckily, I told her I probably would based on the map that I had. We finally got there and the people had left for the evening so we couldn't get in. I was able to call the listing broker and he came by to let us in. Getting out of Framingham was much easier than getting in. Whew!

Had a meeting with another broker, P.S. in the office today. We're going to run some First Time Homebuyers Workshops and wanted to discuss the details.

At 4:30, Hector was supposed to meet me in the office to write up an offer on the multifamily home in Brockton. Guess what? He never showed. Grrrr. I was able to reach him on his phone to find out. I hate waiting around and then have people cancel.

Ran to Rebecca's Cafe in Cambridge to meet the editor for the MIT book so we could swap chapters. At 12:30 I showed the Brighton condo I have listed. It's back on the market. The other buyers definitely backed out. And then back out to Framingham to show another condo to E.S. at 5:30.

Two showings in Brighton today at 1607 Comm. Ave. One at 10:30 and another at 2:30.

Worked the "up desk" today from 9-11. Showed a condo on Parkvale Ave. in Allston today. Well, I had an appointment to show it. Unfortunately, the customer never showed and didn't return my calls. Then had to run to show my listing on Comm at 4:15.

Showed Hector 2 homes in Brockton today. He brought his brother Hector again which was good since they are both strapping guys and parts of Brockton aren't that great. At the one home, the first floor person let us in first. It wasn't a bad place. Then we got to the 2nd floor. That tenant didn't even get out of bed to let us in, he just screamed from his bed to come on in. Then, as we were leaving, Mr. Rastafarian man screamed out to us "did you touch anything??!!" He was actually a little scary. The guy upstairs on the 3rd floor seemed a bit slow but was fairly nice. Apparently he loves doing jigsaw puzzles and they were everywhere, all finished and hung up in frames. I don't think I was that nervous until the two Hectors started getting nervous.

Back to Brockton by 10:30 with a different customer. This guy is looking for a condo and we've been through so many condos now that I don't even know if he's for real anymore. He seems genuine but I guess you never know. We saw 2 condos today. The first one, on Oak St., was quite nice but he didn't seem to like it too much. Then off to Longwood Rd. near the Bridgewater border. This place was pretty nice as well but it was hard to tell since it was jam-packed with tchotches everywhere. It was hard to walk around without knocking into some collectible. At least it was neat and orderly considering.

After that, I ran back to Brighton to show the condo again at 1:30 and 2:00.

2:15 appointment to show the Brighton condo. The guy seemed to like it but it seems as if this was the first place he has looked at. He gave me his number and we're going to check out the place across the street later this week.

Hector was able to take some time off work to go see another home in Brockton at 10:00 this morning. This one he really seemed to like. And it was quite nice, especially since it had a nice yard for his kids to play in and the neighborhood seemed very nice. After the broker left, Hector said that he would like to put in an offer on this place so we agreed that he would meet me at my office at 7:30 this evening. I definitely told him that if he couldn't make it to please call me.

Back to Brighton for a 1:30 showing, then home, then back to Brighton for a 6:45 showing. Finally, back to Stoughton to the office to meet Hector. He was late but he did show up and we filled out the paperwork and it was faxed over to the listing broker. Now we wait.

Met with the editor of the MIT project at Rebecca's Cafe in Cambridge again to swap chapters another time. Spent the rest of the afternoon working on the MIT book and then met up with E.S. in Maynard to see a condo there.

Met up with my buyer, John, from the other day to show him the condo in Brighton again. He brought a tape measure to see if his furniture would fit. Then we went across the street to see that condo. It's smaller but the owners have really added some nice touches to it.

Then back to Brockton wit Hector to see 2 more homes and then right back to Brighton to show the condo again.

10:00 am Met up with my buyers, A&V to see a condo on Bellvista Rd. in Brighton for the 3rd time. They first saw in last November I think or maybe September--not sure now how long it's been. Anyway, they really seem to like it and I must say, the view is to die for. They finally decide to put in an offer on this place so we filled out the paperwork and handed it off to the listing broker. Whew!

Then, 11:20, another showing at my condo in Brighton. Luckily, I'm not too far away. The next appointment is not until 1:30 so I went over to the Stockyard for lunch. I hate eating alone in public but I guess it's better than nothing.

1:30 and 2:00--two more showings in Brighton.

5:45 -- showed E.S. 2 condos in Framingham. These are in a much nicer area. The houses heading out this way are gorgeous.

6:30 -- Usability meeting in Waltham for officers. I called them the day before to say not to expect me unless I show up looking like a deer in the headlights--just WAY too busy. Good thing I didn't show--it was a comedy of errors all evening from what I hear. First, one person thought that Waltham was part of Western Mass so we all joked about meeting up in Western Mass. I believe he is from the North Shore somewhere. He was also supposed to meet up with Diana somewhere but she got into a car accident on the way there. And he did practically end up in Western Mass. When he called Diana, he was in Worcester trying to find Waltham. He went about an hour away too far. One of the other people, Thom, went directly home after work, completely forgetting about the meeting. He couldn't figure out why his wife was so surprised to see him come in the door at that time. The only person who had it all together but had to pace up and down the sidewalk waiting for any of us to show, was Chauncey. I don't know if anyone of the other people actually eventually found their way there or not.

Worked on the MIT project all day. I'm not sure what I did to the software but the equations keep exploding on me. Grrr. Went into the office to borrow the scanner to start scanning in figures for the book. It's amazing how long it can take. Had to scan them and then email them to myself so I can pick them back up at home. From home, I have to then download each one from my email, then load them into the chapters. I should just go buy myself a scanner.

Had a 9:30 am appointment to show a buyer a condo in Stoughton. About 1/2 way down Rt. 138, the road was completely blocked off and had to turn back around and find a different way to get to the condo. Finally got there just a few minutes late. The buyer called and had gotten stuck in the same blockage and was about 15 minutes late. Not too bad considering. I didn't find out until later that an office building went up in flames and burned to the ground. Anyway, the condo was the nicest condo we had seen so far. The buyer seemed interested but I think it was slightly above his price range. Too bad. We had 2 more appointments after this one. First, I had to drive to Easton to pick up the key for this condo and then quickly drive back. This second condo is on Oak St. in Brockton. Not too bad but it's hard to tell when they are vacant. The first one was much nicer. The next condo is also in Brockton not too far off Oak St. so it didn't take long to get there. The addresses were confusing but we did find it right away. This was a small building, apparently the old carriage house to the big house on the lot. It has been converted into 4 condos and have all been completely rehabbed. Very, very nice. All new appliances, Berber carpet, wonderful ceramic tiles, the works. And a good price, too. But, the buyer had to think about it.

Had a showing at my listing in Brighton at 1:30 and then again at 6:00.

Worked on the MIT stuff all day again.

Showed my listing at 10:20 a.m., then had to run to Cambridge to meet up with the editor for the MIT project to swap chapters. Parking in Cambridge is horrible--I don't know why I keep forgetting about that. After we chatted for a few minutes and swapped the chapters, I had to meet up with another buyer to show a condo that we had seen back in November. This was the third time we had gone to this place so I know he likes it. The view is to die for. We looked around and then he decided to put in an offer so the listing broker went for a walk while we filled out the paperwork. The listing broker came back and we gave the offer and other paperwork to him and then left. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see what the seller will do.

10:00--had to stop at the listing brokers office, which is a RE/MAX in Newton Center, to give him the revised paperwork from yesterday. I can't believe I screwed up the paperwork--the same mistake I've made before. Luckily, it's minor and easy to fix.

Then I had a showing in Framingham. Another condo. I'm really getting sick of condos. So much more paperwork and hassle. But, it's better than not having anything to do. She seemed to like it but you never know. I had shown her this condo earlier in the week but this time she brought her husband to get his opinion. He was all business and not that friendly which surprised me since we had met before. Whaddya gonna do?

Then I headed back to the office for a bit. I had to use the scanner again to wrap up scanning in the figures for the Energy book.

In the evening I went to Dunn & Gaherin's Pub with K.A. for a change of pace and a little dinner.

Superbowl Sunday. K.V. had a superbowl party so I stopped by there for the game. They had some football squares to sell and a few other betting games. What a dilemma--I'm broke but I want to take a chance and play. I finally decided to play a few of the games. Glad I did because I won the bet on which team will win and by what score. I also won the 3rd quarter football square. Whoo Hoo!!! There was a lot of food but after a while I noticed one of the guys double dipping the shrimp into the cocktail sauce as well as eating over the food and dripping the food from his mouth onto the plates of food. I got pretty grossed out and didn't eat anything after that. And he's one of those loud eaters, too. Smacking the food in his mouth and with his mouth wide open. Ew.

Spent today and the past few days negotiating the price for the condo for my buyer. The price had been reduced from $299K down to about $289K. He put in an offer of $230K. I can't believe she even negotiated but we finally got everyone to agree on $255K. But that was with many, many calls back and forth. They even argued over the last $500.00. Oy.

Had the inspection today for the condo for my buyer. It went well and we all kept teasing the buyer that we expected to be invited to watch the fireworks from his balconey in July. It's the perfect viewing from there.

Had a 2:00 conference call for the MIT project. Found out that I wasn't expected to scan in all the drawings that I had already done. At least I'm ahead of the game. Later on, ContinuPrint picked up the camera-ready copy from my house to make all the copies and put in the binders for the students. Whew! Then I wrote up an invoice and emailed it to MIT so I can finally get paid!!

Had a 6:30 pm showing at the condo in Brighton.

Had a 2:00 showing in Brighton again.

Then had to meet up with my buyer at 2:30 for him to sign some papers.

Usability Meeting. Ran into some old friends. The surprise was running into Aaron--I used to work with him at Concord Communications. He has since been laid off from there. The best part was the free food! I'm starving! The presentation was good, too. Cara Coyne did a presentation on usability testing using senior citizens as test participants. Really interesting and fun.

Purchase and Sale due today for my buyer. Got all the signatures and faxed it all to the listing broker.