Got an early start today. It's great to be older and wiser (read not hung over).

Decided to go to an auction today at the Newton Marriot. The place was crowded and there was a lot of stuff to be auctioned off. According to the ad, it's U.S. Customs and Police seized goods. A lot of Persian rugs, jewelry, art work, sculptures and other things.

I've been to auctions before but this one was the wildest one I've been to. The auctioneer was fast and his colleagues would whoop and holler to indicate a bid every time there was one. And there were a lot of them very quickly. It was hysterical to watch and listen. Being out of work at the moment I decided it wasn't wise to bid on anything though it was real difficult not to, especially near the end of the day when things go cheaper. The others I was with did bid on a few items but only one went home with a couple of beautiful rugs. You should have seen this beautiful 7 carat diamond solitaire ring--WOW! It was nice and went only for a few thousand dollars.

Later we went to the Bison BBQ place in Waltham for a quick, cheap dinner. I've seen the place before but had never gone in but it was quite good.

Had dinner at TGIFriday's with K.V. Not the best food but convenient location. Normally I get irritated by the bartenders trying to pretend they are Tom Cruise in "Cocktail"--spinning bottles around and throwing them in the area while they make drinks. It can be pretty annoying but tonite was kind of amusing. They were tossing full glasses of beer to each other to see if they could catch them. Usually they couldn't and that was funny as they got completely splashed with beer.

Horrible day today. I have absolutely no idea if I'm covered under the Cobra system for health care. And neither do they! Apparently I have fallen through the cracks in the system even though my first check was cashed. Not sure who cashed it yet but I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time trying to figure this out. I just hope I don't hurt myself in the meantime.

Shhhhhh! I'm trying to study....

I have discovered today that I'm not the only crazy, spontaneous person around!!!! Cool.

Interesting day all day!

Went to Appleby's for a quick bite to eat. It's not a typical hangout but it was close and convenient so that's where we went. There was an old man sitting across from us for a while--I remember the waitress telling him that when he's ready to leave that she would walk him out. I never saw him leave but at some point he apprently did. A little while later, one of the people we had met in there came back from the bathroom laughing and asked if we knew what was going on in the back. Apparently, if you want to get to the bathroom, you have to jump over some guy on the floor who was laying there in a puddle of blood. Or, you had to jump over the various EMTs that were working on him. They finally put him on a stretcher and carried him out. And, yes, it was the old guy who was sitting across from us earlier. According to the waitress, he'll be fine.

Well, I took the Real Estate Exam today (finally) and I actually passed it! The very first time! Whoo Hooo!! It was much harder than I had expected and took me about 2 1/2 hours to take. That also meant that I had to pay for parking for 2 1/2 hours--can you believe it cost me $24.00???!!! Just to park!

When I had registered to take the exam, I filled out all the paperwork, they showed me the computer I'd be using and explained the rules to me. Then the guy looked at me and said I had to get rid of my gum. I thought he was joking but he walked me back out to the office area and pointed to the waste basket and told me to throw it out. I felt like I was back in high school where my algebra teacher, Mr. Greenhoe, would pick up his waste basket and start pounding on it as he walked to a person chewing gum and just stood there, not saying a word, pounding on the basket until you finally got the idea that you had to throw your gum out. Yeesh kapeesh!

Went to dinner with K.V. to celebrate at the Stockyard in Brighton. We sat at the bar and there are always interesting characters there. One woman, with bleached blonde hair and way too much makeup, especially for someone her age, was loudly talking to the guys sitting next to her about the time she ran into Mohammad Atta (the terrorist) at the grocery store and how she thought he was cute so she went up to talk to him but he just looked right through her. I think she wanted everyone to know this though I doubt that it's really true. The poor guys she was talking to were very polite and "seemed" interested in her story but when they were leaving they just looked at us and rolled their eyes and said they'll never get that hour back.

I went to the January meeting of the Hyde Park Art Association to watch a watercolor demonstration. It was fantastic. The artist was Nancy Howell who has been painting and teaching painting for over 20 years. This was actually my first time seeing somebody use watercolors. Since the meetings are held in the library, she brought pictures to paint from. Instead of just copying one picture, she took elements from 5 different pictures and put them into one painting. She made it look so easy. At the end, we raffled off the painting--unfortunately, I didn't win. The painting was beautiful and she normally sells them for over $500.00 each.

The HPAA is looking for people to volunteer to have their paintings hung in the local coffee shop. I checked out some of my old work but it's all from art class and doesn't seem appropriate for a family coffeeshop or possibly interesting to other people. I'll have to go check out what is already hanging there.

Hey--I scored a job interview! It's set for tomorrow--we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure what to expect or what they are looking for since I have absolutely no relevant experience. This ought to be good, hey? I'm definitely ready to get out there and start working in some capacity and I'm really looking forward to making some money at some point. The frustrating part of real estate sales is that it takes a long time to make any money at all. And when you do make a sale, you don't get the money until they closing, I think, which is usually 6 weeks later. Anybody want to buy a house or sell their current one???

Had dinner at TGIFridays last night with K.V. Normally, that's not that interesting but the Bruce Willis lookalike that we've seen there once before was there again. He looks EXACTLY like Bruce Willis but I think that's the look he's going for. The last time, several people were talking about him and they swore up and down that that was really Bruce Willis. I thought so too but this time, there were a few times that he didn't look enough like him to really be Bruce but the rest of the time, he easily could have been the real Bruce.

One phone call, one interview, one job....

I am now employed at The DeWolfe Companies, Inc. real estate agency. I start work tomorrow and will have 8 days of training in February. It will be interesting to see what they will have me working on until I get the training.

So far, everyone seems really nice there so it should be enjoyable. And I figure this was the place that would be fun to work at--and I've been having fun with the name. I'm from the MidWest area and loved the Saturday Night Live sketches that they used to do about the Chicago accent--Da Bulls, Da Bears, and now....Da Wolf! It was fate!

Apparently fate has a sense of humor.

I started my new job at 11:00 today. One of the rules is that each agent has to take their turn sitting at the front desk for 2 hour shifts--this gives each person a chance to receive cold calls and get clients. So, Sheila, the manager had me sit with them to listen in on the calls to become familiar with the protocol. So I sat with T.R. and J.U. for 2 hours. They were great, gave me advice, showed me the computer program they use for the MLS listings, and were very friendly. They gave me quiet hints about some of the other agents that I may need to watch out for though they didn't give any names. Other than feeling like a receptionist, it wasn't too bad in the morning. Then the shift change happened and L.S. and K.C. sat down and completely ignored me as they had a loud discussion about something or other. The previous agent gave me a look as if to say "Sorry." Finally, someone else had come along and asked if they had met me and, without even looking at me or acknowledging that I was still there, they told that person that they had just ignored me. Great. Plus, they argued with each other about the craziest things. And, guess what? I have to share a desk with L.S. Great. She's sort of like a trucker--tough, loud, with a real gravely voice, and just plain rude.

Since I didn't like them at all, I decided not to sit there anymore and just walked away. Not sure they even noticed and I certainly don't care. However, I'm not allowed to do anything official until after my training which will be the 2nd week of February so there really isn't much for me to do yet. AND...they don't pay me a salary so I'm not going to work that hard until after the training. The manager then found me and gave me a list of all the sales people and "the nice ones" are highlighted. Is that even ethical? There were only about 5 out of 40 highlighted. Great.

Warning: Anyone who even slightly knows me will be receiving junk mail from me. You know the type--the little card asking if you're interested in selling your house, etc. Please bear with me as I have to do this. I'm supposed to send these out to 200 people that I know. Hah! I really don't know 200 people so I'm not sure how this will work out.

Anyway, finally around 2:30 I just went home.

And I'm freaking out. What have I done? Why did I think that this would be a great idea? What am I going to do? I had a good life, a good job--and I have now purposely twisted my own world into this unknown monster that is now revealing itself. Do I really want to work in sales with all these catty women in this type of environment? The good thing is that I barely ever have to go into the office if I don't want to, I have very flexible hours, and only have to work as hard as I want to (though the money will correspond with effort). But I kind of like structure, I like being paid a regular salary, I miss being around geeks, I live having my own desk, whether it's in an office or a cubicle, I miss having things like pens and staplers being available and plentiful and PAID FOR BY THE COMPANY!! Apparently pens are a big deal at DeWolfe. Everyone has to buy their own pens and supplies and they are always disappearing--either getting lost or stolen or borrowed and never returned.

WHAT HAVE I DONE????

Anyway, had dinner with M.W. (formerly of AspenTech) and had a nice time. I believe that there will be a meeting of current and former AT'ers at the Crystal Lounge next Thursday--take note!

Helped with the open house today. The house was SO BEAUTIFUL! It's a brand new house in Westwood with 4 large bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, huge walk in closets, a library, formal dining room, living room and den both with gas fireplaces, a separate "playroom" above the garage, a 3 car heated garage, large basement, and a fantastic kitchen with a space for kitchen table and chairs, etc. It's just below 5,000 sq ft of living space sitting on an acre of land. All for a mere $969,000! It was fun to check it out but only one couple showed up for the open house so the other agent and I just stood around and gabbed.

K.A. stopped over my house later and we discussed the possibility of reviving the business idea that we had been working on. However, we need to find some developers to get on board as well. Hmmmm, I'll have to check with some former colleagues....

Today was my first weekly sales meeting with everyone in the office. Then we had a "caravan." This is where we all get into our cars and go tour a house or 2 that we have listed so we all become familiar with them. We went to a house in Westwood and a house in Norwood. I have to say that there are quite a few really ugly houses around. What are people thinking? I'm not even so much talking about the houses I saw today, but last year when I was looking to buy a new house, I went to a lot of open houses and let me tell you--there are some horrible houses out there. Some are just small and cramped and have a bad layout but others are just decorated horribly or are a complete mess. You have no idea how messy some people are--and they know they are showing the house to other people. There was one house where you couldn't even walk through a lot of it because there were boxes and bags of things all over the place. And these were not because they were packing to move--it was very obvious that this stuff has been stacked up for a long time. The people who lived in that house were actually the nicest people though, real sweet. They had 2 babies--I don't remember the one baby's name but the other baby is named Bruno--I just thought that was a cool name.

Anyway, I rode with 3 other people in the caravan and I have to say I finally met some really nice people. They were laughing and telling a few similiar stories about how rude some of the people in the office are. One had just finished the training course and assured me that I will feel much more comfortable once I've gone through the course. Phew!

Had lunch with one of the other realtors in the office. She really helped me get some perspective and assured me to not panic, that things will be better after I have had training. She had some great tips and advice that I will definitely use.

After lunch, I stopped at OfficeMax to buy a Palm Pilot. I'm not sure why I thought the price had come down to about $100 or so. Unfortunately, I was wrong and they are still over $300 right now. So, I either by a Franklin Day Planner or I buy a cheaper version of a Palm Pilot. I keep hearing how they are battery hogs, though. But it sure would be easier to carry around.

Had a nice dinner with S.E. in Newton. Good to hear her job is going well. In this economy, they are very busy helping companies that aren't doing that well.

Went on another caravan today to 2 different homes. They were fantastic--one is selling for $2.4 Million dollars! It's right on Rt. 109 but you would never even know it's there since it's way up on a hill and the front of the lot is all trees. Apparently, the house is at the highest point in Westwood.

Went to the Crystal Bar in Cambridge to meet up with current and former AspenTech employees. How fun! It was great to see everyone that showed. Stayed there a lot longer than I had planned.

I woke up this morning to the sound of birds outside my window. Now, before you think that these birds are great and their chirping is sweet, let me tell you that this wasn't like that at all. At first I could tell they were birds chirping and tried to go back to sleep. But then I heard a different sound. It sounded like someone trying to start their car but the battery is dead--you know that whirring sound it can make? I didn't sound right so I went to the window and realized that nobody was trying to start their car--that sound was the sound of thousands of birds outside my house. It was so bizarre I thought I was dreaming so I went downstairs and outside to see what was going on. There were birds everywhere--in the trees, on the telephone lines, and flying in the air. It really was a scene out of Hitchcock's "The Birds" movie. And literally there were thousands of these birds, screeching and screaming everywhere. You know how when you're watching a moving like "The Birds" and you, the viewer, knows what's going on, but the person in the movie goes outside where the danger is and you yell to the screen "You idiot, don't go out there!"--you know what I mean? But there I was standing outside with all these birds swarming around. I didn't see anyone else outside checking out the noise so I just went in, deciding there wasn't anything I could do about this and the safest place was inside. Later on, when I was more awake, I realized that I should have checked the whole neighborhood to see where these birds were, since it seemed like they were just in my yard--like some sort of omen..... oooohhh.

Later, in the process of cleaning my house I decided to get creative. I still had a lot of my business cards from my previous job and started to throw them away but then got an idea. How about making paper with them? I bought a paper making kit a while ago and envisioned a real artsy thick, mottled piece of paper made out of old business cards. The vision is always better than the reality but I did it anyway. In order to make paper, you shred up used paper and put it in a blender with some water and blend it for about 30 seconds to turn it into pulp. It was rather cathartic to drop in the business cards and blend them up. The first sheet of paper turned out quite nice but not what I had envisioned. I was hoping some of the words and the logo would remain somewhat intact in large pieces but it blended a bit too much. If you really look at it, a few letters do pop out but it's more subtle than I had hoped so I tried a second sheet, this time dropping the business cards whole into the blender and not blending as long. This sheet did have more obvious words and color within it--though it's not as nice, it is more artsy and interesting.

Later went over to Doyle's in Jamaica Plain with S.E. for a bite to eat. Always an interesting place--just wish the nose pickers would stay at home. You sort of expect that from children but not from adults--but there was one--I don't even want to talk about it since it makes me queasy to even think about. Ewww.