Thanks, Jesse

    
     About 4 months ago I started walking for a couple of reasons; my weight, my heart health and my general well being. I have discovered the tricks of walking in South Florida (I'm not talking about Miami) and the most important of them is to not walk when the sun is too high in the sky. You need the shade that one side of the street provides, otherwise it is like walking on the sun, not in the sun.
     I have today off and I figured that I could get my walking in early, while the sun was still not too high and before the bugs come out (I always keep a spray can of Off Deep Woods Spray in my pocket). As I began my walk I realized that there are some things that I always notice as I walk and that lead me to want to chronicle them, however, I couldn't think of where to post the list. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I used to blog. Why not post it here. Nobody will read it but at least it is here for posterity. As I continued my walk, I realized that there were more things about Southern Florida worth noting that I observe at all kinds of times, not just walking. That's the introduction. Here is the list:

Southern Florida

There is always the sound of, or actual appearance of lawn mowers

The sound of leaf blowers

Publix (best supermarket in the world)

Friendly people

Old men driving fancy sports cars, that I guess their wives would not let them buy before

The heat

The rain


Lizards, lots of lizards

Jeeps with very big wheels and very loud mufflers

Bugs

Tattoos

     The title of this blog entry is to thank Jesse Walker. We were talking the other day about my frustration about wanting to be a writer, but never really having a story to tell. I completely forgot, until todays walk, that I used to write this blog. I finished my two miles, cooled off for a couple of minutes and sat down and wrote this entry. I think that I have plenty more small observations to note or short anecdotes to tell and now that I remember that I have this blog (I hope I don't forget again) I have a place to put them.  So again, thanks Jesse.



Funny, You Don't Look Jewish

I had a family come in today to buy a new car. I helped them choose the right car for them and they then had to work out the final deal with the Finance Manager. Unfortunately, they had to wait several hours to see him. While they were waiting I entertained them with some card tricks and a few stories. The little girl, Sarah, was adorable. She will be eight next week and was the best audience that I have had for a while. She kept asking if I were magic. I'm not quite sure what that meant, but I guess she thought that there was something magical about me. I knew that waiting all that time most have given them an appetite. I always keep snacks in my drawers, things like trail mix and popcorn, and sometimes brownies.  They are for me, but I never mind sharing them. I asked the mother if it would be OK to give the kids some and she said sure. I pulled out my snacks and offered to them, and the two kids were quite happy. Sarah started to eat the popcorn, turned to her mother and said, "You know, when I eat popcorn I always feel so Jewish. We all went crazy laughing.

                                                                             Sarah

Where have I been, you ask?

That's for a later post.

This post should actually be entitled, "Tales from the Sales Floor", and I have a feeling that there will be more to follow that should have the same title, however for now I will just have to settle for this first post in a long time.

Car sales people, of which I am now one, have a well deserved reputation. For example a customer walked in today and I walked up to greet him. The customer said that he had bought two cars at this dealership from a salesmanager, who's name he didn't remember. He described him as a heavy set black man and since the managers here are all white, I explained to him that even though I was new, I was prettys sure that he didn't work here anymore. As I was saying this another salesman comes walking over, hears the conversation and when I ask him about the sales manager, he names him and then turns to the customer and says, "I remember you, we worked together before." The customer said, "No, I never saw you before". The other salesman asked, "You have a Jaguar don't you", as if to prove he remembered the customer. The customer said, "Yeah, I just drove up in it." Of course he did, how else would the other salesman know?

It's Been A While, I Know

Brandon

Hard To Fucking Believe

I am 68 years old. I don't feel 68 years old. I don't believe that I think or act as if I am 68 years old, but I am. Sometimes I am so in disbelief of my age that I take out my IPhone, go to the camera and reverse the view so that I can look at myself on the camera screen. It's still hard to believe.

It's Been A While, I Know

New favorite name...Hugh Jasol