Stories from the Sales Frontlines

driver100

no paycheck for a month, maybe a little longer. Told all the girls that "we need to cut back a bit"..

Sandman, I totally understand your situation...I have been there a few times myself. It is an eye opener to find out how precarious life can be. One illness, a lost job, your company going under, an accident. Times are so difficult too, people lining up for low paying jobs. On 60 Minutes the guy war a sign saying he had 5 kids and needed work.

My last 3 jobs I got canned from. I worked for the first one for 16 years, the 2nd 3 years and the last one almost a year. I say I was canned but I was downsized out. We started a little business delivering books to stores, and the business grew. Every day my wife would smile and wave and said "Have Fun Today". I wanted it to work because she was so good through it all, and she had to work extra hours at her job to carry us through.

I think things usually do get better, try to stay positive, and just never give up.

driver100

I like him driving an F150. I still respect him. I don't think less of him.

I know what you mean...you think the same about him because you knew him before, and he was a nice guy then and he is still the same person...just had a bad streak as many people did in financials....except the guys who created the problem, they are doing better than ever!

I do know a guy got our name in about 1980 and he came to sell us on some pyramid scheme before they became illegal. You buy a few $1000 worth of soap and try to sell it to people you know...it was called Golden Products (not Amway). The young guy was about 25 and he drove up in a Cadillac Eldarado covertible....and I knew it was a con from the start. Got rid of him pretty quickly, then the whole scam and pyramid schemes were uncovered.

That is the type of thing you can tell, by the car someone drives sometimes...it is just a factor to consider. No young guy drives an Eldarado unless he is really trying to impress you.

fezo

My last 3 jobs I got canned from.

Oh, so we're not the only ones that feel that way about you..... :P

fezo

You could live in it from March until November

Hey, could you squeeze my family in there in early November? We go down to Florida usually in the first week (the younger kids get that week off) and I could use a place that isn't next to Disney for a change....

driver100

Oh, so we're not the only ones that feel that way about you.....

I have come close to getting canned from this job too, a few times. I will say the other jobs paid more but this would be the most embarassing to actually get canned from.

driver100

Hey, could you squeeze my family in there in early November?

I marked it on the calendar. Good idea getting a place NOT close to Disneyland!

oldbearcat

Driver: We've owned 3 Jaguars - 2 X Types and an S-Type. Had good luck with them, and, enjoyed all of them. I test drove a CPO XF, and, while it was loaded with goodies, it just didn't feel as athletic with the 4.2 as my S did. That, coupled with the parts availability problems that the dealer was having with our S Type, helped lead us to the decision to swap the S Type for the GLK.

Regards:
Oldbearcat

nyccarguy

Unfortunately I know all too well how short and precious life is. I had a very close friend drop dead in the lobby of his building on February 10, 2004. He had gone out to eat with some of his college buddies. Aparrently he ate a clam that was brushed with peanut oil. My friend was allergic to peanuts. He never made it to his 28th birthday.

Like I said, as long as I can swing the payment, I'll NEVER regret it & love the car forever.

sterlingdog

"Yes, and it is probably some of the furniture he has to unload from his relative that left it to him to sort through."

Too late. An antique auction house from out of state is coming this week to pick up the furniture. We sent them a CD of the 12 rooms of anriques. The Mint Museum is coming to get the paintings and the clocks. A silver dealer picked up the 300 pieces to sell. We're closing the chapter on this deal. We kept 8 pieces of furniture, one clock, four paintings, and a set of china.

Your wife will enjoy buying the furniture. They make some pretty items for a Florida home. Also, she can be competitive with these furniture shops in Florida. Example: Get a good price on some nice living room pieces and show them to another shop dealer. They'll cave in and offer her the same price on what she wants. It's similar to shopping for a car---so and so offered me X dollars for the same type sofa. You can have fun doing this.

Richard

sterlingdog

"...it'll be a head start on the furniture in my future."

I thought of Mrs. Jmonroe the other day. We decided to keep the cousin's dining room furniture and sell ours through the auction house. We found the cousin's bill of sale when he purchased the table and chairs in 1984. The table is now worth $9,850 and the chairs are $1,250 each. We were surprised because it all matches our sideboard that we purchaased years ago. His table and chairs were definitely worth more than ours. Even if you buy new today, dining room furniture is expensive. Still, it is less than a car.

Richard

driver100

We sent them a CD of the 12 rooms of anriques.

What a brilliant way to do it. I was thinking the whole task of selling off the furniture sounded like it would be impossible. But, you found a really great way to do it.

Maybe there is a business idea here. Send out CDs of used cars to perspective buyers. For example, if someone in Chicago is looking for a small car in the $12k range, they get a CD with all the cars in the area. Kind of like AOL sending out all those CDs. The company could negotiate deals too...because they do have a lot of power with bringing buyers in.

Maybe I can work on this idea while I am spending two months in Florida!

Kirstie_H

I don't know how old your girls are, but if either is looking for a part-time, very flexible job, I can give you info on a company that's got a bunch of jobs posted in Florida (all over). It's my S.O.'s company - my son has been working for them and says it's decent and easy.

graphicguy

nyccarguy....good attitude. While I used to fret over and over again about my future, my son's future (and his tuition), etc, after the ongoing economic malaise (can someone please tell oil traders that the last thing Libya will do is cut of oil shipments...they need the money), I figured of I had made it this far without a meltdown, I must have something going for me.

There's no one in this group, as far as I can tell, who's stupid, quite the opposite. I can't think of one of my Edmunds friends who is stupid enough to totally screw up their future, and especially their families future.

That's a tip of the hat to all of you.

jmonroe

We decided to keep the cousin's dining room furniture and sell ours through the auction house.

Even if you buy new today, dining room furniture is expensive.

Something tells me that your taste for furniture is different than Mrs. j’s. She likes contemporary and we bought this dining room set when we got married and stumbled on an apartment that had a full size dining room. We had the money at the time and bought the set then figuring that would be one less expenditure when we bought a house and besides, who wants to walk into an empty room anyway? The only thing that is saving me is that she still gets complements about it like, “where are you going to find a set that is better than that one. If I had that set I’d keep it”? I lay it on too every chance I get.

Car thing…this apartment also came with a garage. It was a small narrow garage and a tight fit for my ’66 Bonneville. I had to back it in on an angle just so I could squeeze out of the door. When I did that, that boat of a car was so long, I couldn’t pull the door down but it was off the street. I’ll never forget my apartment neighbor telling me how he called his wife to the window when he saw me trying to get that car in the garage the first time I did it. He said to his wife, “come here and watch this guy trying to get that thing in that little garage”. When I finally figured out how to do it, his wife said to him, “why don’t you try to do it like that”? Being quick on his feet he replied, “oh, I could do that but you’d never be able to get it out”. :surprise:

jmonroe

jmonroe

Just watched 60 Minutes and it showed how bad the unemployment situation is in the USA. Worst since the depression.

I saw that show too. It must have been meant for me to see it because I can’t tell you the last time I watched that show. Mrs. j was in the family room too, another rarity because she likes to sit in the office in the lounge chair when she watches TV. She mentioned how well off we are especially compared to what we saw. Then she said, “I’ve been meaning to put some old cloths in the pickup bag for the Veterans that want to come by for a pickup. I’m over due for that. Now I’d like to send some money to help people like that”.

It sure does put things in the proper perspective. Somehow, wanting the next new car isn’t so important when you see something like that.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

If Mrs. J is getting compliments on the dining room furniture, I wouldn't even consider buying another set. Besides, what they made back then is so much better than what they make now.

An apartment with its own garage? That was neat. We had to park on the street for two years. Even our first house had no garage. When we finally got one, we decided to never buy another house without one. A garage really helps to preserve a car. So many people have so much junk in their garages that they can't use them for the intended purpose. That's a shame. One of our neighbors across the street falls into that category. Both of their cars sit in the drive and get pine sap all over them. The garage is packed with old furniture and boxes. Their children should come and have a clean out day---either take it or throw it away.

Richard

sterlingdog

"It sure does put things in the proper perspective."

We are so blessed. I worry for our young people. Though we had to work hard for years, many of them may not have that opportunity---pensions, health insurance, decent salaries, etc. Hopefully, times will get better.

Richard

Sandman6472

26 & 25 and yes, any info you could pass my way would be wonderful. The older one is ending her teaching gig come April and is looking for something daily. I think you have my contact information and it would be greatly appreciated!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

nyccarguy

I've mentioned here before that my Dad has a drop dead gorgeous 1966 427 Corvette Roadster stiitng in his garage that he hasn't driven in 11 years. So with his 65th Birthday coming up on Thursday, I'm trying to rent him a Corvette from Hertz for the weekend. I'm supposed to hear from them tomorrow. I think it is a cool idea. I hope he'll like it. He's IMPOSSIBLE to buy for.

Sandman6472

We're the only one's on our block who can fit both cars in there...all the others are storage areas with a couple being able to park one vehicle inside. We don't have that much stuff and it's either on the sides or some stuff on the lip towards the back. Ours is used for the intended purpose & our cars show it!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

roadburner

We are so blessed. I worry for our young people.

Last year my son received a sizable bequest from the estate of his great aunt. Without any prodding whatsoever he announced that he wanted to give one-third of the amount -anonymously- to the inner city Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club where we volunteer. The club was able to buy a new PA system as well as large cooling fans for the gym. Needless to say, my wife and I were very proud.

jmonroe

We are so blessed. I worry for our young people. Though we had to work hard for years, many of them may not have that opportunity---pensions, health insurance, decent salaries, etc. Hopefully, times will get better.

You are so right about us having it pretty damn good.

I remember Son #1 telling me about an economics class he had as an under grad at Penn State. He mentioned that the professor told the class that each generation in our country always seemed to have it better than the previous generation. He and his class mates had heard this so often they just rolled their eyes. As their course progressed the kids were put in groups to do an assignment about how the economy of our country was headed. At one point during that assignment the kids looked at each other and said, “cripes, we may be the first generation that can’t give our kids what we had let alone give them more”. He said that was a real wakeup call for them.

jmonroe

driver100

A garage really helps to preserve a car.

As one comedian says, people fill up their garage with old useless junk, but leave their $25,000 car out in the driveway.

driver100

many of them may not have that opportunity---pensions, health insurance, decent salaries, etc.

I am concerned about that too. So many young people want to become professionals, and there are only so many jobs for accountants, lawyers and teachers etc. Most companies don't have to include health benefits or pension plans to get workers. Not only that, but technology is chaning so rapidly, whatever you are trained for will change by the time you graduate.

I am glad I got through it all and don't have to worry about a career any more, but it must be very difficult for young people graduating or deciding what to do.

driver100

taste for furniture is different than Mrs. j’s. She likes contemporary

For the record, we like contemporary and Scandinavian furniture too!

driver100

we may be the first generation that can’t give our kids what we had let alone give them more

Unfortunately, this is a real possibility. There seems to be more millionaires than ever, and big inheritances coming up, but it seems the all important middle class is getting squeezed out of the picture. This is not good!

sterlingdog

You are the coolest son! That's a great idea for a gift.

Richard

sterlingdog

It's wonderful to know that you did the right thing as parents. He must be a very fine young man. Congratulations.

Richard

sterlingdog

I totally agree. The gap between the "Haves" and the "Have Nots" is becoming more and more narrow. The middle class struggles to earn more, but has to pay more out for food, housing, utilities, clothing, taxes, etc. I always felt so sorry for my new teacher employees. They had college loans that would take 15 or 20 years to pay back. With those payments and normal living expenses, it was so hard to live on $29K per year as a beginning teacher. It's no wonder that many young people are moving back in with their parents. The system is broken and in bad need of a fix.

Richard

fezo

taste for furniture is different than Mrs. j’s. She likes contemporary

This explains mrsjmonroe's desire for new furniture. Stuff they bought as contemporary are now antiques!

Yeah, I can't do for my kids what my parents did for me and has been mentioned before dad trusted too much in one stock so there's virtually nothing there. We manage but I sure worry about the kids.

I will say my oldest is looking to get a promotion to a store manager which would pay better than we start teachers at and she only has a year's worth of college.

Sandman6472

Our oldest came back but she paid off her loans, we were lucky in that she had such great grades she got a lot of scholarship money. We covered everything else she couldn't with investments we had made as they were growing up. The next girl will come home the end of April with everything paid off. The boy spent most of his money on prep school, Phillips Exeter Academy, and college but he needed loans to go to Wash U. in St. Louis, as the amount they gave him in scholarship wasn't enough. As of now, seems like Mrs. Sandman has paid off about $24k of his $40k amount owed. AmeriCorps will pay off just under $5k/year and he plans to stay there for two years. The remaining $10k will be on him...not to bad I'd say. Mrs. Sandman hates debt & I couldn't hold her back!

We just want them to have as much of a clean slate to move on as possible. Luckily, we're in a position to help our kids. The next couple of months will be a bit lean here, but we'll all do our part to help out, like a family should!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

explorerx4

So how big a mirror would you have to use?

Sandman6472

Unfortunately, I grew up with so much more than my kids have...a large house, nice cars, sleep over & day maids, country club lifestyle...something we couldn't afford. But my folks didn't know how to love, just spend money. We, on the other hand, showered them with love and gave them what we could on a blue collar working mans salary. The best part of all...they feel as they've missed nothing! Seeing most of their friends with the lifestyle I grew up with, they never questioned why daddy was only a "mailman" or why we didn't have more "stuff". They were content with what they had...very grounded kids!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

explorerx4

I subscribe to the advice I heard from someone many years ago.
Pay cash for your toys.
Paid cash for the Mustang back in 1991, and since child #2 came along shortly after that, haven't bought another toy since then.

Sandman6472

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

explorerx4

When we were looking for our first house, my criteria was it had to have 2 garages. I didn't really care about the rest of it.
When we built this house, it needed to have 3 garages.
I couldn't have the house look like everyone else's, so they put in a big peak across the main 2 garages.
At the time the builders were kind a anal about having all the houses looking the same, so I had them recess the 3 garage back a couple of feet.
When you drive up the street you see colonial, colonial, another slightly different colonial(my house), etc.
When the same people drive back down the street, the see the recessed garage and say 'hey where did that come from?'.
I got that old New England 'added on over generations look' I wanted.
Still working on getting something new parked in one of those garages.

kyfdx

I love teachers..... my mother was a teacher..

But, in our district, teachers work 187 days/yr..

When you work 80% of the time, you get 80% of the pay.... :surprise:

explorerx4

My Mom was a high school language teacher for 30 years or so.
I had the same thought. She never took a summer job, although other teacher's did.
On the other hand, I remember her correcting homework for several hours every night during the school year.
Having emigrated from from Germany, she started out teaching German, then at points, French, Spanish, and English.
I still have these thoughts of a kid saying 'will?', mom no. 'vill'.
It was never like that.
Since she moved here she has only bought cars she 'perceived' were domestic.

fezo

My mom was a math teacher but was occupied a lot of those summers and certainly evenings. I remember her going for a couple of masters degrees at night and summer and, yes, correcting tests and such. Once she moved into administration it was an all year job.

I didn't like the classroom when I was student teaching so went into libraries instead which kind of works.

sweendogy

call you months later (2.5 mths) and tell you they made a mistake with the tax on your car (and trade) and say you owe 1k more then what you agreed and financed?? I bought a new car out of state and traded my old car into the dealership.. This dealer, a new and used car dealer, was not the best at doing paper work (obv)...well they called me 2 months later and said they needed me to go to my local dmv and see if the dmv would issue a tax check for the car i traded in and then forward that check to the dealership to make up for the difference.I called the dmv and they had no idea what i was talking about. net net - i traded a car in and swapped plates onto the new car-- i paid the difference in my state tax verse the new car tax in my state..and now they call me telling me i need to pay the whole tax on the new car.. -- first question -- i know they can ask for more money but do they have any right to this after a contract has been signed, a state registration is in hand, and I have the car (which is being financed thru the car company finance)

Sandman6472

When my wife & her dad bought our house, all I asked for was a north/south exposure & a garage with a driveway that could fit 4 cars...and I got it. Looking back, I should've added a circular driveway since we now have those four cars and this week since college is out here, all four are home...would've been nice to have the girls park right in front of the door...the oldest parks in front of the house & I move the Accent when I need to get out. Can't remember everything!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

Mine was lucky as she never had to work a day in her life. She married a smart, ambitious guy who had a life plan to retire at age 47. And guess what...he did! Blew me away as I thought we were gonna be broke but they just laughed at me when I said that. Needless to say, they lived a very nice lifestyle.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:

explorerx4

Are they from the Nigerian Motor Vehicle Department?

sterlingdog

Our teachers work 309 days. Throw in all of the hours at home doing lesson plans, grading papers, making out tests, calling parents, doing committee reports, etc. Throw in ball game duty, concerts and plays, staff development seminars, and graduate courses. That would easily fill the other 56 days. Your 80% pay is correct, just not 80% of the work. It's more like 110% of the work at 70% pay.

Before becoming an administrator of personnel, I taught school every day, worked at the community college at night, and gave SAT/ACT tests on Saturdays. I needed and wanted the extra money. I didn't complain because I loved every minute of what I did. It was my chosen profession. The only reason that I spent the last 12 years as an administrator was to double my salary which increased my retirement pension quite a bit. Still, my 28 years as a teacher was the best part of my career. After retiring from 40 years, I spent 5 years as a consultant. It was fun because i did a lot of teachng to teachers. Believe it or not, I still get teaching offers. My response? All good things must eventually come to an end.

Richard

sterlingdog

Tell them that you have done a recent re-assessment of the value of your trade and that they owe you another $1,000. That should take care of the problem. :P

Richard

fezo

I tried management and in the system I am in it wasn't for me. I liked things through a couple of administration's "let's change things for the sake of changing (or more let's make it look like we actually do something)" and one day I walked in and they completely changed my job into something I hated. The difference in pay down a level was negligible. I punted. I'm now 5 miles from home instead of 25 and it's just fine.

I mostly agree with the Dilbert theory that managers are like cats - always moving things around to cover up what they've done.

driver100

explains mrsjmonroe's desire for new furniture. Stuff they bought as contemporary are now antiques!

Good point, and I guess the corollary is atiques make a better investment, the older they get, the more valuable they become. And, you save money in the long run, because you don't have to keep updating it.

stickguy

The current younger generation still has opportunities, but they will have to work harder most likely. My son is at a very good school (ivy) in the engineering college, and is working like a dog. But if you survive the program, there are still companies anxious to pay lot's of money for you (and even more so after getting a masters!).

what is going to become much harder to do is skate through with mediocre grades and an "easy" major, and expect to get a nice middle management type job at good pay.

as to dining rooms, they depreciate worse than Cadillacs (hey, an actual car reference!). Back in 1990 we bought our first house, and were expecting child #1. Did some DR shopping, and found something we liked but ended up (long story) getting screwed out of some of the deposit (in a BK scam).

so, decided to try to find something quick through the local paper (this, remember, was pre internet days). found one a few towns over that we bought (folks were selling the big house and downsizing to a condo) and took home (PU came in handy!).

nice teak set (from Dane Decor). High quality stuff. Women said after we bought that they had paid ~8K for the set (and having shopped in the store, that was about right). We paid $1,200. And other than a missing screw, a couple of scratches, and a minor stain or 2, it was like new.

We still have it, still in great shape. But if we ever moved and decided to get a new set, my 2 rules are 1) it won't be new, and 2) only buy good quality stuff.

driver100

I mostly agree with the Dilbert theory that managers are like cats - always moving things around to cover up what they've done.

My theory is managers change things to justify their jobs. They try to make it look like you were lucky to survive before they came along. They usually make changes thet make things worse. I call it the racoon theory, come along and get into everything and make a big mess!

fezo

The director we had who has since retired (thank God!) walked in the first day and said what a sorry bunch we were and how she was going to change everything.

Well, I'm still here....