Christmas Tree Down

I finally took my Christmas tree down last night. I know it's the middle of February. I really don't feel bad about it at all. It might still be up if it weren't starting to turn brown.

I had decided to leave it up till the end of January anyway, (I didn't put it up until 2 weeks before Christmas) and since then I have been pretty busy between working on developing my website and getting started on my new career(?) as a heavy duty lift salesman.

There's a career that I doubt you will ever hear a kindergartener name when asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As I am getting started with it I am really surprised at how big the market is for these things. It is amazing really.

I finished another part of the RealSalisbury.com page last night. It is the feature article about the house whose picture is on the front page. Please feel free to check it out and give me your feedback on it.

Well, I have to run and get ready for my jazz band gig this afternoon. If you are in the area, stop by Dixie's on Main Street in China Grove between 1:00 and 3:00. Dixie's is located on the corner at the main stoplight next to China Grove Hardware. Come on in, check out the StillWaters Jazz Band, drink some coffee, and get to know your neighbors in China Grove's coolest venue!

Long Time, No Write

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted anything here. The real estate world is a pretty busy place, and I found that I just couldn't keep up being a full time agent and a closet writer. By the end of the day it was just too much - especially after a nasty bout earlier in '05 with appendicitis.

So, what have I been doing? My dad has retired from the real estate business (lucky him) and is moving on with his well earned life of freedom. That means that the business has fallen to me, and I must admit that it has proven to be more than I want to handle.

I guess when you sit down and analyze everything, and look at the core competencies of what you are doing, and you realize that you absolutely HATE doing about half of those things, that you realize that it is time for a change.

This realization, of course, begs the question, "So, what do I do now?" See that has kind of been the question since middle school. When someone asked me what I wanted to be then, I wanted to be an officer in the US military - preferably a fighter pilot. However, with pretty horrible vision, and not quite making the cut at the Air Force Academy, that dream (forgive the pun) crashed and burned, leaving me with the burning question that has haunted me since: "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

So far, I've pretty well just gone with the flow. Fresh out of college I went into insurance sales. Then I tried software testing. And finally I have given Real Estate a shot. I guess most of these jobs have had some good points - except for insurance. That TOTALLY sucked.

I kind of wish that I had known about career surveys and stuff like that before I went to college. Perhaps then I may have been able to pick a track that would have put me into something more like a permanent career. I have taken a couple of these surveys since I came to the decision to get out of Real Estate. And I have actually been somewhat surprised by what I found out.

It turns out that I am a bit more artistic than I had thought. I mean, you can't be a conservative AND artistic too, can you? Anyway, it has got me to thinking about some possibilities that I hadn't considered. I did look at teaching VERY briefly, but the income from that is less than I'm making now. Even with 2 months off in the summer, that is not an acceptable option. (Even though I think that the teaching part would be pretty fun.) I am considering writing though. I know it is a long shot, but what if I could write the great American novel?

I suppose that means that I need to find something to pay the bills in the meantime. I will probably go back into software testing because I enjoyed that for the most part. I guess time will tell.

So here's to all of you out there who don't know what you want to be when you grow up. I feel your pain!