My Broker Pal Sally and the Rest of You

I spoke with my Broker Pal, Sally, Wednesday. We talked shop. We talked about her audit paperwork. We laughed about Tessa's frenetic broker energy, which we both can relate to. 

Sally has a project for me that I have the ability to help her with because I have an Arizona license and know a thing or two about writing. I'm so excited! Us talking real estate, like we did in the old days, was cathartic. I felt useful and needed.  

Not gonna lie, it's been lonely here in Texas. I'm beyond grateful to my Arizona friends (and that means you who are reading this) for reaching out when I didn't know I needed you to reach out. Thank you.  

Random Texarkana, The Lingo Addition

 Last week the vet's assistant announced that I wasn't from "around here." He could tell because of my "thick accent." 

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The plumber just called me "Sweetie." Normally I'd be miffed and he would not be my plumber. Ever. However, at this point, I'm getting used to everyone referring to me as, "Sweetie," "Darl'n," "Honey" and "Missy." I'm realizing it is just a cultural thing and those words seem to have less syllables than my (normally) two syllable first name, which seems to be about five to six syllables when the locals say it. 

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One of our agents had a personal dilemma. I automatically said, "Oh bless your heart," and put my hand to my chest in the gracious, I'm-so-sorry-that-happened-to-you-what-can-I-do-to-help way. It is a totally different dialect than the, "Oh bless your heart," in the how-stupid-can-you-be way, that I give to big city motorists. 

More Interviews

Here's the gist: as we are streamlining some processes, I am not convinced we need another staff member, especially a bookkeeper. Some of the current staff agrees. Tessa is on the fence and she has to pay for someone, so it is her decision. 

Anyway, we had a pow-wow yesterday morning and this topic came up. It was decided the interviews would continue and then a decision would be made. 

First was Abby. She doesn't have baggage. Tessa did sell her a house, but (according to Tessa) it was a pleasant experience. She interviewed well. She would be ok with part time. She has the qualifications and she has a personality I think I could work with. She is the strongest candidate we've had and I will call her back for a second interview if we go forward. 

Then there was Kimmy. I loved Kimmy! Kimmy is fresh out of college and was so nervous, she was shaking.  She showed up 40 minutes early. She is ambitious, articulate and interesting. But she has zero experience except for a few college projects. I was that girl once and I've always wanted to help and mentor the Kimmys of the world because there were people who helped me. However, I have zero local professional contacts and there are probably employment laws, Equal Opportunity Laws or other societal norms in place that would make it difficult for me to reach out under the circumstances. But half-way through the interview, I wanted to show her what to do to her resume and help her apply at the local credit union for their bookkeeper position. 

Perhaps once I've sent rejection letters out I will reach out to Kimmy and tell her about the credit union job.  

The Interviewing Chronicles

My first and currently most pressing task as Operations Manager of the Ol'e Brokerage is to find a bookkeeper. As this week has progressed, I'm not sure I truly want a bookkeeper any more. 

Tessa asked me to interview Leah. Leah is a wonderful person in our office. Initially I didn't want her. She's an agent. She has bookkeeping skills. Will she get bored and realize she can make more money selling homes? She'd be in a compromising position, knowing Tessa's financial status and the commissions of every agent. How would that inside knowledge be treated by her? I granted her a courtesy interview, figuring I would then be able to give Tessa all the reasons Leah wouldn't work.  

However, once I interviewed Leah, I changed my mind. She's perfect. In addition to being everything I know I wanted for this position (clerk and bookkeeper) I would be able to get along with her--which is also high on my list of qualifications. She doesn't really want to sell houses and kind of does it for a side hustle while she works as a bookkeeper for a friend of hers. She'd like to loose the friend-of-hers job and find something a bit more consistent with the real estate side hustle. She's older, more seasoned and not into drama. Confidentiality wouldn't be an issue. I liked her more than I should have.  

Then Tessa changed her mind. She didn't want an agent from the office for all the same reasons I initially didn't want her. We've gone round and round on Leah and I know I just need to whip through the five stages of grief and move on. Bummer. 

Then, I interviewed two more. The first one had great qualifications and interviewed well. If I ever get through with these interviews, she would be one I'd call her back for a second run. 

Or I would have called her back until I found out she had been Tessa's rental client last year. This woman's behavior cost Tessa a lot of money and Tessa lost a contract with a long-time and prolific landlord client who had been a regular source of Tessa's income. Tessa had nothing positive to say when she found out this woman interviewed with me. Given my opinion of entitled tenants who lie and mislead--and I could see this woman being that kind of person--she's my PTSD'd induced nope. 

In addition to Leah (my favorite and qualified) I also spent an hour with Kristy. Kristy is part of the Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters, Kiwanis, and several other civic organizations. She is a Girl Scout mom, a past Junior League president and the list goes on. She does this and also finds time to raise four kids. She'd be bored in this job in three months, tops. 

This coming week I have a few more interviews. None sound as wonderful as Leah. So, now I'm looking for a clerk/bookkeeper who doesn't have too much ambition, hasn't previously annoyed Tessa and isn't Leah. Tall order. 

Here's to Another Five Presidents

I had to go clothes shopping last weekend. There were three reasons for this: 

1. My shoe broke. While I was trying to glue it back together, Marty asked how old the shoes were. I guestimated I bought them in 1993 when I went to work for the March of Dimes. But, they could be older than that. Plus, the one pair of slacks I've been wearing this week date back to the second Clinton administration.

2. Most of my professional ("realtor") clothes are scattered around the Mesa area Goodwills, as I donated most everything (except the Clinton-era slacks) because I wasn't going to work when I got to Texas. 

3. After I accepted the job from Tessa she said in a roundabout way, that she expected her Operations Manager to look like a manager and not a clerical assistant. That's me paraphrasing. What she said was, "Y'all got any other pants?" I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans. And, I speak enough Southern to get the gist. 

When I went to buy shoes on Saturday, the clerk sadly reported they weren't on sale. I told her that was ok. I'd get 30 years out of them. 

I'm Not Making This Up

I live in a metro area of about 60,000. It isn't like I'm in complete Hickville, but maybe I am. This was on the Next Door App today: 

"Ok about 11 tonight a young mule found its way to our property my dogs alerted me of him he followed me into a safety pen I have setup and ready for animals such as him but if he is yours hit me up."

Seven Weeks

I drew a picture for my nephew.
He likes robots. 

It's been seven weeks since the Sunshine family became Texans. 

We learned that drivers can drive at safe speeds, that the price of gasoline is under $3 a gallon in some parts of the world, and yet the cost of a gallon of milk is over $4. We discovered there are a group of indigenous people who put mayo on hamburgers--because they think it tastes good. Scratch that, they put mayo on everything (mayo is gross). We also found out that it is much harder to get supplies than I expected. Big cities have their place in the world. But then again, so do small cities.  

We also had a crash course on weather. It was 60 degrees on Wednesday! 60 DEGREES!!!! Yesterday, Buck and Polly's school was closed, the bank was closed and Marty's office sent folks home at noon. Why? Because a storm was a brewing. 

Today, we woke up to this. To be fair, there's A LOT of ice under that dusting of snow. That's the real danger.