Got Permission

Ok, so the tease is over. This is a true story and one that needs to be shared. For the record, I am absolutely not telling this story to make fun of my wife. It was one of those life moments that occurred and most people will find to be a "real" moment and one that they can possibly relate to. I think it is something that either already has or absolutely should be integrated into one of those "family sitcoms."

Monday was Jonas' 4th birthday. We were having an awesome family day. We woke up and went to Chuck E. Cheeses' and played for a while. Then we went to lunch at Demos' (Jonas wanted spaghetti and we wanted Demos'--perfect!). After that we headed up to Nashville so I could turn in some stuff at the office. Jonas and Cindy played on the Wii while I got my stuff done. Then we went to the Zoo and played on their epic playground. All during this Jonas was getting his birthday presents one at a time. He got a new pair of cowboy boots (with Buzz and Woody on them that light up!) first thing, then he got a new movie to watch in the van (that didn't work at first, of course), then he got a new book to read when the movie didn't work. Well, the last present was given to him after we visited the Zoo. It was a little Betta tank. We then drove down Nolensville Road to the Aquatic Critter.

Cindy had been collecting information from all of her fish afficianado friends for the past 3 or 4 weeks and was an informed customer. We went straight to the Bettas and Jonas picked out one on each row. Finally he settled on one (I think because it was closest to the floor and easy for him to point to). We got the fish in the bag and went out to the van. He was so very excited. He picked out a name--Jonas. I said, are you sure? What about something more exotic, like Phillipe? He said yes, Phillipe. Then 5 minutes later it was back to Jonas. Cindy then told us all about how Bettas are Asian and live in rice patties and jump from one patty to another, etc. I was quite impressed with her knowledge (you know me, I am a trivia nerd). We got home and unpacked the little tank and she took charge. I washed the tank out (no soap, just several rinses). Then I had to rinse the little gravels. Well my dumb self tries to do that a little at a time in my hand. This of course led to several gravels going into the food disposal (nice and noisy later). She gave me a nice little strainer to finish the job (it worked much better). So at this point we have the little plastic plant and all the purple gravels in the little tank. She says the water has to be between 70 and 80 degrees. So I turn on the hot, and try to make it perfect. She gets the meat thermometer and holds it in the stream (I of course think about pregnancy tests, don't know why). We get the water to a perfect 80 degrees and fill the tank about 3/4 of the way up. We add some kind of almond oil extract conditioner stuff and I go to pour the fish in. She stops me and says that EVERYONE said not to mix the water the fish is in currently with the new water in the tank. I asked why. She said she didn't know but that EVERYONE said so. I say ok, whatever. So we proceed to pour water out of the fish bag a little at a time. I realize that there won't be enough water in the tank so I propose filling the tank the rest of the way. We do that, again, with perfec 80 degree water. Then she goes back to pouring out water a little at a time. The bag is really long so she wants to cut part of the bag off (like when the bag of chips gets low and you cut the top half off so you don't get your arms all nasty reaching in). She does this and goes back to pouring--slowly. I jokingly say, "don't put Jonas down the garbage disposal." She says, "don't worry." No more than 15 seconds later, PLOP. Jonas goes into the garbage disposal. We both freeze for like 3 seconds in utter panic. Jonas (the human) was in the living room (thankfully). I say, what are we going to do!?!?! Meanwhile, Cindy already has her hand in the disposal. She is freaking out and gets ahold of the fish. It slips out of her hand and she gets him again. Finally she pulls him out and plops him into the tank. By this time I am ROLLING with laughter. She of course does not find it funny at all. The fish just kind of hangs there in the water with his little side fins moving very rapidly. I just knew she had broken him. We take the tank into Jonas' room and watch him for like 30 minutes critiquing his every move (waiting for him to start floating, really). I start talking about how much I need to share this story and she bans me from speaking about it. Finally, she relents and says that if the fish lives a few days, I can share the story. Well, Jonas the fish is alive and kicking and I get to share this story. I hope you enjoyed it.

This is Jonas the Fish

Social Media

It has been a while since I last posted. I promised myself when I started the blog that I would be diligent. Well, I guess I lied to myself. Bad Harmon!!! Anyway, today we had our annual Weichert Sales Rally. It was really cool. I rode to Huntsville with two very cool people, Jessica Harrison and Tony Torres. I truly am blessed to have such cool colleagues at my office. We had great conversation the whole car trip there and back.

So the focus of the sales rally seemed to be on use of technology and social media. It got me thinking--from a non-realtor perspective, how effective is social media as part of a marketing strategy? In other words, when you see me post a new listing on my Facebook, what is your knee jerk response? Where is the line between posting things about my business as part of my life and posting things about my business as just part of my business? I never want to be the guy that people can't stand because all I talk about is business. I want my business to just be a natural part of my life and I NEVER want to be "that guy" that is always trying to sell something. So, if all this rambling makes sense to you, I would love to read your thoughts. What is good and proper use of social media for business, rate me on my use of social media, and just generally weigh in on the topic.

Culture

So last night was awesome. I took Rick, Matthew, Jonas and Tyler to the demolition derby at the Wilson County Fair. It was a sort of cultural awakening for Rick and Tyler. I mean, really, how great is it to have 18 huge old cars in a mud pit purposely running into each other in a sort of "king of the hill" battle royale? This experience generated a great conversation on the way home.

Before the event started they had an invocation asking for the drivers' safety and for everyone to act "sportsmanlike". We discussed how pop culture brings God in sometimes and how it is good/bad/misguided/lacking/and comical all at the same time. Think about it, "Dear God, we are going to line up these cars, crash 'em into each other and we want you to protect us from harm. By the way, we are going to put poisonous snakes in the car with us and a few sticks of dynamite. Please don't let us get hurt." This conversation of course segued into a discussion of pop music references to God, both purposeful and "implied." When Amy Lee sang "Bring Me to Life" did she mean to start a rumor that Evanescence was a Christian band? How does one interpret that song other than as a spiritual reference? What about the song "The Little Girl" by John Michael Montgomery--is it possible that Jesus is literally there with a child when the child is in that type of situation? The Bible does mention "the angel of the Lord." Do pop culture references to "God" or even to "god" show a deep societal longing for spitituality or do they show irreverance or is it something else entirely?

What do you think? I really just want to open this up as a conversation. You know me, I love spiritual discussions and would love any insights/thoughts/rants on the topic. Keep it civil.

It Just Grinds My Gears

Ok, so I know that the last blog was a bit of a rant. Here is another one. You know what bugs me? We have a county with well over 200,000 people and in this county we have the largest undergraduate university in the state. What bugs me is that other than a very small handful of businesses that might have a little bit of stuff on their signs outside, you would never know about the university!!!! If you drive through Knoxville, there is NO mistaking that the University of Tennessee resides in that town. For those of you who didn't know, MTSU football is poised to have a very successful season this year, for the second season in a row. Doing so would propel the program into a very nice position nationally. Before you get all up in arms and say that "we focus too much on academics, yadda, yadda, yadda," remember that football is (aside from tuition and state funding) the biggest money maker for a campus--period. If the football team stinks, the entire university is seen in a different light (I am not debating on the rightness or wrongness of this fact, I am simply stating it as fact). Last season was a good one. A lot more people started coming to games and wearing blue. It was a really nice shift that occurred among the fans. The crazy thing is, I did not see that shift occur among area businesses. This entire town should be painted blue. Every business from I-24 to Rutherford Blvd. should be flying blue flags and saying "Let's Go Blue" on their signs. It is time for Murfreesboro businesses to wake up and acknowledge the 25,000 plus students in their midst. Perhaps they wouldn't all go home on the weekend if they thought you wanted them around!! In the meantime, support the university and show some pride in the home team!! I don't care if you like UT, fly your orange and hate Lane Kiffin. Just show some pride in what we have RIGHT HERE also. NOW IS THE TIME--SHOW SOME MTSU HOMETOWN PRIDE!!! 
LET'S GO BLUE!!!!!

Professional Courtesy

Ok, so this blog will be somewhat of a rant followed with a question and opportunity for you to rant a little too.

My Rant:
As you know, I am a Realtor. As a Realtor, I have homes listed for sale. Other Realtors show those homes to prospective buyers. Sometimes the buyers want to buy my listing, sometimes they don't. When they don't, I, just like every other Realtor, want to know why. It is not necessarily to try to persuade them otherwise, it is more to let my homeowners know what is wrong with their home and why it has been passed up. We call it "feedback" on our showings. Pretty much every Realtor out there tries to collect feedback. Some call, some email, some do both. I normally call but started having trouble with people not giving much. They would say, "my clients put an offer on another home." I would ask, "ok, can you tell me what was wrong with my listing?" The other Realtor would say, "Nothing, they just put an offer on another home." WOW! That is helpful!! When I am asked to give feedback, I ALWAYS provide some specific criticism and some specific praise of the home. I know it helps the other Realtor and helps the home owner. I don't want houses sitting on the market for ANYONE. It looks bad for our market! I want other Realtors' clients to see what is wrong with their home and price it down until it sells. I want someone to know their house smells like pet urine and clean it before someone else comes through. I believe in professional courtesy. I don't ask much of people that view my listings. Don't get it dirty, leave a card and provide feedback. My new email system gives them an easy way to give feedback. It also gives an easy way for folks to ignore the request. Point in case, I had a showing at my personal home late last week. I sent the email requesting feedback. Nothing. I sent a second one. Nothing. I sent a third one. Nothing. I then called and asked for feedback. I got the "Nothing, they put an offer on another home." Her excuse was that she didn't have her notes with her. I buy that. That has happened to me (when it did, I called the agent back as soon as I got my notes). Thats why I sent it via email--answer at your leisure, when you have your notes. I don't get it. Am I the only courteous one out there?

This is one of the more discourteous things in the real estate world. I am SURE you all have very specific things that happen in your line of work that are discourteous. I would love to read your rants so that I don't feel that Realtors are the only rude ones out there!

Real Estate Tip

Ok, so this blog is almost entirely real estate related (with a personal twist, what can I say, I am a storyteller). Here is the tip--ALWAYS go on a second showing when you think you have found "the one" home. Did you read that? ALWAYS have a second look.

Here is the story. Cindy and I have had our home on the market for a little over a month now. We have been looking at homes here and there waiting for one to inspire us. Well, last Friday we went through a home that we absolutely loved. Immediately the rose-colored glasses came on. The floor plan was awesome, the hardwood floors were great, etc. etc. The problem was, as soon as we left we couldn't remember so much about the place. We couldn't even remember exactly what color the counter tops were. Cindy, in her infinite wisdom, pointed out that if we couldn't even remember the counter tops, we DEFINITELY didn't need to move on this home until we looked at it again. Plus, she said we needed to have our parents look with us because they would each have a different perspective. What a great idea she had!

Last night we looked again and discovered all manner of things that really turned us off. First, Jonas and I each have a fairly substantial allergy to pet hair and to cigarette smoke. This house had both. Worse-they tried to cover it up with a heavy air freshener--yuck! The upstairs trim was brown and all the air ducts were brown--yuck. So, right away, we would want new carpet (just upstairs, downstairs was all hardwood and tile), new paint--even the ceilings and trim, and a professional air duct cleaning. Then as we kept looking we noticed that the white cabinets in the kitchen were actually a sort of yellow color. They were those vinyl wrapped plywood cabinets and had become very discolored. Plus, several of them had actually melted--like they spilled something hot on the cabinet faces. There were some other little things, screens busted and one or two little settlement cracks (not bad at all for Rutherford County). Finally, we noticed that the hardwood had some kind of film on it. Not sure exactly what it was but we would definitely want it off. Anyway, we left with a much less rosey picture of that home. : (  We haven't ruled it out but we would definitely have to get a GREAT deal on it. Right now it is just an ok deal.

The moral of the story--when you go looking, have a list of things you want, a list of things you don't want and a list of things you could live with. Check off the list and make sure you look a second time before writing an offer. It will save you all kinds of heart ache (or sinus ache in some cases!).

Tales from the Tent

Well, it is finished. We survived and did fairly well. All that is left is to return merchandise and settle up. Last night after clean up we went to O'Charley's and reminisced about some of the more interesting moments. One thing is for sure, doing something like a fireworks tent, you see ALL kinds of people. We had everyone from the lady that needed to put on a small show (she only had $20 to spend) for her daughter because her deadbeat ex-husband got drunk and did not take the 9 year old to the Nashville fireworks as promised to the guy that came in and said "I have $1,000 to spend start putting stuff up at the counter". Below you will find some good stuff. If anyone reading this has some other memory from the tent that I forgot, feel free to type it up in a comment.
Great Stories (in no particular order):
Parker "Freakin" Burgess--So I had Parker Burgess on my "back up" list. I called him on Tuesday to see if he could fill in for someone that called out. He came in on Wednesday and we had our employee of the month. From minute one that kid sold like his life depended on it. Some of his highlights include selling a United We Stand (48 shell mortar) to two guys on BICYCLES!!, upselling someone from 2 boxes of snap pops to a $34.95 multi-pack, and working a marathon shift on his very first day. He also genuinely listened to people and tried really hard to get them stuff that would make them happy.

Dude lighting a Dyno Mighty Mite right at the entrance to the tent-- A Dyno Mighty Mite looks like a small stick of dynamite. It has approximately 15 M-90s in it. Dude comes in, buys one and then he throws it into someone else's car. This car happened to be right in front of the tent (not even 10 feet away). I reached for my pistol and started out the tent after him, he peeled out of the lot before I got to him. Good for him.

The "Drunk Parking Lot"-- For some reason drunkenness leads people to want to park in the mud. We had several people park in the dirt behind the tent instead of making the long 40 foot drive to the paved side of the tent. I already recounted my story about the dude backing into the mud in a 2 wheel drive pickup and getting stuck, only to throw mud on his wife/girlfriend. Tracy had a few drunks park back there too. So, the moral of the story is, if you are drunk and you go to a fireworks tent, park in the mud.

The Bank Robber--One day when me and Michelle were at the tent this older gentleman and his wife pull up in a mid 90s model Lincoln Towncar. He seemed like a very gentle spirit while she was loud and sort of obnoxious (but in a good way). She was definitely the one in charge of this particular transaction so I started talking to her about what they wanted. Meanwhile, the man was chatting up Michelle by the register. The lady and I picked out several items and brought them up. I had noticed that the man was talking to Michelle about God and asking her about her pastor, etc. When I got up to the register he gave me and Michelle each a copy of a book called Held Hostage. He caught me up to speed--he was a bank robber for 12 years and spent time in jail for it. While in jail, a CoC preacher converted him and now he travels the country with his story doing book signings. The cool part is that he said he felt led to our tent to share his story--nothing is accidental he said. It was really cool.

The Gangsters--LATE one night Gary, Dad and I were in the tent. Gary was playing Wii, I was straightening up merchandise and Dad was hanging out. A car pulls up and doesn't pull in. Four thuggish looking guys get out of the car. Three of the four match (black pants, plain white shirts, black hats, gang tatoos) and are very, very quiet (except that one of them asked where they were). The one that didn't match did all the talking. They walked in in a line and very slowly walked around the tent--looking at everything. I did all the talking for us and acted very non-chalant (all the while I had my hand on the handle of my .380). I glanced at dad and he had his thumb looped under his shirt so he could draw his pistol quickly. I also took notice of Gary--who was now sitting down with his hand under a shopping bag (a shopping bag where the resident 9mm laid). I think they noticed our positioning (Gary watching 2/3 of the tent and dad watching the opposite 2/3 while I kept facing them and staying in front--we made a nice little triangle, very defensive position) and decided this was not the tent to rob. The did need an exit strategy so they bought some bottle rockets and snap pops and told us how they were gonna go back to Nashville and "pop off" all their firecrackers. We wished them a good evening and took a very deep sigh of relief. Was it profiling? Absolutely. Were we wrong? Maybe. Most of the cops we have talked to don't think we were wrong.

Coastal Friends--Again, me,Gary and Dad in the tent. Two dudes come up in a customized Suburban. As they get out, we notice that they look somewhat gangster-ish as well. Dad decides to chat them up about some tatoo work (did not look gang-related). Come to find out that one guy is from South Central LA, the other is from NYC. They did not know each other until they met in Nashville, just by chance. Come to find out that they had very similar backgrounds and grew up in very similar neighborhoods--just on opposite sides of the country. Now they are best friends. Oh, and the best part--he had a 600cc GSXR IN the Suburban on its side. We joked about them getting the bike in because both of these guys were pretty big (at least 250 each).

There were so many more great stories. If you ever want to really do some people watching--go to something like our tent. You see the real people. It is so much better than any "reality" TV show.