Bold 58
When The Going Gets Weird
By Mikel K
Does anyone know when The CVS in Dublin, Ireland opens?
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
--Ernest Hemingway
"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been
poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that
money cannot be eaten."--Native American Proverb (Kudos to Rich Morrare).
I made a sale, tonight. It wasn't a huge sale, but everybody cheered like it was when it was announced that I was going on "The Board." I really wanted to make another sale, and I did all that I could to do such, but such did not occur. That is what tomorrow is for: to make another sale!!
Got to love a day off; when we wake up it will be hump day, already. It is supposed to be 95 degrees out tomorrow; ouch!! You know who I miss: George Harrison. He seems like he must have been one of the nicest guys on the planet. Didn't cigarettes get him?
Up at 6:57am. One of the cats barfed up a hairball in the middle of the night onto the foot of my bed, and I kept touching it with my leg. I'm sluggish this morning, anxious for that first cup of coffee that is brewing.
Bernie, the plumber, is here, today, and is, hopefully, going to return hot water to our existence. Shawtie, is not happy about Bernie's presence: she won't shut up. Shawtie is a guest in our house, until next Monday, a half Pit, half Shar-Pei small in size dog with a big presence. Telling Shawtie to shut up does no good. When it comes to this barking Miss Thing, she really makes my dog Dylan seem like an angel, because Dylan will, at least, quiet down when I ask him to.
I made no sales, last night, on the phones, though I came so very close a number of times. I don't know if that is just how it is, or if I still lack that strong closer instinct. I have to wonder if one of the better salesmen in the office would have been able to close on conversations that got away from me mostly when the price of opera tickets was brought up towards the end of my talks with folks.
Yeah Bernie, we have hot water; I can take a nice warm shower, instead of a freezing cold one, before I go to work today. Shawtie, hours later, still hasn't shut up.
This heat is something, is it not? My poor two little air conditioners are killing themselves to keep us cool, and it is still hot in spots, like right here at my desk. I feel awesome, though, to be alive; hot, or cold, is probably way better than dead!
I find more excuses to not eat spinach, and the spinach just goes bad in my refrigerator; sad, sad, sad. Just got a letter from Georgia Power that said, due to repeated delinquencies, a deposit in the amount of $150. has been billed to your account." Isn't this a bit like throwing a drowning man a cement live preserver?
I just spoke with the rudest, most threatening "customer service" person that I have ever spoken with in my life; a representative of Ga. Power. I said to him, "You are the worst customer service person that I have ever gotten; have a nice night," and then I hung up on him. I'm sure that the next call to The Utility God will yield better results. It's fucking hot in here.
Heat takes its toll on me; I don't weather it well, but at five a.m. I don't even need to have the air conditioners on. I will walk the dogs before the sun comes up; there are solutions for most any issue.
Up at 7:34, but I immediately went back down until 8:57. The dogs are chomping at the bit to get outside, but they know darn well that I have to have my cup of coffee before we go. I've got water in my ear; I forgot when swimming, yesterday, that I need to wear ear plugs. Since I work at nights, now, I need to take my Yoga classes in the morning, and there is a great one, this morning, that I am planning to attend. Have a great day!
Precious One
I guess that I wanted to be a rock star
but, instead, I was a drunk,
and I would smash the guitars
in a blackout, and wake up horrified
to see what I had done.
When I sobered up,I did not smash the guitars
but, even though I took lessons,
the guitar, and I, were never to be one.
My youngest son plays very well.
It was I, me, me, me who bought him his guitars,
and who got him into lessons,
and, of course, he who practiced, practiced, practiced.
I think that the gift of guitar is a precious one.
I hate leaf blowers
The dogs, and I, were all set for our quiet walk to the end of the street; we weren't going for distance, we weren't out for exercise, we were just out to let the dogs do their thing, and let me get back to composing great works of literature. The walk is always pleasant. There are bountiful trees in our hood, and many pretty flowers to look at, but this morning, a woman was out making her paycheck with a leaf blower. The noise that leaf blowers make,makes me feel as if I am dragging my teeth along a chalkboard, or chewing on tin foil. I hate leaf blowers; they seem like such an unfair, and useless machine. Can't these folks use a rake?
Her goals are more realistic than mine
She wants to teach English
where I always wanted to write best sellers
that would have the whole world love me
but as I tried, I came to realize that
the more you get known the more people
you come to know of who don't like you.
But come to think of it, some people
don't like English teachers either,
so what are you to do, but be yourself,
and do the next right thing?
Who knows what time Trader Joe's is open until tonight? I need lemons for my water, and English tea for my blood. Morisson will accompany me there, as he always does.
I used to think that once the last kid got out of high school that I would move to the big city to be discovered. New York, I thought, or San Francisco, or L.A. Surely the big time would be waiting for me there. An agent would snag me, almost immediately upon my arrival, the book would come out, and all my dreams would come true. Lights, Camera, K.
But then a weird thing happened; my dreams changed. I no longer dreamed of wealth, and fame; peace of mind, and family, started to become more important, and I started to like the idea of anonymity more than I did that of having strangers come up to me at the grocery store and ask for my autograph. People camping outside my house, started to no longer appeal to me, and I certainly did not want some crazed fan to come up to me and do to me what had happened to John Lennon.
I have one year until my youngest child graduates. She doesn't much need me now, but I am here for her if she does. She is a Senior in high school, now. What a trip, or what a long strange trip it's been to say it more aptly, stealing from The Grateful Dead. I don't know what lays in store for her when she graduates, and I don't know what lays in store for me either, at this time.
Like Casey Kasem used to say on his radio program, "American Top 40," I'm going to keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. I have discovered myself, if no one else has. I am huge in my own mind. Does anybody want to buy a copy of, "The Delivery Guy," or one of my poetry books?
Peace, and Love, baby. Peace, and Love.
I have a white out type product called, "Liquid Paper," on my desk. I am happy about this. For a long time I have wanted to buy White Out, but I would always forget. Knowing that I have Liquid Paper on my desk gives me a sense of security. It doesn't matter if The Government is watching me through my pillow, I can eradicate errors on the page written by pen. I am going to bed, now, and will get a beautiful night's sleep. You are beautiful; you really are. Good night.
A miracle happened last night. After five years of ignoring me, of running from me when I try to pet him, my cat Jaggar curled up on the bed next to me, befpre I drifted off to sleep, and let me pet him. I have noticed advances in Jaggar's affection towards me, recently; he has been lingering longer at my ankles than he used to when he wants something such as a cat treat. I scratched Jaggar's back, as I was scratching my other cat Kobain's back before I went to sleep. It was a very spiritual thing. Animals are beautiful; each one has there own special personality, and I always try to respect that.
My bike is in the shop; it took me 30 minutes to walk home from The Arts Center Station: it was a brisk, fun walk. I took the bus from our office in Buckhead, and when I got on the bus I looked around and realized that the thing all of us had in common is that we are poor. I don't feel poor in spirit, though; I was glad to be on that air-conditioned bus, glad to be on my way home. My dogs were super glad to see me.
I'm well-caffeinated, and yet I am tired. I thought that I would be able to come home from work and transcribe some of this book that I have been writing at work, about work, from notebook to computer, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. What is going to happen is that I am going to take the dogs for a quick walk, and then I am going to land my head on my pillow; transcribing a great work of art will have to wait until tomorrow. Good night, my friends; sleep well.
I just got my bike back from The Shop. I have four new brake pads on it, a new chain, and a new sprocket. It rides like a new bike. I missed my bike. Marta takes an hour to an hour and a half to make the same trip to work that it takes twenty minutes on my bike to make, plus I have been missing out on the exercise that I get from my bike while I have sat on my bike. The air conditioning on the bus is nice, but the bike ride is twice as nice.
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
--Ernest Hemingway
Pulling out my birth certificate, I see that I was born at 814 that my dad was from Kinnitty, Ireland, and me mum was from Dublin.The length of my mother's pregnancy was 40 weeks, and I weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. when I came into this world. My mother was 32 when she had me, and my dad was 42. Sad that my relationship with either of them didn't work out.
Yoga, last night, was very difficult. I had a twenty minute bike ride to and from work, and put in three hours on the phone, immediately before hitting the Yoga mat. This, plus a quick argument with the neighbors, about some hummus that I allegedly took from them without following proper protocol, proved to be too much to let me have a good Yoga session.
At one point my instructor even said, kind of jokingly, "Do I have to think for both of us?" I was exhausted. I was in a zombie-like state, tinged with touches of anger. I could not concentrate on the work at hand. It was a terrible session, and I was elated when it was over. I am thinking of moving back to a Level 1 class, because this Level 1-2 is is full of asanas that are mostly unattainable for me.
Who cares what level you are in?
The r.em. song, "Losing My Religion," makes me feel very spiritual.
I made my first sale last night.
--Mikel K
Buy a K Book: http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
Donate to K: www.mikelk.com
Friend K on Facebook under: mikelkpoet
"If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."--Hunter S. Thompson
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Does anyone know when The CVS in Dublin, Ireland opens?
"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
--Native American Proverb (Kudos to Rich Morrare for posting this).
Up at 7:34, but I immediately went back down until 8:57. The dogs are chomping at the bit to get outside, but they know darn well that I have to have my cup of coffee before we go. I've got water in my ear; I forgot when swimming, yesterday, that I need to wear ear plugs. Since I work at nights, now, I need to take my Yoga classes in the morning, and there is a great one, this morning, that I am planning to attend. Have a great day!
Precious One
I guess that I wanted to be a rock star
but, instead, I was a drunk,
and I would smash the guitars
in a blackout, and wake up horrified
to see what I had done.
When I sobered up,I did not smash the guitars
but, even though I took lessons,
the guitar, and I, were never to be one.
My youngest son plays very well.
It was I, me, me, me who bought him his guitars,
and who got him into lessons,
and, of course, he who practiced, practiced, practiced.
I think that the gift of guitar is a precious one.
I hate leaf blowers
The dogs, and I, were all set for our quiet walk to the end of the street; we weren't going for distance, we weren't out for exercise, we were just out to let the dogs do their thing, and let me get back to composing great works of literature. The walk is always pleasant. There are bountiful trees in our hood, and many pretty flowers to look at, but this morning, a woman was out making her paycheck with a leaf blower. The noise that leaf blowers make,makes me feel as if I am dragging my teeth along a chalkboard, or chewing on tin foil. I hate leaf blowers; they seem like such an unfair, and useless machine. Can't these folks use a rake?
I am tired from being at The Pool all day, and I don't feel like walking the dogs. Henry the great Great Dane, who lives next door, is barking incessantly. I need to let him visit, but I need to get my dogs around the block first. I need, I need, I want, I want, and the dogs need, need, need, and want, want, want. And so it goes!
Her goals are more realistic than mine
She wants to teach English
where I always wanted to write best sellers
that would have the whole world love me
but as I tried, I came to realize that
the more you get known the more people
you come to know of who don't like you.
But come to think of it, some people
don't like English teachers either,
so what are you to do, but be yourself,
and do the next right thing?
Who knows what time Trader Joe's is open until tonight? I need lemons for my water, and English tea for my blood. Morisson will accompany me there, as he always does.
"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
--Native American Proverb (Kudos to Rich Morrare for posting this).
Up at 7:34, but I immediately went back down until 8:57. The dogs are chomping at the bit to get outside, but they know darn well that I have to have my cup of coffee before we go. I've got water in my ear; I forgot when swimming, yesterday, that I need to wear ear plugs. Since I work at nights, now, I need to take my Yoga classes in the morning, and there is a great one, this morning, that I am planning to attend. Have a great day!
Precious One
I guess that I wanted to be a rock star
but, instead, I was a drunk,
and I would smash the guitars
in a blackout, and wake up horrified
to see what I had done.
When I sobered up,I did not smash the guitars
but, even though I took lessons,
the guitar, and I, were never to be one.
My youngest son plays very well.
It was I, me, me, me who bought him his guitars,
and who got him into lessons,
and, of course, he who practiced, practiced, practiced.
I think that the gift of guitar is a precious one.
I hate leaf blowers
The dogs, and I, were all set for our quiet walk to the end of the street; we weren't going for distance, we weren't out for exercise, we were just out to let the dogs do their thing, and let me get back to composing great works of literature. The walk is always pleasant. There are bountiful trees in our hood, and many pretty flowers to look at, but this morning, a woman was out making her paycheck with a leaf blower. The noise that leaf blowers make,makes me feel as if I am dragging my teeth along a chalkboard, or chewing on tin foil. I hate leaf blowers; they seem like such an unfair, and useless machine. Can't these folks use a rake?
I am tired from being at The Pool all day, and I don't feel like walking the dogs. Henry the great Great Dane, who lives next door, is barking incessantly. I need to let him visit, but I need to get my dogs around the block first. I need, I need, I want, I want, and the dogs need, need, need, and want, want, want. And so it goes!
Her goals are more realistic than mine
She wants to teach English
where I always wanted to write best sellers
that would have the whole world love me
but as I tried, I came to realize that
the more you get known the more people
you come to know of who don't like you.
But come to think of it, some people
don't like English teachers either,
so what are you to do, but be yourself,
and do the next right thing?
Who knows what time Trader Joe's is open until tonight? I need lemons for my water, and English tea for my blood. Morisson will accompany me there, as he always does.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
I used to think that once the last kid got out of high school that I would move to the big city to be discovered. New York, I thought, or San Francisco, or L.A. Surely the big time would be waiting for me there. An agent would snag me, almost immediately upon my arrival, the book would come out, and all my dreams would come true. Lights, Camera, K.
But then a weird thing happened; my dreams changed. I no longer dreamed of wealth, and fame; peace of mind, and family, started to become more important, and I started to like the idea of anonymity more than I did that of having strangers come up to me at the grocery store and ask for my autograph. People camping outside my house, started to no longer appeal to me, and I certainly did not want some crazed fan to come up to me and do to me what had happened to John Lennon.
I have one year until my youngest child graduates. She doesn't much need me now, but I am here for her if she does. She is a Senior in high school, now. What a trip, or what a long strange trip it's been to say it more aptly, stealing from The Grateful Dead. I don't know what lays in store for her when she graduates, and I don't know what lays in store for me either, at this time.
Like Casey Kasem used to say on his radio program, "American Top 40," I'm going to keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. I have discovered myself, if no one else has. I am huge in my own mind. Does anybody want to buy a copy of, "The Delivery Guy," or one of my poetry books?
Peace, and Love, baby. Peace, and Love.
http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
I have a white out type product called, "Liquid Paper," on my desk. I am happy about this. For a long time I have wanted to buy White Out, but I would always forget. Knowing that I have Liquid Paper on my desk gives me a sense of security. It doesn't matter if The Government is watching me through my pillow, I can eradicate errors on the page written by pen. I am going to bed, now, and will get a beautiful night's sleep. You are beautiful; you really are. Good night.
A miracle happened last night. After five years of ignoring me, of running from me when I try to pet him, my cat Jaggar curled up on the bed next to me, befpre I drifted off to sleep, and let me pet him. I have noticed advances in Jaggar's affection towards me, recently; he has been lingering longer at my ankles than he used to when he wants something such as a cat treat. I scratched Jaggar's back, as I was scratching my other cat Kobain's back before I went to sleep. It was a very spiritual thing. Animals are beautiful; each one has there own special personality, and I always try to respect that.
But then a weird thing happened; my dreams changed. I no longer dreamed of wealth, and fame; peace of mind, and family, started to become more important, and I started to like the idea of anonymity more than I did that of having strangers come up to me at the grocery store and ask for my autograph. People camping outside my house, started to no longer appeal to me, and I certainly did not want some crazed fan to come up to me and do to me what had happened to John Lennon.
I have one year until my youngest child graduates. She doesn't much need me now, but I am here for her if she does. She is a Senior in high school, now. What a trip, or what a long strange trip it's been to say it more aptly, stealing from The Grateful Dead. I don't know what lays in store for her when she graduates, and I don't know what lays in store for me either, at this time.
Like Casey Kasem used to say on his radio program, "American Top 40," I'm going to keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. I have discovered myself, if no one else has. I am huge in my own mind. Does anybody want to buy a copy of, "The Delivery Guy," or one of my poetry books?
Peace, and Love, baby. Peace, and Love.
http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
I have a white out type product called, "Liquid Paper," on my desk. I am happy about this. For a long time I have wanted to buy White Out, but I would always forget. Knowing that I have Liquid Paper on my desk gives me a sense of security. It doesn't matter if The Government is watching me through my pillow, I can eradicate errors on the page written by pen. I am going to bed, now, and will get a beautiful night's sleep. You are beautiful; you really are. Good night.
A miracle happened last night. After five years of ignoring me, of running from me when I try to pet him, my cat Jaggar curled up on the bed next to me, befpre I drifted off to sleep, and let me pet him. I have noticed advances in Jaggar's affection towards me, recently; he has been lingering longer at my ankles than he used to when he wants something such as a cat treat. I scratched Jaggar's back, as I was scratching my other cat Kobain's back before I went to sleep. It was a very spiritual thing. Animals are beautiful; each one has there own special personality, and I always try to respect that.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
--Ernest Hemingway
My bike is in the shop; it took me 30 minutes to walk home from The Arts Center Station: it was a brisk, fun walk. I took the bus from our office in Buckhead, and when I got on the bus I looked around and realized that the thing all of us had in common is that we are poor. I don't feel poor in spirit, though; I was glad to be on that air-conditioned bus, glad to be on my way home. My dogs were super glad to see me.
I'm well-caffeinated, and yet I am tired. I thought that I would be able to come home from work and transcribe some of this book that I have been writing at work, about work, from notebook to computer, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. What is going to happen is that I am going to take the dogs for a quick walk, and then I am going to land my head on my pillow; transcribing a great work of art will have to wait until tomorrow. Good night, my friends; sleep well.
I just got my bike back from The Shop. I have four new brake pads on it, a new chain, and a new sprocket. It rides like a new bike. I missed my bike. Marta takes an hour to an hour and a half to make the same trip to work that it takes twenty minutes on my bike to make, plus I have been missing out on the exercise that I get from my bike while I have sat on my bike. The air conditioning on the bus is nice, but the bike ride is twice as nice.
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
--Ernest Hemingway
Pulling out my birth certificate, I see that I was born at 814 that my dad was from Kinnitty, Ireland, and me mum was from Dublin.The length of my mother's pregnancy was 40 weeks, and I weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. when I came into this world. My mother was 32 when she had me, and my dad was 42. Sad that my relationship with either of them didn't work out.
Yoga, last night, was very difficult. I had a twenty minute bike ride to and from work, and put in three hours on the phone, immediately before hitting the Yoga mat. This, plus a quick argument with the neighbors, about some hummus that I allegedly took from them without following proper protocol, proved to be too much to let me have a good Yoga session.
At one point my instructor even said, kind of jokingly, "Do I have to think for both of us?" I was exhausted. I was in a zombie-like state, tinged with touches of anger. I could not concentrate on the work at hand. It was a terrible session, and I was elated when it was over. I am thinking of moving back to a Level 1 class, because this Level 1-2 is is full of asanas that are mostly unattainable for me.
Who cares what level you are in?
I made my first sale last night.
It took me nine nights on the phone, and close to 36 hours to do this. As it was happening, it seemed easy; but Lord know that I put in a lot of effort to get to this point. Everybody clapped, and hollered for me, and then the boss said, "That's great, now get on to the next one!!"
Dylan sticks his tongue out at me, semi-salivating, when I cast my empty hand in his direction. The chunks of fresh pineapple that I then throw to him, and the other two dogs, lays on the floor for several minutes; the dogs are not sure if they like this new treat. The cats meow at me when I walk into the kitchen. The turtles move back and forth in their box. It is a normal day here at The K Hotel.
You make some Great Banana Breads, and then you get cocky; you don't follow the recipe anymore, use your hand as the measuring spoon for the salt, and the baking soda, etc., and what happens...your last Banana Bread tastes a tad like toothpaste!
I hope that your day is brilliant, and full of Love.
Up @ 8:53 I may have to go see a chiropractor; my right lower back has been paining me, at times, & yesterday, in the new Yoga class that I went to, it gave me fits of pain. There is a good in town chiropractor, that my old chiropractor, Dr. Ackerman, told me about, who I will probably check out. The good thing about having a job, is that you have money for chiropractors, well not this week, but with the next check!
I hate when I pull on skin on one of my fingers, making it hurt, at first, and then causing it to bleed. What is this fascination with dangling dead skin that causes me to want to rid it from my body, even though I have a past history of suffering pain as a result of this action? (I'm bleeding now).
Nothing to do but smile: rainy days, and Mondays, never get me down!
I made some hummus, and ate it; I love hummus, and I especially love my home-made variety. I'm listening to Randy Newman; what a roller coaster of emotions that man takes you on in his song. I'm tired, but I don't feel like laying down: it's one of those nights where I feel like I might miss out on something by saying goodbye to the computer. I'm wondering what you are doing?
Up at 7:28 am bright eyed and bushy tailed, whatever bushy tailed means...I was just petting Shawtie with one hand, and Morisson with the other; Dylan looked up at me like saying, "Where is my hand?" I said to him, "I only have two hands," and he went over to Morisson, and pushed him away from my hand, so he could take advantage of it. It's a dog's life.
Bundy licks my hand, and when I smell my hand, it smells like dog. It is Sunday, and I am losing my religion. I think that I am up too early. I think that my bed is calling to me. I know that the dogs, cats, and turtles are fed. I know that the turtles' tank needs cleaning. I know that it is a beautiful day to be alive. Carp diem.
I just woke up for the second time, and I must say that I feel much more awake this time. I have a lot of writing that I did into a notebook on my new book, "It's Hard To Get Rick at $7.25 an Hour," that I need to type onto this puter. I have two days off, and I feel great about it. I feel bad for all the men, and women, who died in war. War sucks.
--Ernest Hemingway
My bike is in the shop; it took me 30 minutes to walk home from The Arts Center Station: it was a brisk, fun walk. I took the bus from our office in Buckhead, and when I got on the bus I looked around and realized that the thing all of us had in common is that we are poor. I don't feel poor in spirit, though; I was glad to be on that air-conditioned bus, glad to be on my way home. My dogs were super glad to see me.
I'm well-caffeinated, and yet I am tired. I thought that I would be able to come home from work and transcribe some of this book that I have been writing at work, about work, from notebook to computer, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. What is going to happen is that I am going to take the dogs for a quick walk, and then I am going to land my head on my pillow; transcribing a great work of art will have to wait until tomorrow. Good night, my friends; sleep well.
I just got my bike back from The Shop. I have four new brake pads on it, a new chain, and a new sprocket. It rides like a new bike. I missed my bike. Marta takes an hour to an hour and a half to make the same trip to work that it takes twenty minutes on my bike to make, plus I have been missing out on the exercise that I get from my bike while I have sat on my bike. The air conditioning on the bus is nice, but the bike ride is twice as nice.
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
--Ernest Hemingway
Pulling out my birth certificate, I see that I was born at 814 that my dad was from Kinnitty, Ireland, and me mum was from Dublin.The length of my mother's pregnancy was 40 weeks, and I weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. when I came into this world. My mother was 32 when she had me, and my dad was 42. Sad that my relationship with either of them didn't work out.
Yoga, last night, was very difficult. I had a twenty minute bike ride to and from work, and put in three hours on the phone, immediately before hitting the Yoga mat. This, plus a quick argument with the neighbors, about some hummus that I allegedly took from them without following proper protocol, proved to be too much to let me have a good Yoga session.
At one point my instructor even said, kind of jokingly, "Do I have to think for both of us?" I was exhausted. I was in a zombie-like state, tinged with touches of anger. I could not concentrate on the work at hand. It was a terrible session, and I was elated when it was over. I am thinking of moving back to a Level 1 class, because this Level 1-2 is is full of asanas that are mostly unattainable for me.
Who cares what level you are in?
I made my first sale last night.
It took me nine nights on the phone, and close to 36 hours to do this. As it was happening, it seemed easy; but Lord know that I put in a lot of effort to get to this point. Everybody clapped, and hollered for me, and then the boss said, "That's great, now get on to the next one!!"
Dylan sticks his tongue out at me, semi-salivating, when I cast my empty hand in his direction. The chunks of fresh pineapple that I then throw to him, and the other two dogs, lays on the floor for several minutes; the dogs are not sure if they like this new treat. The cats meow at me when I walk into the kitchen. The turtles move back and forth in their box. It is a normal day here at The K Hotel.
You make some Great Banana Breads, and then you get cocky; you don't follow the recipe anymore, use your hand as the measuring spoon for the salt, and the baking soda, etc., and what happens...your last Banana Bread tastes a tad like toothpaste!
I hope that your day is brilliant, and full of Love.
Up @ 8:53 I may have to go see a chiropractor; my right lower back has been paining me, at times, & yesterday, in the new Yoga class that I went to, it gave me fits of pain. There is a good in town chiropractor, that my old chiropractor, Dr. Ackerman, told me about, who I will probably check out. The good thing about having a job, is that you have money for chiropractors, well not this week, but with the next check!
I hate when I pull on skin on one of my fingers, making it hurt, at first, and then causing it to bleed. What is this fascination with dangling dead skin that causes me to want to rid it from my body, even though I have a past history of suffering pain as a result of this action? (I'm bleeding now).
Nothing to do but smile: rainy days, and Mondays, never get me down!
I made some hummus, and ate it; I love hummus, and I especially love my home-made variety. I'm listening to Randy Newman; what a roller coaster of emotions that man takes you on in his song. I'm tired, but I don't feel like laying down: it's one of those nights where I feel like I might miss out on something by saying goodbye to the computer. I'm wondering what you are doing?
Up at 7:28 am bright eyed and bushy tailed, whatever bushy tailed means...I was just petting Shawtie with one hand, and Morisson with the other; Dylan looked up at me like saying, "Where is my hand?" I said to him, "I only have two hands," and he went over to Morisson, and pushed him away from my hand, so he could take advantage of it. It's a dog's life.
Bundy licks my hand, and when I smell my hand, it smells like dog. It is Sunday, and I am losing my religion. I think that I am up too early. I think that my bed is calling to me. I know that the dogs, cats, and turtles are fed. I know that the turtles' tank needs cleaning. I know that it is a beautiful day to be alive. Carp diem.
I just woke up for the second time, and I must say that I feel much more awake this time. I have a lot of writing that I did into a notebook on my new book, "It's Hard To Get Rick at $7.25 an Hour," that I need to type onto this puter. I have two days off, and I feel great about it. I feel bad for all the men, and women, who died in war. War sucks.
Monday, May 16, 2011
We perform on Saturdays, which are opening nights, Tuesdays, Friday Nights, and Sunday Matinee.
What is your favorite night to attend opera performances?
For the 3 operas on Sat. night in The Prime Orchestra section A, it would be
$460 per person.
Of course, this would make you a subscriber, and as a subscriber you have quite a few benefits.
Right off, you will receive up to 25% off the single ticket price
and 20% off any additional opera tickets that you buy.
You get the best seats in the Cobb Energy Centre reserved for you,
and these seats are yours every year until you let us know that you
don't want them anymore.
But, the best part of subscribing is that you don't ever have to worry about
scheduling, and conflicts. We have an extremely liberal exchange policy. If
something comes up at the last minute, all you have to do is call and we will
exchange your tickets for another date of the performance.
And, if you don't feel like exchangine, because we are a non-profit organization
so all you need to do is donate your tickets back to us before the date of the
performance, and receive a tax credit.
CLOSE:
Ok, so I have you at (address).
So, you want two seats in (Section____) which is ($________) oer person.
That comes to $______. There's a slight handling charge of $15, making it $_____.
What card would you like to use(Visa MC AMEX or Discover?
And the number?
And the expiration date?
Ask for a donation, and referrals.
Thank
What is your favorite night to attend opera performances?
For the 3 operas on Sat. night in The Prime Orchestra section A, it would be
$460 per person.
Of course, this would make you a subscriber, and as a subscriber you have quite a few benefits.
Right off, you will receive up to 25% off the single ticket price
and 20% off any additional opera tickets that you buy.
You get the best seats in the Cobb Energy Centre reserved for you,
and these seats are yours every year until you let us know that you
don't want them anymore.
But, the best part of subscribing is that you don't ever have to worry about
scheduling, and conflicts. We have an extremely liberal exchange policy. If
something comes up at the last minute, all you have to do is call and we will
exchange your tickets for another date of the performance.
And, if you don't feel like exchangine, because we are a non-profit organization
so all you need to do is donate your tickets back to us before the date of the
performance, and receive a tax credit.
CLOSE:
Ok, so I have you at (address).
So, you want two seats in (Section____) which is ($________) oer person.
That comes to $______. There's a slight handling charge of $15, making it $_____.
What card would you like to use(Visa MC AMEX or Discover?
And the number?
And the expiration date?
Ask for a donation, and referrals.
Thank
BOLD 57
The close:
So far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can't buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats.
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of the board, NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: they won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this jot. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected. No more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict. Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about it so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Boss Critique: Mikel, they won't buy if you mispronounce the names.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
He said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
(Above excerpt is from K's work in progress: It's Hard to Get Rich at $7.25 an hour."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You are where you are for a reason
He never made it but I did
He got his picture
on the cover of the magazine
He got his face
under the lights
in rooms full of strangers.
I stayed at home and raised my kids.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selling Out
I'll buy you
then I'll
put you
on my shelf.
I'll keep you
there
just for myself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was eleven, again, last night
When we were done playing football
in the dark with his new cloth Frisbee,
he asked for a bottle of water,
and then asked if he could get on the internet.
After I had laid down to sleep,
I heard him laughing in the dark
at things he was watching
on the comedy site that he had gone to.
This morning when I woke
I found You Tube opened to a section called
Amazing Bugs You Probably Didn't Know Exist!
We played a game of chess,
and he was gracious enough to
read me a Donald Hall poem.
What a night with Mr. Timothy Kelley.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the last nineteen years
People lose jobs
get jobs
buy houses
lose houses
get in car wrecks
take vacations at the beach
go to church
go to baseball games
watch football on tv
get married
get divorced
have children
the children grow up
the bank repossess the car
their dog runs away
the cat eats the dog's food
and through it all
I didn't get drunk.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To buy a K book:: http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
To donate to K: www.mikelk.com
To friend K on Facebook: mikelkpoet
The close:
So far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can't buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats.
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of the board, NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: they won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this jot. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected. No more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict. Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about it so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Boss Critique: Mikel, they won't buy if you mispronounce the names.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
He said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
(Above excerpt is from K's work in progress: It's Hard to Get Rich at $7.25 an hour."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You are where you are for a reason
He never made it but I did
He got his picture
on the cover of the magazine
He got his face
under the lights
in rooms full of strangers.
I stayed at home and raised my kids.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selling Out
I'll buy you
then I'll
put you
on my shelf.
I'll keep you
there
just for myself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was eleven, again, last night
When we were done playing football
in the dark with his new cloth Frisbee,
he asked for a bottle of water,
and then asked if he could get on the internet.
After I had laid down to sleep,
I heard him laughing in the dark
at things he was watching
on the comedy site that he had gone to.
This morning when I woke
I found You Tube opened to a section called
Amazing Bugs You Probably Didn't Know Exist!
We played a game of chess,
and he was gracious enough to
read me a Donald Hall poem.
What a night with Mr. Timothy Kelley.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the last nineteen years
People lose jobs
get jobs
buy houses
lose houses
get in car wrecks
take vacations at the beach
go to church
go to baseball games
watch football on tv
get married
get divorced
have children
the children grow up
the bank repossess the car
their dog runs away
the cat eats the dog's food
and through it all
I didn't get drunk.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To buy a K book:: http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
To donate to K: www.mikelk.com
To friend K on Facebook: mikelkpoet
THE CLOSE
"In order to achieve a goal, you must have a goal."--Roy Lantz
"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success, or failure."--Norman Vincent Peale
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
--Dolly Parton
"Self pity is a pathetic, woeful condition."--Roy Lantz
"Success is to wake up eager, and excited, about life."--Bradford Myers
"Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"
--Bob Dylan
"Lord knows I paid some dues gettin' through."--Bob Dylan
So far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can't buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats.
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of "the board," NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then I am tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me having to pay bills.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga at home, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith laughing at me, pointing a condescending finger. Well, point away. My faith gives me strength.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time, my jog as a phone salesperson for The Opera. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle, I keep telling myself.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: They won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone. I'm tired of being a starving poet. I need to have a marketable skill that will make me money until I hit the big time in The Literary World.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained, and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this job. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected: no more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict.
Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office, and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about my having a toothbrush on my desk, so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
My boss said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
I'd like to thank Jack at the bank, who was nice enough to let me struggle through the whole pitch, almost. Jack said that he wanted to look at the websites, and that I could call him back in a week. When you are learning something, such as a pitch, it is nice to find people who are patient with you, and will allow you to grow on their time clock.
I remember back when I was a sophomore in college for the fist time: a man ordered a bottle of wine from me, and I had never opened a bottle of wine before in my life. I dropped the cork in the bottle. The guy got a bit angry, more sarcastic really and said, "Look, if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen," and asked that the manager be brought to the table. The manager was not a dick, so I didn't get in any trouble, and I went on the be a champion wine bottle opener as my waiter career expanded, as I will be a champion phone sales person with time.
Ms. So and So just said, "I'm sorry. Bad timing. Got to go." CLICK.
There is a lot of CLICKING going on in my ear tonight; folks picking up their phone, and then hanging it up right away, among various other CLICK methods.
Mrs. Stankus: didn't answer, but I thought that her name was interesting to say the least, and that she must have had to listen to a lot of fart jokes about her name as a kid, and beyond.
Mrs. Simpson in a new twist on this business says, "How are you tonight, sir?" and then goes CLICK!
A woman driving in her car let me give her the whole pitch, but when I was done said, in so many words, "No thanks," and I still don't know how to handle the objection, "No thanks!" I am finding that women who are driving are apt to let me talk to them longer than most women at home do so far.
I always thought that women in Muslim headgear were quiet, and or angry, but there is this wonderfully vibrant woman in our office who has changed my mind about all that.
I started singing the theme song from the old, old t.v. show, "My Mother The Car," as I sat at my desk moments ago. Funny where your mind goes when you are on the phone, dialing, dialing, waiting to make a sale.
Coming back from the bathroom, I remember making prank phone calls as a kid. Asking a person who worked at the drugstore if they had Sir Walter Raleigh in a can is about the only prank call script that I can remember. If they said yes, I would reply, "Well, you better let him out, he is having trouble breathing!"
I also once convinced this guy, who was the brother of a girl who had, recently, dropped me, that he had just won a radio station contest by answering the five questions that I had just asked him correctly. His prize was a brand new refrigerator, and it would be there in three weeks.
After three weeks I called him back and asked him if he had gotten his refrigerator, and he hung up the phone on me!
I just sang along to, "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," to the dogs. It is amazing the lyrics to songs that you learn along the way on this path called Life.
NOW, though, I must quit singing to the dogs, and start studying my work things: The Pitch, and The Close!
My neighbor, the one who have been referring to as The Good Neighbor sent me an insulting email about hummus. What a piece of shit.
A lady named Ms. Lippitt made me t hink of Don Knotts and his movie, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet. I miss Don. He gave me hours, and hours, of entertainment, both in movies, and in the tv show, "Andy Griffith."
A lady just said that she thought that I said that my name was, "Mikel Opera." She was in her car, and on her way to Jacksonville, Florida. I don't think that she understood what I meant when I said, "Lynard Skynyrd?"
When I first got this job, I was buying things in my mind: a new bicycle helmet, a new computer monitor, new underwear; because I was sure that I was going to be a hit right of the bat at selling opera on the phone. As I sit here dialing leads with hardly anyone answering the phone, and those that do either clicking the phone in my ear, or having objections that I have been unable to overcome, I see that I will not be able to get a new front tire, and brake pads for my bicycle as fast as I thought that I would be able to. My first sale must just be around the corner.
I thought that working the phone in a room where other people were working their phones would be traumatizing. My co-worker just left the room to smoke; it is silent in here, almost lonely; funny what you get used to.
I'm not as scared of names that I can't pronounce as I was when I started. I figure out how I think the name is pronounced, and go for it.
"My wife takes care of the schedule." CLICK.
"I'm leaving the country for several months." CLICK
Have a nice trip.
The page on the computer monitor said, "Richard Doctor." Is his last name Doctor, or Is he a Doctor. He didn't answer, so I didn't get to find out.
"...but thanks for calling us," is a nice thing to hear, except for the "but."
I want to start fishing for compliments from the boss, but I know that that is stupid without having made a sale.
-----------------------------
This woman just told me that her brother would NEVER go to the opera with their dad, when she could not attend with him, and so she would not be needing season tickets. I think it sad that a man is so set in his ways that he can't do something that might make his father happy.
"Oops, Oh my God...this is the fifth time you all have called me." CLICK Then, I accidentally sent her page back into the computer without taking her off the list. OOPS
The world is going to end on Saturday, or something like that according to The Mayan Calendar. I bet a lot of people are freaked out about this. I just wish that I hadn't paid my bills; I could have used the extra cash before ascending into Heaven.
I just got two pick up the phones, and CLICK, in a row. People are just not in the mood to talk to me, tonight.
I just called Mrs. Spencer, and I couldn't help but wonder if she was a spinster.
Yoga, last night, was very difficult. I had a twenty minute bike ride to and from work, and put in three hours on the phone, immediately before hitting the Yoga mat. This, plus a quick argument with the neighbors, about some hummus that I allegedly took from them without following proper protocol, proved to be too much to let me have a good Yoga session.
At one point my instructor even said, kind of jokingly, "Do I have to think for both of us?" I was exhausted. I was in a zombie-like state, tinged with touches of anger. I could not concentrate on the work at hand. It was a terrible session, and I was elated when it was over. I am thinking of moving back to a Level 1 class, because this Level 1-2 is is full of asanas that are mostly unattainable for me. Who cares what level you are in?
I made my first sale last night.
It took me nine nights on the phone, and close to 36 hours to do this. As it was happening, it seemed easy; but Lord know that I put in a lot of effort to get to this point. Everybody clapped, and hollered for me, and then the boss said, "That's great, now get on to the next one!!"
I was a journalist for awhile, but was a practicing alcoholic at the same time so I don't remember large chunks of that time period.
5.19.11
I just talked to an answering machine. Some machines are so good that they make you think that you are talking to a human. I can't sell opera tickets to a machine.
It has got to be harder to bum a cigarette now than it was back in the day when I was bumming them. A pack of cigarettes costs from four, or five bucks, to seven, or so, these days, and I remember them being like two bucks back when I smoked. I quit about fifteen years ago, now. I don't miss that pack a day habit.
I remember being in jail in Atlanta for one of the first times that I was there, and the African American inmates would holler out, after scrumptious jail meal, "Got a biscuit for a roll up." "Got a vegetable for a roll up."
A lady on the phone just told my co-worker that it was, "None of his business, and complicated," when he asked why she wasn't interested in the opera; handling her objection, and this was just when I had thought that I had just about heard it all.
There is always coffee on the job; a delicious Italian coffee, that the boss man buys, and the assistant boss man brews to perfection. I have been thinking, recently, that I am more stressed out, as I adjust to this job being in my life, but it could just be because of the additional coffee that I am drinking!
I overcome my fears with every phone call that I make, especially to the ones that I don't want to make: some names I can't pronounce, some names scare me for one reason or another.
Blewett is the name of the last name that I dialed. I bet this guy had a hard time as a kid. Boy, you really blew it, Blewett.
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."
--Lance Armstrong
"In order to achieve a goal, you must have a goal."--Roy Lantz
"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success, or failure."--Norman Vincent Peale
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
--Dolly Parton
"Self pity is a pathetic, woeful condition."--Roy Lantz
"Success is to wake up eager, and excited, about life."--Bradford Myers
"Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"
--Bob Dylan
"Lord knows I paid some dues gettin' through."--Bob Dylan
So far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can't buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats.
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of "the board," NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then I am tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me having to pay bills.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga at home, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith laughing at me, pointing a condescending finger. Well, point away. My faith gives me strength.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time, my jog as a phone salesperson for The Opera. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle, I keep telling myself.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: They won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone. I'm tired of being a starving poet. I need to have a marketable skill that will make me money until I hit the big time in The Literary World.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained, and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this job. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected: no more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict.
Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office, and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about my having a toothbrush on my desk, so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
My boss said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
I'd like to thank Jack at the bank, who was nice enough to let me struggle through the whole pitch, almost. Jack said that he wanted to look at the websites, and that I could call him back in a week. When you are learning something, such as a pitch, it is nice to find people who are patient with you, and will allow you to grow on their time clock.
I remember back when I was a sophomore in college for the fist time: a man ordered a bottle of wine from me, and I had never opened a bottle of wine before in my life. I dropped the cork in the bottle. The guy got a bit angry, more sarcastic really and said, "Look, if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen," and asked that the manager be brought to the table. The manager was not a dick, so I didn't get in any trouble, and I went on the be a champion wine bottle opener as my waiter career expanded, as I will be a champion phone sales person with time.
Ms. So and So just said, "I'm sorry. Bad timing. Got to go." CLICK.
There is a lot of CLICKING going on in my ear tonight; folks picking up their phone, and then hanging it up right away, among various other CLICK methods.
Mrs. Stankus: didn't answer, but I thought that her name was interesting to say the least, and that she must have had to listen to a lot of fart jokes about her name as a kid, and beyond.
Mrs. Simpson in a new twist on this business says, "How are you tonight, sir?" and then goes CLICK!
A woman driving in her car let me give her the whole pitch, but when I was done said, in so many words, "No thanks," and I still don't know how to handle the objection, "No thanks!" I am finding that women who are driving are apt to let me talk to them longer than most women at home do so far.
I always thought that women in Muslim headgear were quiet, and or angry, but there is this wonderfully vibrant woman in our office who has changed my mind about all that.
I started singing the theme song from the old, old t.v. show, "My Mother The Car," as I sat at my desk moments ago. Funny where your mind goes when you are on the phone, dialing, dialing, waiting to make a sale.
Coming back from the bathroom, I remember making prank phone calls as a kid. Asking a person who worked at the drugstore if they had Sir Walter Raleigh in a can is about the only prank call script that I can remember. If they said yes, I would reply, "Well, you better let him out, he is having trouble breathing!"
I also once convinced this guy, who was the brother of a girl who had, recently, dropped me, that he had just won a radio station contest by answering the five questions that I had just asked him correctly. His prize was a brand new refrigerator, and it would be there in three weeks.
After three weeks I called him back and asked him if he had gotten his refrigerator, and he hung up the phone on me!
I just sang along to, "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," to the dogs. It is amazing the lyrics to songs that you learn along the way on this path called Life.
NOW, though, I must quit singing to the dogs, and start studying my work things: The Pitch, and The Close!
My neighbor, the one who have been referring to as The Good Neighbor sent me an insulting email about hummus. What a piece of shit.
A lady named Ms. Lippitt made me t hink of Don Knotts and his movie, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet. I miss Don. He gave me hours, and hours, of entertainment, both in movies, and in the tv show, "Andy Griffith."
A lady just said that she thought that I said that my name was, "Mikel Opera." She was in her car, and on her way to Jacksonville, Florida. I don't think that she understood what I meant when I said, "Lynard Skynyrd?"
When I first got this job, I was buying things in my mind: a new bicycle helmet, a new computer monitor, new underwear; because I was sure that I was going to be a hit right of the bat at selling opera on the phone. As I sit here dialing leads with hardly anyone answering the phone, and those that do either clicking the phone in my ear, or having objections that I have been unable to overcome, I see that I will not be able to get a new front tire, and brake pads for my bicycle as fast as I thought that I would be able to. My first sale must just be around the corner.
I thought that working the phone in a room where other people were working their phones would be traumatizing. My co-worker just left the room to smoke; it is silent in here, almost lonely; funny what you get used to.
I'm not as scared of names that I can't pronounce as I was when I started. I figure out how I think the name is pronounced, and go for it.
"My wife takes care of the schedule." CLICK.
"I'm leaving the country for several months." CLICK
Have a nice trip.
The page on the computer monitor said, "Richard Doctor." Is his last name Doctor, or Is he a Doctor. He didn't answer, so I didn't get to find out.
"...but thanks for calling us," is a nice thing to hear, except for the "but."
I want to start fishing for compliments from the boss, but I know that that is stupid without having made a sale.
-----------------------------
This woman just told me that her brother would NEVER go to the opera with their dad, when she could not attend with him, and so she would not be needing season tickets. I think it sad that a man is so set in his ways that he can't do something that might make his father happy.
"Oops, Oh my God...this is the fifth time you all have called me." CLICK Then, I accidentally sent her page back into the computer without taking her off the list. OOPS
The world is going to end on Saturday, or something like that according to The Mayan Calendar. I bet a lot of people are freaked out about this. I just wish that I hadn't paid my bills; I could have used the extra cash before ascending into Heaven.
I just got two pick up the phones, and CLICK, in a row. People are just not in the mood to talk to me, tonight.
I just called Mrs. Spencer, and I couldn't help but wonder if she was a spinster.
Yoga, last night, was very difficult. I had a twenty minute bike ride to and from work, and put in three hours on the phone, immediately before hitting the Yoga mat. This, plus a quick argument with the neighbors, about some hummus that I allegedly took from them without following proper protocol, proved to be too much to let me have a good Yoga session.
At one point my instructor even said, kind of jokingly, "Do I have to think for both of us?" I was exhausted. I was in a zombie-like state, tinged with touches of anger. I could not concentrate on the work at hand. It was a terrible session, and I was elated when it was over. I am thinking of moving back to a Level 1 class, because this Level 1-2 is is full of asanas that are mostly unattainable for me. Who cares what level you are in?
I made my first sale last night.
It took me nine nights on the phone, and close to 36 hours to do this. As it was happening, it seemed easy; but Lord know that I put in a lot of effort to get to this point. Everybody clapped, and hollered for me, and then the boss said, "That's great, now get on to the next one!!"
I was a journalist for awhile, but was a practicing alcoholic at the same time so I don't remember large chunks of that time period.
5.19.11
I just talked to an answering machine. Some machines are so good that they make you think that you are talking to a human. I can't sell opera tickets to a machine.
It has got to be harder to bum a cigarette now than it was back in the day when I was bumming them. A pack of cigarettes costs from four, or five bucks, to seven, or so, these days, and I remember them being like two bucks back when I smoked. I quit about fifteen years ago, now. I don't miss that pack a day habit.
I remember being in jail in Atlanta for one of the first times that I was there, and the African American inmates would holler out, after scrumptious jail meal, "Got a biscuit for a roll up." "Got a vegetable for a roll up."
A lady on the phone just told my co-worker that it was, "None of his business, and complicated," when he asked why she wasn't interested in the opera; handling her objection, and this was just when I had thought that I had just about heard it all.
There is always coffee on the job; a delicious Italian coffee, that the boss man buys, and the assistant boss man brews to perfection. I have been thinking, recently, that I am more stressed out, as I adjust to this job being in my life, but it could just be because of the additional coffee that I am drinking!
I overcome my fears with every phone call that I make, especially to the ones that I don't want to make: some names I can't pronounce, some names scare me for one reason or another.
Blewett is the name of the last name that I dialed. I bet this guy had a hard time as a kid. Boy, you really blew it, Blewett.
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."
--Lance Armstrong
Saturday, May 14, 2011
I'm in a good mood, and as I glanced at myself in the mirror, running back and forth with turtle rocks, I smiled, and the smile reminded me of the time in the 7th grade where I was nominated for the, "Most Winning Smile," award. I don't remember who nominated me, and I don't remember, back then, thinking at all that I had a winning smile. I didn't win, though, a fellow who was far more popular in the seventh grade than I did.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The close: so far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can't buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats.
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of the board, NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: they won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this jot. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected. No more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict. Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about it so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Boss Critique: Mikel, they won't buy if you mispronounce the names.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
He said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no's into yes's. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of the board, NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.
I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me.
It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.
Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, "God, hook me up with a job," but I did say, over and over, "God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine," and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.
I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don't have faith in faith.
I'm tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don't want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can't. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it's just not happening yet. Don't quit before the miracle.
I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.
Boss: they won't buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don't see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone.
I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.
Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the "Hello," sound much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.
It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn't, be doing. I heard someone say today, "Well, that is what I did, yesterday." Of course, I'm a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this jot. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.
"Thank you for your call," one voice mail said, and I muttered, "You are welcome," as I hung up the phone.
I just handled a lady's, "I don't have any money," objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.
Ms. So and So just hung up on me.
The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected. No more making peace.
Mr. Doe was, "NOT interested. Thank you." CLICK.
I showed my boss my, "Peace, Love, and Coffee," cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about "Peace, Love, and Coffee," just "WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict. Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, "Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?" I could tell that he wasn't all that thrilled about it so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.
This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat taht you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.
Sometimes, by accident, I say, "This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet," and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.
I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.
I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can't deliver a pitch, you can't handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.
Boss Critique: Mikel, they won't buy if you mispronounce the names.
Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss's critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don't know if I can do this.
He said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn't get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.
I've got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.
I just phone The Partridges. Ha, ha...The Partridge Family.
I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change."--Barbara de Angelis
I didn't get "On the Board," at work, tonight, but I had some great conversations with folks about the opera, and I have several people to call back, which denotes either a possible true interest later, or is just someone who doesn't know how to say, "NO."
My boss asked what I was having to eat, and I told him that it was a, "vegetarian meatloaf."
He said, "Are you a vegetarian?" I said, "Not completely; I don't like the way the animnals are raised, and killed, so I try to eat as little meat as possible, and when I do eat meat, I thank the animal that died for me.
"You thank the chicken," said my boss, with a laugh.
I laughed back, and said, "Yes, I thank the chicken."
My boss brought in several buckets of fried chicken for the crew, later in the evening.
I said to him, "You're not going to thank the chicken are you?"
He said, "I give thanks to God for all things. If I started to think about
the chicken, I would probably go crazy."
Probably, many of us are like this. If we thought about how that nicely packaged steak, or those
well-arranged thighs came to be sitting so pleasantly in the meat dept., we would probably greatly alter the way we eat.
I think that my boss is right, that we should give thanks for everything that we have in our lives, and I also think that thanking the cow, the pig, the chicken, the lamb, for dieing for us, does not go far enough to alleviate the great pain that they endure while being raised, and then killed on corporate farms.
I'm a sinner. Send me to hell for breathing.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change."--Barbara de Angelis
I didn't get "On the Board," at work, tonight, but I had some great conversations with folks about the opera, and I have several people to call back, which denotes either a possible true interest later, or is just someone who doesn't know how to say, "NO."
My boss asked what I was having to eat, and I told him that it was a, "vegetarian meatloaf."
He said, "Are you a vegetarian?" I said, "Not completely; I don't like the way the animnals are raised, and killed, so I try to eat as little meat as possible, and when I do eat meat, I thank the animal that died for me.
"You thank the chicken," said my boss, with a laugh.
I laughed back, and said, "Yes, I thank the chicken."
My boss brought in several buckets of fried chicken for the crew, later in the evening.
I said to him, "You're not going to thank the chicken are you?"
He said, "I give thanks to God for all things. If I started to think about
the chicken, I would probably go crazy."
Probably, many of us are like this. If we thought about how that nicely packaged steak, or those
well-arranged thighs came to be sitting so pleasantly in the meat dept., we would probably greatly alter the way we eat.
I think that my boss is right, that we should give thanks for everything that we have in our lives, and I also think that thanking the cow, the pig, the chicken, the lamb, for dieing for us, does not go far enough to alleviate the great pain that they endure while being raised, and then killed on corporate farms.
I'm a sinner. Send me to hell for breathing.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
I'm seated at my desk, eating vegetarian chili, and my cat, Kobain, jumps up on my leg. like he always does when he wants in on what I'm eating. "You're not going to like this," I say to him, "putting a 1/4 of a teaspoon worth of chili on my leg for him. He swipes it off my paw, and starts to eat the chili off the floor, What he leaves behind, Morisson, my dog, finishes off for him. We are a commune around here.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."--Romans 12:3
Today, I am helping to redistribute food that instead of being thrown out is being dropped off on the door step of people who need it. I would like to say that I am being truly altruistic in participating in this endeavor, but I'm not: I get a box of food for helping out, and I get to pick what that food is. I used to be one of the people that got a box of food dropped off at my house. I'm moving on up.
Today, I am helping to redistribute food that instead of being thrown out is being dropped off on the door step of people who need it. I would like to say that I am being truly altruistic in participating in this endeavor, but I'm not: I get a box of food for helping out, and I get to pick what that food is. I used to be one of the people that got a box of food dropped off at my house. I'm moving on up.
Monday, May 2, 2011
bin Laden just rose from the dead, and he is walking on water, and turning it into wine.
Don't you think that George Bush must be very heavily guarded, more than a President is usually guarded?
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."--Anthony J. D'Angelo
"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."--Hubert Humphrey
Don't you think that George Bush must be very heavily guarded, more than a President is usually guarded?
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."--Anthony J. D'Angelo
"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."--Hubert Humphrey
Sunday, May 1, 2011
When The Going Gets Weird by Mikel K
"Things pass, and the best we can do is let them really go away."--Paulo Coelho
“The face of the enemy frightens me only when I see how much it resembles me”--Source Unkown
“It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”--Buddha
"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"--Abraham Lincoln
If you are the type of conservative who gets his news from Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, and believes that Ronald Reagan, and The Bushes, were great presidents, to quote Tom Petty: "Don't come around here no more." If you are the type of conservative who is going to say that I don't love the troops because I made a Facebook page joke saying, "Obama got him, and Bush didn't:" don't come around here no more.
We've killed Osama, and the thought comes to mind: who are we going to hate now?
We have to have someone to hate. Otherwise, how is the military industrial complex going to continue to thrive? We used to hate Russia. We used to hate that guy who ran Iraq like it was his own personal candy factory. We killed him, and did the world change? We have killed bin Ladin, and will the world change? We have to have somebody to hate to feel good about ourselves. There is an enemy, even if we have to make him, or her up. There will always be a new enemy. The Super Bowl is an every day occurrence. Kill. Kill the enemy.
I know; I am not a good patriot. How dare I be pissed off that Ronald Reagan, and Don Rumsfeld colluded to get rid of the head of the FDA so that Rumsfeld's company could dump the poison aspartame on the market, resulting in much cancer, and death, amongst US citizens, and letting The Donald kick back on his very own large Texas ranch.
I really don't know what I am talking about. I am fed little bits, and pieces, of information, some of which I choose to grab onto because they fit my belief system. I don't believe in Corporate Amerika, but I do believe in growing your own garden.
What the hell does aspartame have to do with the killing of bin Laden?
I hate when people pull the YOU DON'T LOVE THE TROOPS card on me. We can invade any country in the world, drop bombs on innocent children in the name of acquiring oil, and opening markets for freedom, but if I say that that might not be the most polite, nicest thing for humans to do, someone will say that I don't love the troops.
The troops do what they are told. They are pawns in the game. They are the young, and the poor, among us trying to find a way out of what they were born into, and move up the social, and economic, chain. I love the troops. Every time that I see them in an airport, I go up to them and give them a hug. The Hare Krishnas look at me like I'm weird.
Obama wants to get reelected: he would kill anyone. Just kidding, but wouldn't most politicians do just about enything to get elected, or reelected? What goes on behind the scenes, jelly bean?
I have a friend in Australia. We talked last night.
Mikel K Poet: Australia didn't get Bin Ladin, AMERICA DID.
LeeAnne Leslie I really don't find joy in the death of things. -
Mikel K Poet I understand what you are saying. We should have captured him, and then hung him like we did that guy from Iraq.
LeeAnne Leslie: Unfortunately, the death of one man will not end terrorism, or bring world peace. If people are happy he is dead then they are happy. If the country that killed him feels some kind of satisfaction at that achievement then, again, they are happy. I though, personally do not find any joy in the murder or death of anything.
There was no cable, and no internet, in the $1 million dollar mansion that bin Laden was living in when he was killed. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Can you imagine living without cable, and internet?
Most of my problems exist in my head; I create them. I have battles with myself, which don't need to be fought. Fortunately this occurs less, and less, as I age, and I'm an old fucker. I don't much remember being young. I don't much remember anything but now, which is supposedly good: to be in the now.
Remember Sergent Schultz from the old Hogan's Heroes TV show? (I'm showing my age now). Schultz used to say, "I know nothing. I see nothing."
I concur with Shultz. My name is Mikel, and I am powerless.
Time to look for a job. Is anybody hiring?
-----------------------------------------
GET THE NEWS FROM FOX
FOXNEWS.COM HOME > WORLD > NATIONAL SPECIAL REPORT:
RU PAUL IS REALLY bIN LADEN AND HAS BEEN SEEN
IN SAUDI ARABIA RIDING A CAMEL, WEARING A DRESS,
AND DOING BONG HITS, WHILE BLARING MOTLEY CRUE.
ORE ON HANNITY.
-------------------------------------------
If you are following me to The Buffet, all the sushi is going to be gone when you get there.
------------------------------------------
bin Laden just rose from the dead, and he is walking on water, and turning ti into wine.
--------------------------------------------
Buy, “The Delivery Guy,” and K Poetry Books
at: http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
Donate to K at: wwww.mikelk.com
Friend K on Facebook under mikelkpoet
"Things pass, and the best we can do is let them really go away."--Paulo Coelho
“The face of the enemy frightens me only when I see how much it resembles me”--Source Unkown
“It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”--Buddha
"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"--Abraham Lincoln
If you are the type of conservative who gets his news from Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, and believes that Ronald Reagan, and The Bushes, were great presidents, to quote Tom Petty: "Don't come around here no more." If you are the type of conservative who is going to say that I don't love the troops because I made a Facebook page joke saying, "Obama got him, and Bush didn't:" don't come around here no more.
We've killed Osama, and the thought comes to mind: who are we going to hate now?
We have to have someone to hate. Otherwise, how is the military industrial complex going to continue to thrive? We used to hate Russia. We used to hate that guy who ran Iraq like it was his own personal candy factory. We killed him, and did the world change? We have killed bin Ladin, and will the world change? We have to have somebody to hate to feel good about ourselves. There is an enemy, even if we have to make him, or her up. There will always be a new enemy. The Super Bowl is an every day occurrence. Kill. Kill the enemy.
I know; I am not a good patriot. How dare I be pissed off that Ronald Reagan, and Don Rumsfeld colluded to get rid of the head of the FDA so that Rumsfeld's company could dump the poison aspartame on the market, resulting in much cancer, and death, amongst US citizens, and letting The Donald kick back on his very own large Texas ranch.
I really don't know what I am talking about. I am fed little bits, and pieces, of information, some of which I choose to grab onto because they fit my belief system. I don't believe in Corporate Amerika, but I do believe in growing your own garden.
What the hell does aspartame have to do with the killing of bin Laden?
I hate when people pull the YOU DON'T LOVE THE TROOPS card on me. We can invade any country in the world, drop bombs on innocent children in the name of acquiring oil, and opening markets for freedom, but if I say that that might not be the most polite, nicest thing for humans to do, someone will say that I don't love the troops.
The troops do what they are told. They are pawns in the game. They are the young, and the poor, among us trying to find a way out of what they were born into, and move up the social, and economic, chain. I love the troops. Every time that I see them in an airport, I go up to them and give them a hug. The Hare Krishnas look at me like I'm weird.
Obama wants to get reelected: he would kill anyone. Just kidding, but wouldn't most politicians do just about enything to get elected, or reelected? What goes on behind the scenes, jelly bean?
I have a friend in Australia. We talked last night.
Mikel K Poet: Australia didn't get Bin Ladin, AMERICA DID.
LeeAnne Leslie I really don't find joy in the death of things. -
Mikel K Poet I understand what you are saying. We should have captured him, and then hung him like we did that guy from Iraq.
LeeAnne Leslie: Unfortunately, the death of one man will not end terrorism, or bring world peace. If people are happy he is dead then they are happy. If the country that killed him feels some kind of satisfaction at that achievement then, again, they are happy. I though, personally do not find any joy in the murder or death of anything.
There was no cable, and no internet, in the $1 million dollar mansion that bin Laden was living in when he was killed. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Can you imagine living without cable, and internet?
Most of my problems exist in my head; I create them. I have battles with myself, which don't need to be fought. Fortunately this occurs less, and less, as I age, and I'm an old fucker. I don't much remember being young. I don't much remember anything but now, which is supposedly good: to be in the now.
Remember Sergent Schultz from the old Hogan's Heroes TV show? (I'm showing my age now). Schultz used to say, "I know nothing. I see nothing."
I concur with Shultz. My name is Mikel, and I am powerless.
Time to look for a job. Is anybody hiring?
-----------------------------------------
GET THE NEWS FROM FOX
FOXNEWS.COM HOME > WORLD > NATIONAL SPECIAL REPORT:
RU PAUL IS REALLY bIN LADEN AND HAS BEEN SEEN
IN SAUDI ARABIA RIDING A CAMEL, WEARING A DRESS,
AND DOING BONG HITS, WHILE BLARING MOTLEY CRUE.
ORE ON HANNITY.
-------------------------------------------
If you are following me to The Buffet, all the sushi is going to be gone when you get there.
------------------------------------------
bin Laden just rose from the dead, and he is walking on water, and turning ti into wine.
--------------------------------------------
Buy, “The Delivery Guy,” and K Poetry Books
at: http://stores.lulu.com/mikelkpoet
Donate to K at: wwww.mikelk.com
Friend K on Facebook under mikelkpoet
WW HIPPIES 7
"She could drag me over the rainbow>"--Neil Young
I should focus on the good things in my life, and not on the things that I am pissed off about. I know this; I know to make a gratuity list; I know to meditate, and to do Yoga, but, sometimes, the bad thoughts still invade my brain, and I have trouble getting rid of them. I guess that I am only human, and not Superman.
-------------------------------
When I got on the bus, this evening, the bus driver was laughing, and said, "What is General Tso's Chicken," and I said that it was dark chicken meat, fried, and served with sweet, and sour, sauce. He laughed, again, and said, "But how do you know that that is what meat is in it?" When you step onto a bus, you enter another world. This was a fun ride home.
-------------------------------
A book has pulled me away from Netflix. A book has pulled me away from my writing. I am skipping meals, and missing sleep to read this book: "Up From the Blue," by Susan Henderson. You should read it; it is a fantastic novel.
"Up From the Blue," is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is the kind of book that makes you want to stay with it to the end, ignoring all of life's responsibilities to find out what is going to happen next. You are driven to the conclusion of this book with each page you read. You can't turn each page fast enough to get to the next page, and then when the book ends, you want it to continue. .
"Up From the Blue," is, primarily, the story of Tillie, an eight year old girl, who tells us about her life in a very memoir-like way. For most of the book, it is hard to believe that, "Up From the Blue," is a novel because it is so real that you feel like you are reading someone's memoir. I have to wonder how much of author Susan Henderson is in Tillie. Who was it that said that, "Novels were thin veiled masks of an author's self?"
Tillie's mom can't cope; she is probably bi-polar. Tillie's dad is a top ranked military man, who thinks that he is in charge of everything. Tillie shows us what it is like to grow up under parents so pathetically opposite, and she takes us to the birth of her first child concurrently.
Tillie is such a brat, but as a reader, you love her; you root for her, in what she finds to be trying circumstances. The kids at school pick on her. Her one, and only, brother shuns her like the plague.
I want to tell you more about this book, more about the story of Tillie, but I won't. I want you to read this book, and enjoy it, as I did: get ready to do nothing but read this book. It's the end of the world as you know it, until you get it done.
---------------------------------
"She could drag me over the rainbow>"--Neil Young
I should focus on the good things in my life, and not on the things that I am pissed off about. I know this; I know to make a gratuity list; I know to meditate, and to do Yoga, but, sometimes, the bad thoughts still invade my brain, and I have trouble getting rid of them. I guess that I am only human, and not Superman.
-------------------------------
When I got on the bus, this evening, the bus driver was laughing, and said, "What is General Tso's Chicken," and I said that it was dark chicken meat, fried, and served with sweet, and sour, sauce. He laughed, again, and said, "But how do you know that that is what meat is in it?" When you step onto a bus, you enter another world. This was a fun ride home.
-------------------------------
A book has pulled me away from Netflix. A book has pulled me away from my writing. I am skipping meals, and missing sleep to read this book: "Up From the Blue," by Susan Henderson. You should read it; it is a fantastic novel.
"Up From the Blue," is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is the kind of book that makes you want to stay with it to the end, ignoring all of life's responsibilities to find out what is going to happen next. You are driven to the conclusion of this book with each page you read. You can't turn each page fast enough to get to the next page, and then when the book ends, you want it to continue. .
"Up From the Blue," is, primarily, the story of Tillie, an eight year old girl, who tells us about her life in a very memoir-like way. For most of the book, it is hard to believe that, "Up From the Blue," is a novel because it is so real that you feel like you are reading someone's memoir. I have to wonder how much of author Susan Henderson is in Tillie. Who was it that said that, "Novels were thin veiled masks of an author's self?"
Tillie's mom can't cope; she is probably bi-polar. Tillie's dad is a top ranked military man, who thinks that he is in charge of everything. Tillie shows us what it is like to grow up under parents so pathetically opposite, and she takes us to the birth of her first child concurrently.
Tillie is such a brat, but as a reader, you love her; you root for her, in what she finds to be trying circumstances. The kids at school pick on her. Her one, and only, brother shuns her like the plague.
I want to tell you more about this book, more about the story of Tillie, but I won't. I want you to read this book, and enjoy it, as I did: get ready to do nothing but read this book. It's the end of the world as you know it, until you get it done.
---------------------------------
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