I guess I mentioned that everything was a little unorganized during the Training Day.  Well it spilled over to me.

At the training class we were told we needed a long sleeve white shirt.  I don't own a long sleeve white shirt.  I prefer light blue for my dress shirts. So I run to the local department store to buy a shirt, five minutes before closing.

"Good evening shoppers, thank you for shopping at Steinmart.  We will be closing in 5 minutes.  Please bring your purchases to check out."  Yipes, I just arrived.

Okay okay, let's find the size and get out of here.  Rush rush, white shirt - check, 17 inch collar - check, 34 inch length - check ... go, go, go, let's get to check out.  All done in less than 3 minutes!!

So I get up yesterday morning with a full schedule.  I have to write a blog, answer my real estate emails, check new listings for my clients and iron my white "long sleeve" shirt.

So why do they fold new shirts with a hundred straight pins?  It must mean something when you can buy a shirt faster than you can open the package.  But, I am running behind so I have to get going.  The steam iron is now cooking, sending a spiral of steam from it's nose and hissing at me as a cobra ready to go.  I always follow the same order.  Press the collar, nice and crisp.  Now the sleeves.  The sleeves.  The sleeves ... oh no!  The sleeves have french cuffs!  I can't use this shirt!

Thinking fast, I remember about the commercials of how Men's Warehouse saves people that are in a jam.  I bought my black suit (also required and also something I did not own) from Men's Warehouse.  I will take my new Men's Warehouse black suit still wrapped by them and buy a white shirt there.  I can also have them press it (after all this is an emergency and it's their advertisement, not mine) and I can get dressed right there in the changing room.  Well, that plan worked and the day is back on track.

Except.  Except that my Nextel phone they gave me does not have a signal.  Now Nextel is no Men's Warehouse.  My family has been down that route when we bought two Nextel phones for my wife and son.  Same problem, no service coverage.  No sympathy.  No help.  No refund.

Let's Get This Show on the Road

I get to "Command Center."  No kidding, this is set up military style.  We even use military time and we have a field van called "Mobile Operations Center" or MOC.  I let Command Center know that my Nextel won't work in Valrico (and likely a lot of the rest of the area) and they take it to check it out.  Well, it wasn't the usual Nextel signal problem.  It was a "not working" Nextel phone.  Now how is one able to tell the difference?  Anyway, the "not working" part is fixed.  The signal part is a problem related to where my house is located and I am not going to move.

At 1:30 PM I get a contact from dispatch for a pick up at the airport, at 1950.  That is 7:50 PM.  "Stand by and we will be contacting you with instructions."

Six hours of stand by?  That's okay, I wanted this gig.

Another part of the training the day before is that we be "in the cell phone parking lot 20 minutes ahead of arrival."  I am there an hour ahead.  Thirty minutes to go and my personal cell phone rings.  It is dispatch.  They had called my home and my wife gave them my cell phone number.  This time the Nextel problem was the operator, me ! They had told us to keep the volume down so as not to disturb our clients.  But, they did not tell us to mute it.  They had been trying to reach me for an hour and were not getting a response from me.  Okay, un-mute.

Well my client arrives on time and I am taking one of the broadcast booth announcers from NBC.  Now I am not allowed to mention names, but there are only three, so you guess.

VERY nice people!  We are driving to the Harbour Island Westin.  I grew up in Tampa.  Been to downtown Tampa probably thousands of times and in thousands and thousands of times I have only gone the wrong way on a one way street once.  Now let's make that two.

What a headline:  "NBC Super Bowl announcer did not make the game and is in the hospital after a head on collision by a local Realtor pretending to be a chauffeur at the Super Bowl."

Well, thankfully there was no oncoming traffic, no accident and no tip.  I would not have accepted one after I could feel the death grip on the back of my Lincoln Towncar luxury leather seat by the announcers wife.  What does it mean when you stop the car and your clients run?  They did not teach us THAT in chauffeur school.

So my second day as a chauffeur and my first day of driving was over. Tired, embarrassed and down, I went home and thought of the less stressful days of real estate.

Rick Frissell~ Realtor

About the Author: Rick Frissell is a licensed real estate agent with Diamond Dwellings Realty- Florida. Rick's office is in Brandon, Florida which serves eastern Hillborough County. Rick Frissell can be reached at rick@diamonddwellings.com or 813-653-1241.

If you are interested in a career in real estate or associating with Diamond Dwellings Realty, please contact Rick!  All calls and inquiries will be held in the strictest confidence.