Chapter 12

The kids all went back to school, but I kept working. I met with Richard my CPA, and we went over my income taxes, an investment account, real estate, and several other issues. We'd set up a company to own the real estate, and a brokerage account that would name my as the guardian until I turned eighteen. He expressed his admiration with the sales and commissions I was receiving, and told me to keep up the good work.

He liked the idea of the apartments in Gainesville, and said that he'd draw up a management agreement for Dan, and if needed Christy, to make sure that the pay was in order with the work. It would have to pass the smell test if auditors ever came around.

Christy decided after listening to everyone that being a Gator would be better than alienating her boyfriend and her family. That decision led Jim and I to buy a small apartment complex about a half mile from campus. We decided to close it until the spring semester, and remodel all the units, so that the maintenance and work for the managers would be minimal. It was a tired old complex, and we got a good deal on it for that reason.

The complex consisted of two buildings that faced each other with three units up and three units down on each side, totaling twelve units. Each unit had three bedrooms, and three small bathrooms. There was also a large living area and kitchen with a dining room space in between. We'd furnish them all with beds, desks, and a chair for each room. There would be a couch, love seat, chair, and coffee table in front of the cable TV, because we knew that they all would want their M-TV. There was a kitchen table with four chairs, and a kitchen with appliances. They could buy their own utensils, plates, pots, and pans.

Richard came up with an agreement that Dan and Christy would be responsible for renting out the units, and managing the complex. In return, they'd receive free rent and utilities, ten percent of the rental income each month, and then twenty percent of the profit after maintenance, insurance, and utilities. After finishing everything, they found that they'd pocket just under ten grand each. Jim and I'd pocket around thirty grand each.

The income that Dan would earn might or might not cover his schooling. It would all depend on if he could keep all the other units full for the entire year. Of course, summers could be tough. I'd have to think about what I wanted to do to make sure he was secure or I could just give him a gift.

Jim liked the way he could write off his daughter's college, and have an appreciating asset at the same time. He also bought another factory just on the outskirts of Memphis to give better access to the rest of the country. It was as big as the one in Dallas, and once he finished it, he really hoped that this would be enough to cover the company's needs.

I had just walked in from meeting with the contractor up in Gainesville when I received a call from Rhonda. She wanted to know if I was going surfing in the morning.

"I'd love to go, but the surf report says that they expect the ocean to look like glass tomorrow. I don't think it'll be worth our time driving over."

"Well, I wanted to surf, but I also had a simple question for you. I wanted to ask you in person, but was wondering if you wanted to go to Prom?"

"I hadn't thought about it, but when is it?"

"In three weeks."

"I don't have anything planned that I know of, so I could go to Prom with you. Rhonda, will you be my date for Prom this year?"

"I was hoping that you'd take, "Us" to Prom this year; Susan and me both."

"I'd be honored to take you both to Prom. Do you want to plan everything or should I? There's no budget, so we can make it special."

"I'll talk with Susan, we'll come up with a plan, and then we can talk about it before we schedule anything."

"I can borrow Mom's car unless you wanted to go the limo route. Dan might want to share if we do that. If you want a limo we should call sooner than later, since Prom is a busy night for them."

"I'll check with Susana and Christy to see what they want to do. Do you want to rent a hotel room?"

"I said you could plan it."

"Thanks Don."

"Thank you Rhonda."

On Saturday, I didn't go surfing, but instead talked Mom into going to the beach with me. I'd have loved to see her in a bikini, but I wanted to look at real estate, so we both wore something more appropriate. First, I drove to a real estate office, and after we introduced ourselves to the Realtors, they commenced the discussion by talking to my Mom for a while. When they asked what her interests were, she turned and looked at me.

"I want a nice condo on the beach that will appreciate in value."

The Realtor again looking at Mom said, "There are always people looking to sell their condos, and there are some nice units that are in the final stages of construction. What size units are you looking at, and in what price range?"

I said, "Three or four bedrooms, and a large living area. I'd like a pool, covered parking, and as long as the price is fair, then it won't be a limiting factor."

"Most of the units have outdoor parking or carports that are just over the top of the car. The new construction I mentioned has parking under the building for two cars per unit, and then outside parking for guests or other vehicles. Would you like to stop into the sales office? I can take you over there. I know the sales manager, and they just set up a sales office last week."

It was a few miles from where we were, so we stopped at three other condos along the way, and they all seemed a bit small for a fulltime home. The original design was for a weekend getaway not as a main residence. At the new development, she introduced us to the sales manager. Amber was very informative, and showed us different floor plans that they had designed. They were building-out the units, as they sold them except for a couple of models on the second floor.

I asked about the top-level units overlooking the beach, and Francine replied, "The north and middle units are available. They're each fifteen hundred square feet. A lady who'd been saving her whole life had bought the south corner unit the first day that we opened. The corners have a patio that wraps around. The others are just straight out towards the beach.

"Can we see the space even though it's not built out?"

She took us all up to the top floor, and let us in. There was tape on the floor where the walls would be between the units. Francine said, "We thought that someone might want to combine units, so we haven't built any walls yet between the units."

We walked out on the patio or balcony, and after looking around, I said that I liked the view. I asked about the barrier between units, and she told us that they'd build them to order. They planned to use concrete block. We asked about price, and she told us that the corner unit was eighty grand, and the middle units were sixty each. That included a standard build-out with the specifications that we'd seen down at the sales office.

"I'm interested in combining the remaining three units. That would be two hundred thousand. I won't need three kitchens, and I know that kitchens cost the most per square foot to build. I'd either want a discount in price or upgrades in other areas to balance out what's fair."

They both looked at my Mom, and she didn't say anything for a minute, but then said, "I think that was a question to you if you could work with him, and his requests. I'm not buying this place. He has his own money, and his own ideas about where he wants to live."

Amber shifted gears, and said that they'd work with me to figure everything out. I told her that I wanted to talk to my neighbor before I signed anything, but we could talk about everything else if they wanted to move forward. We went through all the options and upgrades. I ended up with five bedrooms since there would be three of us there with our own friends and families. I had a sixth bedroom that we'd set up as an office. They described the kitchen, as a gourmet kitchen, and there would be including a wet bar. They designed the open spaces to relax and entertain. It didn't include furniture or electronics, but I had them wire everything in such a way that a person could add or change speaker wire, cables, and power as needed. There was even a gas fireplace that I wasn't sure I'd use, but there was gas for cooking in place, and we used it to split the TV area from the area with the pool table.

Amber had made a quick call when we got back to the sales office, and I thought that she'd called the owner, but later an older woman came in, and Francine introduced me to Maggie. Maggie was going to become my new neighbor. I asked to speak with her alone, so I asked for the keys so we could go up to our two units. We walked into hers, and they'd already started construction. We looked around, and then walked out on the balcony.

I said, "Maggie, I'm going to talk honestly and openly with you, and I want you to do the same with me. It looks like we're going to become neighbors, and I want us to become friends. I plan to move in next door with two friends. They're both girls, and we're not married. I don't plan to have wild and crazy parties every night, but I have friends that are my age, and may come by for a day or a week. We're supposed to have a wall between us, but I'd like to make sure that I could look down the beach in either direction. I was thinking about a wall that came up to the height of the railing, and then stepping back towards the building, as it goes towards the ceiling."

"I hadn't thought about that."

"It would reduce both of our privacies, but it would give me a view to the south, and you a view toward the north."

"Don, I moved here with my husband a long time ago. We were both what you'd call hippies. We went to Woodstock, and were very wild back then, but we always worked, and my dream was always to have a place on the beach. I spent too much on this unit, but I just couldn't resist. I plan to sit on my balcony, and eat ramen noodles for the rest of my days. You can't do too much to upset me, as long as you aren't too loud or rude. I'll let you know if you cross that line, but I enjoy young people. The wall that you described would be fine. If you don't want the part at top I can live with that, but I don't want you staring in my windows all day if I walk around naked."

"You're kind of scaring me. Maybe I should put up the full wall," I joked.

"Are your parents buying that for you or did you inherit some money?"

"I work in sales, and was lucky to close a couple of huge deals that pay me well. I'm actually not buying just the next unit, but all three. If you didn't show up before me, you might have been my downstairs neighbor. Three units is more than enough room, but I like the bigger views."

"I look forward to having you as my neighbor instead of some crotchety old woman."

"I'm glad that I got you Maggie instead of a crotchety old woman."

It had taken almost all day to work through everything, but in the end, Mom signed off on the deal, as my guardian. I had to leave a check for the deposit, and the closing would be near the end of August. The Realtors would work out the details while Mom and I took Maggie to dinner. She didn't mind eating at four thirty. We'd missed lunch, and I was starving.

The girls had the plans in place for Prom, and they'd talked to Christy and Dan about sharing a limo. Afterwards the limo was going to drop us at a hotel, but then take Christy and Dan home. I'd have to drop a car over at the hotel during the day. Rhonda's mom was renting the room, but I was going to pay her back.

I planned a trip up to Charlotte, Atlanta, and Oak Brook, Illinois about twenty miles west of Chicago. Atlanta GA is where Home Depot has its corporate offices. Lowes' officers were just outside Charlotte, NC, and Ace's were in Illinois. My first stop was in Illinois to meet with Warren and Craig. They were happy to see me, and we had a wonderful lunch at a deep-dish pizza place. They'd received the samples, had taken some shipments in for the first of their stores, and ran some tests. After the successful completion of the tests, they'd decided that they wanted to use us for their high-end filters, but they would also keep the cheaper ones in stock, so their customers would have choices, and not end up going somewhere else for a cheaper model. I couldn't blame them. Some people buy Chevette's, and some buy Cadillac's.

Most filters have a bunch of plastic fiber that's they make into a mat, which makes up the filter. It grabs some of the dirt and dust, as it flows across it, but the rest gets into the unit. We take out ten times the dirt and dust by doing three things. First, we use two layers of patented fabric that allows the air to flow through it. Most others that use a fabric have trouble with decreased airflow.

Secondly, we use a system that increases the surface area of the filter. If you picture a doorway with a filter across it then you'd have three feet of filter to collect dust, as it went through the door. If you had a filter that went into the room for five feet, and then another five feet of filter that attached to the other side of the door, you'd have ten feet of filter that could filter the same about of air.

Lastly, we used the same electrostatic mat of fibers, but they're sandwiched between two layers of the fabric. It costs us more to make them, but they're worth the money.

Warren said that they were happy with the product we were selling, and the acceptance rate of their customers from the test stores made them want to stock all the stores with both types of filters. He said that they'd just call in the order to Dana, but we were now a preferred vendor for Ace. Before I left he said, "Don, I appreciate the dinner, and a show in Vegas. I talk to Cheryl and Larry now, and we've helped each other. I know that they're both planning to keep a low-end filter, as well. It was something we discussed, but we have room in the stores, and some people like price over quality even if yours are worth the premium."

"I'm glad you all met each other, but I wish you were talking each other into buying more of my filters, and not less."

"It isn't like that at all. We all like you, but that comes second to doing what's right for our companies."

"As it should. I was just messing with you."

"The other side is that I spoke to my counterpart at Menards, and he'd like to meet with you and see your products."

"I appreciate the introduction."

Warren called Bill Morse at Menards, and introduced me. I agreed to fly up to see him on the next Friday. I'd stop by the Home Depot office on Wednesday, and then fly from Atlanta to Wisconsin for the Friday meeting.

The meeting with Larry was similar to the one with Warren. He was very friendly, and had a good time in Vegas. They liked the test results at their stores, but they'd also be keeping the garbage brand to provide a choice. We'd met after lunch, and he had another meeting after mine with someone from Hampton Bay fans. As I was walking out, I ran into Karen his assistant. I stopped to say hello, and she asked how long I was in town.

"I have a one o'clock flight tomorrow afternoon to Minneapolis. Did you want me to take you to dinner?"

"My roommate and I were going to eat dinner together if you want to join us."

"Just give me a time and an address, and I'll meet you there."

"It's kind of far from here. I share a condo in midtown. We were going to meet at the Taco Mac at the corner of Virginia and Highland. It's on the east side of town."

"I'm staying in Buckhead near the mall, so that should not be a problem. What time should I meet you?"

"If you can find a cab to take you there by six, I'll drive you back to your hotel afterwards. I'll be going straight from here or I'd pick you up."

"I'll be fine. Thanks for the invitation."

As I rode back to the Marriott, I thought about the orders, and the effect that it might have on Jim and me. I didn't have an answer, but we'd have to see how things worked out. I called Jim, and told him that we were in at Home Depot for all their stores, but under the shared space situation as we now had with Ace. He didn't like it, but it was still a lot of filters. I looked up Taco Mac, gave them a call to find out how far they were from the hotel, what the dress was, and what they served. It was a casual place for nachos, and pub style food. They had a big deck, and a bar inside. You could find t-shirts to suits after work, but it was a very casual place.

I put on some topsiders, a nice pair of shorts, and a nice shirt. Remember, I was from Winter Park, FL, so I knew all about preppy, GQ, and surfer style. I didn't want to arrive there early since she was meeting friends, and I didn't know what they looked like or how many would be there. I showed up about ten after six, and Karen flagged me down, as I paid the cab driver. She had a couple of tables pushed together with five people, and two pitchers of beer on the table. As I approached, she poured a glass for me, and they were obviously regulars the way they bantered with the waitress. She introduced me to her roommate Diane, and to a couple of her girlfriends. Next, she introduced me to Darren, the one guy sitting with the five girls. They'd all met at college, and met once a week for dinner and drinks. Darren worked for Coca Cola, and Diane worked as a nurse.

She introduced me as the air filter salesman, and Diane gave her a look of surprise and a smile. Darren rather frowned, as if to say that was a pretty crappy job. He was in marketing, and wasn't being a total dick, but he was annoying and stuck up. Karen said a couple of things that showed that she was trying to stick up for me and I truly did not want to end up in a fight, but he said something that put me over the edge.

I said, "Darren, I'm not from the big city, so I was hoping that you could explain some things to me about marketing. You see, I'm in sales, and I have to call on people and convince them that my products are worth buying. There's a straight line from me selling to people buying. I work on straight commission, and I can directly link every dollar in my paycheck to a check that we received from a customer. I understand sales, and since I work as an independent sales person, my flights, hotels, meals, and other expenses all come out of my pocket. If I don't sell, I don't receive my pay."