It's been a while

Sorry for the lack of posts--I've been more faithful at updating my facebook page than my blog!

Nothin' much going on here, just a lot of work and wakeboarding. My friends Russ and Trisha were kind enough to bring their boat down here with them from Utah this summer and are even nicer to take anyone out that wants to go, at least twice a week. Thanks guys, we love it!!!

The weather has been interesting with it's really hot (107) and it's bearable (91) temperatures all over the place. Sales are great, I'm averaging three sales a day, which is the equivalent, money wise, of selling 3 VW's a day (which never happened) And if you have seen the news lately, car sales are down 18% nationwide so--I'm glad I made the decision to sell pest control contracts again. It is an economy proof job and the bugs down here are really bad this year, win-win. Plus, I've met a great girl in the ward and we have been bf/gf for 3 weeks now, I know, no one is holding their breath, so I won't go into any details, except that we are have a very calm, normal, stress and drama free relationship--it's very refreshing as a matter of fact. So, we'll see.

I've been reading "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand for the last three weeks, what a great book. I'm not quite finished with it yet (30% left), seeing as how the font is smaller than the scriptures and it's 1100 pages but, I recommend it to anyone who is not a progressive socialist and recommend it even more if you ARE! (so you will change your mind and become a capitalist :-) Even though she wrote the book over 60 years ago, it has some very strong correlations to exactly what we are seeing today with record high oil prices, speculation about the economy and the liberal media's control over the mainstream public. And can I give a shout of to the Supreme Court for upholding our rights as confirmed by the Constitution to protect ourselves in our own homes! The second Amendment is alive and well. I love America.

I'd like to also wish everyone a Happy 4th of July. Be safe and eat plenty of barbecue. I'm going to the beach, and then barbecuin' :-)

Orange County, CA

Well, we made it to Indy and back without any incidents--it was kinda fun actually driving straight thru and flying back 24 hours later.

I got home, packed up some clothes, a swimsuit, a beach towel, and my motorcycle gear, then drove to Anaheim Hills, CA. I'm back to selling pest control. The money is just too good, especially with the slowing economy and I don't have to put up with the "brain damage" that management liked to inflict on me at the dealership. I've made more money in three days here than I did selling 10 VW's in Orem (or the equivalent in Audi's, 7, or Porsches, 2).

The weather here is fantastic, which is why people pay an arm and a leg to live here.
Nothing else too exciting, just getting back into the swing of things. The entire crew went bowling last night and I lost to Devan by a point, he was pretty excited. Oh yeah, Devan is here too, we are roommates for the summer. He got a few of his friends and mission buddies to come along, so he's makin' money off of them as his recruits.

We'll probably head down to Newport Beach on Saturday after work--30 min drive--or we'll take the boat out and do some wakeboarding, I'll take pictures.

Off to Indy

Devan and I are driving the Blazer that my parents bought from me, out to Indianapolis today. We'll be flying back Monday morning--yipee! I think I've figured out a way to take the Xbox 360 with us and play it on my portable DVD player so that should help pass the time--if you aren't the one driving anyway... I think I'm going to download some episodes of LOST and The Office onto my iPhone to "watch" while I drive--b/c I know I'm going to do most of the driving seeing as Devan isn't a big fan of it.

I've also made the extremely difficult decision to quit my job at Ken Garff Porsche and go sell Pest Control for one more summer then go back to school in the fall. I can sell anything but, education is just way too important. Maybe when I finish, Porsche Cars North America will want to hire me...here's hoping. Three of my friends already work there. The economy is slowing down and people are buying way too many Toyotas instead of taking a risk with a new brand and buying a VW or Audi, let alone dumping tons of cash into a Porsche. It was a tough decision--but if feels right. I was the 6th salesman to quit this week! The dealership simply didn't care. They are in a world of hurt now because they only have two salesman that have been there for over a year--that place is imploding on itself. It doesn't help that they haven't done ANY marketing or advertising for the last 5 months--there are no customers coming into the store. We should have sold over 100 cars last month and didn't even break 60, reason number 683 why I left. Not to mention the totally skewed pay scale. Oh well, I'm sad to leave but deep down I know it's the right decision.

She is DONE!!!!

Here you go--after months and months of hype, she is finished!


Before...AFTER!!!!

The mods on my bike never end...

But at least it's still snowing so I don't feel too bad that I don't have my bike done yet.

One of my buddies from work came over and helped me re-install my headers and exhaust and then we even ventured to install the HID Xenon kit which I wasn't really sure I could do but....I did and it looks awesome!!! We still have some work to do as far as stashing the ballast, control unit and have a mile of wiring to hide, but it is installed and works! My battery is completely dead--it was able to hold enough charge that it kept the Xenon Bulb alive for the required 10 min initiation. Gonna check MotoXoutlet for a battery tomorrow.

A couple of the nuts seized on the bolt studs that secure the header gaskets so I'm going to the Honda dealership in the morning as well and order 3 new ones--Ace Hardware or Lowes might have em' but I think the nuts and studs are way too specific. I doubt I'd find the right ones. I have a few "finishing touch" pieces arriving in the mail daily...which I'll point out to you in the future pictures. Here is a picture of my new helmet...if only I had more time to play and install! The weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend, carryin' over to Tuesday--my day off! Can't wait... I'll post pics once she is alllllllll done. :-)

My bike is almost finished!!!

Well,I managed to take Friday and Saturday off which was especially nice. I had a great weekend with my Dad and sister Anne in town for General Conference. We were able to attend Saturday afternoon all together and Devan and Dad and I went to Priesthood session at the Conference Center. Then Dad, Karen, Anne and Devan also attended Sunday afternoon and we all met up afterwards over at Judy's (my grandpa's cousin) house for a delicious Sunday dinner and FHE. It was great to spend time with the family and Friday my Dad and I even put in some wrench time on my bike!

The paint work is done, pieces put back on, rear sets and new handlebars (thanks Dad) look fantastic. HID bi-xenon's I'm going to have the shop put on...anything electrical, count me out. High Performance Coating just called me and said my headers are done so I'll be picking them up tomorrow on my day off and assuming the weather is good should be able to take her out for some good miles up the canyon! I'll be sure to post some pictures!

I'm having a tough time deciding what to do this summer as I already have my dream job here selling Porsche's but I can't shake this feeling like I should go sell pest control in Orange County, CA again this summer. I had a fantastic month sales wise here in March but I just don't know what to do. I can't believe I'm even considering going to sell again but I figure if I do, I'll go back to school at UVSC in the fall, finish up my degree and if there is a Porsche sales position open somewhere I'd love to pick it up. The thought of knocking doors for a 4th summer doesn't exactly get me excited but the money is extremely good. With the economy slowing down I just don't know how stable the car market is. It just comes down to what I want to do long term. Maybe I could get my degree and come back and work for the Garff group in corporate. In such an unstable economic environment I feel like I need some stability. Anyone have any advice???

A Great Saturday

Tuesday I went out to Miller Motosports Park in Tooele and took an Intro to Karting 3 hour class. I had a blast. The class consisted of braking, acceleration, cornering exercises and learning how to hit apexes just right, picking your lines, etc. With only one other guy in the class we had the track to ourselves! We had about 45 minutes of classroom instruction which was very useful and I learned a lot. It was especially nice having such a small class size because on the track the instructor only had the two of us to watch, so every 4 or 5 laps I'd come in to the pits for advice and he would critique my driving at different locations on the course. It was a great learning experience and I hope to continue to become a better driver. I'm really looking forward to our Porsche Track Day on June 9th.

Just when I thought this month couldn't get any better...I sold another Porsche yesterday. It's a really cool one too. A limited edition RS 60 Spyder Boxster S. http://jalopnik.com/cars/bologna-motor-show/porsche-boxster-rs-60-spyder-limited-edition-326858.php

Only 1,960 of them are being made with an even more limited number coming to the U.S. The paint on this Porsche is called GT Silver Metallic--it's a $3,100 option alone! It's is stunning. It was sitting in the showroom and I told my client that in the sunlight this color makes Porsche's "Arctic Silver Metallic" paint look cheap. He says to me, "Well I'll never know because it'll take you 30 minutes to get this outside of the showroom." With a smile on my face I said, "15 seconds, time me."

Once I had the car outside I activated the push button Sport Exhaust and reved the engine for him. He practically begged me to let him take it down to I-15 and back but I told him that the thought of putting unnecessary miles on this car makes me cringe and that he needed to be prepared to buy the car mentally prior to taking it for a test drive because, "You will buy this car after you drive it, and that isn't a line or some gimmick--" He paused, starring down the road, mulling it over in his mind, then said "Ok, lets go." I knew I had a deal, because this car is awesome. Let me tell you guys, this is no Boxster. By that I mean, Porsche went all out with this thing, it's the fastest Boxster they've ever made and it is dialed in. The handling and poise of this car was indescribable during the test drive. I'm even ready to place an order! ;-)

When we got back from the test drive the customer said, "Nick, I've got to have that car." We worked out the numbers on his trade (2006 Nissan 350Z Roadster) filled out paper work, and sent him home in a really cool car. I was very excited to see it go to a person that will enjoy it as much as I would.

My best month ever...

Well as the title suggests, this may be my best month ever. I've really put in the hours and it has been paying off. I sold my fourth Porsche yesterday...I can't believe I've sold TWO this month alone! I need to sell two used cars this month for some extra "bonus board" money and I'll be so far out in first place that no one will be able to catch me. SO, if anyone out there needs a used car or SUV--PLEASE let me know!

The girl I'm dating is in Puerto Vallarta till Tuesday so I'm working, open till close everyday--and why not right?! My motorcycle is in pieces getting prepped for paint and the Italian (http://www.deprettomoto.com/) handlebars and new rear sets I ordered are on a plane crossing the Atlantic. I've got nothing to do!

Good week so far

Well, I sold my third (total) Porsche this week, a $100,320.00 Cayenne GTS. With my goal for the year being 6 total Porsches I'm pretty excited to have three already under my belt.
What a beautiful SUV. 404 HP with Air Ride suspension, Alcantara Suede EVERYWHERE inside and tons of options.It's a birthday present surprise for his wife...I'm delivering it to their home on the 20th. That same day I also sold a Jetta GLI--which I practically gave away, but oh well. Today I sold an 08 Audi A4 to a really cool kid that wanted to upgrade from his 02 A4.

Tuesday night I got together with my brother Devan, his friends from school and my old boss Adam for a recruiting dinner for pest control summer sales. For those of you that don't know, that's how I got started in sales--I sold yearly pest control contracts in California, three summers in a row while attending BYU. I loved it, well, the money at least and living in Orange County during my final summer wasn't bad at all. It looks like Devan is going to go again. He went with me one summer to Sacramento, before his mission. He should do really well.

Last night I worked until 9 but went up to the girl I'm dating's house after and we watched "August Rush". (her choice) They have a massive theater room setup, with a HD DLP projector shooting onto a 20 ft. wide screen/wall and stadium seating with 8 electrically reclining lazy-boy chairs. Surround sound that was incredible too, of course. It was pretty cool.

Today is my burn day--12 hours straight at the dealership--sometimes I feel like I live here, oh wait, I practically do.

What a week!

Well, I've started the month off strong with 4.5 sales, all of which have been money makers, including an RS4 sedan--what a cool car. It's basically my car but with a 420 hp V8, a totally revamped suspension and $79,000 price tag. Here's a link if you wanna check it out.
http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/AudiRS4/Images/RightFront.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/AudiRS4/Photos.htm&h=540&w=720&sz=110&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=puV2_aBHZo0X0M:&tbnh=105&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAudi%2BRS4%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

I have worked like a dog the last two weeks, so when I had a date planned for Friday night and found out I was supposed to close the store that night, I negotiated with my boss that I would stay all day on Saturday if he would let me close Porsche early that night. I'm glad he let me because I was on the verge of a burnout, I needed some R&R, even if it was just a quick respite.

It was an awesome date, we drove up Provo Canyon and headed past Heber to Midway and had dinner at Mountain House Grill--a fantastic restaraunt with a rustic lodge setting, nestled up against the mountains. I had a perfectly seasoned filet mignon while she had a beautiful caprese salad. Sooooo good.

I slept thru my church yesterday and went with my sister Karen to her ward. She taught a great Sunday School lesson. After church I chilled at home, took a nap, and the girl I'm dating came over about 9, we just sat and talked, hung out with my roommates, and worked on the heinous puzzle I bought last month—it’s over 50% completed. Now I’m at work on a beautiful Monday morning and hopefully will get the green light from Audi Financial to roll an RS4 Convertible out to one of my repeat customers!

Oh yeah, and I've opted not to go with "red" for my motorcycle--I'm doing a Porsche color, "Meteor Gray Metallic". With red being $178 a quart, $75 a quart for Porsche gray seemed like a much better option. I've got stencils being made from a guy I found on Ebay for the Honda wing and 919 decals--so instead of stickers I'm going to have them painted on, it will look a lot cleaner. I can't wait, we should start painting next week!

Today is supposed to be the only good weather day all week so hopefully I can sell a car today before the rain hits and people stop coming in.

There’s your Nick update.

Slowly but Surely

That isn't a pic of "my" bike (mine has A LOT more mods done to it--its an '05 Honda 919 with red adjustable Pazzo levers, Michelin Pilot Power Sport tires, Galfer stainless steel brake lines (front-red, rear-silver,) gel grips, Salamander Bar End weights, Corbin seat, 520 chain and sprocket upgrade, cruise control, Clear Alternatives LED tailight, Fender Eliminator Kit with carbon fiber license plate frame and LED frame lights, 5 Red LED Surface Mount Technology Gauge lights, Rizoma grab handle caps, Rizoma front turn signals, Rizoma Dynamic mirrors, Power Commander III, Speedo Healer, Sato Racing Titanium full exhaust, Honda Racing carbon fiber fender accent, tank pad, and seat cowl, GSG carbon fiber airbox covers and occasionaly the Honda quarter fairing, painted black--it looks awesome--and yes I installed EVERYTHING myself except for the brake lines, I didn't want to deal with bleeding the lines etc.--the above picture is someone else's STOCK bike) Sooooo, Tuesday I spent a major part of the day taking my bike apart for painting. Do not ever try and take the sending unit off of a gas tank without first draining all of the gas, what a mess! I wanted to powder coat my passenger rear sets black too but I cannot figure out how to take the right side one off so I'm scratching that idea. I think I'm going to paint the rest of the bike with a Psycho Silver base coat and several coats of Dupont True Candy Red with jet black racing stripes down the center of the tank and the rear cowl. I'm tired of black and a buddy of mine here at the dealership is going to do it for a relatively good price. This what it will look like, courtesy of my, 5 year old equivalent, crayon photoshop skills.


I forgot the racing stripes but you get the idea. I'll post the real thing here in a few weeks when it is put back together and finished. I can harldy wait, as the weather is finally getting warm and perfect for riding.

BYU vs. Utah

All of last week I was sick. I hate being sick and I'm still not 100%. Flu-like symptoms but not the the flu. Not fun at all. I missed Valentine's Day but I managed to drag myself out of bed and deliver flowers to my sister Karen and the girl I'm dating. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take Her out on Valentine's, but we did hang out a few days later when I was feeling moderately better. We ordered Los Hermanos to-go, went back to my place and taught ourselves how to play Dominoes and Mexican Train, then watched "The Count of Monte Cristo". (Afterwhich, we had our first kiss)

Monday night we got to celebrate Valentine's Day the way I had originally planned. She came over to my place, I barbecued some flank steak to perfection, attempted to make twice-baked potatoes which I had to improvise as they didn't cook fast enough so I turned them into mashed potatoes instead, and I used an amazing recipe I have for steamed asparagus. The table was set with candles and fancy dinnerware--it went off without a hitch. She brought sparkling cider and chocolate covered strawberries. It was delicious. For our belated "Valentine's Day Activity" I had purchased a 1500 piece puzzle online a few days before. (This puzzle is impossible! See pic below.) We worked on it for about an hour, (it will probably take a few months to finish) then we watched a movie.
It was a very peaceful evening and went better than I had hoped.

Tuesday was my day off, I got a ton of errands done and finally, it was good enough weather to pull my motorcycle out of storage for a quick ride--I didn't put a battery tender on it nor did I put fuel stabilizer in the tank before I stored it so I had a little maintenance to do before she was up and running. It was totally worth it! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my bike??? I know it is very materialistic and worldly or whatever, but it is so much fun. I can't describe how that bike makes me feel as I ride it up the canyon or just around town. It's awesome. So much freedom, it's great.

Wednesday I went to lift at the gym before work and after work She and I went to the BYU vs. Utah basketball game at the Marriot Center--tickets courtesy of Her dad--Which I called and thanked him for. Her little sister and her friend went with us, we had great seats and BYU won.

Today I've got a buddy of mine that I go riding with during the summers, is coming in to buy a newer A4 for his wife. She is tired of her 2004 A4, ha ha. He is opening a new BMW/Triumph motorcycle dealership in American Fork next month, he wants me to come work for him. We'll see. The way management has been treating people here at my dealership, I just might take him up on any reasonable offer.

What a fun date!

Ok, so I'm sittin' at home Sunday night--watching a fantastic Super Bowl, and I get a text from this girl I'm kind of dating? and I call her back. She proceeds to tell me that she wants to go snowshoeing. She heard from her friend how much fun it is and she wants to go. Keep in mind I've never gone but it sounds fun. I suggested a hike that I had read about in my "100 hikes in Utah" book, that goes up the Alpine Loop past Sundance Ski Resort. She is totally game and we started planning.

We both got pretty excited and looked forward to this "adventure" all week. I bought snow boots, ski poles, snowboarding socks, a Nike Dri-fit long sleeve shirt and Dri-fit underwear. (that's not all I wore, come on now) This officially goes down as one of the most expensive dates ever. lol. I knew it was going to get extremely warm despite the 20 degree temperatures, snowshoeing over six miles round trip, and a 2,000 ft. elevation change. I also downloaded topographical maps onto my handheld GPS courtesy of my buddy Adam who actually ponied up and bought the $100 map CDs. I bought a couple of MRE's, some Powerbars, packed my 9mm, filled my Camelback with water, and scrounged up a good first-aid kit, etc. You name it, we had it. When all was said and done I think my "day" pack weighed in at about 35 lbs. BSA-Be Prepared. :-)

Friday morning finally arrived! I managed to get my schedule not only switched with the other Porsche salesman today but asked MY boss--HER dad--if it was ok that I came in 2 1/2 hours late. (I had planned ahead and made up those hours on Monday where I worked an extra 4 hours) In fact, if I remember correctly he even texted her on our descent down the mountain to ask where she was, like he didn't know, lol.

We met up at the mouth of the Provo Canyon promptly at 8:00 AM. She said she couldn't sleep the night before she was so excited. The canyon had been closed due to snow until 11 PM the night before but was now "clear" with nearly an inch of snow left, mixed with salt/sand, all the way up both S.R. 189 and S.R 92. We drove past Sundance and parked in what appeared to be a parking lot buried under a foot of snow. From here we loaded our packs, strapped on our snow shoes and started hiking.

Can I just say we couldn't have picked a more beautiful day if we had tried. As soon as the sun came over the mountains the sky was so blue, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles. We were walking on top of 6 ft.+ of snow (probably closer to 7 or 8). There was a vague trail courtesy of snowmobilers from previous days but other than that it was virgin snow, with the extra four inches of fresh, clean powder that had fallen the night before. It was gorgeous! The white Aspens, the complete silence, all that snow and the beautiful towering mountains made such an amazing landscape. We were following the aforementioned trail and my GPS, taking our time, enjoying the views and even the FRESH cougar tracks we found, and made it to the top around 11:30 AM.

There we made "camp", had a warm lunch and rested a bit, but we soon found out that if you aren't moving/hiking, it feels really cold fast! We made it back down twice as fast as we did going up, picked up the fleece pullover and jeans (too many layers) I had ditched on the side of the trail on the way up, and made it back to the car safe and sound. We were exhausted but it felt so good! Unfortunately both of us had to be back to work at 3:30 and work till 9.

We had a really good time and got to know each other a little better. She is way cool and I really enjoyed the hike with her. I think we might even go out tomorrow night...but I have a ton of stuff to do, and people I need to go visit, so we'll see.

Good weekend

What a game yesterday huh? I had a small wager in favor of the Giants so a co-worker ended up buying me lunch today...somehow it always tastes better when it's free. :-)

I went on a date Saturday night, and rest assured, I found a customer that actually wanted to buy a car right before I was supposed to get off of work, and I was an hour and a half late, just like last week when I picked her up. AHHHH! I despise being late. Luckily the customer was ok with me delivering the car to him today, Monday, so I could salvage what was left of the date. To her credit, she wasn't razzled at all and we had a great time.

Work today has been non-stop. Simply playing catch up from the weekend and tieing up loose ends and requests from clients. I sold my second Porsche on Friday night, sold an Audi A6 Saturday and today sold a VW Beetle convertable. The month is starting off extremely well. I was supposed to go snowmobiling tomorrow with a client but he hasn't returned my call to confirm. He also wants to set me up with his sister--maybe he's having second thoughts--on both fronts. ;-)

It's been a while...

Well, I've been off the blog for a week or two now, oops. My running and lifting goals are still in effect but sales have been extremely slow. The weather here in Utah has been very sporadic with a lot of snow in between, which keeps people indoors--not to mention everytime anyone turns on the tv they hear of a possible recession, so everyone seems to be in a holding pattern with their money as of late.
Some good news, I got word yesterday that my best friend Austin was just hired by Porsche North America (corporate division) in Atlanta. It's pretty cool that we both now work for the greatest car company in the world. (I'm a little biased).

What a week

Well, I sold my very first Porsche this week. It was that Cayenne Turbo that I mentioned earlier. While I had a deposit on the car, that guy never called me back to finish the paper work, so I still have his $3,000...and I sold the car to someone else! In commemoration my mom and dad bought me MY first Porsche--the exact 1:18 scale replica of the one I sold. Thanks guys. :-) Yesterday I spent 12 hours at the Utah Int. Auto Show in Sandy answering questions about Porsches at our booth. I'd say I got about 12 good leads, so we'll see. My boss did stop by on his way home from work to give me 30 min. to get a bite to eat. He also had his daughter drop by so we could meet--slightly awkward--however, we walked around for a bit and played the usual 20 questions. Super cute girl, we exchanged numbers--maybe I'll give her a call sometime--in fact, (her dad just came by my desk), she's expecting a call tonight. Yikes, taking out the boss' daughter, isn't that kinda risky? It was all his idea so I think I'm ok.

I did sell a VW R32 today, this kid is picking it up on Monday--I didn't make any money on it but hey, it's a car deal.

Well, tomorrow being Sunday and all, I thought I'd work, j/k. No but really, I have to be at the Auto show from 10 AM-8 PM. This is a tough week. I worked open to close (9 AM-9 PM) Thurs, Auto show all day Friday(10-10), open to close(9-9) Sat, auto show all day (10-8)Sunday, then work open to close Mon. (9-9). I am very much looking forward to my Tuesday day off.

Sundays

Church was good, we had ward conference--we've got a great Stake Presidency, in fact if you watched the CES fireside tonight, my Stake President was conducting. I came home from church to watch my Indianapolis Colts knock themselves out of the playoffs, grrr. That's what I get for watching football on Sunday--j/k, that's not how it works :-) Now I'm just doin' some reading and thought I'd drop a quick note up here.

Not all is lost :-)

Well, I did end up selling a used 2005 Passat to a really nice guy and his family. We suddenly got really busy and now there is a line of people waiting to go into finance! When it rains it pours.
I remembered that I can't go ride tomorrow because my bike is in my storage unit and they lock the place up on Sundays...Sorry Devan, I won't be makin' the trip to Salt Lake. One more hour here at work, maybe I can sell another car...

Saturday??? Really?

I went running this morning before work, it felt good. I ran three times this week and lifted weights once. Two weeks down, 50 to go.

The customer that was supposed to drive from CO today and by an A4 from me called to say that her "local" (3 hour drive) dealer gave her a better offer, on a car she didn't really want but she bought it anyway. I could have beat their offer if she had just asked! Glad I spent the last two weeks emailing and running around like a crazy meeting all of her demands/finding the car she actually wanted, just to have it thrown in my face. Gotta love it.

The sun is out today but it feels like a Monday, not a Saturday. There are no customers here--it's really slow. We've had two salesman quit in the last two days, one of whom took first place last month...doesn't make any sense. As I look outside I can't help but long for a ride on my bike. The sun is shining and that's all I need, I can bundle up against the cold for at least and hour ride...maybe if the weather holds I'll go tomorrow, because I don't get off of work until eight o'clock tonight.

Tuesdays--my weekend

I love and value the time from Monday night at 5 until 1PM on Wednesdays, more than anything in the world--it is my weekend. Monday night I chilled with those girls from the ward again, watched some movies-at my house-until I fell asleep. Woke up at 9 AM, went to the gym to lift, then I met up with Karen on BYU campus where she treated me to lunch via her dining plus card. Then I borrowed my buddy Adam's truck, picked up a new matress for Devan and drove to Salt Lake to drop it off at his apartment. When I dropped Adam's truck back off, he and I headed to Home Depot to get some light fixtures and bulbs for his garage. Installed em' then headed home for dinner and then back to the gym to run on the treadmill for almost 3 miles-I hate running outside-mostly because I can't pace myself/I slow down. This morning I went to the bank, did laundry, cleaned my bathroom and vaccumed. At work today I won $100 from VW, I have a VW check card that they deposit money on when I sell a qualified VW and play a little online game. I can win $50-$500...the most I've ever won is $100 per game.

I have a client that has placed a deposit on a 2008 Cayenne Turbo ($123,685.00) but won't come pick it up! I had to trade two Porsche 911's to get Beverly Hills Porsche to trade me for that thing. The kicker is the car has been here for 3 weeks! He told me that he had to have it before the end of 2007 so I worked like a mad man to find and get the car here in time (it was intransit to CA across the Atlantic when I located it and had it rush delivered here from the port in San Diego). A little disappointing that I've done everything he has asked but he hasn't come through at all. He won't return my calls and when I do get a hold of him he tells me I should hear back from him the next day and then three days pass and nothing. The other Porsche salesman has a client ready to go on this thing if my guy falls through...ugh, not looking good.

Today it snowed eight inches, great for my Audi A4 Quattro, not great for car sales. I don't think enough people out there know that Audi invented all-wheel drive, because I haven't seen a customer all day!

Well only two more hours here at work, then I'm gonna go running.

Slow monday

Friday night was a lot of fun as I picked up my brother Devan and sister Karen from my grandpa's cousin's house in Cottonwood Heights. They had flown in earlier in the day from Christmas break in Indianapolis at our parents house. Judy had been kind enough to pick them up and take them to her house until I got off of work. The weather was terrible--Judy's power was out when I got there so we headed back to Provo rather quickly. We dropped Karen off at the dorms and Devan spent the night on the floor at my place.

Saturday I had work at nine a.m. so Devan came with me and got a tour of the dealership, then I dropped him off at Midas where the Buick's brakes were getting done. He then chilled at my house playing Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox 360 until I got home at five p.m. I sold a car over the phone, via faxes and emails to a very nice lady in Grand Junction, CO. Because the weather was so bad here she decided she would come pick up the car this coming Saturday instead of making the four hour trek in the snow. Then Devan and I headed up to Salt Lake to watch Freestyle Motocross at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was pretty cool, but once you've seen the X-Games live in L.A., the scripted circus that is FMX, it just isn't that exciting. However, I think Devan enjoyed it as he had never seen FMX of any kind. Needless to say we left during intermission and went to find Devan's new apartment.

It's a decent place only three miles from LDS business college; it should work well for him over the next four months. We unloaded his stuff and headed back to Provo. We stopped at my friend Adam's place and played some "Rock Band" (Xbox 360) with a bunch of my friends till midnight.

Sunday after church we picked up Karen on the way home, not before she raided a vending machine of hot pockets and fruit snacks to share with everyone though. :-) We just hung out at my place, talkin', then Karen treated us to the deliciousness that is the Cannon Center cafeteria food. I had flashbacks of my freshman year at BYU and at the MTC prior to heading to Japan. The food is just as bad now, as it was then. Karen said she'd make it up to me by taking me over to the Legend's Grill on campus for some smoked salmon tomorrow, since it's my day off. Then Devan headed back to Salt Lake to get settled in and get to bed early as his school started today. I went to ward prayer mtg., then went and chilled with some girls from the ward at their apartment till eleven then went home to bed.

I was 2 minutes late to work this morning so I have to stay an extra hour--so lame--I was hoping to go run before I went to FHE, but oh well...
It has been really slow today. I've only talked to one customer who didn't even have enough time to go on a test drive but sceduled an appt. for next monday. That should be a car deal.
I got 3 hours of Porsche training under my belt this morning--just when I think I couldn't learn more about these cars Porsche sends me more material to learn.
One of my managers wants to set me up with his daughter, he says she's a really good girl and that he'll invite me over for a movie night or something at their home sometime soon.

In closing, a report on my resolutions--I've started a book called "The Infinite Atonement". I'm really enjoying it. I am running tonight and lifting weights tomorrow. I spent an hour going thru The Rosetta Stone program last night, it's amazing how much Japanese I've forgotten, but it is coming back very quickly.

Welcome Welcome

Well, I have 10 new years resolutions for 2008 and #2 is to start a Nick blog and write twice a week. I'm pretty excited to finally be doing this and I hope that it will be effective in allowing me to see myself grow over the next 361 days. I'm willing to bet that once I start this blog nothing fun and exciting will happen to me anymore/entertainment for one and all. My life has been a nothing short of a surreal experience up until now and for the first time in my life--I have written goals and aspirations. Thank you for all who read this, but it's mostly for me. I've noticed that the older I get and the longer I stay single, ie., not married again, the more selfish I become, something I hope to work on as time goes on. That's my intro.

As my first post I guess I should state my new years resolutions: note they are not in any order of importance.
#1 Sell 150 cars/11.5 a month/2.875 a week
This seems like a very realistic goal as I sold nearly 100 cars my first year. Nothing crazy but keep in mind that I work at a highline dealership where volume isn't the name of the game, it's front and back end gross that is important to my managers. Also, this goal will have a direct effect on other goals later on down the list.
#2 Start a Nick blog--write 2x's a week. Here goes nothin'.
#3 Read Scriptures daily. This is a lot easier for some people I know, but I tend to read daily then life gets good and then I stop and fall off the boat. It's a viscious cycle and I plan on stopping it this year.
#4 $20,000 bank account for a home purchase in 2009. My parents are constantly on me about buying a home, so whether I end up living there or not, I would like to buy a house next year. It'll be a good investment at the very least. I have started a spread sheet with my budget and I will need to take home nearly $4400 a month to meet those goals, a mere $52,000 this year--I can do it.
#5 Don't compromise morals for females. Last year was a disaster as far as my love life goes, and that is an understatement. I am going to stick to what I know is right and only date girls with jobs, good LDS girls and a good head on their shoulders--all crazies need not apply.
#6 Visit Austin & Sarah in Atlanta whenever Delta has a cheap, last minute flight. Austin Latchaw is my best friend and he is going to play his music and movies extremely loud so his next door neighbors move. Then I can move next door and we can merge our garages together and work on our dream--starting a car tuning company--with neither of us having any kind of engineering background, just a love of cars.
#7 $10,000 Porsche savings account. I love my 2007 Audi A4 S-line with upgraded ECU and a cold air intake. HOWEVER, it is absolutely killing me everytime I take a customer out on a test drive, b/c I want to take one home so bad. They are the most amazingly well built machines on the planet. Think it's all hype? Let me take you out in one doing 75 mph around a 110 degree turn letting the back end slide out ever so slightly. What a blasty blast.
#8 Run 2x's swim 1x's lift weights 1x's a week. However, I would like to make an adendum to this one, If I am unable to swim, it can be substituted for running. In the future I would like to run a marathon, or at least a half marathon. I just want to stay healthy and feel good. I love exercise because of how it makes me feel, which I have learned is a little chemical inside my brain called endorphins, I love em'.
#9 Read a book bi-monthly (6 total for the year) I haven't quite decided what books I want to read, but reading 6 different car magazines a month just isn't as intellectually stimulating as I would like. So if any of you have any suggestions or books that you have read lately that you enjoyed, please share your recommendations.
#10 Study Japanese every Sunday for at least one hour. I added this one a little late to my list, in fact I came up with it yesterday and am adding it now. I spent two long years learning one of the toughest languages on this planet and I'll be darned if I'm going to lose it. I bought the rosetta stone program 1&2 two months ago, and I've only loaded the cd's once. Pathetic.

So, there are my top ten new years resolutions! I plan to use this blog as a progress meter of all ten of them, sort of like making myself give a public accounting for all of them. I tend to accomplish more when I know people are watching.

So far I've sold one car, a Jetta SE to one of the nicest ladies in the world, only 149 more to go. I've read my scriptures for the last two days and I am going to go buy a book tomorrow called the Infinite Atonement at Deseret Book. I ran two miles on tuesday and I am heading to the gym to run some more right now before work to at 1:00 PM.

I look forward to your comments--if you simply read my blog and don't have anything to say, please just type a one letter comment to let me know someone read it, I'd really appreciate that. Thanks!