I know it's been a while since my last update, but a LOT has been going on in my life. I'm no longer working at Hertz Rent-A-Car. I decided to make the switch when they denied me the opportunity to get a job selling used rental cars. They needed bus drivers THAT badly. One of my high school class mates actually is the president of a Chrysler Jeep and Dodge dealer in Chicago. All of the St. John's Military Academy alumni were trying to contact me through Facebook, so I friended them all. He posted a pic of a '94 Mercury Grand Marquis with 24" wheels on it and a caption that read something like "Just traded this in for an SRT8 Charger. We are gonna wholesale it." Next thing you know, I'm a salesman at Marino Chrysler Jeep and Dodge at 5133 W. Irving Park Rd. in Chicago. Being from the suburbs, it was a big culture shock for me. We had multiple lots that were blocks away, so sometimes it would take 10 minutes or more to get a car, and that's if it wasn't blocked in or the battery wasn't dead.

I sold my first car on April 1st, 2012. It was a 2006 Honda Civic sedan. I burned through the good times and suffered through the bad. Working at Marino CJD is unlike ANY other work environment that I had ever experienced. I kept looking for the hidden cameras the first couple of months. I felt like I was on some kind of reality show. The General Manager would rule the dealership from his desk (affectionately known as the "Tower.") He saw all and knew all. As many times as I got chewed out by him, I kept my mouth shut and ears open. I learned most of what I know now about selling cars like s blind man walking through a field of garden hoes lying on the ground. I'd screw up, get chewed out, and learn something valuable. It took me ten months to get comfortable with selling cars.

I was unlike most salesmen. The average salesman would come in not knowing much about the product, but having the natural ability to negotiate and close people. My knowledge of cars was higher than most coming in, but the mechanics of the sale was where I needed work. I learned and adapted, averaging about 12 cars a month over ten months. Considering the minimum requirement is 11 per month, I'd say it's average.

The first month I found a NICE 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited with a 2.0L turbo engine. It was going to the wholesale auctions with only 19K miles. I quickly traded in the wife's Corolla for it. I was going to surprise her, but that would be a death sentence for me, so I sent her pictures. She said fine. Now she can't imagine driving anything else. She gets the heated seats, leather, sunroof and a turbocharger and I get the base-model, 80K mile ex-rental car beater. "Happy wife; happy life!"

We had a hail storm in the first week of May. I was on vacation when it happened, but when I came back, it was like the Wild West. We sold cars that look like chewing gum at GREATLY discounted prices and made some good money doing it.

I found that selling average cars like Chrysler 200s, Avengers, Patriots and Compass' were the easiest. They always had great rebates and were a sensible option. Up until yesterday, (Feb 2nd) I had NEVER sold a Challenger. Go figure, my favorite car. Wranglers can go either way. Either they can be easy as all get out or be four hours of brain damage.

Now that I feel comfortable working at Marino Chrysler Jeep and Dodge, and successfully selling cars and making decent money, I can devote my time to other things. I have amassed an impressive collection of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars for my kids. I have started to restore and recondition cars. My latest project was a set of Ertl "Dukes of Hazzard" patrol cars and a General Lee. The General Lee got a new coat of orange paint and the bumpers have been rechromed. I still need new decals, but I'll wait on that. The police cars are my pet project. I don't need anymore 80s vintage squad cars. I need more "civilian cars." So, what I did to these three 1980 Pontiac Bonnevilles is I removed the lightbars, filled in the roofs, replaced any broken axles, rechromed the trim, and painted one all white, one blue w/ a white top and one brown w/ a white top. I painted all the side trim in chrome and one has a set of whitewalls. I restored a Yatming Lincoln Continental and a Tomica Continental and a Tomica Toyota Crown taxi. I only need a couple cars to complete my collection of old cars. I need a MotorMax '82 Plymouth Horizon and a Hot Wheels 80s Pontiac J2000. After that, it's all new cars from here on in.

I can get my fair share of Dodge Chargers, Chrysler 300s, Challengers, Durangos (first gen) and Ram 1500s from Walgreens, but I need Corollas, Camrys, etc. I just picked up five 2011 Hyundai Sonatas so that the kids have Mommy and Daddy's car. I also have a green and white Hot Wheels '58 Edsel (although my REAL Edsel is a four-door hardtop and the toy is a two-door hardtop).

Besides the Matchbox car city and work, I have decided to work on my novel again. I started it back in high school and have re-written it numerous times. Due to a computer crash, I lost everything except a hard copy of my first rough draft. I read it and although I laughed a lot, I concluded that it was complete garbage. I have a good introduction typed up and will probably post it within the week. Also, I will try to post a zombie story that I wrote in two hours a couple years ago. We'll see.

We also just got a new cat. His name is Cheeto. I think he snorts coke when we aren't looking.

Other than that, there's nothing new going on. I will be talking more about Chrysler products and head-to-head comparisons of 1:64 scale die-cast cars (MAtchbox, Hot Wheels, Yatming, Johnny Lightning, etc).

Stay tuned and thanks again for reading.