Many of our loyal blogfans know that the staff of the Trust love our jobs, and we enjoy the fact that every day is different. We have celebrations, challenges and heartaches that our staff of two tackles every day. That said, we thought we would offer you a snapshot into our daily life... because Kristi is on vacation today, the schedule below follows Rebecca through her day:
9 am: Arrive at work, listen to 7 voicemails (including 3 calls about the kudzu cleanup and one phone call from Kay of Greeneville, TN, thanking us for our time last Thursday). Check fax machine.
9:10am: Visit from new homeowner Erin, who has come bearing a level and thank you card for contractor Steve West. We chat about her exciting progress in unpacking, IKEA curtains, and outlet mall finds. I love that Erin is so happy about her home and hope she can get internet installed soon!
9:15am: Check emails (too many to count) and write various answers, schedule various meetings, and sign us up for a Green Building Seminar next Thursday.
9:25am: Meet with impromptu prospective buyer Mark (transplant from NJ) and talk about houses in the Hampton Heights area. This meeting is interrupted by one of our tenants, Joe, who has come to pay rent. We resume our discussion and talk about homeownership classes.
9:40am: Yet another walk in; this fellow has been working at the Beta Club headquarters down the street and is curious about the neighborhood. We talk about the history and architecture and I give him a folder with lots of information, maps, etc and tell him to definitely check out the holiday tour of Hampton Heights during the first weekend of December.
9:57am: I write down that we need to buy more folders for walk-ins and other interested parties...we are out!
10:15am: A guy comes in to the office looking for Jean (with PAL) and has some bike stuff for her!
10:30am: Contractor Steve West comes in for a visit. This is bittersweet. He is delivering his final invoice for work. He is a fabulous builder and wonderful person who is retiring...we talk about his plans and how he needs to get into a physical therapist for that disk problem in his neck.
11:30am: Kristi calls to check in. It is great to hear that Saturday's kudzu spraying went well, even if there was not enough herbicide for the 4 acres. We plan to do something nice for the applicator and DOW chemical contact who donated their time and herbicide to the cause.
12:15pm to 1:20pm: Off to lunch. The office is closed....seriously, we have to eat sometime!
1:30pm: Two voicemails when I return. One is a tenant with a broken front door (call to contractor to follow up and fix the glass!); the other is Dawn with Spartanburg Water who calls about setting up an account for the warehouse space (salvage store). It seems the owner of the building feels we will be setting up and paying for account. Grrr...we were not expecting this.
2:20pm: Visit from Wanda with Weichert Realtors. She will be listing 266 West Hampton Avenue and wanted to know about special financing, National Register status and down payment assistance. We are always super happy when realtors come our way and use us as a resource. Wanda and I chat about the great people who live in the neighborhood and the positive changes in the past few years. She asks if I think it will ever be like Converse Heights. If I had a dollar for every time someone tries to make this comparison...it is a bit like comparing Spartanburg to Greenville...which I don't want to do...
3:00pm: Start this blog, which makes me late for my 3:30 to 5pm Mary Black Foundation OCB meeting, so this is where my day ends.
A Day in the Life of a Trust Staffer. Rewarding. Interesting. Never a dull moment!
This got our wheels turning...what if we asked our staff, board members and friends to do the same the next time they travel and/or visit a landmark?