The Toronto Motorcycle Show, 448 Weekend
As the saying goes I believe in the Poltergeist movie… They’re Baaaack!!
The 448’s that occur so often in my life had seemed to have taken a hiatus as the last major series of them had not occurred since the Halifax Trip in mid July. I was beginning to think that my procrastinations in updating my website since late spring were possibly the reasons. If you can’t make the time to record them, we’ll stop sending them! This update should be completed before the Christmas holidays. Here’s what happened….
During the week leading up to the show I was working hard to make a large Product Liquidation deal work with one of my key accounts. It was a huge undertaking but I truly believed it was a deal that would be a benefit to my client and the company I represent. So I began to think creatively and as a result overcame the inherent objections the account buyers had regarding this purchase. I had done all I could do by the time of the Show weekend and decided to just let the cards fall were they may. If the deal was going to happen, it would occur at the Show for reasons related to some deadlines that were part of this deal. As I drove my Ford Van to the underground parking lot of the Toronto Convention Centre, the first 448 appeared. To my surprise my main odometer read 253,448.4km. To me this was a sign of good things to come! I immediately ran into a problem as my Van would not fit in the underground parking lot, even though I was told it would and had already purchase my weekend pass. The attendant told me that even if I could make it into the initial entrance Id have to go to the 5th level so therefore the odometer would probably not stay with the 448 showing. Regardless I didn’t want to get stuck so I chose to back out. I found only one spot left in an area that used a credit card meter just 50 yards away so I pulled in. I was .2 km away from the odometer going to 449. Cool!!
I called Stephanie who had my passes and she met me at the Show entrance. I needed a witness so I asked her if she would come and view the odometer. She graciously obliged, despite her high heels and freezing temperatures. When she got to the van and saw the odometer, she was truly impressed. We talked about the 448 stories and their purpose on the way back to the show. She now said she was freaked out by this event and I assured her it was nothing but a sign of good to come!
We walked into the Motovan booth and we were immediately greeted by a fellow Sales rep, who in front of all those present said something to the effect, Its Mr. 448 as he likes to tease me about my stories, so I couldn’t ask for a better introduction. Take it away Stephanie, I retorted and that was how it began. I made my predictions to those in the booth and went into a little explanation of why they occur. A few had puzzled looks on their faces as if they didn’t know what to make of it.
I used the Van 448 story throughout the day as numerous people from the industry stopped by to chat. On more than a few occasions, I was happy I had Stephanie as the witness. People seemed genuinely impressed. I did my shift until closing @ 9.00pm and was now curious if my Van would even be there as the meter had told me in the morning it was good till 6.00 pm. Would I possibly be towed?
I arrived in the parking lot and I could see the Van, as I got closer I could also see that familiar sight of a piece of paper flapping under the windshield wiper. I got a $40 ticket, not a good thing you’d think but in light of later events it was well worth the money. The ticket was printed from a hand-held printer and the time was above my COSMC448 license plate # and it was in Military time………18:44pm. As you may know from my other stories I get the 448 number forwards and backwards. Needless to say I called Stephanie. You could imagine her reaction. I said goodnight and moved on…..
While driving home up Hwy 10, I was shocked to see the gas price was only 68.9 a liter (it was in the high 70’s in the morning) but I had almost 3/4ths of a tank and normally I’d just pass this up, but I felt what the heck. I stuffed $30.90 in the tank and went inside to pay. When I began to fold the receipt and put it in my wallet the fold underlined a significant number……44.8 liters. I laughed and thought how I had some good stories to tell my girlfriend Erica.
While on the final 20 minute drive home I couldn’t wait any longer to contact my Dealer who was working late to find out their decision. It was on this call that the deal got complicated. I had stressed to the Buyer that the discount was as low as it was going to go but they made a good explanation to warrant a small move lower. I knew that Management was not going to like this but what could I do. I made the necessary calls and as expected they weren’t impressed and now told me they’d have to re-evaluate and I’d have to wait for the morning.
I still felt confident because of all the 448’s and thinking of how there was so many doors opening for me to talk about the purpose of the 448 stories. I had my Parking ticket and the Gas Receipt now so I was armed! My girlfriend Erica was coming to the Show on Saturday and we had decided for no apparent reason to take her car, so now we were traveling in a different vehicle. This point is important to what happened next!
While on the drive down I couldn’t wait any longer so I called Management and we discussed the deal. A compromise was made!! Now I had to covey this to the client and hope they accepted the counter offer that was not exactly what they were asking for but just in a different form. I immediately got on the phone as we were now only minutes from the Show and I wanted to make this deal happen before we got involved in what I knew would be a busy day.
We pulled into the parking lot closest to the show entrance and by now I had the Dealer principal and his Buyer on my cell and they were together on speaker phone. The parking attendant came to the window and requested the outrageous $20 parking fee and Erica was watching me try to pay, drive, park and negotiate all at the same time, that’s when it hit me ….Whoa!!, her trip odometer was at 544.8!!! I made her look to be the witness and told the client on the phone about the present 448, this resulted in a long series of ooooeeeeeoooo…..sounds courtesy of the Dealer principal to emphasize the strange occurrence. The bottom line is the deal was solidified there and then. It was a huge success and I’ll also mention it was done with my account who has a 24/7 toll-free fax line that begins with 1-800-448-______.
Elated and relieved we got out of the car and I immediately called Stephanie who was just excited to know if the deal happened yet and I told it was done. She was genuinely excited and she didn’t even know about the trip odometer that Erica was now my witness too.
Too many other things happened over the next 36 hours to explain how this worked out for me that added more fuel to my growing 448 Stories. It wasn’t over yet though, so here’s the finale. Due to the business being done at the show on Saturday & Sunday, I never got a chance to tell Brett Dailey of RacerX Canada magazine that the big deal had been done even though he knew how this deal if completed would very soon benefit him in the form of advertising pages. I finally on Sunday at around the end of the show thought that if I don’t see him now this would be ridiculous so I headed to his Booth.
Brett was stoked when he heard it had all worked out and I told him that the weekend had turned into a crazy 448 experience as I knew Brett was somewhat familiar with my 448 stories. I started to tell him the Van story, but that’s as far as it got as all of sudden my SuperMoto pal and 2003 Champion, Dave Arnold approached the booth and almost simultaneously so did two other Sales Reps and I knew the opportunity was lost. I talked with the group for a while but I was honestly a little frustrated I couldn’t continue the series of 448 events and even suggested to Brett that I’d talk with him later but he blurted out “No” in front of everyone! He didn’t want me to leave because he wanted to hear the stories, I then noticed Dave Arnold had an inquisitive look on his face so I discreetly told him what it was about and he hung around to hear what I had to say. The other two moved on after what seemed to me like forever (only because I knew now I had to get back to the booth, I would have been happy to tell them as well!). I started by recapping the van story for Dave’s benefit but said I would give the briefest of overviews which if you’ve read this story so far your probably wondering how that was possible, but it was and they seemed duly impressed. I said I have to leave immediately upon completing the story and we all shook hands and talked about maybe seeing each other again during the Holidays. I walked away in a rush and as I head to the Motovan booth I looked at my watch and it was 4:49pm!!!! I couldn’t believe it that the final show related story ended at 4:48. I turned back and ran into Dave Arnold first and I showed him the Time and he laughed. I then went to Brett and he commented right away, that’s strange!! You were interrupted for so long and you were even going to leave!!
So there you have it the Toronto 448 Motorcycle Show Story, nothing happens by Chance, Luck, or Coincidence!!
The following Story or Explanation/Introduction is something I wrote at the same time to change the Home page of my website in the area that relates to the 448 Stories…
As those of you close to me know, I’ve stated quite clearly why I believe the 448 stories occur…….. To draw attention to the teachings of my Yoga Master, Sir George King, who stated that the words Chance, Luck, & Coincidence cannot possibly exist in an ordered world. Those of you who have reviewed my stories on the website Jagg448.com will admit that the way my # 448 shows up at the most ironic time’s shows there is an undeniable pattern that goes beyond the realm of chance, luck and coincidence. Basic common sense and logic should lead any investigator to this conclusion.
My 448 stories on their own have no importance whatsoever in regards to world events. It’s the pattern they create that’s important. The way they occur, how often they occur, and who is affected by them, that makes them interesting.
They are my bait so to speak, so that I may be, to quote a saying from the Bible, when Jesus requested his disciples to become a Fisherman of Man. If you see the pattern of my 448 stories, then take the next step and research the claims and teachings, and the irrefutable proof of Sir George King’s stories. This mans messages and claims are of world-wide importance and apply to all individuals on this Earth. If I can draw your attention to this mans message even only once, then my insignificant foolish 448 stories have done their job.
Remember this as well, in these days it is prophesized they will be many false prophets. Make the request! Ask for Proof! Then be wise and listen. Your only defense is your own logic and discrimination that can only be developed by your own efforts to educate yourself and therefore become protected by your acquired knowledge. The teacher can lead his student to the water but if he is wise he understands he cannot force him to drink, lest he break the Law. Even more important is the law that states “as you take a step towards Truth, Truth will take two steps towards you!
You yourself must make the initial step or else by law, the two steps towards, cannot come. You and only you are the creator of your own destiny. With Christmas just around the corner, what greater gift could there be than the correct Teaching. I wish you all the inspiration to find your appropriate path be it long and easy or short and hard. Remember a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Go with God.