He's simply hard-driving car salesman

When it comes to selling cars, Louis DiDomenici sits in the driver's seat.

The top salesman at Melody's Bellevue Nissan routinely sells 40 cars a month. (The average is half that.) He's so good that he often moves eight or nine cars a day. DiDomenici accounts for half the volume at the dealership, both in cars and money.

"When I sell a car to one customer, I usually get two of their friends in here in the next 48 hours," he said. "The cycle continues because I give people a great value."

It helps, DiDomenici said, to have dealership owners who believe high volume sales and small profit margin bring in customers.

If there's a secret to his success, it's that he likes his job.

"I can't wait to get here each morning," said the Bellevue resident. "And I don't want to close at night. I was a manager for a long time, but I didn't like it. I went back to selling."

That attitude helped make February a record month. DiDomenici sold 67 cars.

"It was a good month," he said. "I even took two trips in there so I did that in about 18-20 days."

DiDomenici went to Arizona and Mexico.

The Mexico trip was a gift from Melody and Dave Swanson, owners of the dealership, for being top salesman.

Sold out: Maya Angelou, whose writings and poetry inspire the whole nation, will be the guest speaker at Tuesday's YWCA Eastside Professional Women's Benefit Luncheon.

Jean Enersen of KING-TV will be the mistress of ceremonies.

Don't even ask about attending.

This isn't a ticketed affair. It's a bring your heart-and-checkbook fund-raiser. And all 1,700 seats have been spoken for.

Now, don't you wish you said yes when a table captain called you two months ago?

Walking woman: Carol Ann Askland, a Kirkland travel agent, recently moved to Professional Travel Service.

Her new digs are two blocks east of her former home, the now-closed Travel Office.

"I figured I would get more exercise since I moved because everything is a little farther away," Askland said. "I usually walk to lunch at George's Place and to my Kiwanis meeting at the Kirkland Roaster."

So far, she hasn't gotten in much walking.

Nearly every time Askland steps outside Professional Travel's door to walk somewhere, friends passing by stop and give her a ride.

"I may not be getting more exercise," she said, "but the good news is I'm catching up on what's happening with friends."

Buyers' market: Putting on charity auctions can be a costly business both in people power and initial cash outlay.

Youth Eastside Services is trying something different.

An online auction.

Check it out at www.auctions.yahoo and look for Youth Eastside Services under charity listing.

Weekend retreats, dinners out and Beanie Babies are among the many things up for grabs.

Bid often, bid high.

Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. Reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, e-mail at sgrindeland@seattletimes.com, fax at 425-453-0449, or mail at Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Bellevue, WA 98004.