The other day while shopping at a sporting goods store, I encountered a young couple purchasing ice auger blades. They reminded me of why boys get married and the devices they must use to achieve their desires. Upon finding his choice of mate, it is only natural for a young man to forsake all others, […]
Grandpa Davey
Locke Machines
Clutching the tubular steel frame with my left hand, I prepared to break loose the component frozen to the corroded assembly. With calculated movements, my right hand first swung back the 48 oz. maul and then let loose with a full swing toward the recalcitrant part. What went wrong, I do not know. The full […]
Surrogates
With the recent presidential election and economic turmoil, I am reminded of a lesson learned over two centuries ago in Massachusetts. We all know the story of a group of disgruntled citizens dressing up as Native Americans and throwing boxes of tea into Boston Harbor. Free people want to choose where to spend their hard-earned […]
Invest in Yourself
At 24 and working my first job outside of the family business, I discovered how perspective could influence ones worldview. A co-worker referred to us as working for the manufacturing company where we were both employed. “Working for the company?” I queried. “I thought the company worked for me”. Having no customers and no capital […]
Vaya Con Dios
Once, while mowing the grass on the levee of the Michoud Slip, I was overtaken by a rapidly developing thunderstorm. Shifting my tractor into high gear, I crouched low and bounded through the fields to the sanctuary of my truck. Now safe, though drenched to the bone, I marveled at the intensity of this blinding […]
Sub Prime
As Thanksgiving rolls around once again during this period of economic turmoil, I am reminded how fortunate we are and must count our many blessings. While house hunting in March of 1986, we met John and Karen. John had recently been transferred out of state and they were selling their home. Upon touring the property, […]
Choices
Recently, a young man considering the path he will take into adulthood questioned me concerning my occupational choices. Given the opportunity, would I repeat them? I replied that I have been most fortunate to work among good people and have engaged in many endeavors that I would have been happy to do without pay. This […]
Corrections
In Mysterious Money, I promised to tell the story of “The Drillpress” in which I would illustrate how we can change the past as easily as the future. Today I will tell the story, a trivial tale with grander implications. I shall attempt to relate an incident where reality changed on a daily basis. drillpressOne […]
No Sense at All
Here’s a story that some find quite humorous, not like ha ha, but funny because it’s not funny. Be prepared to travel through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead – your […]
Killing Me Softly (aka Haunted Honeymoon)
I recall the surreal scene of driving through wind blown sand coming from the beach while we both silently pondered the permanence of what we had just done. The silence was interrupted only by the buffeting wind and the sound of Chicago III on the tape player. This was our wedding night and following the […]