New beginnings

first apartment in Dallas 1975- $320 per month furnished

Well today I cannot help but tell you a story about when I got out of college and went to work for EDS.  Right now I am sitting at Forest Lane and Coit at a Starbucks.  In 1975 there were no Starbucks, cell phones, iPads, iPhones, iPods, or Etrade, Ebusiness, ECommerce and there were no CD's, PC's, DVD's and the list goes on.  I went to work for EDS and Ross Perot when it was a small company (compared to today) located on Forest Lane just east of Coit.  I chose EDS not because they offered the most money because they did not.  I did not accept the job because they seemed to like country kids who worked hard and ex-military folks who had discipline even though most of the company was defined by those two traits.  What attracted me was the same thing Don Kelsey said that attracted me to hauling hay.  Don told me I could make 2 cents per bail on all the hay he, Kenny and I could haul in a day.  He did not promise me good weather, 72 degrees at the office or guaranteed benefits or health insurance or even a good time in a safe environment.  He offered to pay me what I was worth if I could do the job.  At EDS they told me they would pay me what I was worth and that if I proved I was worth more than the next person I would get a raise even if it was every month.  In fact they told me a story about a guy I ultimately worked with who got a raise three months in a row.

To say the least I was excited and scared but I knew one thing from growing up in the Osage.  I knew I could out work anyone, anytime and under any condition.  I knew I was not the smartest and in fact I promise at least half of the folks in my class were smarter than me.  The only difference between me and most others is I loved school and I loved to learn.  I say that but it might be that I just preferred being in class verses being home working outside cleaning barns, digging ditches and the hundreds of things there were to do if there was a moment of time to be waisted.  In fact I leaned that time was not to be waisted on mindless things.  I learned there were 86,400 seconds in every day and you could not carry them over or save them up.  Nothing needed to wait for the next day.  At EDS it was a pleasure to see and learn about all the folks and their backgrounds.  But now I want to share with you one of my favorite stories.

From where I am sitting right now is across the street from the old EDS corporate office.  This is where I spent 13 weeks at least 16 hours a day being educated on how to write systems/programs for business.  It is also where I became close friends with a Jewish guy from Queens (New York City), David Goldenberg who is one of the dearest friends I have my entire life.  It is at EDS that I learned loyalty and perseverance valued more than intellect. It was hear I saw a quadriplegic who could type faster with his toes than I could with 10 fingers (another story).  It was at EDS where upon my graduation from the SE class I received a book from Ross (the owner) with a personal note of thanks and my wife received flowers from Ross with a hand written note saying thanks for letting her husband spend the time necessary to be successful at EDS.  The stories go on and on but one of my favorites has also become a book and a movie.

 I worked on the banking contract for the government of Iran before the fall of the Shaw (1980).  Shortly after the Shaw fell and Iran was under new rulers and they had captured two of our employees to hold as hostage to force EDS/Ross to stay and work on Iranian computer systems.  I cannot tell the entire story here but the book is "On Wings of Eagles" and it tells of the loyalty and perseverance of a culture of people that love America and will do anything necessary for its people.  People are more important than  any project or money and Ross showed that over and over.  What he got back was loyalty.  I forgot to mention the theme of the book is that Ross took a group of our employees and went undercover into Iran and staged a massive jail break to get our two employees back.  We never left our people behind.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Finish the job - perseverance
• People are important
• Loyalty is earned 
• Be thankful for those who have gone to war for your freedom!

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com