2018 06 Dominican Republic and the Osage

2018 06 25 Dominican Republic and the Osage

Here I sit on the top of a mountain in a beautiful house enjoying the fruits of a life given to me by my creator, my parents and of course growing up in the Osage.  I cannot help but be amazed at the creation by God’s hands.  The flowers and the trees and of course the climate in the DR are fantastic but how can anyone believe a BIG BANG created this?  Just take some common-sense logic, like if it were a big bang, which is taking something that exists and exploding it into a chaos vs. a finely developed order of creation.  I don’t know precisely how everything was made and absolutely no one on earth today or in the past knows.  They can only guess and look at evidence but remember, that things like carbon dating is a science and absolutely no one knows for sure if it is accurate.  In fact, I heard a PHD from one of the major colleges in California say that there is evidence that carbon dating is potentially off by thousands of percent.  For those who remember Aunt Gladys (Gladys Snyder-science teacher extraordinaire) she was a firm believer in evolution and she was a joy to talk to and study with.  I cannot explain the difference in Biblical teaching and science but no one else can, not even the smartest person out there.

The folks here in the DR are extraordinarily friendly and hospitable.  They seem to desire to serve you and they enjoy life even though they do not have the luxuries we have in the states.  Their families are much closer and in many respects like the “good old days” in the Osage.  The evenings are spent eating together and talking while just sitting in a circle which includes all the family.  That means kids as well.

I do remember the Shumate’s, the Snyder’s and the Kelsey’s would be at our house playing cards or just talking for hours.  Sometimes the Arrington’s would drive down from Shidler and spend the evening and again just sit around and talk and of course eat together.  Even if there was no company visiting we would sit on the porch and watch the coyotes run across the hills or at least listen to them howling back and forth.  That was great fun.  Life seemed much like the DR and I have to say it takes some getting use to these days.  I guess I just need to slow down.

So what does all this mean?

What do you learn in the Osage?

·        Stuff is much less important than family and friends

·        Time is fleeting, and you don’t get a second chance to use it because it is already gone

·        Happiness is where the heart is and that is precisely why stuff does not make you happy

Thanks for listening,

gary

gary@thepioneerman.com

2018 05 - Scores tied, no time outs and you are in the 4th quarter

What or how do you want the game to end?

I use to say that some day I will see my dad drive off into the sunset driving a tractor which is just like him.  My dad, Clifford Olson, lived with a purpose.  Every morning he would get up before daylight and I don't know how he did it but he always had a mental list of what needed to be done.  He had a great attitude in that he seemed to love whatever he was doing even if it were running a weed eater or driving steel posts while making a fence.  I don't ever remember him being particularly competitive in any way but he seemed to always have a purpose.  That reminds me, you should look up Jim Whitt's website, http://www.purposeunlimited.com and sign up for his blog.  He is from Shidler or Apperson or Denoya (not sure which one).   Back to the story:  So here I am and maybe you too, 65 years old (Joe Conner had a birthday yesterday 5/2 and I believe it was  1948) and thinking about what I want to do the rest of my life. 

So here goes, "be prepared to live, not wait to die".  So what if you are not the most organized or the most talented or smartest person around.  I just want to finish strong, do something meaningful, not necessarily great.  Dad did something meaningful in that he left a legacy to all his children and grandchildren.  Cliff Crow and Richard Crow and Chase Olson (grandson's) will tell you their grandpa made a big difference in them.  He gave them an example to live by and I would say they are three of the greatest dads out there.   You/I may never know what our legacy is or will be but I believe if we purpose to make a difference it will be great.  Well, I don't know how you are going to prepare to live but here is my list:

• Serve and love my children
• spend time with my grandchildren (only one right now but she is perfect)
• Mentor a few folks 
• Fish with friends and family
• Take dance lessons (Shouna and I are in our second month of country dancing)
• start another business, or is it too late?  Lane Legacy (lanelegacy.company)
• Let folks know that I am a believer in Christ and am not perfect but only through Him can I be

Well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• do what is right and it will work out
•  someone is watching you and learning from you every moment
• as Dad would say, "let's do something even if it is wrong"

Thanks for listening,

gary

gary@thepioneerman.com

2018 04 16 Luckily we all change or I suppose it might be unlucky

A friend asked me yesterday (4/25/2018) if I was ornery as a child and as I recall I would say no.  For those who knew me, email and tell me if I am wrong.  Anyway, I told them I suffered in many ways because I grew up physically so fast that my self esteem suffered.  I was pretty quiet or at least reserved in many ways.  I was not one to take chances and I hardly ever got in trouble although Shouna, my wife of 43 years, reminded me that I ripped Denise Logue's dress off and I did get in trouble.

Now the real story is Denise hit me in the back with her fist during a game and I swung around and grabbed her and she took off without her dress.  Mr. Lewis Morris was not a happy principle and he was going to give it to me.  Now remember in the 6th grade I was 6'2" and about 200 pounds with a 6th grade mind.  I told him I do not understand why I was in trouble as she hit me in the back and it was an accident her dress got ripped.  He confirmed the story and I did not get a whoopin (spanking).   So, I am reasonably confident I would not be considered ornery or even a trouble maker as a youth all the way through high school.  Now I would say that Eddy Harris and Jon Tanny Olsen taught me some tricks and they were for sure ornery.  Eddy is the one who taught me how to use dynamite to go fishing and how to duck hunt with a 30/30 and paint every tool we could find with Allis Chalmers orange and he taught me to break eggs in the chicken house.  Jon Tanny taught me how to drive over 100 miles per hour on ICE (the frozen water ICE) and he hunted ducks with a 30/30 as well.  Jon could fix anything and had an incredibly creative mind.  He was absolutely ornery.

So what really defines ornery?  I don't think I really know but here are a few things that give me the reputation.  When I was in college this girl  (Joyce Bing, not sure how to spell her last name) brought over some cookies to my apartment and put them in my hand upon which she crushed the cookies in my hand.  Now that was ornery.  In retaliation I turned her upside down and put those crushed cookies in her pants then I shook her upside down so the cookies would be sure and spread around.  They looked like oatmeal raisin which probably would have tasted good but she created the situation, not me.

Then there was Cathy Eaton at the annual Osage County 4-H livestock show in Pawhuska where she was bothering me (flirting) while I was preparing my show lamb (sheep) for the show.  Since I was being aggravated while I was busy I chased her away with the sheep sheers (a type of scissors) and I accidentally cut a big chunk of hair off her head.  Boy, did I get in trouble.  Again, you can see I was not the problem and I was not ornery.  It was a Fruiden response to her act of aggression.

So now you can see I was a victim and never ornery or at fault.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• don't take blame for what others start
• innocence is in the eyes of the beholder not necessarily what you think it means
• Life is like a box of chocolates, you just don't know what you are gonna get
• You have to live with the cards you are dealt

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

2018 04 What's the point?

So now I will give you a little story that occurred today (2018/04/02) on getting to know folks.  I was at the local McDonald's getting my coffee (senior coffee) and breakfast burrito (my normal Tuesday morning breakfast) when I saw a couple and the lady was wearing a Ponca City (Oklahoma for those who are geographically challenged) sweatshirt.  I asked if she was from Ponca and of course she was but she was raised in Blackwell (Greg Clifford has family connections and old memories of Blackwell).  I told them I was raised across the river from Ponca and they asked me where.  I explained Shidler but really Grainola is home.  He stated his uncles lived in Grainola and were Paul and Arnold Jones (Arnold was a highly decorated Marine) at which I replied I hauled hay for Paul (a pilot and my first airplane ride and that is another story) for 3 summers.  Did I mention that Paul was working for E.C. Mullendore who was murdered and there is a book about the murder?  Well back to the subject.  Hugh Allen Jones (Arnold’s son and a Marine as well) was one of five in my first 8 grades of school and of course I knew the rest of the family.  Then they asked if I ever get back up around home and I said I got close this weekend when I went to my sisters’ house in Perry for Easter lunch (lunch is what city folks call dinner).  She asked who my sister was, and I told her Debbie Schaefer and she informed me that my nephew Richard Crow (Debbie’s son) married her first cousin, Nancy (from Blackwell).  And the story goes on and on but here is the point.  If you don’t engage folks, you might miss finding out some interesting facts and you might find someone who is a near relative or a relative that you never met.  Then above all that you might, just might, get an opportunity to tell them about Jesus and what He means to you (remember Easter).

I have never been disappointed when I have shown interest in getting to know a stranger.  Of course my favorite one is when Preston, my son with down syndrome, was at McDonalds and he saw this big burly guy with tattoos and a leather jacket with lots of patches who just looked down right scary.  As it turned out he was not from Hell's Angels but was a pretty nice guy.  As Preston approached him and said, "Hey man" he dropped to one knee and looked Preston in the eye and they became friends.  Of course Preston hugged him and they became instant best friends.  Did I mention he had a beard and mustache and big white teeth which made him look like an arm pit with teeth when he smiled?

Well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• All folks are the same but different, they want to be friends
• don't judge a book by its cover or its tattoos
• Life is a lot more fun when you engage our differences in a positive manor

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

I always wanted to be someone's hero, but who is the real hero in your life?

Some things just never leave your mind like the time I saved Denise Logue's life.  Mom and her buddies were having the Home Demonstration Club meeting at our house and Denise and I were just hanging together while the ladies did whatever ladies do. 

Denise was wearing a pretty dress that day and she had curly blond hair.  Man was she HOT!  Anyway there was this dirt duster or dirt devil or whirley wind coming down the gravel road on Beaver Creek toward us and my manly instincts kicked in and I took her soft delicate hand and took her to safety in the garage just west of our house and west of the well house and cellar.  Some folks call the garage a house for cars and a well house is where the water pump is for getting water for the house and whatever else needs water.  Anyway, as we stood in the opening of the garage which was really just a storage shed big enough for a few cars or a lot of hay or a place for storage of wood and other tools, I held her hand and told her I would keep her safe.  What a hero!  Did I mention she was 5 years old?  So was I. 

Denise was one of the original Grainola 5, sometimes 6 and once 7.  I think I will explain that.  There was the original five of Jon Tanny Olsen, Hugh Allen Jones, Jimmy Heath, myself and one girl, Denise Logue and sometimes Joy Frank (our second girl) would be in Grainola Grade School and sometimes she would go to Shidler and then there was Ralph for one year and Bo Fulsom.  As you can see we had as much as a 40% swing in attendance over 8 years or 7 depending on when you transferred to Shidler.  Maybe I did not make it clear but that was the total number of folks in the 8 grades of school while in Grainola, Oklahoma where I grew up.
 
Everyone of these folks are worth a story or two but let me tell you about Ralph.  He was a bit slow and probably impacted me more than anyone could ever know.  Two things about Ralph that impacted me, one was that he was the only other person who had to sit in the extra large chairs brought into the first and second grade class.  You see I was always feeling like a freak because I was exceptionally tall even before I started school so they brought in a big chair for me.  It made me very self conscience and when Ralph joined me it gave me a sense of relief.  The second thing about Ralph that impacted me was that he was exceptionally slow mentally.  I hated to see him treated unfairly and he was exceptionally kind to everyone no matter how they treated him.  That was his strongest trait and he showed me how to treat folks even when they were rude.  You know the Bible tells us to love our enemies so I guess Ralph was just blessed to be on God's side.

Well I still miss Denise and would love to locate her as we lost touch over the years.  I tried to track her down over the years and the last I heard she was living in Cushing or Oklahoma City.  Do you think she still thinks of me as her hero?  It has been only 60 years since that event.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• stuff rots and memories last a lifetime
• Even slow Ralph was a teacher and a good buddy
• Ralph was the real hero in this story

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Walking the Camino or the Osage

Ya'll are smarter than me so you probably know all about this but it is new to me.  I have some friends in their early 60's who just walked the Camino and said it was a great time.   Just to enlighten you, it is a 500 (one of the options) mile walk across Spain!  Yep!  FIVE HUNDRED MILES.  It took them 30 days and it is known as a spiritual journey.  I think most folks today see it as a wonderful site seeing opportunity, but I may be wrong.  Anyway, I just watched a video which discouraged me more than it sold me on the idea.  If you have walked the Camino please tell me what your experience was by emailing me at gary@thepioneerman.com. 

I still have not walked the Camino but I have walked a lot of the Osage.  I suppose it is not so easy today with folks worrying about strangers walking across their land but the Osage has a lot to offer.  I use to hunt and fish all up and down Beaver Creek and my favorite parts were looking for Indian arrow heads and skipping rocks across the water plus seining for minnows.  I never ran out of things to do on the creek as it was filled with treasures.  In the fall the cotton woods were bright yellow and in the spring bright green and shimmering in the sun.  The animals gave up their locations if you would stay still and listen and not move.  The quiet times on the creek were not just thinking times but discovery of sounds and textures and light and shadows.  Owls to hawks to red birds to quail or just the rustling of the leaves and grass as a critter moved along created a delight in my spirit.  It was not uncommon to see big red squirrels or a raccoon and of course beaver doing their daily chores. 

Add a fishing pole and a nap on the banks of the creek and you could see heaven and at least you knew that it was not created by a BIG BANG.  Laying on the creek in the hot summer was a delight because the gravel and soil you laid on was cool and generally there was a gentle breeze on the creek.  The big winds could not get down to the creek which was protected by high dirt banks or rock ledges.  It is funny how now looking back it seems gross that I drank from the creek and never got sick but that water was cool and fresh and clear from the springs up the creek.  And yes, the cows and other animals shared that same water.

Tall grass for miles and rolling hills to creeks and valleys to the water falls at Shidler and the Salt Creek rock ledges and limestone filled with fossils and a history of cowboys and Indians and settlers and trees 100 feet tall along the waters edge make the Osage ever bit as good as any place in the world. 

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• be quiet and listen and you might hear the voice of God 
• you can't beat a day in the Osage on Beaver Creek
• Walking the Camino or walking the Osage builds character

I love talking to you.

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Home on the Range: Fullamanure #5: Banking and everyone should own a ...

Home on the Range: Fullamanure #5: Banking and everyone should own a ...: I spent most of my career in the finance industry and so it should be no surprise that I know bankers literally in every state of the union...

Fullamanure #5: Banking and everyone should own a bank

I spent most of my career in the finance industry and so it should be no surprise that I know bankers literally in every state of the union and have traveled to every state except Alaska, but it is on my bucket list.  As it turned out one of my friends or at least was a friend from Eufaula, OK talked me into investing in a new bank which he would start in Elk City, OK.  It was to be American National Bank and we started out in a trailer house.  I never moved there but was on the board and some committees at least for a period of time and that is why this story is a humbling one rather than a source of pride.  One thing I should tell you is that you should read the little blue book about your liabilities for owning and being on a bank board before you invest and get involved.  I read it after the fact and it scared the begizzies out of me.  yes, that is an OKIE word.

Well it started out fine in about 1987 after almost all the banks in Oklahoma had either been closed or were in financial difficulty due to the FALL of the oil industry during the Early 80's.  If you do not know, about every home builder went broke and anyone who served the oil business that had a loan went broke.  In fact Penn Square Bank in Oklahoma City was the beginning of the end when it was closed.  That little 40 million dollar asset bank grew to over 400 million (as I recall)  in just a few years but the worst part was they had originated loans and sold them off to National Bank of Detroit, Continental Bank of Chicago and a large bank in Seattle which I cannot recall the name.  They had originated loans in the billions of dollars and Penn Square just about took down the entire banking system and pretty much these three banks.  Ultimately there were over 100 banks in Oklahoma closed by the FDIC and it was down right ugly.  

Elk City had grown so fast before the bust that folks were living in tents because there was not enough houses or hotels.  The bust had occurred and every bank in that part of the state was in trouble so it made a lot of sense that starting a bank at that time would be easy and a safe bet plus a great way for those who had lost faith to move their accounts.  GREAT PLAN!  Things went well for a few years but then I remember asking some questions at the board meeting that angered the president and a few board members.  In particular I had asked how the president spends over $4,000 per month every month and we add about 4 or 5 checking accounts and a few small loans each month and spend this amount of money.  I remember asking if we would ever make enough money on these few accounts to pay back our investment not including salary expense.  You would have thought I started a fire as the president got really angry with what I was implying.  Then a few months later we had an expense for $26,000 (approximately) for concrete work.  I asked where the concrete work had occurred and again I got a few folks mad.  Just a few months later we got a letter from the Comptroller of the Currency requesting some clarification of the books and specifically how we had accrued some income from the settlement of some loans we had purchased from the closed bank in Hammond, Oklahoma.  A side note is we made the Wall Street Journal for making the first total asset purchase of a failed bank.  It was only about $4 million in loans but we paid the FDIC around $400 (as I remember) for the loans and then we went about re-working the loans to put them on our books.  It seemed like a steal and I would say it was originally.  To make this long story short, basically our president and one of his buddies had a side company where they charged the bank 30% of the loan as it was re-worked.  Sounds pretty smart except the entire thing crashed.  Yes, the bank was closed and we lost a lot of money.

Well this story got a little long so let's just clean it up with:
What do you learn in the Osage?

• If it looks too good to be true, RUN
• You cannot outrun a loser, think hard
• Don't ever regret your mistakes, learn from them
• Enjoy the victories as they make the losers small in the rear view mirror

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Rose colored glasses

Never let success get to your head.  Never let failure to get to your heart. I love this statement.  According to a study the number one reason for failure is arrogance.   I don't want to get into politics but it seems that Washington D.C.  has got  more than its fair share of arrogance.  My dad, Cliff Olson, use to say that sometimes we just get too big for our pants.  I think that is the same thing. OK, back to Rose Colored Glasses, which is the thinking that something is better than it is or at least seeing the positive side of things.  I guess that is me as I am a positive kind of guy and that I like to look for the good in things but sometimes that is a problem.  I think wisdom is the beginning of looking at both sides of the coin before drawing a conclusion.  Another way of describing that is through an example. Have you ever had someone draw a conclusion without knowing or at least examining the other side of the story?  I was examining a business opportunity for a friend of mine and he was very excited about the income opportunity and wanted to move forward on it.  He was exactly correct, he could make a lot of money with the new business.  I asked him how much of his time it would take and he said about 5 minutes each time and he would make more than $100.  I asked who would do the billing and collection and accounting and set up the appointments and run the ancillary operations.  I also asked him how much he would be giving up in income by spending 15 minutes each hour on this as he would perform the 5 minutes evaluation 3 times per hour (maximum).  I also suggested that he might not be able to assume 3 per hour and that some folks will take more than the 5 minutes.  Guess what?  when it was all said and done he would lose about $5 per hour. Then there is the story of a person who is getting a divorce because the other person cannot handle money and they are always broke.  But after talking to the other person there were at least 3 sides to the story.  His, Hers and the correct story.  She was not handling the money well because she thought making over $200,000 per year allowed her to be free spending.  She did not take into account that the house was about $400,000 and the monthly payment was over $3000 per month and the two cars were over $1700 per month and after taxes they were making about $14,000 per month and they needed to be saving 15% for retirement or more and that they had 3 children and two were teenagers with cars and they needed to be saving for college.  Of course they were going to private college and a private high school.  They were BROKE!  Not because of how much he made but because of the decisions they were making TOGETHER!  She had Rose Colored glasses on and he was focused on his image by the cars they drove, the schools their kids were in and the  house he said they needed to live in.  There is a lot right and a lot wrong with all of this. Don't we all look at life differently and some with Rose Colored glasses and some with a negative orientation and some with just plain naivety or lack of understanding. So what do you learn in the Osage? Always ask a few questions before giving our opinion Opinions are just that, OPINIONS Pause every time before making a decision except when driving, it might save you a lot of money and headache Put on your Rose Colored glasses and look at life, it will make you feel better Thanks for listening, gary@thepioneerman.com

My get up and go has gone up and went

It may not be a perfect quote but Janie Shumate performed a skit at the Osage county talent show and I honestly thought it was the most memorable skit ever.  Even more than the "Long tall Texan" skit which I was the front half of the horse and we were funny.  Does anyone remember that song, "A Long Tall Texas"?  Anyway, I will never forget that, but of course I have forgotten some of the details.  But here is the point, I am now 65 years young and most of my closest friends are just ahead or just behind and we find ourselves talking about how the world keeps moving and we seem to be slowing down.  Basically "My get up and go has gone up and slowed down".  Or,  has things just gotten faster and more demanding?  What changed?

Now we talk about who died, what hurts, what parents are doing or ailing from and where they should be living, when should I start taking social security and how I get the best deal on Medicare supplement policies (call Linda at my office if you need help, I love my policies), what kind of toys we want (like lake houses or retirement homes in Arizona or fishing boats), how much time we can spend with grandchildren (a wonderful blessing), how the new electronics work (iphone or android and especially our Alexa from Amazon), and food.

Now I have to admit I am not a foodie but Larry Travis makes the best Gumbo I ever tasted.  Larry is a foodie and I might as well mention Greg Jehlik and Jim Wicker are foodies as well.  For a small fee I will get that recipe for you but don't tell Larry I made money on his recipe.  Shari Cook makes a great corn bread and now Shouna makes it as well.  You have never tasted scallops until Greg Jehlik cooks them up for you.  I guess from all this you see why I have to cut back on food.  Speaking of weight gain, I don't know what happened because when I left high school I was full grown and weighed 205 pounds.  I know that is right because Coach Cotham put that in the football program and he would not tell a lie.  But today, well a few months ago, I was up to 270.  Now I am down to 250, Praise the Lord.

If you have not tried it, do what I did and lose 20 pounds.  My knees and hips don't hurt hardly ever and I feel 100% better and I get more done and have to sleep less.  Why did it take me so many years to figure out losing 20 pounds would make such a difference?  My pants even fit better, who would have guessed?

Well, I better get, I hear the garage door coming up and that means Shouna is home and I better get to work.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Your get up and go does not have to get up and be gone as soon as you think
• Focus on living and not on dying, lose some weight and feel better
• If you want to live a long life, don't speak evil, especially about other folks

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

a Great example - Dale and Naomi Davis

Lately the flu that has gone around and ultimately took the life of my father in law, Dale Davis.  It was not quite that simple as he had the flu, double pneumonia, congestive heart failure and some kidney problems plus he was 90 years old.

As you know I always have a side story to interject.  Pneumonia was a mystery to me when Mrs. Shumate asked us to spell it on a test and I never forgot that Jim Heath and Joy Frank (number six of the Grainola Grubers) both spelled it correctly.  How was I to know that there was a silent 'P' on the dad-gummed word!  Who ever came up with that stupid idea?  Oh well, some things you just can't fix.  Back to Dale.

Dale was a great patriarch and had 48 family members (folks) and I think if i took the time it was a total of 50 with the two new ones in the family.  They were in the ICU and his grandson Daryl Davis brought in the guitars and Naomi (his wife) had crawled in the bed and took a nap until the music started.  Yes, in the ICU and the doctor said it was a first and it was also his ticket out of ICU.  It was a turning point and we all thought he would be home to El Reno soon, but that never happened.  He did go home but it was to his heavenly home.

He grew up a farm boy outside of Stuart, Oklahoma where music was a constant and TV was not.  But what was amazing is that from the very first time I met him until he passed he played any stringed instrument by ear and he taught every child and grandchild the love of music.  I would say he leaned toward old time county, like Bob Wills and many others, plus old time gospel.  I can honestly say not one time did I go to his house was there not guitars and piano and mandolin music played either in the garage before they moved or the living room in the new house.  Music was more important than football on Sunday afternoon or Monday night.  By the way  in case you do not know it, Stuart is close to Ashland where Naomi grew up which is on the way to Kiowa which is known for its high school graduate, Reba McEntire and yes Dale did play music with Reba when she was a little girl.  Reba would come up to the local meeting place in Kiowa and sing with all those who gathered.  I should also mention that Shouna (my wife) had a granddad (Naomi's dad) who played the fiddle until he was 103 and that ended only because he passed away.  He was also one of the Kiowa musicians.  For such a small town it sure had a lot of talent.

As a tribute to Dale and Naomi, I have to say the most wonderful thing about them is everyone in their family, that is old enough to know about Jesus, has heard the testimony of  NOT Dale and Naomi's words but their actions.  They served and served until they could serve no more and then served even more.  What a testimony!

Thanks for being a great father in law and mother in law (outlaws as I called them).

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Life is not about the words you speak but about how you live your life
• The biggest lie I ever heard was, "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me".
• Quiet and deliberate behavior speaks louder than any words 

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Art and Mrs. Jacques a legacy worth remembering

I was not lucky enough to know Mr and Mrs Jacques until I started school in Shidler (1966), the big town nearby.  My first recollection of meeting Mrs. Jacques when AJ and Dave had a few of us over.  She fixed Indian fry bread with honey and butter and cinnamon.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  She could cook but most of all she was an exceptional hostess and made us all feel at home.  Now just thinking back about that, How did Dave and AJ not get huge from eating such great deserts.  You could say they took their food and just grew tall rather than out like me. 

Art always seemed to be a smart and gentle person who just would laugh at the things we would say and do.  He always seemed a little quiet and contemplative.  I suppose that is a nice way to say he was a thinker.  I don't remember seeing him or hearing him do or say an unkind act or word.   Another thing I always admired about Art and I guess I should give credit to Mrs. Jacques for it was that is he always was well dressed.  In particular I liked his white pressed western shirts and his felt hat.  I would say beaver hat but some folks might get offended by that.  Wordsmithing has become way to difficult these days.  For you folks who don't know it western felt hats were made from beaver and you could get different quality hats based on the quality of the hide.  Isn't that a slapper?  If you don't get it call me up and I will explain or you could just study beavers and find out that they would slap their flat tales on the water to warn their family of danger.  Now you know more than you ever wanted.

Now I do have to tell of one event at the Jacques ranch which I will never forget.  We were working cattle by the house and they had something I had never seen and quite frankly did not pay enough attention to until it was too late.  They had an ELECTRIC branding iron which they hung on the fence of the stock pens or shut as we called it.  Anyway I was making sure the cattle were moving in the shut when I accidentally slapped the electric branding iron with my hand.  It felt real good, after a couple of weeks.  It took the hide right off my hand and I was branded.  I guess that made me part of the family.  Anyway that hand started oozing droplets of water right fast.  I don't remember what Mrs. Jacques put on it other than cold water but I was feeling it for a few more days.  Today when I look at that hand it is hard to notice but there are a few small scars left.  Kind of like the scar on Jon Tanny Olsen's hand from when I stuck a pencil  in his hand when we were in about the 4th grade.  That is another story.

Oh well, time to close.
What do you learn in the Osage?

• Accidents can be learning opportunities
• Scars are so you don't forget
•  Wisdom is when you take those two together and warn the next generation to be careful

Thanks for listening,

We miss you Mr. Jacques,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Fullamanure #4: Everyone needs to be in a multi-level marketing company at some time in their life

Just to back up a few years, Shouna and I moved to Chicago in 1976 as I was transferred by EDS to work on a facilities management contract with Central National Bank of Chicago which is about one block from the Sears Tower and one block west of the old First National Bank of Chicago and on the west side of the L-train.  I was on the 3rd floor which is eye level with the L which was always interesting but noisy.  I was an SE - systems engineer which means I wrote programs for EDS and ultimately banks.  Just for a little more background and historical record keeping for my children, I was a programmer who wrote computer programs in assembler language primarily and reports were written in COBOL.  I doubt anyone knows what those languages are but maybe COBOL as assembler language is right next to binary / hexadecimal which are combinations of zeros and 1's or more specifically on or off.  Does that help at all? My most famous adventure in EDS lore was that I was an expert on what we called WAAPDSUT or I-AM-a-SUPPER-ZAP.  Basically it was a method to change things in the computer by breaking ALL security and it was a "lose your job" for trying it thing to do.  The funny thing about it was that we had installed a new banking system DDA which meant demand deposit accounting and it had a lot of problems which created what we called dumps.  Basically that means it broke often and generally in the middle of the night.  Bob Scott was a super smart guy who headed the team out of Dallas and I was the local Chicago person supporting the system.  It was the middle of the night when we got what was called a data-exception or SOC7.  In English that means the system crashed and no one's account would be updated in the morning unless it was fixed.  Well, I solved the problem and called Bob in the middle of the night and he told me to use the I-AM-a-SUPPER-ZAP routine.  I told him NO and he yelled at me, cussed at me and then threatened to get me fired if I did not use it to fix the problem.  I explained that I was trained that it was grounds for being fired if I proceeded.  Finally after a lot of yelling I did the deed.  As it turned out I became a hero and became the go to guy around EDS for  I-AM-a-SUPPER-ZAP. 

I should add that Bob became a close friend and moved to Chicago where he was the team leader.  At one time he told me I would become an alcoholic before he became a Christian.  He lost that one.  Should I also mention that Bob and his wife had a few of us over for a very formal dinner where the salad had cherry tomatoes on it?  Well as a side story I tried to eat one of those tomatoes and squeezed it in my mouth to the point it exploded and went all the way across the table.  Not COOL!

Back to the subject, shortly after joining First Baptist Church of Hoffman Estates we met some folks who seemed to drip with money, Brian and Marg Hayes.  Shouna and I were sitting in church and they were sitting next to us but after church they were extremely nice and invited us to a musical downtown at the McCormick Place.  A week later they dropped by our apartment in their motor home and picked us up for the musical.  We were impressed.  When we got to the McCormick Place Brian parked at the front door (a little surprising) and we got out and walked in.  To our surprise everyone there seemed to know the  Hayes family.  After the musical we met Rich DeVoss, founder of Amway and what seemed like a hundred people.  Again we were impressed.  We had no idea who we were with or what Amway was or even who Rich DeVoss was.  A few days went by and of course they shared the multi-level marketing plan with us and Shouna and I were off on another Fullamanure adventure.  In less than 12 months and a lot of stories later we were making more money part time in Amway than I was at EDS working about 60 to 80 hours a week.  Over the next five years we found ourselves traveling a lot with folks in Amway including our first trip out of the continental US together to Puerto Rico.  We even became speakers at Amway rallies and they flew us around the country to speak to hundreds and thousands of people.  It was a great time and shortly after Wynter was born in Hoffman Estates, Illinois in 1979 we moved back to Oklahoma to raise our lovely girl where she would know her grandparents and cousins.  It was a great time with lots of great memories and yes our Amway income continued for years even though we were not active until we forgot to renew one year.  

Well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• You can do anything you set your mind to
• Life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you might get
• Life is an adventure, keep your eyes on your goal and not on the effort

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com