I love this country, there are a lot of things to love about it. When I used to travel internationally, I would kiss the ground when I got back.
What I don't love about the country now is what is happening with gas prices and what is happening with health care.
Both of these problems seem to me to tie right directly back to someone in a middle man position controlling prices and making us all suffer. The first inkling I got of this was ENRON and the way they drove up electrical prices and a few men got very very rich. Then we have the Internet where any company connected was lavished with money until someone started realizing you cannot sell potential, and you can't eat it either. Then bubble pops and we all see our retirements flushed down the toilet. Then the home loan debacle started, and if you could mark a "x" on a piece of paper, you could buy that mansion you always wanted. Hey, the mortgage would not adjust for five years, so who cares. Again, we see not just a market crash, but the very people who did it were bailed out and I am sure they are on to the next thing. These people operate behind the shadows and operate as though they are doing something good, when in reality, the are ruining our country.
Gas is really making me mad. It seems like someone sneezes in the world, and gas prices go up. What really chafes me is the fact the oil companies are allowed to charge more for gas that was produced at a lower cost. A few weeks ago I was standing at a pump and watched as the price changed by ten cents while I was filling up my car. I remember in the old days the prices would not change for weeks. Over the past two years, our gas prices have gone up by something to the tune of 200% or more. Our president doesn't seem to care, and congress won't do anything save hold hearings which have no outcome.
Now, today, we get informed our health care premiums are going up by 35%. I am still trying to process that and we are wondering if perhaps we just pay for services if this might be cheaper than the $23,000 medical bill we are staring at in 2012. We are the only western country to have our healthcare managed by corporations and I believe this middle man is killing us. We need, as a people to get beyond the blatant manipulations of corporations and say enough is enough. We need to stop sayin "I got mine, so the hell with you.".
Something has to happen. We as a people have become too complacent in our lives, and something needs to happen. I don't know if there is a perfect answer, but I do know that I am a person who cannot afford to have anything raised and every time I turn around, there is something increasing which I cannot do without. Right now is not a good time for any entity to be looking at increasing anything, because I think we are tapped out. It is getting to the point where one is choosing to put food on the table or gas in the car. This is not the country I thought we lived in.
We need to unite together and start making a difference. Instead of tearing apart, we need to come together and work out some viable solutions, because believe me when I tell you that today it's people like me, but tomorrow it is going to be people like you who are cast aside. If we let this happen to ourselves, I guess in the end we get what we deserve and we will all be in the same boat, and our boat is taking on water really fast.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Changing Gears
When I started this blog, I started it for a reason where I idealistically thought I could have an effect on something going on in my community that I did not agree with. During my journey of writing, I felt myself growing angrier and angrier over the situation and pretty soon I was writing in a way which does not reflect me, who I am, and I even managed to get my wife involved. Has the situation improved? I don't know.
During the past few weeks, I have been reading some of the items I wrote and to tell you the truth I'm ashamed of my tone and the way I approached the whole situation, and I'm openly apologizing for my behavior over some of the past posts I've done.
My reflection was brought on after a visit by Tom Ford, the interim manager who came over to look at some damage a project had done to my sidewalk. Tom made me realize he, unlike me, stepped forward and helped when the village needed the help. Tom is a good guy and reminded me that perhaps my version of what might be going on in the community might be a bit different as he explained his thinking to me, and it helped to change my mind a bit. I had a person in my yard who was being kind to me, and it really just shook me down to my core of my soul and I started really taking a look at some of the things I've been doing.
Another reason why I started this reflection is that due to a new policy with my insurance, they've cut back on my meds I need by 1/2. I need two shots of a drug to feel "normal" each costing about $4,000 EACH - and they only want to pay for one of these shots. So, for the past 12 weeks, I've been out of bed for perhaps 3 of the weeks. I have metastatic Carcinoid Cancer, it is incurable, but the drug can control the symptoms - but I am on half of what I need. I am going to die from this disease. Every day I wake up, I thank God for letting me have another day on the earth before I move on to the next realm. This situation has made me to come face to face again with mortality, and I started thinking and wondering about the amount of time I actually have left on this world. Truly, no one knows, but when you've been given you diagnosis and the average survivor lives for 5 years (and I'm on 10 years now) you start imagining a lot of things you never thought about before. I know, someone could step in front of a bus or have a car wreck, but when you start seeing yourself feeling worse and worse everyday - this is a burden weighing heavily on you both mentally and physically. 90% of Cancer Survival is the attitude you have, and while I still have a fighting attitude, I've been partially stripped of some of the tools I need to fight and survive the disease. (So, most of my time lately has been spent fighting against this, and I have won a partial victory.)
You start wondering about where you came from and where you are going to, my faith answers these questions for me, but it also makes you start to wonder about what you've left as a legacy for your descendants and children to remember you by.
I want to be remembered as a kind man, a good dad, a person who would help his neighbor when the help needed to be there. I don't want to be remembered as a controversial blogger, I want to be remembered with a kind thought and not one of anger or hate. In his Seven Habits book, Steven Covey describes how you should reflect about dying and trying to imagine your funeral, and to try to imagine what people would say about you at this funeral. I have done this a few times in my life, and it has helped me a lot - and it helped me again now in this situation because I decided to do something important.
So, what I decided to do was to change gears, and I basically removed and deleted all of the posts on this which dealt with Stockbridge politics. Nothing is ever perfect, and continuing to write in the way I was writing just really goes against the person who I hope I am, and if I'm not that person - I hope I can become that person. I truly hope in my heart that the council which is in charge now does the things to make this a better community, whatever those things are, and I'm just going to try to support this as much as I can.
At this point, all I just really hope for is that the people who are running the village do a good job and at the end of their terms they learned as much as I did during my term. As I reflected, and this happens a lot, the thing I started running into was something we have to guide us in our Church called our Articles of Faith. These were written in response to a newspaper person who contacted our founder, Joseph Smith, and asked him what we believed.
The final article of faith reads:
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
So, this is what I'm going to try to live up to. I think it is quite a tall order, but to tell you the truth there are so many things that are lots of things that are virtuous, lovely or of good report out there - and rather than writing about the ugly side of things, I'm going to try to write about the good side of things.
So, that is my commitment. Part because a kind person showed up at my door and treated me with kindness and dignity, part because I've done some introspection, but mostly because I'd like to leave a better legacy than the road I was going down. During the past weekend, we had a lesson in Church which started talking about how you represent your organization, and to tell you the truth, I don't think I've been a very good representative. I hope in the coming months as I change gears and write about things as described above, you agree with me.
During the past few weeks, I have been reading some of the items I wrote and to tell you the truth I'm ashamed of my tone and the way I approached the whole situation, and I'm openly apologizing for my behavior over some of the past posts I've done.
My reflection was brought on after a visit by Tom Ford, the interim manager who came over to look at some damage a project had done to my sidewalk. Tom made me realize he, unlike me, stepped forward and helped when the village needed the help. Tom is a good guy and reminded me that perhaps my version of what might be going on in the community might be a bit different as he explained his thinking to me, and it helped to change my mind a bit. I had a person in my yard who was being kind to me, and it really just shook me down to my core of my soul and I started really taking a look at some of the things I've been doing.
Another reason why I started this reflection is that due to a new policy with my insurance, they've cut back on my meds I need by 1/2. I need two shots of a drug to feel "normal" each costing about $4,000 EACH - and they only want to pay for one of these shots. So, for the past 12 weeks, I've been out of bed for perhaps 3 of the weeks. I have metastatic Carcinoid Cancer, it is incurable, but the drug can control the symptoms - but I am on half of what I need. I am going to die from this disease. Every day I wake up, I thank God for letting me have another day on the earth before I move on to the next realm. This situation has made me to come face to face again with mortality, and I started thinking and wondering about the amount of time I actually have left on this world. Truly, no one knows, but when you've been given you diagnosis and the average survivor lives for 5 years (and I'm on 10 years now) you start imagining a lot of things you never thought about before. I know, someone could step in front of a bus or have a car wreck, but when you start seeing yourself feeling worse and worse everyday - this is a burden weighing heavily on you both mentally and physically. 90% of Cancer Survival is the attitude you have, and while I still have a fighting attitude, I've been partially stripped of some of the tools I need to fight and survive the disease. (So, most of my time lately has been spent fighting against this, and I have won a partial victory.)
You start wondering about where you came from and where you are going to, my faith answers these questions for me, but it also makes you start to wonder about what you've left as a legacy for your descendants and children to remember you by.
I want to be remembered as a kind man, a good dad, a person who would help his neighbor when the help needed to be there. I don't want to be remembered as a controversial blogger, I want to be remembered with a kind thought and not one of anger or hate. In his Seven Habits book, Steven Covey describes how you should reflect about dying and trying to imagine your funeral, and to try to imagine what people would say about you at this funeral. I have done this a few times in my life, and it has helped me a lot - and it helped me again now in this situation because I decided to do something important.
So, what I decided to do was to change gears, and I basically removed and deleted all of the posts on this which dealt with Stockbridge politics. Nothing is ever perfect, and continuing to write in the way I was writing just really goes against the person who I hope I am, and if I'm not that person - I hope I can become that person. I truly hope in my heart that the council which is in charge now does the things to make this a better community, whatever those things are, and I'm just going to try to support this as much as I can.
At this point, all I just really hope for is that the people who are running the village do a good job and at the end of their terms they learned as much as I did during my term. As I reflected, and this happens a lot, the thing I started running into was something we have to guide us in our Church called our Articles of Faith. These were written in response to a newspaper person who contacted our founder, Joseph Smith, and asked him what we believed.
The final article of faith reads:
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
So, this is what I'm going to try to live up to. I think it is quite a tall order, but to tell you the truth there are so many things that are lots of things that are virtuous, lovely or of good report out there - and rather than writing about the ugly side of things, I'm going to try to write about the good side of things.
So, that is my commitment. Part because a kind person showed up at my door and treated me with kindness and dignity, part because I've done some introspection, but mostly because I'd like to leave a better legacy than the road I was going down. During the past weekend, we had a lesson in Church which started talking about how you represent your organization, and to tell you the truth, I don't think I've been a very good representative. I hope in the coming months as I change gears and write about things as described above, you agree with me.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saying Goodbye To A Friend
Today I went to a funeral. Funerals are something that I both hate and love at the same time. The first funeral I attended with any full realization was my father's funeral. That was a day I lost a little bit of myself and came face to face with my own mortality. Unlike many people, my faith tells me where I came from, what I am doing here, and where I am going when it is over. But up to this time, I'd never come face to face with the realization that I was truly mortal and my time here on the earth was limited.
Do you read Stephen Covey? In his book "The Seven Habits" he said for you to close your eyes and imagine you could see your own funeral.
Who would be there? I know a few short years ago I knew no one would show up to my funeral because they couldn't afford to take off work. I hope I've changed that.
What would they say about you? I know a few short years ago, what would have been said was "he was good in business" but I'm trying to change that to "he was a good man."
Would they say anything kind about you? I'm sure some platitudes might be offered, but I'm not sure as to the validity of my kindness towards other people. Again, something to work on.
Today, I attended a funeral that shook me to the core of my very being, my very existence. Many things were revealed to me today as I sat watching in amazement the whole thing unfold before me.
First of all, Sunday it started snowing and we had one of the worst snow storms of the year. I traveled on roads which were caked with snow and ice to attend the funeral, figuring the family would be there but not too many other people because of the weather.
My estimation was there were more than 120+ people, many of whom I have not seen for 12 years or more. As I went into the building to go to the viewing, I saw so many people I was just simply astounded.
I talked to old friends and caught up on lives I've missed out on. Ten years puts a lot of wear on the human condition, and I was astounded to see how much we'd all aged since the last time we were together. These people are very near and dear to me, these people are the ones who helped to introduce me to my faith, much of the tears I shed today were tears of happiness to see them as many were the tears of sorrow and loss for a kind and good man.
I had another epiphany as well. During many times of instruction, I'd been told that I should see myself as the first of many at the head of a family possibly extending out into eternity and growing bigger and bigger as time passes. I can tell you today this is what I saw. I saw a man, a kind and wonderful father, whose family of son's and daughter's, grandchildren and even possibly great-grandchildren made up the first three rows completely. I know each of these sons served missions, and so I wonder how many people they'd introduced to our faith? How many of those they introduced have introduced others? My mind boggled at the numbers. I know one of his son's introduced me to my faith, and as a direct result of this man, my son served an honorable mission and my daughter is married to a wonderful returned missionaries. I think families CAN be together forever, not just through the teachings of my faith, but also through the fact that one man can truly make a difference and can change the world.
Going back to Stephen Covey, who was there? There were not friends, there were people who this man had truly touched in his life, and he lived his faith on a daily basis even to the end of the days. There were family from everywhere, there were people I didn't even know existed who lined up to honor this man - a simple carpenter - a man who I found out lived a life of service just like we are taught to do and one I fall so short of. I heard example after example today of what this man had done for those who were in true need of help, even even to the point of giving someone his new coat as a boy because a friend did not have one - to paying for a hot water heater for a person who was without hot water for a whole year.
Today was a humbling event. What you need to understand is that I used to put on a pedestal the giants and captains of industry. I used to read the "MBA" book of the month, and I can speak what me and another friend termed as "MBA'ese" better than just about anyone. (We must realize the synergy of the situation to reach the low hanging fruit to tackle this not as a problem, but as an opportunity.) I can walk in the worlds of the accountants, the finance guys, the tech guys, as well as the legal and personnel guys - because I learned their language and the way they think because this was my definition of success.
My definition of success almost destroyed my family as I simply became another person when out traveling from the person I was at home. I almost lost everything like so many of those I just about worshiped and wished I could be like, as soon as I realized these people were telling me they were on their third and fourth marriages - or had never been married. To this day, my greatest regret was not following something my daughter wrote when she was very young, someone asked if they could wish for something, what would it be? She wrote "I wish my dad didn't travel so much." I don't know why, but I kept this note in my office for years as a reminder to "someday" do that.
But today I saw the real definition of success. I saw a wonderful family honor a great and wonderful man who lived his faith and never gave up, even when times were hard. I saw a man that I now hope someday I can even come close to emulate, because he truly touched lives and made differences in the world. He built a legacy to reach down into generations. One hundred years from now, I know the family will be able to name the person who started the family down the path of our faith - can you say we can remember who was the best buggy whip maker or carriage maker from a hundred years ago?
So today I honor Don Pierson. I honor him for his example to me. I honor him for his example to his family. I honor him for his service to humanity, with no return expected. I know that today, this wonderful man was smiling as he saw everyone gather to celebrate a life well done. I honor this man, because in his loving way, and in his death, he even managed to help another person, me, to understand the importance of the gift of service and being a faithful and obedient servant.
Thank you for your life. Thank you for your son, who baptized me and confirmed me and set my family on the road we've been traveling together. Thank you for the example you lived every day of your life. And finally, thank you for the smile that was always on your face, even when you were in such pain and agony.
Do you read Stephen Covey? In his book "The Seven Habits" he said for you to close your eyes and imagine you could see your own funeral.
Who would be there? I know a few short years ago I knew no one would show up to my funeral because they couldn't afford to take off work. I hope I've changed that.
What would they say about you? I know a few short years ago, what would have been said was "he was good in business" but I'm trying to change that to "he was a good man."
Would they say anything kind about you? I'm sure some platitudes might be offered, but I'm not sure as to the validity of my kindness towards other people. Again, something to work on.
Today, I attended a funeral that shook me to the core of my very being, my very existence. Many things were revealed to me today as I sat watching in amazement the whole thing unfold before me.
First of all, Sunday it started snowing and we had one of the worst snow storms of the year. I traveled on roads which were caked with snow and ice to attend the funeral, figuring the family would be there but not too many other people because of the weather.
My estimation was there were more than 120+ people, many of whom I have not seen for 12 years or more. As I went into the building to go to the viewing, I saw so many people I was just simply astounded.
I talked to old friends and caught up on lives I've missed out on. Ten years puts a lot of wear on the human condition, and I was astounded to see how much we'd all aged since the last time we were together. These people are very near and dear to me, these people are the ones who helped to introduce me to my faith, much of the tears I shed today were tears of happiness to see them as many were the tears of sorrow and loss for a kind and good man.
I had another epiphany as well. During many times of instruction, I'd been told that I should see myself as the first of many at the head of a family possibly extending out into eternity and growing bigger and bigger as time passes. I can tell you today this is what I saw. I saw a man, a kind and wonderful father, whose family of son's and daughter's, grandchildren and even possibly great-grandchildren made up the first three rows completely. I know each of these sons served missions, and so I wonder how many people they'd introduced to our faith? How many of those they introduced have introduced others? My mind boggled at the numbers. I know one of his son's introduced me to my faith, and as a direct result of this man, my son served an honorable mission and my daughter is married to a wonderful returned missionaries. I think families CAN be together forever, not just through the teachings of my faith, but also through the fact that one man can truly make a difference and can change the world.
Going back to Stephen Covey, who was there? There were not friends, there were people who this man had truly touched in his life, and he lived his faith on a daily basis even to the end of the days. There were family from everywhere, there were people I didn't even know existed who lined up to honor this man - a simple carpenter - a man who I found out lived a life of service just like we are taught to do and one I fall so short of. I heard example after example today of what this man had done for those who were in true need of help, even even to the point of giving someone his new coat as a boy because a friend did not have one - to paying for a hot water heater for a person who was without hot water for a whole year.
Today was a humbling event. What you need to understand is that I used to put on a pedestal the giants and captains of industry. I used to read the "MBA" book of the month, and I can speak what me and another friend termed as "MBA'ese" better than just about anyone. (We must realize the synergy of the situation to reach the low hanging fruit to tackle this not as a problem, but as an opportunity.) I can walk in the worlds of the accountants, the finance guys, the tech guys, as well as the legal and personnel guys - because I learned their language and the way they think because this was my definition of success.
My definition of success almost destroyed my family as I simply became another person when out traveling from the person I was at home. I almost lost everything like so many of those I just about worshiped and wished I could be like, as soon as I realized these people were telling me they were on their third and fourth marriages - or had never been married. To this day, my greatest regret was not following something my daughter wrote when she was very young, someone asked if they could wish for something, what would it be? She wrote "I wish my dad didn't travel so much." I don't know why, but I kept this note in my office for years as a reminder to "someday" do that.
But today I saw the real definition of success. I saw a wonderful family honor a great and wonderful man who lived his faith and never gave up, even when times were hard. I saw a man that I now hope someday I can even come close to emulate, because he truly touched lives and made differences in the world. He built a legacy to reach down into generations. One hundred years from now, I know the family will be able to name the person who started the family down the path of our faith - can you say we can remember who was the best buggy whip maker or carriage maker from a hundred years ago?
So today I honor Don Pierson. I honor him for his example to me. I honor him for his example to his family. I honor him for his service to humanity, with no return expected. I know that today, this wonderful man was smiling as he saw everyone gather to celebrate a life well done. I honor this man, because in his loving way, and in his death, he even managed to help another person, me, to understand the importance of the gift of service and being a faithful and obedient servant.
Thank you for your life. Thank you for your son, who baptized me and confirmed me and set my family on the road we've been traveling together. Thank you for the example you lived every day of your life. And finally, thank you for the smile that was always on your face, even when you were in such pain and agony.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Driving By My Old Work Place
Can you imagine
The other day I was driving home an old way I have not gone a much in the past few years. My life has taken other directions and I had no reason to pass by the oldnplace I used to work. This place was a one story manufacturing building which housed the company I worked for by the name of UMI. For 10 years of my earlier life I used to drive this way every day to go to work at a company which was part pof the now defunct Bell&Howell, UMI or University Microfilms International where a vast amount of my professional life and personal development as a library professional happened. Where there used to be a proud white sign on the bricks of the wall at the entry way there was now nothing to indicate the fact thousands of people had worked here providing something to the learning community we all could be proud of. Instead of cars parked by the hundreds in the parking lot, there was now a huge sign denoting the place was for sale. My heart dropped down in my throat as I realized the very proof of part of my existence on tis earth was now no longer in existence anymore. It seems the older I getnthe more and more I come face to face with my own mortality on a daily basis. It seemed as I drove past the deserted and lonely looking property, I could almost see the faces of the many wonderful people and recalled the proud company which used to stand there as a beacon to assist the learning process.
UMI was the worlds leading producer of microfilm, actually taking written works and making them available on something one put into a reader to see and print if necessary. The ideas for the compamy started with Eugene Powers as he found a need for publishing the worlds doctoral dissertations and a way for libraries to save vast amounts of space by converting paper holdings into something James Bond would have used. Mr. Powers sold the company to Xerox who eventually sold it to Bell & Howell, and I started there just as the company was trying to figure out the role the electronic delivery of information would play on Microfilm. The company was a cash cow and the average tenure of an employee was over 15 years.
UMI was actually my second career, I came from the retail business and decided when my family ended up in Michigan, I would pursue a career in computers. I had never completed college atnthis point, but I understood one unique system the company was interested in. I was interviewed and called every day until the hiring manager relented and gave me the job.
The day I started I was excited and had no idea as to what I was doing. I grabbed every manual I could and started memorizing everything I could. But what I learned at the company is a company is really the people who are working for it. UMI had some fantastic people working for it as well as it's own share of nimrods working there as well. I had never worked for corporate America and never realized the unwritten as well as the written rules. I learned fast but I was never good at playing the game.
The first years were a blur of learning and just trying to figure out how to put together and phone support the computers necessary to sell the emerging technology of CD-ROM. I worked in a small room with another guy and quickly learned to assemble the computers, we became the 4th largest integrator in Michigan, because the libraries had to purchase the computers from us to run the disks to search and print out information. The IDS 2000 was a work of art put together from off-the-shelf components, it had a printer accellerator and printed massive documents at 8 pages per minute becuase we put $10,000.00 worth of hardware into it. It was far ahead of its time, and I was the lucky stiff who got to design the manufacturing process and reconditioning process for the trial returns. (One VP, who was an idiot got mad at me because I said the company was involved in Spaghetti marketing - they threw so much against the wall to see what stuck.)
This company was always far ahead of the understanding of the market and for many years I just loved working for them. My love affair for the company existed because they seemed to really care for the people working there and I was having the time of my life. I got to work on helping to desig things customers actually used and I gave that company 200% every day. I had good things and horrible things happen to me, I stayed there at one point just because I felt I had to prove the things a former manager said about me were false. He got fired, I got promoted. I ran the first ever stockholder meeting live over the Internet (and was given a $10 camera in appreciation). I installed delivery systems in the state of Utah and Ohio which users had unheard of instant access to actual articles. Today this is nothing, but the Internet as we know it did not exist.
My love affair stopped the day the executives succeeded in taking Bell & Howell public. I saw within one day the company go from one that focused on the customer to each and every executive having the stock ticker of the stock on their desk. My love affair for the company stopped when they hired a president who sat one door away from my cubicle, and the first time I talked to him was when I was in London on business. But I learned a lot of things NOT to do in business that served me later in life.
When my boss left I asked for his job and they told me I did not have the experience, so I called him and he said he would give me the his old job at the new company, so I left after 10 years of valuable lessons and suceeded quite well at my next company.
I kept track of a few people and some came where i worked and others went to what was now called ProQuest. (I saved them from t naming their new online product Apogee, I swore the marketing firm simply stole the logo from the company that made a computer game called Duke Nukem.)
I watched in horror as a good friend experienced a personal witch hunt and elimination of his job, and watched this happen again as the same nimrod took over my last position. I think he will eventually discover that what goes around, comes around.
I made such good friends like my best friend Paul, another best friend in Lisbon Julio, Jonathon from England and so many others in Japan and Asia as well as the Middle East. Tim Smart, Sue Orchard, Sung Tinnie, Lee Pit Tong, so many hours logged on airplanes, so much time spent in hotels that looked just alike.
ProQuest went bankrupt due to the dishonest dealings of the executives who were over reporting income and making the company look more attractive to the stockholders. The SEC could not unravel the mess. Both the chairman and the president denied all knowledge and were fined a small amount of money compared to the lives and reputations they ruined. The head accountant took the fall for the situation, too bad he felt he had to resort to this approach. Again I hope what comes around goes around. Some company bought the remnants of the electronic business, another the microfilming of periodicals and they took over the old building Eugene Powers started so many years ago. UMI is just a brand now, ProQuest has seemingly recovered some of the glory days, but the building holding so much hope for so many sits like an empty husk of itself.
Somewhere in the building is a map showing the set up of the place. The owner recycled before it was in vogue. Water was reused and cleaned in concrete ponds in front of the building. The map inside showed drawings of sheep as the original owner planned on them keeping the grass and weeds down. There was lots of land, each year a picnic happened with pony rides, clowns, food, ice cream, cotton candy, and so many other things my family loved.
I guess that is what my sadness and melancholy was a about this day. Besides losing the place I spent so much time in, I guess I was sad about losing a family I was a part of. Even though I was the dysfunctional "loose cannon" I was accepted as part od the UMI family which now only exists in the minds of those of us who were part of that family. There is a famous quote about not being able to go home, but as I closed my eyes I could see all of the faces of the people who worked there and we were all surrounded by sunshine and happiness. And I guess that is what almost all of life comes down to is the memories we carry in our hearts and minds.
The other day I was driving home an old way I have not gone a much in the past few years. My life has taken other directions and I had no reason to pass by the oldnplace I used to work. This place was a one story manufacturing building which housed the company I worked for by the name of UMI. For 10 years of my earlier life I used to drive this way every day to go to work at a company which was part pof the now defunct Bell&Howell, UMI or University Microfilms International where a vast amount of my professional life and personal development as a library professional happened. Where there used to be a proud white sign on the bricks of the wall at the entry way there was now nothing to indicate the fact thousands of people had worked here providing something to the learning community we all could be proud of. Instead of cars parked by the hundreds in the parking lot, there was now a huge sign denoting the place was for sale. My heart dropped down in my throat as I realized the very proof of part of my existence on tis earth was now no longer in existence anymore. It seems the older I getnthe more and more I come face to face with my own mortality on a daily basis. It seemed as I drove past the deserted and lonely looking property, I could almost see the faces of the many wonderful people and recalled the proud company which used to stand there as a beacon to assist the learning process.
UMI was the worlds leading producer of microfilm, actually taking written works and making them available on something one put into a reader to see and print if necessary. The ideas for the compamy started with Eugene Powers as he found a need for publishing the worlds doctoral dissertations and a way for libraries to save vast amounts of space by converting paper holdings into something James Bond would have used. Mr. Powers sold the company to Xerox who eventually sold it to Bell & Howell, and I started there just as the company was trying to figure out the role the electronic delivery of information would play on Microfilm. The company was a cash cow and the average tenure of an employee was over 15 years.
UMI was actually my second career, I came from the retail business and decided when my family ended up in Michigan, I would pursue a career in computers. I had never completed college atnthis point, but I understood one unique system the company was interested in. I was interviewed and called every day until the hiring manager relented and gave me the job.
The day I started I was excited and had no idea as to what I was doing. I grabbed every manual I could and started memorizing everything I could. But what I learned at the company is a company is really the people who are working for it. UMI had some fantastic people working for it as well as it's own share of nimrods working there as well. I had never worked for corporate America and never realized the unwritten as well as the written rules. I learned fast but I was never good at playing the game.
The first years were a blur of learning and just trying to figure out how to put together and phone support the computers necessary to sell the emerging technology of CD-ROM. I worked in a small room with another guy and quickly learned to assemble the computers, we became the 4th largest integrator in Michigan, because the libraries had to purchase the computers from us to run the disks to search and print out information. The IDS 2000 was a work of art put together from off-the-shelf components, it had a printer accellerator and printed massive documents at 8 pages per minute becuase we put $10,000.00 worth of hardware into it. It was far ahead of its time, and I was the lucky stiff who got to design the manufacturing process and reconditioning process for the trial returns. (One VP, who was an idiot got mad at me because I said the company was involved in Spaghetti marketing - they threw so much against the wall to see what stuck.)
This company was always far ahead of the understanding of the market and for many years I just loved working for them. My love affair for the company existed because they seemed to really care for the people working there and I was having the time of my life. I got to work on helping to desig things customers actually used and I gave that company 200% every day. I had good things and horrible things happen to me, I stayed there at one point just because I felt I had to prove the things a former manager said about me were false. He got fired, I got promoted. I ran the first ever stockholder meeting live over the Internet (and was given a $10 camera in appreciation). I installed delivery systems in the state of Utah and Ohio which users had unheard of instant access to actual articles. Today this is nothing, but the Internet as we know it did not exist.
My love affair stopped the day the executives succeeded in taking Bell & Howell public. I saw within one day the company go from one that focused on the customer to each and every executive having the stock ticker of the stock on their desk. My love affair for the company stopped when they hired a president who sat one door away from my cubicle, and the first time I talked to him was when I was in London on business. But I learned a lot of things NOT to do in business that served me later in life.
When my boss left I asked for his job and they told me I did not have the experience, so I called him and he said he would give me the his old job at the new company, so I left after 10 years of valuable lessons and suceeded quite well at my next company.
I kept track of a few people and some came where i worked and others went to what was now called ProQuest. (I saved them from t naming their new online product Apogee, I swore the marketing firm simply stole the logo from the company that made a computer game called Duke Nukem.)
I watched in horror as a good friend experienced a personal witch hunt and elimination of his job, and watched this happen again as the same nimrod took over my last position. I think he will eventually discover that what goes around, comes around.
I made such good friends like my best friend Paul, another best friend in Lisbon Julio, Jonathon from England and so many others in Japan and Asia as well as the Middle East. Tim Smart, Sue Orchard, Sung Tinnie, Lee Pit Tong, so many hours logged on airplanes, so much time spent in hotels that looked just alike.
ProQuest went bankrupt due to the dishonest dealings of the executives who were over reporting income and making the company look more attractive to the stockholders. The SEC could not unravel the mess. Both the chairman and the president denied all knowledge and were fined a small amount of money compared to the lives and reputations they ruined. The head accountant took the fall for the situation, too bad he felt he had to resort to this approach. Again I hope what comes around goes around. Some company bought the remnants of the electronic business, another the microfilming of periodicals and they took over the old building Eugene Powers started so many years ago. UMI is just a brand now, ProQuest has seemingly recovered some of the glory days, but the building holding so much hope for so many sits like an empty husk of itself.
Somewhere in the building is a map showing the set up of the place. The owner recycled before it was in vogue. Water was reused and cleaned in concrete ponds in front of the building. The map inside showed drawings of sheep as the original owner planned on them keeping the grass and weeds down. There was lots of land, each year a picnic happened with pony rides, clowns, food, ice cream, cotton candy, and so many other things my family loved.
I guess that is what my sadness and melancholy was a about this day. Besides losing the place I spent so much time in, I guess I was sad about losing a family I was a part of. Even though I was the dysfunctional "loose cannon" I was accepted as part od the UMI family which now only exists in the minds of those of us who were part of that family. There is a famous quote about not being able to go home, but as I closed my eyes I could see all of the faces of the people who worked there and we were all surrounded by sunshine and happiness. And I guess that is what almost all of life comes down to is the memories we carry in our hearts and minds.
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