Monday, April 11, 2011

Sometimes There Won't Be Any More

My parents had the typical mid- 20th century life. They were married in 1950 and then the 5 kids arrived over the next 14 years. My dad provided the income as my mom stayed home to raise us.

I have many vivid memories about growing up, the son of a school teacher and a businessman (hardware, plumbing, refinishing). I also remember the struggling through school with money; don't get me wrong, my folks 'loaned' me money (that I never had to repay) but I also had to get part time jobs to pay for school. The only money I had in my pocket when I started college was what I earned thru the paper route and odd jobs around the area, like “rock” picking and “corn detassling”… If you don’t know what those things are, then you have a little more to learn… I didn’t have a car, I got to college by sharing a ride with someone who did have a car.

I was fortunate in that my chosen career was in a growth area, computers... Throughout the 70's and 80's I had decent opportunities but also challenges, largely by not being in the right company at the right time. Or by not starting my own company, perhaps that path was just not for me.

In the early seventies a construction worker could afford a house a new car and his wife could stay home with the kids if she so desired, just as my mom did in the 50's. My mom went back to work in the ealy 70’s. Things were already changing .

Friday, February 18, 2011

thoughts from the 'tubes

I subscribe to a few email lists, some things that I find interesting.

One of these was from Bob Lefsetz, his "Car Trouble" post

one paragraph stood out in his post as remarkable advice for everyone. And in this day and age of people cutting you off in traffic or frowning at you on the street, or today in particular, as I had an extremely bad day at work, where people are dumping all over you and your project... Stuff like this is important.

Even though it was difficult he (the subject in Bob's post) put on a happy face. And he discovered the energy he gave out came back in spades. If he was nice, people were nice to him. He made all kinds of new friends.
Go out and make some new friends this next week.

Tom