Fun, Freedom, and Fantasy
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!” — J.R.R. Tolkien
Good morning from the mountain top. PVHT is eating breakfast, Bay and Nate are in their respective rooms, my queen is upstairs sound asleep, and I’m just starting my day with a bit of word soup.
I’ve got a lot of meetings today, going down the hill to meet a new friend. We are going to connect with our dog trainer to help PVHT be the best she can be. I start at 8:00 and roll until 5:00, a nice mix of virtual and in-person meetings.
The floor is covered in white cotton. PVHT is now destroying one puppy toy a day. The latest casualty, a cotton stuffed fish sho passed yesterday around 2:00; Parker has her in her mouth now, the corpse is still warm. After penning a few thoughts, I’ll be sweeping, a new daily ritual for this husband.
I am losing up in my old age; I said I would never get married again, and a couple of weeks ago, I did the opposite of what I said I would do. I’m learning never to say never. There is always a path, maybe forward, to the right, left, up, down, or backward.
We met Bay and Nate for dinner last night at Brooks Place Tavern. As we entered, we saw Keith and Kathy, new friends we met this weekend at the hot springs. Keith is about 6 foot 2; he’s a hunter, a mans man, and one of the funniest people I’ve met in recent times. Kathy is a body-builder, and together, they form a beautiful example of humanity. Keith is a project manager at Lockheed Martin; he’s traveling 2000 miles this week, then turkey hunting and hunting some other creature the following week.
We came home, played Euchre, watched American Idol, and were in bed by 9:00. I got nine good hours of sleep; I’m starting to enjoy my nightly slumbers. There is nothing better than snuggling with your wife. Her knee continues to improve; she’s walking much better; we will head to TX later this week and do some hiking; if she is still having issues when we return, we will get an MRI.
At 8:00, I’ll run our monthly sales meeting; I think this is the third month in a row we are over the goal. Our team is gelling; we are looking to add three more people in the next couple of months; at this point, I am pushing buttons and flipping levers trying to make our company the best it can be. I like working on the company more than I did working in the company. Our gang of young guns is flexing their sales muscles; it’s fun to watch.
Our operations manager was able to take a week’s vacation. He’s got the ship moving; he will check in with the team in the morning; I’m happy to see him get some time to relax and enjoy his leadership. He’s been with us for 14 years; he’s 29 years old, do the math, he’s a long-termer. Speaking of long-time employees, my first hire on Jan 1, 1996, is still with me. Sherri is our resident bean counter, pays the bills, and takes care of our company’s financial aspects. I get an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement on the 5th of each month, showing our previous month’s results.
My brother Shu has been with me since 1996 as well; he and I also own some commercial property together, we have learned to work like a well-oiled machine. As a young man, I churned and burned my team; I was a terrible boss, owner, and in time figured out how to manage my people and process. The key to running a successful company is determining your strengths and then hiring to shore up your weaknesses.
Since my skill set is limited, I needed the assistance of others to make our company great. Remember, good is the enemy of great, and although we used to be good, I now see greatness in the little company Waymon Jacobs started more than 50 years ago. Waymon sold to my father in the early ’70s; he ran it for 26 years before deciding it was time to move on, and now in my 26th year, I understand my father’s want of climbing another mountain. But my first mountain and second mountain are intertwined; thus, I’ll be sticking around.
It’s snowing here; we got another 5 inches last night; we need the snow, our water table counts on the snow. Fire mitigation in the summer is another reason to do a snow dance. Snow is our friend on top of the mountain. Soon it will be spring; we will be hiking taking the dog for long walks, enjoying the sun and all that CO has to offer.
We will be heading back east in May to celebrate our daughter’s graduation from Ball State’s Master’s program. We are set to get our vaccine when we return from TX; I think I’m going to be able to hold my granddaughter for the first time. The queen is up; the queen is up; the queen is up! I’ll get my morning kiss or two shortly, and we will begin another day of bliss.
I hope this soup finds you well; I hope you are content in your life and don’t have things causing stress or misery. It is a reminder that you are in complete control of your life, well, you, and something bigger than yourself. If you are not happy, make the changes you need to get in a good place. I’m a shining example of a man that took stock of his life and made changes to find a life dripping in fun, freedom, and fantasy.
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”