A Little Fun, A little Politics, A lotta Rant
Hi folks,
A little background…
I received the alias of Foosis many years ago from my sweet Southern Belle Aunt Mary when I was but a wee little tyke. Much to my mom’s dismay… It stuck.
THIS is my first blog. At 56 years young I’m a little surprised you folks of the current tech mindset even let me in… kinda. A few years ago I would say such a site was more than a little narcissistic but… The world has changed.
I was born in Utica, New York, 1952, lived in Utica at the time. Went to two tough schools in Utica, Bleecker Street & Brandegee.
Moved to Port Orange, Florida, then Ormond Beach. It was total culture shock. Also went to school at Sea Breeze Jr/Sr High School in Daytona.
Skateboarded on number one turn at Daytona track a couple times in 1965. The father of some friends of mine managed the track back then. A salesman I’m affiliated with today tells me Greg Alman went to school with me. I don’t know if he did. IF he did he was just another kid running to the beach after school.
Moved back to upstate New York in 1967. 1st day before school I was stung by a hornet that somehow didn’t like my football repeatedly bouncing off his hive… imagine that. Forty minutes later I was all but dead. Various shots at the local clinic snapped me out of it but I started my first day in a new school looking like Quasimodo. Needless to say I made a great first impression on my new classmates.
I graduated high school in June of 1970. Went on to some college. I also spent two years skating around in the drug culture like so many did back then. Then I met my lovely wife. She still never lets me forget she “straightened me out.” I think that is true, sincerely. Now I hear folks say Pot and so many other drugs don’t hurt you. I guess it’s perspective from experiences a particular individual has had… or not had. Perhaps they just have not seen the real pit drugs can dig. Hopefully they never do. I just know I’ve seen too much and lost too many friends to ever arrive at that bogus conclusion. THAT will definitely be a future blog.
Imagine… I’ve been married since 1975. If I use all the fingers of all my family members including myself, my wife, and my 30 year old math teacher daughter… I would have to borrow a few digits from my feet just to count that high. It’s been quite a ride & she’s still stickin’ with me.
Back in 1972 I started working for what is today one of the United States largest Sporting Goods chains, Dick’s Clothing and Sporting Goods. We only had two stores back then. It turned out I was their Fishing Tackle Buyer for a good number of years under the tutelage of the founder, Dick Stack. I’m proud to say I was one of their key players in the early years.
Those of us that helped build Dick’s in the early years were pretty much pushed into “choosing to leave” when the son took over. That may sound bitter but it’s really not intended that way… just reality. Contrary to what we may have thought back then there really is great livin’ outside Dick’s. To be perfectly honest I’m proud of what Eddie has done with it. I know he’s doing well financially. I just hope “he” is doing well.
Life goes on. I will have a Blog post about that one day. For now I just wish to give you some background. I have a list of stories as long as my arm from those early years at Dick’s.
I then got a little itchy & bounced around. A little of this, a little of that.
After Dick’s I went into the Auto Parts business.
Then I owned my own Health Insurance agency… Went belly up because I could not look another human being in the eye & say “Yep! You’re covered! When they were actually only covered 10%. It’s quite a racket. Good for some.
I sold wholesale Sporting Goods then MCI Tele-com over the road. I was a department Store Manager, Sporting Goods store general manager Blah…Blah, Blah. Twenty some years in retail sales and had about enough.
My Brother and I went into business together. He was the Glass guy, I was supposed to be the business guy. Extremely lucrative first year; we were on a roll.
THEN the slobs from Al-Qaeda hit & took out the Twin Towers. I remember watching it unfold as we were inspecting new real estate to double our manufacturing facility. The Stock Market crashed. Certain segments of our economy took a nose dive. Glass conversion was one of them. Check out the giant of the field, Corning Glass. They could weather the storm, we were all but out of business… I left to maintain the homestead…
Back to the nice comfortable J.O.B. That’s where I am today. I didn’t stop thinkin’… Just stopped doin.’
This leads us up to today.
I added some things I’ve written over the years. Check them out on the right. Some for fun, some for rant, all from Foosis. I hope you enjoy them.
Foosis