| Gary's Page |
| July 4, 2007: Gary and grandson, Alexander |
To sketch my life's journey, I first reflect on motives, meanings and misgivings.
I have always been motivated by a desire to escape from boredom and
complacency. I was cursed and blessed with an intense curiosity about what that is
and why.
Therefore, I never grew up, I always wanted to turn over rocks. I have found many
missteps and pleasures along the way, but quickly put most of them in my
experience basket in order to continue the quest for the next one. I wanted to
know where it would place on the relative plus and minus scale. Promised new
highs and probable new lows were both anticipated with wonder. That makes me a
sampler, a dabbler, a dilettante, perhaps a gypsy.
What is the meaning of …………? So, things happen, expected and un. Effects have
causes. Managing the causes should manage the effects. But, there are just too
many variables and we quickly learn we are not in control of many of the
parameters affecting our effects. When we are not sufficiently effective in
predicting or managing our effects, there is a disruptive affectation of our calm.
Maybe calm is not important. If calm means a lack of anxiety, it likely subtracts from
the colors, flavors and expansions of our life. What's next? How will it add to me?
Do I have the ability to deal with this? What's on the other side of ........? I believe
life is better anxious!
Misgivings are your brain's way of saying the engaged course of action you or your
situation are pursuing may not bring a desired result. Misgivings may cause your
actions to be tempered or terminated. But if your curiosity wants to experience a
wide array of results, then the misgiving is a tempting invitation to overcome the
stygian specter of 'been there, done that'. We learn best by having to correct. An
unwanted experience stains our conscience more profoundly than a passing
pleasure. But it adds to our knowledge and ability to persevere. It is retroactively
positive. If we insulate and attempt to avoid all things about which we have
misgivings, we are left with a very small sample of life’s stuff. Be flexible,
misgivings indicate an adventure lies just around the bend.
I haven't had a career as much as a voyage of varying interests. I finished a math
and English degree at SWT in San Marcos in 1964. By then, I was married (to Andrea,
who I met the second day at college in 1960) and we had two boys (David in 1961
and Jeff in 1963). A couple of years right out of college were spent in civil service
with the Air Force in San Antonio supporting the Viet Nam build up. Merchanting
feathers was boring, so I began working for Lockheed Missile and Space Company
in San Jose as an "Aerospace Engineer" on the Poseidon Submarine Missile
System Project. From there our family returned to Texas (Fort Worth) where I joined
General Dynamics on the team that created the F-111 aircraft system.
A surprise path led me to the automotive industry. I became a field sales and
service representative for Maremont Corp. out of Chicago. Sales and training for
brakes, exhaust and suspension systems became my vocation. I traveled
nationwide out of Fort Worth, then Houston. A promotion took me to Chicago to
work in sales management. From there to Denver and then back to Chicago, this
time as a Human Resources Director. As Vice President of Sales, Marketing and
Human Resources, I was promoted to an affiliated company in Toronto. I Became
President of Gabriel of Canada, a publicly traded enterprise. A series of buyouts
involving a Swiss company and then Arvin Industries plus a desire for the terra
firma of the USA prompted a move to St. Petersburg, FL as the CEO of another
aerospace firm owned by General Defense Corporation. We built radar positioning
platforms and ammunition for the military.
Change is good, so back to California - San Jose again - to fix-up a floundering
company called Microchassis owned by Bairnco Corporation. After managing it to
profitability and positioning it for sale, I declined another fix-up in New England and
struck out on my own. I returned to Texas - Dallas - and found Swiss backing for a
start-up company to repair commercial aircraft in Waco. The economy shifted just as
we began and the Swiss backed out. I became a consultant and worked on various
projects thru the contacts I had made over the years. In 1996, I founded a software
company in Austin to provide services to Texas Public Schools Special Education
Programs. In December 2007, a shelved desire was rescued and enacted and I
relocated to Biloxi, Mississippi to join some colleagues in developing a couple of
new projects associated with the burgeoning gaming industry on the MS gulf
coast. I can’t conceive of being retired.
Sometimes I cuss slow drivers in the fast lane, but I do enjoy keepin’ on………..
Other tidbits: While in Chicago, I got an MBA at the University of Chicago. I worked
on a PHD but never finished my dissertation. I am still married to Andrea. Our two
sons, David and Jeff, are married and live in Texas. David and his wife have one
child, our only grandchild, Alexander. Andrea has spent most of the last few years
at our home in Biloxi, MS to be near her aging mother. Our home survived Katrina,
but took a severe battering. Andrea and her Mom were in the house as Katrina
raged and razed. Restoration of the house and landscape was completed by the
summer of 2006. Over time I have had many hobbies, striving to expand my
awareness of abstruse things.
I have always been motivated by a desire to escape from boredom and
complacency. I was cursed and blessed with an intense curiosity about what that is
and why.
Therefore, I never grew up, I always wanted to turn over rocks. I have found many
missteps and pleasures along the way, but quickly put most of them in my
experience basket in order to continue the quest for the next one. I wanted to
know where it would place on the relative plus and minus scale. Promised new
highs and probable new lows were both anticipated with wonder. That makes me a
sampler, a dabbler, a dilettante, perhaps a gypsy.
What is the meaning of …………? So, things happen, expected and un. Effects have
causes. Managing the causes should manage the effects. But, there are just too
many variables and we quickly learn we are not in control of many of the
parameters affecting our effects. When we are not sufficiently effective in
predicting or managing our effects, there is a disruptive affectation of our calm.
Maybe calm is not important. If calm means a lack of anxiety, it likely subtracts from
the colors, flavors and expansions of our life. What's next? How will it add to me?
Do I have the ability to deal with this? What's on the other side of ........? I believe
life is better anxious!
Misgivings are your brain's way of saying the engaged course of action you or your
situation are pursuing may not bring a desired result. Misgivings may cause your
actions to be tempered or terminated. But if your curiosity wants to experience a
wide array of results, then the misgiving is a tempting invitation to overcome the
stygian specter of 'been there, done that'. We learn best by having to correct. An
unwanted experience stains our conscience more profoundly than a passing
pleasure. But it adds to our knowledge and ability to persevere. It is retroactively
positive. If we insulate and attempt to avoid all things about which we have
misgivings, we are left with a very small sample of life’s stuff. Be flexible,
misgivings indicate an adventure lies just around the bend.
I haven't had a career as much as a voyage of varying interests. I finished a math
and English degree at SWT in San Marcos in 1964. By then, I was married (to Andrea,
who I met the second day at college in 1960) and we had two boys (David in 1961
and Jeff in 1963). A couple of years right out of college were spent in civil service
with the Air Force in San Antonio supporting the Viet Nam build up. Merchanting
feathers was boring, so I began working for Lockheed Missile and Space Company
in San Jose as an "Aerospace Engineer" on the Poseidon Submarine Missile
System Project. From there our family returned to Texas (Fort Worth) where I joined
General Dynamics on the team that created the F-111 aircraft system.
A surprise path led me to the automotive industry. I became a field sales and
service representative for Maremont Corp. out of Chicago. Sales and training for
brakes, exhaust and suspension systems became my vocation. I traveled
nationwide out of Fort Worth, then Houston. A promotion took me to Chicago to
work in sales management. From there to Denver and then back to Chicago, this
time as a Human Resources Director. As Vice President of Sales, Marketing and
Human Resources, I was promoted to an affiliated company in Toronto. I Became
President of Gabriel of Canada, a publicly traded enterprise. A series of buyouts
involving a Swiss company and then Arvin Industries plus a desire for the terra
firma of the USA prompted a move to St. Petersburg, FL as the CEO of another
aerospace firm owned by General Defense Corporation. We built radar positioning
platforms and ammunition for the military.
Change is good, so back to California - San Jose again - to fix-up a floundering
company called Microchassis owned by Bairnco Corporation. After managing it to
profitability and positioning it for sale, I declined another fix-up in New England and
struck out on my own. I returned to Texas - Dallas - and found Swiss backing for a
start-up company to repair commercial aircraft in Waco. The economy shifted just as
we began and the Swiss backed out. I became a consultant and worked on various
projects thru the contacts I had made over the years. In 1996, I founded a software
company in Austin to provide services to Texas Public Schools Special Education
Programs. In December 2007, a shelved desire was rescued and enacted and I
relocated to Biloxi, Mississippi to join some colleagues in developing a couple of
new projects associated with the burgeoning gaming industry on the MS gulf
coast. I can’t conceive of being retired.
Sometimes I cuss slow drivers in the fast lane, but I do enjoy keepin’ on………..
Other tidbits: While in Chicago, I got an MBA at the University of Chicago. I worked
on a PHD but never finished my dissertation. I am still married to Andrea. Our two
sons, David and Jeff, are married and live in Texas. David and his wife have one
child, our only grandchild, Alexander. Andrea has spent most of the last few years
at our home in Biloxi, MS to be near her aging mother. Our home survived Katrina,
but took a severe battering. Andrea and her Mom were in the house as Katrina
raged and razed. Restoration of the house and landscape was completed by the
summer of 2006. Over time I have had many hobbies, striving to expand my
awareness of abstruse things.
| July 4, 2007: Gary's wife Andrea, grandson Alexander, and Gary HIMSELF (aka Coaster) |
| March, '08: Gary with older son David, daughter-in-law Susan, and grandson, Alex, all wearing their alumni tee-shirts. |
| 2008: Alex Among the Bonnets |
| April 2009: Our Blue Boy in the Bluebonnets |
| 2009: Grandson Alex with Lucy Splainintodo, a red 4-year-old Shar Pei Gary and Andrea got as a puppy. |
| Oct. '09: Alex in his bat costume. Whoa! |
| April 2009: Our Blue Boy in the Bluebonnets |
| April 2010: Alex, Back in the Bluebonnets |
May 26, Gary writes:
Grandson Alex has accepted a
summer job critiquing children's
video games. It doesn't pay all that
well, but it's a resume builder.
Here's a snapshot of him at work in
his library.
Grandee!
Grandson Alex has accepted a
summer job critiquing children's
video games. It doesn't pay all that
well, but it's a resume builder.
Here's a snapshot of him at work in
his library.
Grandee!
Gary's grandson Alex on
his fifth birthday, Oct. 31,
2010, with his mom and dad.
The trophies are for T-Ball
Little League from the
summer/fall.
his fifth birthday, Oct. 31,
2010, with his mom and dad.
The trophies are for T-Ball
Little League from the
summer/fall.
| Feb. 5, 2011 from Gary: Hi Jan, I told Alex not to forget to send me a bluebonnet picture this year and he sent this one taken 2/4/11 in Euless, TX. He seems to be developing the family's sense of humor. Gary |
| Right---April 2011: Alex grows up in the bluebonnets... Below---April 2012: He and the bluebonnets keep right on growing! |
