Oh what a blessing technology is. I sit with my Brothers as if we are in the same room on Skype. Dan is at the cutting edge of research into cyber passing but we ain’t there yet. We chat and laugh and share and vent. While it certainly does not replace physical presence, it does enhance our long distance conversation significantly. I have long wondered how video calling would work for a professional salesperson, most of who shudder at the thought I think. I’ve had little sleep in spite of the pain medicine. The wind chimes chiming in infinite harmonies as the wind of strong storms sweeps through. Ah November and he stands on the porch looking to the northern sky and feeling the wind blow through him. A new year for the business and we battle on in an economy that is ever changing. Technology is a wonderful thing, but it is also a brutal task master. For some professions where communications and response time is critical a job can be carved out and adapted to changing conditions.
I once had a salesman who I could not get to go out and see a Customer, it was like pulling teeth. He hovered over the office, sucked up resources indiscriminately and cherry picked incoming calls. After he left the work load in the office dropped in half and it was a decidedly nicer place to work.
He was consistently a top salesman, although I never had a lot of respect for how he did it. I can now appreciate his powers of persuasion and ability to use the technology available at the time to get orders. The most remarkable thing to me was he posted great numbers for my business at a time when none of the technology we take for granted even existed, and made a decades long career of it.
For me the business is more than numbers. Producing billable hours for highly skilled artisans is an honor. Placing very high quality equipment is fun, but does little for aftermarket service income, a conundrum but a good one to have. Making sure you spend your Customer’s money wisely is a mandate. Providing a service to a plant utility without which the doors could not stay open is a grave responsibility. I never saw it as a long distance job, and I never got rich. Throughout my career I have been blessed with being surrounded by very talented individuals, allowing me to apply the shared memories of a large and smart team to my job, making it easy to do.
However as I go through periods of limited or no travel and motoring about on foot I am forced to resort to alternatives to the face to face meeting. I am still learning my way. One thing for sure, work is work, no matter how you go at it.
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| Working at the Cancer Center was like work anywhere for us |
I am just thankful I have the ability to continue and so many things to keep me busy. It really is a gas. Travelled today for some calls in Muncie and visited with my friend Gerald. Still get worn down pretty easy. Driving really seems to take a toll but I did wear regular pants and made it without major incident.
Now Wednesday and 5:30 AM and I have been at it for a while. Sleep continues to be evasive and painful urination is a periodic problem. I am certainly abnormally frequent. Cranberry juice now in the daily regimen. Gerald suggested adding bee product as well to my intake. Good or bad we have set keeping my immune system in boost mode as a worthy goal. It is important to have goals. This one encompasses diet and exercise and gives Vanessa aka Inger many ways to participate in my ongoing therapy. Being blessed with such a caring soul, it would be cruel and do a great disservice to us both if I in any way excluded her.
She watches closely now, sometimes hovering and boy am I thrilled with it. Nothing like having a beautiful woman hovering. I see in her blue eyes the girl I met nearly 40 years ago. It was love at first sight for me then and like a gold fish forever in orbit forgetting where he just was I rediscover that feeling in my gut and heart every time I look into those eyes. It is without question a singular joy that could sustain me if no other joy entered my life. On top of that we have two wonderful and beautiful Daughters who have held there childhood bonds to their Mother long distance. When they get together it is just like having a bunch of teenagers in the house, ornery ones at that. My Son by marriage is a caring soul of like humor who patiently took me golfing for the first time and who’s company I thoroughly enjoy. His Wife is a rock with attention to the finest of details in patient and family care. She brings stability to our situation.
A disease that put me in the hospital, long recoveries and extended treatments opened the door to more blessings than I can count. They were often hidden and only came to the light of day through hardship.
These hidden blessings include the loving and caring family I have with my Brothers, Sisters, Nieces and their Husbands, Sons and Daughters. Although we are the last Courtney to show our face in this crowd I am thankful we live so close and can share with them and hold them dear.
My dear Neighbors who saw me on a stick and wondered but dared not asked and once told stepped forward without hesitation. Dale mowing my lawn at a critical time in my recovery from the first surgery, Bob weed eating and cleaning up and all around ready to step in whenever called. Vanessa’s Church Family, Phil trimming hedges for us and tilling the garden in the spring, food, caring and emotional support for Van is all a dream come true for me. And her amazing circle of friends, with whom she can share the details of her feelings, so important to good mental health in stressful times. My work team one and all would come at a moments notice if I called as would many of my Customers who are also friends and confidants. Many in my home town and from high school pray for my recovery and wish me well. My close friends and supporters John, Gerald, Peggy, Kathy and Joe. My dear Aunts, three wonderful ladies, two of which I now have regular e mail contact with as a result of Mom's passing. God's gift to me in my suffering, all of these people who are in my life and supporting me and my Wife and Daughters in so many ways. More than I can list here.
All the blessings that have come my way or still await I am most thankful for this year.
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