THIS IS A "KEEPER"
BY
G.B. MOONEY
Save this blog and tuck it away for future reference. When your friends exclaim "Where is this guy coming from?” you can smile knowingly. Having read this, my first blog, you will be able to explain and comment wisely.
My blogs will be a little (sometimes even a lot) off center and will address political, business and personal issues that boggle my mind. Gross stupidity and incompetence drive me up the wall. I have a compunction to call items to the attention of those who normally only read or listen to the conventional media.
As promised, the following is a short synopsis of the events that have shaped my perceptions.
Life as a child was not easy. My Irish catholic family barely survived the 1929 depression. Parts of three families lived in a coal company owned house in western Pennsylvania. We slept in shifts; I can still remember being cold and hungry.
Enlisting in the Army got me out into the world. The G.I. Bill allowed me to start night school. I commuted 60 miles, three or four times a week, to the University of Pittsburgh. My wife and children patiently endured my absence while I worked full time during the day and devoted evenings to completing an Engineering degree. After eight grueling years I became the first in my family to earn a college degree. It took five additional years to pay off my college tuition loans.
During the next thirty years I worked for two major corporations; one a manufacturer of electrical equipment, the other an equipment manufacturer for Naval and Commercial Nuclear Power Plants. My last employer, on a regular basis, dismissed older, high salaried people and replaced them with entry salary kids. Realizing that future employment did not depend on performance, effort or loyalty, my bride and I started to develop fallback sources of financial security. During a ten-year period, with the help of banks, we started or purchased a direct sales organization, an employment agency, a beauty salon, an apartment complex, and three Dairy Queen Braziers. My employer advised me to sell my outside businesses or face termination. I resigned; at age forty-nine, to devout full time to my own companies. I also worked as an Engineering and Business Consultant for my past employers and others, finally retiring in 1990.
Now for some serious confessions: I was an Altar Boy and a Boy Scout (this disclosure often causes snickering among my friends). Once I unwittingly attended a meeting of far right John Birch Society; my "friend" said he was taking me bowling. Of course this is counter balanced by the fact that I was a member of a Union whose organizer was jailed because he was an illegal emigrant subversive communist! And now the absolute worst disclosure; I was once a member of The National Rifle Association!! At one time I even owned a semi-automatic handgun and rifle. I guess I am a latent criminal.
The summation of my experiences has flavored my view of Big Business, government bureaucrats, politicians, talk show hosts, the TV talking heads and others who have never had a real job or worked for or owned a business that had to make a profit to survive. My politically incorrect viewpoint will undoubtedly get me into serious trouble with the Thought Police. Until they catch me (I plan to move --often) I hope to provide you with a few light moments and topics for discussion.
Occasionally I will devote an entire column to MIND BOGGLERS, both mine and those you care to tell me about. Write to me if you discover something that just blows your mind. I welcome your comments; some will even be given careful consideration. Just kidding, I will give you full credit if I include your input in a blog.
Let's have some fun with the stuffed shirts, and remember, save this blog !!!
