Sorry I missed the post last month - guessing you were all just as busy.
Heard from Sam:
August 27, 2009
I am out of the turf industry and really enjoying what I am doing now, I am however somewhat bitter and angry at my former employers, I got the shaft from them and treated poorly, long story short... the private club I was working at for 8 years was sold, as it was doing poorly financially, I was led on for a few months as to the situation about my job security by both the seller and the buyer, after all said and done it just made me say WTF just happened to me...bad people...un-professional., I really did love the golf course and miss it, I do not miss some aspects of it though (the ignorance of what it takes to present a course in the condition the golfers desire). I am now working for http://www.rampart-hydro.com/
I am going to be out your way next week, I will be flying into Medford, OR and working somewhere for a week or so. If by any chance I may be close to you or have time or you do, maybe we could cross paths, I will shoot you another email when I have more details.
Very cool your work with google, I do log onto Google Earth prior to all my deployments with Rampart and check out the lay of the land, it is a neat tool.
Again I hope this email finds you well, feel free to edit/share any of this email on your blog.
Sam D.
Since Medford is on the coast (about 7 hours by car) did not hook up, but I greatly appreciated Sam's suggestion.
Also had an email exchange with Darren on a couple items - one was trying to track down Dennis.
On August 27, 2009 - Darren made history by putting up the first new post (other than by me ) on the Google Group account. he wrote
"I have been conversing with Dennis Coplen a bit via email. He is
working in Corpus Christi, TX at Texas A&M University. His wife keeps
me up to date with them through Facebook.
I hope that everyone is doing well"
I then asked Darren if Dennis was married to Lisa (another Penn Stater) he said
"Not sure if he married Lisa or not. They did stay together for a while. His current wife is Merrideth. You have s good memory! "
Tried to plant a seed with Darren about doing a seminar/forum at national down the road on "technology in turf" with regards to things like networking, correspondence, etc. Old fashion reasons why GCSAA and PSU Alumni association were founded, and how we can use new internet tools to help.
More on that in future posts (be forewarned). Still trying to track down everybody.
Trust all is well.
working in Corpus Christi, TX at Texas A&M University. His wife keeps
me up to date with them through Facebook.
I hope that everyone is doing well"
I then asked Darren if Dennis was married to Lisa (another Penn Stater) he said
"Not sure if he married Lisa or not. They did stay together for a while. His current wife is Merrideth. You have s good memory! "
Tried to plant a seed with Darren about doing a seminar/forum at national down the road on "technology in turf" with regards to things like networking, correspondence, etc. Old fashion reasons why GCSAA and PSU Alumni association were founded, and how we can use new internet tools to help.
More on that in future posts (be forewarned). Still trying to track down everybody.
Trust all is well.
Great to hear from you Sam. How are Kim and the animals? Your Steelers took care of the Pack last Sunday which sucked. Another good guy out of the industry...it would be interesting to know just how many of us are still supts or in the industry. My guess would be something like 50% but who knows.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have noticed is that most who leave the industry have no regrets-they may miss some things about the work but for the most part the change is a good thing. Nothing wrong with getting a "real" job.
Went back to school myself to finish the accounting degree and have been doing some remote work (I access my sister's business network out of my home office). Tax/accounting work for S-Corps mostly. Learning a new trade and making some extra money while I'm at it. I can see transitioning over to something like that over the next few years. Maybe its just me but as I get older I would rather work on my own without being responsible for others. Working on your own schedule would be nice...
On a personal note, looks like snow for Christmas and have lots of family coming up for the holiday. Need to take out the sleds and raise some hell with my nephews.
Have a trip planned to Canadia in a few weeks to catch some more monster fish through the ice but we have run into an issue with not being able to keep any fish we catch-stinking Canadians wrecking things for Americans who subsidize their way of life. I hope the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup this year and send a message to those ass clowns. Hope this gets Rosenberg fired up...
I have some cool pics that I will post later of my dad and I from our trip to the UK and France this past November. Pretty fun stuff.
Take care everyone, Vin