My wife used to joke that if someone asked me what time it was I would explain how a watch works. Well she is probably right. My blogs have no central theme (perhaps beer) on the surface but in a abstract way each is focused to a concluding point. Like I have eluded to in the past writings, I may at some point assemble all of my blogs and attempt to call it some sort of a "book" or something. The concept of my "blog" was and I think shall remain the subject of beer. But in some bizarre way I will sway to more philosophical blurbs. Essentially what I am stating is, "read on" and have trust that at some point all of it will make sense.
I hate to admit it but I have had far too many jobs in my life. My resume looks like a book or at least a pamphlet. If I were to look at my resume I would think. "Damn this guy can not keep a job". Of course I will argue "look at all of my experience." Some of my work experiences have been nothing less than terrible. My first job as a soda jerk ( at Ye Olde Ice Parlour) was humiliating and when I learned I was fired, I was actually jubilant. But, I have had jobs that I loved as well. To be honest I would have worked for free in a few of them. My favorite job was working for a natural gas pipeline company. After working there for five years and being truly under appreciated and looked over, I finally had the opportunity to work in a "department" that not only appreciated my talents but developed them as well. I interviewed for the position (a promotion) in mid October and was informed I had the job. I was to receive a 60% increase in pay. (that's right sixty percent). My current "boss" would not allow me to leave my current job until my position was filled and it was January 3, before I actually changed jobs. He never did fill my position. He did prevent me from receiving an additional $ 3,500 in salary in the nearly three months. He died of cancer a few months later. I was sorry that he was dead but he really did me wrong. In my new job, I finally got my raise and two months later I received a "wage adjustment" and then the company had an across the board raise for everyone. In October of the same year I received a merit increase. In less than a year I more than tripled my salary. I had my own office (not a cubicle) and I really felt if I was contributing. My immediate supervisor was a man by the name of William Arliegh Tison. Bill became one of my very best friends and a true mentor. He was one of only a few persons I have ever met who have made a lasting impression upon me.
Most large corporate structures are, or at least were, a lot like the German army in the pre WW II days. The high ranking officers were mostly from old established pedigree families. In the twentieth century names like Kennedy and now Bush I guess, tend to establish automatic credentials
regardless of actual abilities. It is just perceived by the American public (cows) that pedigree rules. In Louisiana no name resounds stronger than that of the Long family. Old Huey P. "The Kingfish" (Uncle Earl's brother) tops the list. Before he gained national fame he took money from his older brother (a dentist) (who thought the money was being used to pay for tuition) and used it to purchase an inventory items to sell such as of vacuum cleaners. He quickly became a very successful salesman. He did go to law school (OU and Tulane) for one year but tired of it's rigors so he "crashed" the Louisiana Bar exam and passed. He practiced law for a while in Shreveport and won a huge lawsuit against one of the largest banks in the State, Commercial National Bank. He moved from his house on Laurel and moved to a better part of town and built a new house. To this day, the initials HPL
in wrought iron are embedded on the balcony of the house. When the house was first built it had a fence around it and had a gate for the walkway to the front door. The Kingfish had CNB place in wrought iron on the gate. (Since the proceeds, $ 40,000.00, from his lawsuit paid for the house). His older brother George Shannon (Shan) the dentist built a house on Henderson Ave. in Shreveport and it was the house my oldest daughter's mother lived in when I first met her.The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the
Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the
other, from the ear down."
Huey Pierce Long.
I could go on forever about the Kingfish and the "Long legacy in Louisiana but for the time being I shall defer and return to the general direction I was heading. It turns out that Huey's, Shan's and Earl K's mother was a Tison and her brother was the aforementioned Bill Tison's grandfather. This made Bill kin to the most powerful family in the history of the State of Louisiana.(Well then again there were the Le Moyne brothers but we shall visit them another day.). This along with his being first in his class at LSU law, a former roomate of Senator Russell B. Long, Bill's cousin and good friend and classmate of future Vice President Hubert H. Humphry, made him a shoe in to be a big shot at th
e "gas" company. And he was. Poor Bill was too much like his crazy kin and in addition, he drank a bit. Ok, he drank more than a bit. One of his many wives was the daughter of Claude Poulan and according to him (Bill) they drank up the chainsaw fortune. At some point in his brilliant career, old Bill messed up big time. Had he been anyone other than a member of the Long family, and not held several deep secrets of the key executives of the company, he would have been shown the door. Instead he was demoted to eventually be my boss and mentor.My job and Bill's was, to a large degree, to compose and review of legal documents regarding land rights etc. (Rights of Way) We were entrusted to make sure that the documents were both legal and "engineeringly" correct. I was neither an attorney or an engineer so I had to coordinate with both the engineering department and legal department in order to insure that each document was "proper" and could be signed by an executive of "the company". Bill ,even in his demoted position, was authorized by the company to "initial" (for signature) contracts. Technically he still was "Senior Attorney" so his W.A.T. was good as gold. I was fortunate to have such a gifted teacher and I actually for once, learned a little. Bill was very impatient and was not afraid to chastise me or speak pretty frankly with me. In addition old Bill was a stutterer. So you had to really listen to him to understand what he was saying. When he read a document or anything, for that matter, out loud, he spoke perfectly. It was only when he was simply talking that he stuttered. He used to tell me stuttering was a Long family curse and that his cousin Louisiana U.S. Senator Russel B. Long stuttered as well. We were truly great friends. He once told me I was the only person he ever met that he truly trusted and actually liked. He and I used to ride to work together and would go duck hunting together. Once ,while setting inside my camper, the night before opening day, I was drinking beer and blowing on my duck call. In other words I was acting like a complete idiot. We were listening to a live radio broadcast from Otto's sporting good store in Shreveport, Louisiana. We were in Winnie, Texas (over 200 hundred miles away). I was wearing a camo cap with Pin Tail feathers on each side of it. Old Bill looked at me and said "Ta Ta Ta Tommy....ya ya you look like a fa fifty seven Cra Cra ah Chrysler.....
Old Bill was a surly bastard and was full of contempt and rage at the powers that be within the company. I never learned for sure what he had done to be demoted. I have my suspicions but it really makes no difference now anyway. He insisted that I still coordinate with the legal Department. The attorney assigned to review our contracts was usually the low end on the food chain in the legal department. For about a year that attorney was none other than the future (now current) U. S. Representative from t
he 18th Congressional District of Texas, Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee. She hated seeing me. I do not think she had a problem with me (in fact we actually became pretty good friends.) but my presence reminded her she was assigned the "shit" detail. Plus I used to tell her I thought her office was trashier than a whore's bedroom. Now here is a funny....The first time I met Sheila and had her review a document for me, I took it back to Bill and told him I met the "new attorney". I informed him that she had graduated from Yale but her Law degree was from the University of Virginia. His comment upon hearing her name was that she must have been named after two Son's of the Confederacy, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Somehow I did not think so. I never mentioned the comment to Sheila.After a few years had past, Bill took advantage of early retirement and moved to Leadville Colorado ( the two mile high city). I was to go visit him in October 1988 but I learned he drove his truck off the side of a mountain and was killed. I still miss Bill a lot. He was a good man. I had been promoted to Bill position and inherited his private office and all of it trappings. I was even made officer of the company (Assistant Corporate Secretary) I got a company car. I no longer had to camp out on the 73rd floor waiting for rookie attorneys. I had "people" to do that for me. I was even authorized to initial document just as Bill did. I was a big shot. Or at least I was in my own mind. One day I was called into a meeting with several executives of the company and including the aforementioned Mrs. Lee. I learned a lot that day. As I look back at it, I realize I witnessed the beginning of the end of a proud company that day.....
A lot of natural gas pipelines are located in the marsh land of South Louisiana. If you dig a 4'X4' hole in the ground in many parts of Louisiana, it will fill full of water faster than you can excavate the hole. As the thousands of miles of pipelines were built in the late 1940's-1960's ditches were trenched to place the pipeline in and then barges carrying the pipe actually floated on the new "canal". Multiple pipeline companies, thousands of miles of pipelines and thousands of new water ways allowing the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to invade into a fragile ecosystem. Now you can enter "Saltwater intrusion" on your favorite search engine and you will see that the potential or the 1960's is now a grim reality of the new century. Now in the State of Louisiana they have certain laws that state if you own land you are entitled to the mineral and other resource contain over and under it. That is unless your land is determined that it is a saltwater march and in such case, the State takes possession of you property and all of the mineral rights attached to it. This was BIG BIG BIG. Our company was very much at liability to God only knows what type of lawsuits would follow. At one time in history, UGPL was the largest pipeline company in America. Years later I too was "laid off" and now the company is literally a shadow of a shell it once was.. But back on the subject, There was a conference to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana and the future Representative Lee and I were chosen to fly over and attend. As we sat next to each other flying over to the meeting I recall Sheila continually referring to the meeting as a Dog and Pony Show. I had never heard that comment before and quickly assumed that it was one made up by Sheila herself. And maybe it was. Now I have been writing for a while now and I finally got to the subject title. Whew! I am tired. I bet you are as well , that is if you got this far.
As I peruse the internet I have found many many many sites that seem to be far more enlightening than mine regarding the subject of beer
Actually I am in so much awe. I do not think that I could ever be as good as they are . But then again my reading audience is me and I do happen to like me. So as far as I am concerned my reader (s?) find that my site is worth the read. The multitude of sites seem to grow exponentially but I suppose as I quoted dear old Larry Ryan earlier. "Everyone is entitled to their own stupid opinion".
So, in summation (well sort of at least) My blog is just one of many Dog and Pony shows.
http://tinysong.com/2Mo9
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Every Man a King (Bill's favorite song)
Why weep or slumber America?
Land of brave and true.
With castles and clothing and food for all,
All belongs to you.
Every man a King, every man a King
For you can be a millionaire.
If there's something belonging to others
There is enough for all people to share.
When it's sunny June and December too,
Or in the Winter time or Spring.
There will be peace without end.
Every neighbor a friend,
And every man a King.
Written by Huey P. Long and Castro Carazo
Geaux Tigers
The Third
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