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Picacho Peak State Park sits just off busy Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson, Arizona. This was my second visit having spent a few days here in 2018. I reserved a site online in November and carefully inspected several spots via Google Earth satellite photos. A good camping site can make or break a week long stay.
Camping is not just about rest and relaxation. It also affords me an opportunity to work on projects and address problems that I rarely have time for at home. In 2008 I started to convert the 2005/2006 Branford Bike Online catalog to a format that could be viewed on my personal web site; TimsLife.Com. Branford Bike was a large part of my life since I started the business in the basement of my parent's home in June of 1976. I moved the business online in 1998. My friend Eric Norris built the original Branford Bike online catalog in 1998. Around 1999 I started to add pages and update existing copy. In July of 2005 I moved the business to Montana. In 2006 Branford Bike and my home were incinerated in the Big Creek forest fire. Branford Bike and the online catalog are a part of my life and my personal history. I decided to finish the posting of the old online catalog while I had ample free time and a good internet connection at Picacho Peak State Park.
In June of 1976 I hung a hand painted sign and officially started repairing bicycles in the basement of my parent's home at 202 Main Street in Branford, Connecticut. Fortunately my parents were firm believers in hard work and saw that I was gainfully employed from an early age. Like some of my older brothers I entered the world of work by delivering newspapers to the neighborhood. At age five I was too young to cross the four lane highway in front of our house so I delivered just four newspapers every afternoon to the next door neighbors. By age nine I had a bicycle and 26 customers across the four lane highway called Main Street. A year or so later another 40 customers were added to my route. Most of the time I enjoyed riding my bike and delivering newspapers. Sunday was the most difficult day because the New Haven Register was heavy and had to be delivered in the early morning. Too heavy to carry by bicycle I loaded up a wagon or First National shopping cart and walked the 1 1/2 mile route. My favorite day was Saturday because that was when I met and chatted with my customers. On Saturday morning I visited every customer and greeted them with "Collecting for the Register" in my friendliest tone. I learned quickly to be friendly and pay attention to my customers. The New Haven Register charged 70 cents for weekly home delivery. I only got to keep 3 cents from the 70 cents for profit. The margins were slim so tips were very important. My customers were from a mix of economic backgrounds. One was a doctor and lived at the end of a big, winding driveway in a Georgian mansion. I thought that place was magnificent and I loved the Japanese gardens and twin ponds he created in his front yard. Other folks lived by an old factory in housing that was falling down and frequented by rats. I treated them all with courtesy and respect. In turn they were kind and generous to me.
I wanted to increase my sales but I already delivered the New Haven Register to 95% of the folks that lived in my territory. Most of the remaining 5% could not read English and thus had little use for the newspaper. So I went to the local town weekly, The Branford Review, and asked them if I could sell their paper. They agreed and gave me a whopping 50% discount off the retail price of 25 cents. Soon I convinced many of my customers to purchase the Branford Review from me for 25 cents. I would deliver it every Thursday with their New Haven Register and then collect for both on Saturday. A side benefit was that the combined weekly cost of the Register and the Review came to 95 cents. Many customers gave me one dollar and said "keep the change".
So I was prepared to continue my adventures in self-employment when I was ready for the 40 hour work week. I liked working and felt great when I accomplished a task. Money was secondary and always took a back seat to the task at hand. Being self-employed I was exempt from the laws that regulated how many hours a day or week I could work. So I worked as much as needed to get the job done well. Sometimes less than 40 hours and often times more. I hired employees and many had a good work ethic. But the difference between being self-employed and in the service of someone else is huge. 40 hours a week was enough for them. I was just getting warmed up when they were heading for the door after a day's work.
Running my own business was always a challenge. Every year brought new products and new customers. Old products faded from view and were put on sale. New products were in great demand and thus hard to get. I learned to think far ahead and anticipate change. I prepared for what I could and could not see. I rode the wave of good times and survived through tough economic downturns. I grew agile and strong. I learned to deal with adversity and conquer my fears. I loved my work and took pride in all that I was able to accomplish with assistance from so many other people. My customers and crew were loyal and supportive. Like when I was a paperboy I listened carefully and did my best to meet their wishes. It was a win-win situation.
I never had to comply with the 40 hour work week limitation for myself and I never wanted to. Why should some government bureaucrat be allowed to deny me the chance to do something that brought happiness to myself and my customers? Now that I am 63 and nearing the age of retirement I am dogged by the same question. Like the 40 hour work week, retirement is a creation of the progressive movement in the early 20th century. Before then people worked as long as they wished and usually until they were unable to continue. Then Social Security and mandatory retirement became law in the 1930's. Now perfectly healthy and capable people are being forced to leave their jobs at the early age of 65. Their hard earned wisdom and knowledge is allowed to wither. Not surprisingly many die soon after they retire.
I am grateful that I can work as long as I have. At 63 and in good health I would like to continue serving my customers for at least another ten years. To serve is divine. I want and have taken more time off from work to enjoy activities like camping and hiking. But I cannot imagine a year without the challenges of work and the joy of serving others. My efforts, my job brings happiness to me and to many other people. Why should that not continue? Like the paper route and Branford Bike it is a win-win situation.
Branford Bike sponsored the Yale team for years. |
Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here! |
For six long days I toiled. Thousands of files were converted from HTML coding to a more modern PHP computer language. Many thousands of images were given new locations. Old errors were corrected. Spelling and grammar was checked. Lost photos were rediscovered and posted with their original content. On the 6th day I finished and posted the archival edition of the 2005/2006 Branford Bike Online catalog at TimsLife.Com. On the 7th day I rested and enjoyed the fruits of my labor. What I created over the course of three decades was good; it brought happiness and prosperity to me and many other people.
In 2006 a devastating forest fire incinerated Branford Bike and my new home in Montana. I survived and sold the Branford Bike name and business to Rodd Wagner in Seattle, Washington. That business lives on and I hope it continues to bring many people happiness. I rebuilt my home inspired by the Georgian Mansion and Japanese Gardens my doctor and newspaper customer had back in Branford. His home brought him and many other people happiness and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. A few years later I created another business; Brockett Designs which is engaged in the selling of new and used books. From 2010 to today that is what I do for part of my happiness and to pay the bills. I am gainfully employed in the pursuit of happiness. I have no intentions of heeding the Progressive's call to work 40 hours or less a week or retire at the young age of 65. I will continue to pursue happiness until God calls me home. Hopefully He will agree with me that my life, His gift, was productive and well lived.
Branford Bike employees often posed for product photos. |
Greg is having a wonderful time modeling cycle clothing. |
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