Imagination and Scenic Places

Some places fuel the imagination; White Sands National Monument is one of them.  This image is one sent to me by my daughter from their recent trip to New Mexico.  It is a place I have never been, although I have been very close to it.

The monument is within the Tularosa Basin which is also contains Holloman Airforce Base and the U.S. Missile Test Range.  The basin was home to many ancient cultures before the entry of the Spaniards in the 1500's.  Few places have seen such a sweeping transition culminating in the testing of missile defense systems and nuclear weapons.

The white dunes are composed of gypsum which is widely mined and used for such things as fertilizer, plaster, sidewalk chalk and drywall.  It is a wonder the dunes are intact rather than a part of someone's living room!  Alabaster is a variety of gypsum and was used by sculptors in ancient civilizations for some of the most beautiful pieces ever created because of its whiteness.

I remember a a child taking trips to southwestern Oklahoma to visit my Dad's family.  Just outside of Duke, Oklahoma, is the American Gypsum plant.  The soil in that area is full of gypsum.

In many places across the southeastern part of the Texas Panhandle, in the Rolling Plains region, especially near the rivers which cross the area, are outcroppings of gypsum.  Sometimes it is in friable crystalline layers embedded within the red clay soil and in other places forms large crystals.  The Old English word for gypsum translated as "spear stone" because of these large crystals which resembled a spear tip.

As a fertilizer, gypsum is a source of sulfur and was once known as sulfate of lime.  In areas where the soil is deficient in sulfur and calcium it created almost miraculous results.

Gypsum can be a problem in the water -- especially in natural water sources where it is at concentrated levels.  It causes a brackish taste and potentially, diarrhea.   If concentrations are too high, livestock will seek other sources of water.

To me, the dunes inspire thoughts of alien landscapes.  Apparently Steven Spielberg thought the same thing because if you are a fan of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" you will recognize the landscape in part of the movie.  Click on the link to read about it.

A Pair

Look at those idiots from Texas. They drive all over Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado just to take a picture of us!

Mountains and History

Raton Pass,
Trinidad,
Coal mines,
Purgatorie River,
Bosque de Oso,
Oil wells,
Stonewall,
Monument Lake,
Cucharras Pass,
Cordova Pass,
Spanish Peaks,
Adobe,
Santa Fe Trail,
Kit Carson,
Charles Bent,
Lucien Maxwell,
Doc Holiday,
Bat Masterson,
Wyatt Earp,
Matador Ranch,
Prairie Land and Cattle,
Mexican Food,
Vermejo Park,
Elk.
The things of this day.

The Land of Enchantment

Howdy from the Land of Enchantment! Brief showers cooled things off nicely yesterday afternoon here in the mountains. It is beautiful.

Mostly yesterday we just drove around looking. We saw a black bear cub, around 150 elk, a coyote, mule deer, and countless antelope. There were even pelicans at the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge.

Today we're heading up into southern Colorado. Basically we're just scouting around to see what we can find. I enjoy the history and my spouse enjoys the shopping. We both enjoy the wildlife. So, I guess we'll see what turns up.

Howdy From Denver!

Hello from the great state of Colorado. I'm in the mile-high city of Denver after making the drive up from Amarillo. They may have shot the Emperor of Colorado yesterday, but there are still plenty of crazies here.

Part of that drive is enjoyable, and part of it is the pits. From Amarillo to Pueblo is not bad. Once you get to Pueblo on I-25, the traffic starts to pick up and gets worse all the way into Denver where it becomes a parking lot. In the future I think I'll approach from the east. It usually isn't too bad.

From Clayton to Raton, New Mexico, is my favorite part of the trip. This year the grass is green and seems to stretch forever. I've always been one to count the antelope that I see across that stretch of approximately 90 miles. Today, I counted in excess of 200 of them that I could see clearly and "think" I saw another 50 or so. They have really thrived in that open stretch of country.

The trip took a bit longer than usual due to stopping to maintain a cell phone signal at various points along the way. Just because I'm traveling doesn't mean that business stops. In fact, I generally have to allow extra time in my traveling itinerary to accommodate calls. Most of the time they are routine, but today I had a great call from a potential customer. He was referred to us by an existing customer (referrals are wonderful). I spent nearly one-half hour on the cell phone while parked beside the highway educating him on what we do in our business. He had a number of misconceptions that needed clarification.

Misconceptions are something that every salesman needs to learn how to handle. The best way that I've seen to approach it is by asking lots of questions. You have to understand where the prospect is in his thinking before you can begin to fill in the gaps and clear up misunderstandings. Questions also get the prospect to loosen up because they get to talk. Everyone wants to say what they know and feel that it is important. That's why God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth. We need to learn to listen at least twice as much as we speak. One of the primary tools the salesman needs to develop is the skill of listening.

Tomorrow is meetings. These are not the most productive kind of meetings -- they're more political. Committee meetings. I like meeting with customers -- not indecision non-makers. The call today was fortuitous (I like that word) because I was able to fill in an open time-slot tomorrow with a meeting with the prospect that I talked to today. Wish me luck.

The Contract

The image to the left is of a pencil sketch by Paul Wylie that hangs in my home. It isn't the best quality of photography, I have to admit, but I never claimed to be a photographer. You can't quite make it out, but behind the two gentlemen shaking hands is a herd of cattle. What is taking place here is a sale. The handshake is the contract.

It seems like in today's business world you need a contract for everything. I'm not talking about a two page agreement that outlines the basic points between the two parties, I'm talking about a ream of paper to replace a worn piece of carpet! It is ridiculous.

The typical process is basically that the principles agree orally to do something. Then one of them directs his attorneys to draw up a contract. The contract is then sent to the other party who asks his lawyer to review it and suggest changes that might be necessary. There are always changes (it's called job security and milking the deal). The revised contract is then returned to the first party whose lawyer reviews the changes and revises the changes and sends it back. The process usually requires several iterations and the contract becomes lengthier with each revision. The sad thing is, it's only marginally useful when completed. Ultimately, if one of the parties wants out of the contract, they will hire a bunch of lawyers who will find a way to get out of it.

You occasionally still see a contract similar to the picture above in cattle country, although they are becoming less common. It is amazing to me how many 100's of thousands of dollars are spent through verbal contracts over the phone. It typically goes something like this --

"Jim, I need about 2000 head of 500 lb. yearlings to put on wheat pasture. Can you get them put together for me? Ship them to my place out near San Jon, New Mexico."

"OK. I should be able to get them together by the end of the week. Plan on taking delivery around 7:00 am on Saturday."

The deal is done. It was about a $1.2 million deal for cattle "sight unseen". There were no guarantees, no inspections and no questions about whether there was money to pay for them. It was just each party's word over the telephone.

It's nice to be associated with an industry whose members have enough integrity that you can comfortably do business this way. Yes, occasionally someone gets burned, but it's rare.

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'.... Matt. 5:37