| 3.4-4 My Second Day in Puerto Rico Thursday Morning until Friday Morning March 21st - 22nd, 1991 |
So, I decided to phone my first investor/working partner possibility. I placed a call to
my college friend Thomas. I met Thomas in 1981 when I transferred from the
University of Washington to the University of California, San Diego. We were
roommates for my first quarter in an on-campus apartment and we were aiming for
the same degree, Electrical Engineering or EECS geeks (the acronym is said as a
rhyme with geeks) as others on the La Jolla campus called us. Thomas and I stayed
in touch through college with him helping me out a lot in my last year with the
challenging courses. We managed to stay in touch after graduation and I had just
visited him and his wife Nancy in December while I was in San Jose, telling them
about my around the world travel plans.
Tonight I reached him at his work. The conversation began with the usual
greetings. I informed him that I was in Puerto Rico. I briefed him on some of the
events of the past few days. I explained that I planned to form a corporation and that
I would like him to be a part of the corporation as well as be an investor. He didn’t
seem too excited at the prospects.
I told him that I wanted him to come to Puerto Rico this weekend, staying at Palmas
del Mar where we could discuss the formation of the corporation. I told him that I
would pay all expenses and that it wouldn’t be a problem. He still didn’t seem
excited. We talked a while longer and then I finally asked him the question, “So you
can come, right?,” to which he replied, “I can’t.”
Somewhere between the gelling of ideas in Buena Vista this morning and now, a
further transformation of the ideas began to take place and what came out next was
a culmination of these thoughts. I said to him, “Tom, I know this will sound weird but
this started out to be just one company. Then it grew to be two operating
companies. But now I see how to form not just one company, not just two
companies, but I can form an infinite number of companies. Furthermore, do you
know how many persons each of these companies can have? Not one, not two but
an infinite number of persons. And I can pay each employee an infinite amount of
money not just every year, not just every month, not just every day, not just every
second but every every.
Only silence from the other end of the line. He still didn’t seem impressed. That’s
why he needed to come to Puerto Rico so I could explain myself more clearly in
person. So I asked him the question again, “So you can come to Puerto Rico and
enjoy yourself on the beach here at Palmes del Mar, right?”
His answer was still, “I can’t.”
I didn’t understand. All I was asking was for him to get on a plane tomorrow, Friday,
fly at my expense to Puerto Rico, stay at an ideal tropical beach front resort, and
return home on Sunday, all at my expense. So I said to him, “Thomas, I know you’re
just like me. You're an engineer. You are logical and you are smart. You must
have reasons why you cannot come to Puerto Rico for the weekend. I will be quiet
as you list them off. As you list them off I will write each of them down and after you
are done I will attempt to refute them. He agreed to this.
Thomas began to list his reasons as I waited silently for him to finish his list. He
rattled off the following reasons:
- I have a job
I have a wife
I have a house
I have a house payment
I have dogs
with his agreement I didn’t have to refute them.
Now it was my turn. I refuted each of his reasons as follows:
"Tom, I know you have a job. I have invited you to come for the weekend. Yes, I can
see where you might have to take Monday off from work but I will gladly pay you for
your time off from work. So that’s not a reason, right?"
He agreed.
"Tom, I know your wife. She is very nice. I will be happy to have her come with you
at my expense also. We’ll have a good time here together. I also know that she
works too and I will gladly pay her for her time off also, so this is not a reason, right?"
He agreed.
"Tom, I know you have a house. But I am only asking you to come for the weekend.
If you’re worried about this months house payment for some reason, if you wish, I will
gladly help you out with your payment. So that’s not a reason not to come, right?"
He agreed.
"Tom, I like dogs. I met your dogs and I like your dogs. Dogs can fly on airplanes
too. I will be glad to pay to have your dogs come along if you wish. I’m sure they will
enjoy it here on the beach as well. So that’s not a reason, right?"
Again, he agreed.
Thus, I had refuted all of the reasons why he couldn’t come to Puerto Rico this
weekend. So I asked the important question, “So this logically means you can come
to Puerto Rico for the weekend to discuss a business plan and have some fun on
the beach, right?”
His long, slow, response was, “Kory, I can’t.”
I told him, “Thomas, I don’t want to hear that”. I want to hear, “I can”. “We just went
through it all logically. I just don’t want to hear that. I've heard those words all day. I
didn't expect to hear them from you."
He didn’t know how much I really didn’t want to hear those two and a half words. I
had heard them from the store owner in Buena Vista; from all of the operators at
MCI; from the first flower shop in Humacao; from the flower shop in the airport; from
the manager at Dollar Rent-a-car; from the Puerto Rico Telephone Company; and
now from my friend Thomas in San Jose. I really didn’t expect a friend to tell me “I
can’t” too.
I was too exhausted to go on. Besides, my logic was perfect and something was
wrong with his. He didn’t make any sense. I thanked him for his time, said so long,
and hung up.
I needed a break after such a let down and over forty minutes of talking to Thomas.
I left “my office” in the mezzanine and headed to the front desk. I asked for Lori and
Joe’s room number and went to check to see if they were in. When I approached
their room I could hear the ringing of a telephone. I approached the door with their
room number on it and the ringing phone continued to ring off the hook. I knocked
on the door and no one answered. I headed back to the front desk to see if they
could answer the phone and take a message. I was hoping that Carlos had finally
received the flowers I sent but more importantly that he had received the message
that went with the flowers and was finally phoning me.
I reached the desk and asked them to answer the phone. They told me they couldn’t
do that and that besides, Lori and Joe's phone was not ringing. I verified the room
number again and I had it right. I then guessed that I must have heard the phone
ringing in the wrong room. So I gave up on this pursuit and went back to “my office”.
My next call went to my friend Bill, a Software Engineering Manager for Microsoft in
Seattle, Washington. Bill and I also met while attending college at the University of
California, San Diego. The class we met in was a tough microcomputer
programming class. This class is what aided him in heading into the software
industry, for his degree was actually in chemistry/pre-med. I have kept in good
contact with him since graduation and I had just gone out to dinner with him and his
wife Lisa before leaving on my trip in February.
The conversation with Bill went almost exactly the same as with Thomas. The only
difference was that instead of two dogs he had a dog and a cat. Once again, I told
him I liked both the cat and the dog and that he could very well bring them along.
I refuted all of his reasons not to come just as I did Thomas and still to my question,
“So you can come then?” he gave the illogical answer, “I can’t”.
Once again I was saddened to hear these words. I probably laughed at the illogical
utterance but I ended the conversation politely and hung up. I took another break.
My next phone call was to my parents in Seattle. I spoke with my dad for a couple of
minutes trying to explain a little about what happened today in Buena Vista.
After calling my dad I made an attempt to reach Kirk at home but to no avail.
By now it was after 10:30 p.m. I thought, surely, Aunt Lori and Joe must be back by
now. So I walked over to their room to find a "Please Do Not Disturb" sign on their
door.
I stood at the door thinking, "Do they mean me? Do they not want me to disturb
them? Surely they got my messages. Did they get my messages and not come out
to see me in the lobby. Do they now not want me to bother them?"
After a minute I decided to go ahead and knock on their door anyway. Joe comes to
the door and asks who is there. I answer back, “It’s Kory.” I wait as Lori gets
something on. I apologize for "disturbing them" in reference to the sign on their
door. Joe explained that they didn't mind me coming but instead the sign was for the
maids to stay away in the morning.
I then ask Lori and Joe if they received my messages. Lori responded, "Messages,
we didn't get any messages." I look at the phone and the message light was not
blinking. I ask her if their message light was blinking when they came back and they
both stated that it wasn't.
Then I explain to them that I still hadn't reached Carlos and that I had sent some
flowers to his family with a message for him to call me here at Palmas del Mar. I was
hoping that he had called and left a message. Again they tell me they didn't receive
any messages from Carlos.
Since their phone message light wasn't blinking and they hadn't received my
messages from earlier this evening I asked if they would mind if I called the operator
to see if she still had my messages for them. They said it was fine. So I phoned the
operator from their room and indeed they had some messages. She read them and
they were both the messages I had left for them earlier. I asked the operator if there
were any more but there were none. Aunt Lori then says to check for messages
from their old room. She tells me that they had to move today because of a problem
with the bathtub in the other room. So, I check for messages from the old room but
again there were no messages. I hung the phone up and then started wondering
where I would stay tonight. It was already late and I was getting real tired. All along I
was thinking that Carlos would get a hold of me and I would drive over to his place
tonight. But obviously I was wrong.
So, thinking out loud I tell Lori and Joe that I guess I'll be staying here at Palmas del
Mar tonight. I head on my way out the door apologizing again for the disturbance.
I walk on down the hall to the front desk to check in. I arrive at the desk and inform
the desk clerk that I wish to check into the hotel. He checks the computer for a room
and then tells me, "I'm sorry but we don't have anything available."
I look at him with surprise. "Are you sure?" I ask.
"Yes, we're full up for the night."
So I stand there thinking and looking at him. I'm real tired and not thinking very well.
So I ask him again, "Are you really sure?"
He responds with, "Yes, we've been full for some time."
So, not giving up I ask to see the manager. The manager comes to the desk and I
ask him the same question and he replies the same. I then explain to him that all I
want is a bed to sleep in. I don't care what the room looks like, any bed will do. I say
to him, "My friends just moved from a room that had a problem with the bathtub. I'll
gladly take that room. I won't need the bathtub." I take out my credit card and show
it to him.
He responds, "That room's been fixed and it's already filled."
I had a lot of trouble believing this last statement. But I did anyway and I asked him if
it was O.K. if I continued to use the phone in the mezzanine. He said that would be
fine. So I headed back to "my office" to make some more calls.
My next call went to my friend Jill in San Diego. I met Jill my second quarter at the
University of California, San Diego. I met her in the same class as Bill above. I
guess the difficulty of the class builds camaraderie among the classmates, especially
since in order to complete a couple of the assignments on time we had to stay awake
for 2 to 3 nights in a row together.
At the start of the class I had completed the first assignment early. So, the evening
before the first assignment was due I walk into the computer lab and begin to work
on my second assignment. Sitting behind me are a fellow and a girl working furiously
on their first assignment. I take notice and offer my aid, which they accept with joy.
Now, in this class, you were supposed to work as a team of two. These two were
partners already. Their names were Donald and Jill. Since I didn't have a partner
and since I was the odd one out in the class, the professor allowed Donald, Jill, and
me to work as a team of three throughout the remainder of the class. This was a
benefit for me because Jill was a big help in later assignments. This was the
beginning of Jill's and my friendship.
Since graduation, Jill has been a tough person with whom to keep in contact. She is
just downright hard to ever get a hold of. For this reason, I have talked with her
older sister since graduation more than her. But prior to leaving on my trip I was
finally able to see Jill twice in the same month. We had the chance to talk about my
upcoming trip during which she stated she was envious. She wanted to know how I
could afford to do such a thing. I explained to her that the house I had bought four
years ago had appreciated enough to allow me to refinance and pull out over
$30,000 cash. I explained to her that I had paid off my credit cards, used some to
remodel my kitchen and my bathroom, and I put in a brick walkway. With the
remaining money of $20,000 I would travel around the world.
She remarked that she had bought a house last year but that wasn't working for
her. I told her that it was just luck and timing.
During the course of the difficult university computer class Jill had remarked to me
that she knew some day I would start a company and she wanted to be a part of that
company. Well, I tend to remember little things like that. I hadn't forgotten her words
and today I planned to give her the opportunity to help me form a company as well
as travel to Puerto Rico, if ever I could reach her.
So, I phone her at home. Usually, no one answers and I get an answering machine.
That is exactly what happened today. I don't like answering machines so I didn't
leave a message, especially since I didn't have any way for her to reach me.
Next, I make several attempts to reach Danny at his hotel in Dominica but to no
avail. By now it is after eleven o'clock. I'm really tired and it has already been a long
day. I head down stairs to the lobby and as I pass the front desk I decide again to
ask the manager if he had a bed anywhere in the house. He didn't. So with my CD
player, video camera, and my backpack I head on out to the van. I grab a banana, a
submarine sandwich and a soda and gulp them down and then lie down scrunched
up on the back bench-seat and I go to sleep.
After what must have been a short, deep nap I awaken and decide to go back into
the hotel to try and call Jill again. I look at the time on my electronic organizer and
see it is nearing two a.m. on Friday morning. I grab my CD player and my backpack
and I walk on the beautiful green lawn past the night guard under the coconut palms
along side a small lagoon and into the open air lobby through the back side.
I walk on past the front desk being noticed by the receptionist but he makes no
remark. I walk on up to "my office" and try to call Jill again. It is only quarter before
ten in San Diego as I could also see by looking at my handy electronic organizer.
The phone rings and amazingly someone answers it. It is Jill's roommate. I ask for
Jill but she informs me Jill is still at work. Jill is a night person; she goes to work late
so she comes home late. So, I hang up and call her at work.
The night guard answers the phone and I ask for Jill. He tells me that Jill just left a
few minutes ago. I thank him and hang up. Knowing that Jill doesn't live far at all
from work I immediately phone her at home. Amazingly, she answers the phone;
from San Diego she's the hardest person to get in touch with; from Puerto Rico it
seemed all too easy.
Surprised to hear from me, she asks me where I am. I inform her that I'm in a
beautiful beach resort in Puerto Rico and that I wish for her to come to Puerto Rico
and join me here so we can discuss forming a new business. I tell her a little about
the planned concert at our Alma Mater and about the possibility of putting a cellular
phone system on the Island of Dominica. Eventually I get into the infinite part of the
speech I gave to Thomas and then I ask her “the question”. But before I hear her
answer, I already know what it will be, for I knew Jill's stance before I went traveling.
She was a definite affirmative. She was tired of her job. She wanted to travel. She
was ready for change. Of course she wants to come for a free weekend in a plush
resort in Puerto Rico. Of course she wants to hear me out.
So, I ask her, "So you will come, won't you?"
She comes back with those two and a half little malicious words, "I can't."
I was totally astonished. I said, "But Jill, you've been waiting for me to start a
company. You’re tired of your current job. You wanted to travel, you told me so in
San Diego. What's the story here?"
She tells me, "I'm finally settling into my life here. My job is going well, I like what's
going on for once, and I just can't do it."
I tried the silence thing with her too where she lists her reasons why she can’t come.
As I did with the others I logically refuted each of her reasons. And just like the
others she came back with the illogical words, “I can’t”. And she didn't even have
any pets to drag around with her! No excuses. I thanked her for her time, ended the
conversation, and hung up the phone.
I sat for a few minutes to evaluate what was going on. I finally came to the
conclusion that I was calling the wrong friends. I was calling my most logical,
scientifically minded friends. But according to the logic of this morning in Buena
Vista, those who appeared to be smart were actually not and those who appeared
not to be smart were smart in actuality.
World Turned Upside Down
Music - Prince - Dove et al
Music - Dove
by Prince
by Prince