One of Ray’s granddaughters was having a small setback with a job hunt. Grandpa Ray reached out with some advice from a man who’s “been around the block.”
“Understand you are down in the dumps tonight after your big disappointment this pm. I have always had a tendency to believe that if the good Lord wanted me to have something, I would have received it. Otherwise, it was because he didn’t want me to have it for perhaps a good reason. As my life has progressed, I have found that disappointments usually lead to better things, as I am sure will happen to you. So all I can say is for you to acquaint yourself with the same outlook, and you will do great. I too went through a huge disappointment down at the Space Center in 1969 when we finally landed a man on the moon, and General Electric’s contract was drawing to a close as a result.
One day, the manager and deputy assistant called me into the office and said my help was no longer needed and my days with GE were over. I felt like the end of the world, but “lo and behold,” I knew a fella who was a good friend of the project manager at Symetrics Engineering in Satellite Beach, Fla. He needed a project planner, and I made hasty tracks down there. Based on my experience at 55, I was hired on the spot. They were a small, privately owned company that made tracking systems for the military. Shipboard, airborne, and land-based all over the globe. My job as a planner was to get blueprints of a system that the company wanted to bid on and, using those prints, figure out the cost of everything it took to build and deliver the system. Every nut and bolt, transistor, diode, paint, sheet metal, steel for the framework, labor, etc… Very time time-consuming, to say the least, as I had to work with purchasing agents, shop foremen, etc. to come up with the total cost and then present the bid to management. The last one I worked on was a $5,000,000 bid for a Navy tracking system.
About that time, my brother Frank had built and opened the first Omaha rink at 108th and Q (which is now Gold’s Gym) and he started burning up the telephone lines wanting me to quit and come to Omaha to help him expand. So I did. Opened up the Bellevue rink in the fall of 1970, moved to AZ, saw to the construction of the 2 down there and the rest is history. So you can see how things work out for the good.
Keep the faith, baby.”
Perhaps this will boost your morale. Like Ruebens?
Baked Reuben Sandwich
2 cups original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons caraway seed
1/2 to 3/4 deli corned beef (1′ used a 12 oz can of Hormel canned)
1/4 cup deli styled mustard (spicy brown)
6 oz. Shredded Swiss cheese
1 can 14 oz sauerkraut, well drained.
1/2 cup thousand island dressing, optimal
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9-inch square glass baking dish with cooking spray.
In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, egg and 1 teas. of the caraway seed with fork
until blended. Spread 1 cup of the butter in baking dish. Top evenly with cheese and
sauerkraut. Carefully spread remaining batter over sauerkraut. Sprinkle with remaining
caraway seed.
Bake uncovered 28 to 32 minutes or until light golden brown and center is set.
Let stand for 5 minutes.