As of today I signed a final agreement of separation, signed over my
stock, and signed a letter of resignation from the position of Executive
Vice President of Apple Restoration & Waterproofing, Inc.
I was happy to do this. I have also been sad.
After having spent close to 20 years assisting my partner, John Weiss,
Sr. in building a respected company from a dream, a promise and a two
car garage I have left the building. John Weiss, Sr., president of
Apple, due to illness, and physical problems is retiring. Several years
ago he suffered a head injury, possibly from running his stock car into
a wall at 90 mph, and incurred hydroencephalitis. Last spring he fell
off a roof at a building where he was assisting in a water infiltration
inspection. He has a lot of other health problems... a long list of
problems for someone who has always felt dedicated to risk his health
and safety in order to do the best job for his customers and with a
desire to receive acceptance and approval. The end result of his
hydroencephalitis is that he lost considerable mental function and has a
severe loss of short term memory. For quite some time we did not know
what his problem was, and then we did sort of know, and along the way it
has been one hell after another. John and I wanted to build a company
that kept to a few basic principles: honor and respect your employees,
do not ask people to do what you will not do yourself, pay your
subcontractors, pay your suppliers, deliver an honest qualty of product,
and treat your customers fairly. The hard times were hard, and the good
times were good. Both of us shared an interest in historic preservation
-- Perry Victory Monument, George Rogers Clark National Historical
Monument, Boston Custom's House, Staten Island Lighthouse, Carnegie
Hall, Brooklyn Borough Hall, Grand Central Terminal, West Point, and the
New Amsterdam Theater were high points of our partnership. At times it
was stormy... on several occasions I had reason to tell John --
screaming at him on a sidewalk -- that if I could not tell him honestly
what I thought was fucked then it was time for me to leave... we were
friends doing business together and there was passion and challenge,
failure and success. We laughed, we cried, we yelled at each other and
when the shit hit the fan we stood together. I can't possibly remember
all of the times that John got my ass out of a problem that I had not
seen coming. Most of all he taught me to have patience. When given an
option of taking over the company in partnership with John's son I felt
an opportunity to move on. When I first met John Sr., assigned to work
for him as a site foreman, I had long hair and a beard. The first thing
that went through his head was, "What the hell are they doing to me now?"
The company will persist in name under the direction of John Weiss. Jr.
][<en
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To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
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