Hello friends. Per a request, here is a running list of those who have gone missing in East Texas. As a journalist in this area, these are the individuals I have noticed as part of the missing groups I frequent. Please feel free to direct me to more. As it is my line of work, I care deeply. Some of these individuals I know about, some I do not know much about. There are many more, but this first post is just the time range of 2000-2020. I will do other time periods if there is interest, although older cases are harder to track.
They are organized alphabetically.
Albright, Alwin- last seen 7/6/19 walking away from his home on Scott Street in Gilmer in Upshur County. He is 74 years old with grey hair and blue eyes. He’s 5’10” and 250 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. Mr. Albright has medical issues and is without the medications he needs. There is a $1000 reward for information regarding his whereabouts. Anyone with information should contact the Upshur County Sheriff.
Alvarado, Eric “Slow”- Last seen 11/20/18. Disappeared from Atlanta, Texas, he is 6’5” and 180 pounds. He was 32 years old, and now would be 34. He was last seen wearing camouflage pajama pants, a white t-shirt, and a gray zip-up jacket. He also may have the glasses he was wearing. He has tattoos on his arms, chest and neck. There is a $10,000 reward for information on his whereabouts. Anyone with information should contact the Atlanta, TX police.
Birdwell, Jerrod- Last seen 1/6/14. Missing from Tyler, Jerrod was 17 at the time he disappeared. His height is listed as 5’5” and weight as 170 pounds, but he may have grown. He is white, with short black hair and brown eyes. There are no more details available about him. Anyone with information should contact the Smith County Sheriff.
Boehm, Frederick “Lil Joe” Joseph- Last seen 1/25/01. 6’0”, 130 pounds, white male with hazel eyes and brown hair missing from Marshall. He has a rebel flag tattoo on his upper arm. His sister Jolene is searching for answers and offering a $5000 reward. Anyone with information should contact the Harrison County Sheriff.
Cannon, Heather Danielle- Last seen 8/27/09. The 15-year-old disappeared from Athens, Texas. Authorities believe she left of her own accord, and she was last seen in the company of her biological father, Jerral Allen Whitley. Whitley refused to take a polygraph test after Heather's disappearance and was later incarcerated in Florida for drug offenses and grand theft. He was imprisoned for 18 months before being released in October 2014. Police have since completed excavations of a property on County Road 4837, near Larue. Anyone with information should contact the Henderson County Sheriff.
Childress, Antoinette Renee- Last seen 10/13/15. Missing from Henderson at her trailer home. About a month before Childress went missing, her sister, Patricia Nichols, began receiving strange Facebook messages from her. The first message said there was an emergency and Childress needed her phone number. Three weeks later Nichols got another message that just said "Sister where are I, what's going on." On October 6, Nichols got a voice message from Childress's Facebook account. The message said something about guardian angels, but the voice wasn't Childress's. Nichols left home after that and didn't return until November 6, by which time Childress was missing.
Two women contacted Nichols after Childress's disappearance and said they knew what had happened to her. The women stated Childress had been involved in using and selling drugs, and gotten some bad people angry, and was tortured and killed as a result. This information has not been verified.
Childress was seeing Felipe Villanueva at the time of his disappearance. He is considered a person of interest in her case and has multiple warrants for his arrest on drug-related charges and driving without a license. His current whereabouts are unknown and it's unclear whether he's still in the area.
A few days after Childress was reported missing, police found her car being driven by a man in Henderson. He was arrested on an unrelated charge, and stated Childress had sold him the vehicle, something her family finds difficult to believe.
Childress has a warrant out for her arrest, but she's considered a missing person rather than a fugitive. Childress had just gotten off probation at the time and was trying to clean up her life. Her case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected. Anyone with information should call the Henderson County Sheriff
Combs, Donnie “Bon Jovi” and Cynthia Arnold (went missing together)- The pair was last seen 9/26/18 in Linden, near Atlanta, Texas in Cass County. Combs called Arnold and asked her to come pick him up in Cass Countyand she left home to do so. A little while later she contacted her mother and said Combs hadn't arrived and she was still waiting at the meeting spot. Neither of them has ever been heard from again. A few days after they were last seen, Arnold's truck was found abandoned and burned in Marion County, Texas. While Kevin Dewayne Shepard Jr. and his uncle, Gary Edward Shepard were charged in Oct. 2020 with capital murder of the pair, their bodies have never been found. They face the death penalty if convicted. Anyone with information should contact the Cass County Sheriff.
Culberson, Larry- Last seen 9/4/13. Larry went missing from his home on County Road 4320 in Emory. Larry had been having some medical issues shortly before his disappearance. Larry was last known to be wearing camouflage-style gray pants, a white T-shirt and he might be wearing high-top tennis shoes. He was 56 at the time of his disappearance. An extensive search was conducted in the area without any result. His medical condition causes him to walk with a limp. Anyone with information should contact the Rains County Sheriff.
Dunn, Hartford Hunter- Last seen 8/5/04. Vanished from his home in the 200 block of Private Road 4002 in Marshall in the early morning hours, his daughter said she woke up at 7:30 a.m. and found the door open and her father gone. At 76 years old, he was in the beginning years of dementia. He has not been seen since. Anyone with information should contact the Marshall Police.
Flint, Kimberly Carter- Last seen 9/29/18. Kim’s car was found partially crashed and abandoned in the roadway of State Highway 154 near the rural community of Rekaw, in Rusk County. Her purse ID, as well as other possessions, were at her home, according to Kim’s son James. Picture evidence of the wreck shows damage to the front and side panel of the grey four-door sedan. "The vehicle it was found still in the roadway partially crashed," her son said. "She just wasn't there." Two searches, both immediately after the crash and 170 days later, turned up nothing. A witness believes he saw her speaking with someone in a white pickup truck, but as any local knows… there are a lot of white pickup trucks in East Texas. Kim was featured on “The Vanished Podcast.” Anyone with information should contact the Rusk County Sheriff.
Farrell, Justin Kyle- Last seen 05/11/04. Farrell disappeared from Nacogdoches, Texas. In March 2015, his skeletal remains were found near Cushing in Nacogdoches County, Texas. They were identified in April 2015. Farrell's death remains under investigation and has not yet been ruled a homicide. Anyone with information should contact the Nacogdoches County Sheriff.
Fleisher, Steven Miller- Last seen 9/14/16. Missing from Troup, he was last seen around 6:15 a.m. in the 1200 block of Noble Street. Police say Fleisher did not take any of his belongings with him and his family has been unable to contact him. He was 53 years old at the time of his disappearance. Anyone with information should contact the Smith County Sheriff.
Flores, Lydia- Last seen 10/11/20. Reported missing on Oct. 19 by her Shreveport, LA boyfriend, who said he had not heard from her since Oct. 11. She is a 40-year-old Hispanic female, and has two tattoos: a barbed wire on her bicep and a playboy bunny on her lower back. She is 5’1” and 115 pounds. She has brown eyes and auburn hair. She is from Longview, but anyone with information should contact the Shreveport Police Department.
Franklin, Johnny William- Last seen 10/21/08. The black male, 5'9" tall and 150 pounds was last seen in Tyler. His vehicle was located in a church parking lot at 3009 N. Grand Ave. on October 21, but police said they saw no signs of foul play. He was 53 at the time of his disappearance. Anyone with information should contact the Smith County Sheriff.
Gallegos, Veronica- Last seen 01/11/05. Missing from Gun Barrel City at the age of 19, Her live-in boyfriend said she packed a suitcase and left; he speculated she'd returned to her native Mexico. She has never been heard from again. Gallegos left behind her purse, her Mexican identification and her six-month-old child. Her boyfriend is considered a person of interest in her case and has stopped cooperating with investigators. Foul play is possible in her disappearance, but few details are available in her case. Anyone with information should contact the Henderson County Sheriff.
Gipson, Tyress- last seen 8/22/20. Missing from Jacksonville, Texas in Cherokee County, Tyress had just turned 18 and graduated. He is 6’0” and weighs 180 pounds. He has tattoos of the name “Lavance,” “BG$” and prayer hands. He is an African American man, wears his hair in dreads, and has braces. Anyone with information should contact the Jacksonville Police Department.
Gutierrez, Marquita Leanna- Last seen 11/11/19. Some report her as missing out of Canton, while others report her as missing out of Wood County. Marquita Gutierrez was reported missing after borrowing her mom's pickup that morning to go to a doctor's appointment, but the doctor's office said she never showed up. Her husband told police she was last seen in the Dallas area and was possibly heading toward Laredo. Her husband has been named a person of interest in her case. Anyone with information should contact the Wood County Sheriff
Hunt, Shirley Mae- last seen 6/17/07. Missing from Henderson, Shirley was last seen walking on County Road 454 near her home in rural Rusk County. She had alzheimers at the time of her disappearance. She is 5’4”, 140 pounds with hazel eyes, white hair and a partial denture plate. She wears eyeglasses with a gold wire frame, and was 72 at the time of her disappearance. Sheriff’s deputies believe she got in someone’s car, due to scent dog tracking. Anyone with information should contact the Rusk County Sheriff.
Jackson, Cole Duane- last seen 07/13/06. Missing from Timpson, Jackson was last seen near FM 1645 and CR 4230. The truck he was driving came out of a private pasture and rammed into a fence. He stopped and spoke to the elderly man who owned the land. Jackson apologized and said he would pay $120 for the damage, but said he had to run to get away from the "bad people" who were chasing him. He abandoned his Dodge half-ton pickup with minor damage and left his two inhalers, which he needed, in the vehicle. The driver’s side door was open and the truck was still in four-wheel drive. Jackson's wife was three months pregnant with their first child at the time he went missing. Anyone with information should contact the Shelby County Sheriff.
Lee, Anthony Tyrone- last seen 6/25/11. Anthony was planning to go to the rodeo with his mother on the evening of June 25. When his mother came to pick him up for the rodeo, she found his home deserted. The ironing board was set up with the clothes Lee had planned to wear to the rodeo. His pants were on the ironing board with one leg dangling, as if he'd been interrupted while ironing and left in a hurry. His mother said he would not leave the house in his “house shoes” (a very East Texas thing lol) and he had $600 untouched in his bank account. About three weeks after Lee was reported missing, his mother got strange phone calls. A "death song" played on the line, then someone said, "that's what he gets for snitching." His mother noted that he had been associated with a known drug dealer and this person had wrecked Lee's car about a week before Lee disappeared. Anyone with information should contact the Texas Department of Public Safety (State Troopers).
Marshall, Kimberly Ann- last seen 3/17/17 after she spent one night in the Salvation Army womens’ shelter in Tyler, Texas. She was never seen again. Thirty-one years old at the time, Kimberly had cuts and scars on her arms, wrists and back. She also has upper dentures. She is 5’5” and approximately 105 pounds, although she fluctuates in weight. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Few details are available about her. Anyone with information should contact the Tyler Police Department.
Martin, David Michael- last seen 1/14/10. He was a truck driver based in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and came home to Louisiana most weekends to visit his family. On January 14, Martin called to say he wouldn't make it home that weekend because his truck had broken down. He never contacted his loved ones again. The last person known to have seen him was the mechanic in Longview, Texas whom Martin took his truck to for repairs. They had dinner together, then Martin said he was going to wait on a friend to get truck parts. The mechanic left to do more work on the truck. Martin has never been heard from again. Anyone with information should contact the Sand Springs Police.
Martinez, Gregoria Jacobo- last seen 8/13/09. Martinez was last seen in Nacogdoches. She was born in Mexico and was living in the United States without documents at the time of her disappearance. Her two young children, both of whom are U.S. citizens, and they were visiting their grandmother in Mexico when Martinez disappeared. She had asked the father of one of her children for money to help bring her children home from Mexico. He agreed to meet her and lend her money shortly before she disappeared.Martinez planned to go to the Nacogdoches County courthouse on July 13 to pick up copies of her children's birth certificates, but she never arrived there. She has never been heard from again. She was reported missing on July 16. That same day, her vehicle was found abandoned on the side of County Road 525, near the intersection of U. S. Highway 59 south. There were no obvious indications of a struggle at the scene. Martinez may have gotten a ride south with a truck driver in order to find her children; however, her family never saw her. Both the fathers of her children have been questioned and neither of them have been named as suspects. Authorities believe Martinez was taken against her will. Anyone with information should contact the Texas Department of Public Safety (State Troopers).
Marquez, Erin Raquel- last seen 8/30/14. The 17-year-old disappeared as she was leaving the Longview Baptist Church in Hallsville, near Longview. She has long dark hair that was dyed red, and 5’6”, 130 pounds, and has brown eyes. Anyone with information should contact the Harrison County Sheriff.
McKay, Melissa Darling- last seen 6/10/11. At 1:35 a.m., Melissa walked out of the Choctaw Casino in Grant, Oklahoma with a white male companion, Jeremy Upchurch, of Lamar TX and was never seen again. Upchurch continues to be a person of interest due to his criminal background. Properties in Oklahoma, Delta and Lamar counties were searched, but came up empty. I can’t find an independent source to corroborate, but a personal conversation I had with law enforcement indicates they have found her vehicle in Oklahoma and presume she is dead, possibly due to drug involvement. Anyone with information should contact the Hopkins County Sheriff or Sulphur Springs Police.
Meadows, Beverly Lofton- Last seen 12/26/08. Beverly walked away from the Community Cares Nursing Home in the 200 block of west Merritt Street in Marshall, Texas and has never been seen again. Meadows had lived in the nursing home for about six years prior to her disappearance. She was supposed to wear an identification bracelet that would have activated the nursing home's door alarms, but she took it off before she left. She left without taking any personal belongings. Her mother, who lives 15 miles from the nursing home, believes Meadows was trying to walk to her residence. She was 48 years old at the time of her disappearance, 5’3”, and 240 pounds with short brown hair. She requires daily medication, and she doesn't have her medicine with her. Anyone with information should contact the Marshall Police.
Morton, Sheila- last seen 6/2/14. Missing from Center, Texas, Sheila’s behavior and personality changed drastically in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, according to her mother Joan. She had recently quit a restaurant job she had for seven years, moved out of her residence, and began hanging out with an old group of friends. Additionally, the last purchase Sheila was known to make was for a 9mm handgun, which was left behind when she disappeared. She was last seen at her ex-boyfriend’s house. Her phone was turned off the same day she vanished, and she has never been seen or heard from again. Sheila’s family members do not believe she would voluntarily leave her son behind. Anyone with information should contact the Angelina County Sheriff.
Pierce, Ashley- last seen 3/10/20. Disappeared from the Longview area, she is 5’3” and has a Hello Kitty tattoo on her thigh and a scorpion on her shoulder. She has long brown hair. Anyone with information should contact the Gregg County Sheriff.
Salazar, Rosemary “Rose” Rodriguez- Last seen 10/6/19. Attended a family birthday party at the Golden Corral in Kilgore, and was supposed to report to work the next morning at the Kilgore Walmart, but no-show, no-called. She has several distinctive tattoos, including a heart with a fishing hook, a deathly hallow, and the inscription “my person” next to a rose. She is a 5’4”, 185 pound Hispanic woman with brown eyes and brown hair, and it is not known what she was wearing when she disappeared. Her lime green 2014 Chevrolet Sonic is also missing. Anyone with information should contact the Gregg County Sheriff.
Stewart, Harry Edward- Last seen 11/30/11. Harry was traveling from Springtown, Texas to Alabama and was last seen in Hallsville, Texas. His age was 65 and he is white, 5’10”, and weighs about 170 pounds. Sheriff’s deputies determined he was driving when he hit something and had to leave his vehicle after his radiator overheated. Harry told the responding officer he would wait at the Dairy Queen on Farm-to-Market Road 450 near mile marker 604 for a ride. He was never seen again.
Thompson, Lauren Colvin- Last seen 1/10/19. At 1:53 p.m., Lauren made a frantic but coherent call to her mother. At 2:01 p.m., Lauren called 911 and told Panola County dispatch she was being followed. The call lasted for 21 minutes before disconnecting. Lauren’s family says it “abruptly ended,” police say the “cell phone died.” Lauren’s phone and shoe were found in the Rock Hill community, a rural area with less than 200 residents and more than 2000 acres of woods. A search by multiple law enforcement agencies turned up nothing. A $10,000 reward is offered for information on Lauren’s whereabouts. Anyone with information should contact the Panola County Sheriff.
Tidwell, James “Jimmy” Lamar- Last seen 2/15/12. Family members found his rural cabin in Rusk County abandoned, and later found his vehicle abandoned on Farm Road 95, approximately five miles from his home, without a battery. "I do not believe for one minute that he left this property of his own free will," his sister Lynn Akin said. The road was a route he took frequently. He was 58 at the time of his disappearance. The truck showed no signs of foul play, according to Sheriff’s deputies. Anyone with information should contact the Rusk County Sheriff.
Valdovinos, Gustavo Baldovi- Last seen 7/11/12. Missing from his maternal aunt's home on Houston Street in Tyler. He told his family he was an alcoholic and had decided to go into treatment, and he left with a group of people who promised to get him some help. The group he left with is described as a Caucasian male and two Caucasian females driving a white Chevrolet Z71 or Silverado pickup truck. Anyone with information should contact the Smith County Sheriff.
Wells, Brandi- Last seen 8/3/06. Was leaving the Graham Central Station nightclub in Longview at around 12:30 a.m. Her damaged car was found on Interstate 20 near the Brownsboro exit with her personal belongings inside. She was wearing rust-colored gaucho pants and a floral tube top, and is 4’11, 130 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was 23 in 2006, she would be 36 now. She was featured on Investigation Discovery’s “Disappeared.” Anyone with information should contact the Henderson County Sheriff.
Witt, Jana Mann- last seen 8/17/05. Missing from Glen Rose in Somervell County, Ms. Witt displayed personality changes several weeks prior to her disappearance. She has also gone by the names Jana Holstin, Jana Howard and Jana Branch. She was 44 years of age at the time of her disappearance, and 5’3”, 160 pounds with blue eyes and dyed red hair. The missing persons database notes that foul play is possible. Anyone with information should contact the Somervell County Sheriff.
Sources: News reports, Charley Project, Missing Eight East Texas and more
https://www.news-journal.com/news/local/police-searching-for-husband-of-missing-wc-woman/article_7c5144ee-8434-5e12-9829-360d060c510a.html
https://www.ketk.com/news/vanished-hartford-hunter-dunn/
https://www.panolawatchman.com/news/still-no-answers-in-lauren-thompson-case-a-year-after-she-went-missing-from-panola/article_07d707bc-4d15-11ea-8c84-af4fb2d30b79.html

I've been playing cards for well over a decade now and I've been beating the game regularly for years. My father introduced me to the game when I was young and when I turned eighteen I hit the road traveling while working for a construction company. I'd play whenever and wherever I could all over the country. Been to every major casino from Foxwoods to Hard Rock and all throughout the west coast where I've called home for a while now.
It's all the same everywhere I've gone though. Live poker players are TERRIBLE. One of the best parts about it is the fact that a lot of them will openly acknowledge that what they're doing is going to lose them money in the long run and they still do it. Often gambling for hundreds of dollars with only a 30% chance of winning the hand. That means in that specific situation you're winning 7 out of 10 times.
And that's where I come in. If you put me in a position where I can be there when this happens then I can make us both a decent amount of money.
For those who don't know, the most important part of being a professional poker player who makes a living playing the game is bankroll management. You can be the best player in the world but if you don't have enough money to withstand the downswings then you will go broke. Even Vegas doesn't win 100% of the time.
This has always been what has kept me from playing the game for a living and taking it seriously. I've never had the proper bankroll or bankroll management because I didn't need it and it's led to some crazy situations.
There was one stretch of time when if I won at 1/3 with $300 at risk I'd go play 2/5 with $1000 at risk. If I'd win at 2/5 I'd play 5/10 with $2000 at risk. This of course is a recipe for eventual disaster but it did provide me with a good amount of insight into the variety of players at different stakes. Surprisingly enough I didn't really see too much of a difference between people gambling for $100 or people gambling for $5000. It's all relative and there was always still at least one player at the table making MASSIVE mistakes.
So I'm really hoping I can find some bored rich person with money laying around doing nothing. Or better yet, someone who is actually familiar with the game who might have their own stable in the Houston area.
If you're the former then the way this would work is, you would give me the money to go play in whatever game you're comfortable staking me in and whatever profits I make are divided evenly between the two of us. I'm even willing to start at a better rate for you, maybe something like 60/40.
The games can range from $300 up to whatever you can imagine. Mostly in the range of $500, $1000 and $5000. The higher the stakes, the more money we make.
This is gambling, so the profits we make will vary widely over a short period of time but as long as we continue to make correct decisions while others are making the wrong decisions then our profit margins will begin to level out at a sustainable positive win rate.
The following applies to Texas Holdem. Omaha winrates are substantially higher but the variance is overwhelmingly high.
With $300 at stake my winrate is roughly $30 an hour.
With $500 at stake my winrate is roughly $50 an hour.
With $1000 at stake my winrate is roughly $70 an hour.
That means that if you put me in a $500 game 40 hours a week I can generate $8,000 a month in profit that we can split and have a nice extra bit of change in our pockets. Luckily for us, there are plenty of games in Houston and there is plenty of action just waiting for us.
This isn't even considering poker tournaments this could lead us to where 1st place is hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know for a fact I can crush these games man, it's honestly laughable how easy it is to beat live poker. All I need is the stake so let's do this!
-Roy
Edit: I guess I should clarify, I'm not looking for some quick Cashapp/PayPal transaction. I'm looking to find someone and build a relationship with them to the point where they are 100% comfortable with whatever arrangement we come up with. I really don't even care what it is. You wanna come over and hang out, have some BBQ with me and my family? Fuck it. I realize the ever looming absurdity in this sort of proposition which is why I'm willing to make sure you're comfortable and I also realize how much of a long shot this is but fuck it. Lifes short.

May 22: Trump orders governors to reopen churches immediately, something he is not empowered to do (legal experts and the courts agree). Those governors that acquiesce endanger their congregants, as we have seen again and again and again that these houses of worship are super-spreaders.
May 22: Researchers find that 100 million+ Twitter bot-accounts are being used to push to ‘reopen America’ (source).
May 22: Half of Fox News viewers think Bill Gates is using pandemic to microchip them
May 22: Carnegie Mellon researchers discover much of the discussion doubting the pandemic and anti-stay-at-home orders is being fueled by misinformation campaigns using convincing bots. Of the top 50 influential re-tweeters, 82% are bots; of the top 1,000 re-tweeters, 62% are bots.
May 23: Trump plays golf, and whines over twitter in response to media coverage.
May 23: Betsy DeVos openly admits she's using the pandemic to impose her private school choice agenda (audio). Her opportunism is nothing new (source).
May 23: Alabama has reopened its beaches, casinos, bingo halls, museums, zoos and amusement parks – as its hospitals are running out of ICU beds.
May 24: White House predicts that US unemployment to remain in double digits until November election.
May 24: Coronavirus outbreak at high school pool party fuels ‘second peak,’ Arkansas gov says. Missouri probably isn’t far behind. For multiple reasons.
May 25: Trump calls Marine Corps veteran (and sitting Congressman) ‘an American Fraud’ on Memorial Day, mis-spells his name, claims he voted for Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house (he didn’t.)
May 25: Trump issues a call for schools forced to close amid the coronavirus pandemic to be "opened ASAP" (tweet) after watching segment on Fox News.
May 26: Trump shares a tweet mocking Biden for wearing a face mask in public — in line with the CDC advice that he routinely ignores, for fear of “looking weak”.
May 26: Trump leaves GOP "completely blindsided" with threat to pull RNC convention out of North Carolina.
May 26: Spiking pneumonia deaths suggest the virus is killing far more than we know
May 27: Two weeks after court scraps Safer at Home, Wisconsin sets record for new coronavirus cases and deaths
late May: As Memorial weekend ends, the US has lost 100,000 people to the virus… more than combined combat fatalities in the three-year Korean War (33,686, source) and the 11-year US war in Vietnam (58,220, source), with very little collective grief.
May 30: Trump terminates the US relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
May 30: Trump demands Republican convention ‘with no masks or social distancing’ despite coronavirus pandemic
June 1: Dr. Fauci told states that Trump is no longer frequently meeting with top public-health experts to discuss the fight against the coronavirus. Two weeks later, Fauci will state he hasn’t talked to Trump once in the last two weeks.
June 1: States that reported all-time highest single-day new case totals in the last week: North Carolina, South Carolina (twice), Texas (twice), Arizona (twice), Mississippi (twice), Utah (twice), Virginia (twice), Wisconsin (twice) and California (three times)
June 3: Millions Of Americans skip payments as tidal wave of defaults and evictions looms
June 10: Trump: “We’ve made every decision correctly” - White House goes quiet on coronavirus as outbreak spikes; no briefings in over a month
June 15: Trump dismisses uptick in US coronavirus cases and suggests a 'stop' to testing. "If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any,"
June 15: US national pride falls to the lowest level in the two decades of Gallup measurement.

• Five days later another survey shows the majority of Americans say this is the lowest point in US history they can remember.
• Two weeks after that another survey shows that 75% of Americans believe the U.S. is ‘Out of Control’ under Trump.

June 17: More Americans have died from the virus (116,963) than were killed in combat during World War One (116,708).
June 18: Trump says he thinks some Americans are wearing masks to show they disapprove of him and not as a preventive measure during the pandemic
June 18: Trump claims virus will ‘Fade Away’ – as U.S. Sees 20,000 New Cases a Day. Within a month this will increase to 70,000 new cases a day.
June 20: Trump holds rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – his first large campaign event since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdowns

• Trump’s request that masks be optional goes all the way to the Oklahoma Supreme court, where he wins a victory. Masks are not required at the rally.
  
• Six members of the advance team (including two secret service officers) tested positive for the virus prior to the rally. Two more test positive afterwards, along with a local reporter.
  
• The rally 'more than likely' contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Tulsa Health Department Executive Director.
  
• Afterward, dozens of Secret Service officers and agents are told to self-quarantine.
  
• Two weeks after the rally, Herman Cain tests positive for the virus. In the weeks to come Cain is hospitalized, and dies on July 29.
  
• Two weeks after the rally, Fox News alumnus / Donald Trump Jr’s girlfriend tests positive for the virus after attending the rally.
  
• A week after that, Oklahoma’s governor (who hosted the rally) tests positive for the virus.
  
• Trump boasted that a million people that signed up to attend, held the rally in a 19,000 seat arena, and built an outdoor overflow area in the parking lot, but only 6,200 people attended.
  
• Trump was furious about the low turnout, and had a meltdown and yelled at aides backstage when he realized how empty his rally in Tulsa was
  
• Trump said he tried to slow down COVID-19 testing to cover up America’s high rate of infection (video)
  
• White House trade advisor Peter Navarro claimed Trump was “joking”, Trump responded 'I don't kid' and insists he meant it.
  
• Trump unapologetically called the virus the “Kung Flu”, and proved he could awkwardly drink a glass of water with one hand.
  

Planned future rallies are cancelled, due to fears of low attendance and the virus.
June 24: Fauci: White House ordered NIH to cancel coronavirus research funding, because it is in partnership with scientists in Wuhan and Trump has pushed a conspiracy theory that Wuhan purposely created the virus.
June 25: White House official: Americans will “Just Have to Live With” massive virus surge
June 25: The largest medical complex in the world, Texas Medical Center reaches 100 percent ICU occupancy, then they stopped reporting data.
June 30: The European Union bans travel from the U.S. due to coronavirus, and extends the ban two weeks later as the US situation continues to deteriorate.
June 30: The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases. Over 2.5 million Americans have tested positive, and over 125,000 have died.
June 30: Dr. Fauci tells Congress new cases could reach 100,000 a day without changes, and that recent coronavirus surge caused by reopening too quickly, not following guidelines
Late June: Republican governors begin holding secret conference calls to complain about Trump's chaotic coronavirus response
July 2: Trump: “I think we’re gonna be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that’s going to, sort of, just disappear – I hope,” as US sees record number of new cases
July 4: Arizona Department of Health Services reports that ICU's are at 91 percent capacity and nearly a quarter of coronavirus tests conducted returned positive.
July 4: U.S. breaks another daily coronavirus record with more than 57,000 new infections
July 6: White House defends Trump's claim that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are 'harmless' with chart showing 5 percent are fatal. Unsurprisingly, the head of the FDA refuses to back up this claim.
July 7: The virus is killing more in Florida, Texas in one month than 20 years of hurricanes
July 7: Trump and the Secretary of Education demand that schools reopen with fully operational in-person classrooms in the Fall.

• Just a week earlier, a Federal assessment (69 pages, here) said fully reopening schools and universities remained the “highest risk” for the spread of the coronavirus.
• This also contradicts the CDC’s guidelines around reopening schools. Trump dismissed these guidelines over Twitter as “tough and expensive” as well as “impractical”. The CDC refuses to revise their guidelines.
• This demand came with threats: To cut off Federal funding (a mostly toothless threat) and lose international students to those that choose not to open fully.
• Pressed on how schools can re-open during a pandemic, DeVos has no clear answers (video)
• Some teachers are retiring, rather than returning to the classroom
• Only 1 in 10 Americans think schools should reopen this fall without restrictions

July 8: 56 Florida hospitals hit 100% ICU capacity (and new daily cases rise above 10,000, to rise to 15,000 per day within five more days) as Governor DeSantis defends refusal to release virus data.
July 9: Dr. Fauci says states with coronavirus resurgences should consider shutting down again
July 10: U.S. breaks another daily coronavirus record with more than 70,000 new infections.
July 11: Japan is 'shocked' and furious at the US after a major coronavirus outbreak at 2 Marine bases in Okinawa — and says the US is not taking the virus seriously. "We now have strong doubts that the US military has taken adequate disease prevention measures,"
July 12: Dr. Fauci says COVID-19 cases exploding because U.S. didn’t completely shut down
July 12: CDC holds first press briefing in over three months of being silenced by the White House.
July 13: Trump complains Biden and Obama stopped coronavirus testing even though it didn't exist during their administration
July 13: Arizona is currently registering as many new cases as the entire EU, which has a population 60 times greater.’
July 13: Trump retweets game show host saying CDC and doctors are lying; the coronavirus task force pushes back: ‘None of us lie'. The game show host’s son tests positive for the virus one day later, the host suddenly changes his position, and deletes his Twitter account.
July 14: Nearly one-third of children tested for COVID in Florida are positive; that is over 11,000 children.
July 15: Administration removes control of coronavirus data from CDC, instead funneling it through the White House. Experts and scientists highlight why this is dangerous, and states begin to lose access to data.
July 15: Trump greenlights an op-ed attacking Dr. Fauci by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. Fauci responds that they should be ashamed. Trump then says Navarro never should have written it.
July 17: White House blocks CDC from testifying on reopening schools next week
July 18: Trump administration pushes to block new money for testing, tracing, and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill
July 18: 85 infants under age 1 have tested positive for the virus in one Texas county since March
July 19: Trump claims, incorrectly, that the U.S. has "one of the lowest mortality rates" for the virus
July 20: Trump: "I will be right eventually. You know, I said, 'It's going to disappear.' I'll say it again. ... It's going to disappear, and I'll be right," – part of a larger interview citing false and nonexistent data on the virus.
July 20: Trump calls masks ‘Patriotic’ less than two months after ridiculing Biden for wearing one. Just hours later, he hosts a fundraiser without a mask (at his own hotel, where he raised $5 million).

• During the same press conference, Trump says "My administration currently has zero unfilled requests for… equipment or anything else that they need from the governors. No governor needs anything right now and we think we’ll have it that way until the end because frankly we are stocked up and ready to go.". Of course, this is a lie.

July 21: Denied permission to work from home, Maryland public health worker dies after COVID hits office
July 22: White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway accuses the states of being too hasty with reopening their economies

Catch the full episode: https://www.wealthformula.com/podcast/224-multifamily-macroeconomics-in-the-twilight-zone/
Buck: Welcome back to the show everyone. Today my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast, he's been on the show before. He's economist Ryan Davis. He actually joined us at one of our last Wealth Formula meetups. Of course, the last one we had was canceled but Ryan was at the one before that. He serves as a chief operating officer at Witten Advisors and provides fact-based research analysis and discussion to help clients like us formulate their apartment strategies and these insights and for investment decisions for multi-family development and buy/sell opportunities which as you can imagine we're all looking for some of this advice these days. Ryan has a PhD in economics from the University of Texas. Ryan, welcome back to Wealth Formula Podcast.
Ryan: Thank you. Glad to be back.
Buck: Yeah it's been like a pandemic ago when we last talked right? Listen, you know I want to kind of jump into the whole you know what the heck is going on, I mean the overall, if you would, you know kind of give me your overall assessment of the economy. I mean obviously we know these huge drops in GDP etc which were expected last quarter. How is this all affecting real estate asset prices especially you know apartments which is you know is our interest and something that you specialize in?
Ryan: Sure so yeah the great unknown is the pace of the recovery. So we had that big drop through April in terms of employment and then we got a bounce back in May and June and the hope was that it was going to be a V-shaped recovery. But then we saw virus cases ramp back up in the second half of June into the early part of July and the local economy started rolling back some of their openings and so with that, we've kind of stalled out recently. So we'll get the July numbers this Friday for overall payroll gains and that could I think the consensus is anywhere between one, one and a half million jobs it could be negative so who knows but it looks like the hope for a v-shaped recovery in the economy has kind of stalled out after the first two months of optimism. And so we think that going forward we won't see any the worst is behind us really and so we won't see you know the big losses that we experienced in March and early into April so kind of what we're calling for right now is for the national economy to continue to add jobs for the remainder of the year and then beginning next year a recovery should emerge and that would sustain demand for housing and ultimately apartments going forward. In the near term as far as multi-family goes we expect some pain through the end of this year and then into the early part of next year. In terms of pricing power, if we had to boil it down to one number it's rent growth so year over year effective rent growth we think that declines to eight percent rent cuts this year and into the early part of 2021. That varies considerably on a local market basis I think our worst-performing market is Metro New York City probably no surprise there but then also many of the other gateway markets such as Boston, LA, the Bay Area, etc. We expect rent declines to be lower than that eight percent across the board, however many of the inner west, Texas, southeastern market should outperform still see rent declines but not closer to five/six percent range at the depth and so we expect near-term pain but then as we get out into 2021 and afterward and the economy begins to add a lot of jobs we would expect rent growth to return to multi-family. And then what that means for pricing in terms of apartment assets for right now in the second quarter hardly any deals trade at hand so it's really tough to get a sense of where pricing is and with the deals that have traded though the cap rates have remained relatively stable which is a good sign. We've heard from some of our merchant builder clients where they had assets they had constructed and were going out to the market to sell in the early part of April they were saying 10 discounts in terms of the compared to pre corona levels but that has since come back in the last 45-60 days and maybe it's only one to two percent in terms of the haircut that they're seeing out there right now. And there's a just a ton of capital that wants to get back into multifamily at the same time there's hardly any distress out there right now so there's a lack of available to you know supply to buy and so everyone is just kind of in this standstill there's a big ass gap because buyers aren't willing to pay yesterday's prices for assets but sellers aren't willing to give any you know deep discounts right now and so it's kind of a standstill and we’ll see how all this plays out.
Buck: Yeah you know it's really interesting we're obviously you know through, you work with Western Wealth Capital, one of my partners and you know it's funny because we were kind of thinking well maybe there'll be some real buying opportunities but you know we've seen a little bit maybe just you know from buyers who are sellers who just are just wanting to get out while they're ahead maybe they made some money you know maybe they and at this point you know they're just thinking let's just cash out and maybe they're willing to take a little bit less but for the most part you know if you look across our own portfolio and it might be because it's largely again Texas and Arizona, etc that and maybe it's because it's mostly working-class B and you know high C class apartment but our portfolio you know the numbers are just as good as they've ever been in terms of you know occupancy in terms of even our we're still raising rents. And so when you look at that you're like well I mean how do you expect there to be any you know smoking deals out there if the sellers really aren't feeling any distress. So is there a difference you know when you look at something like a B and C class apartment scenario versus A right now or have you been able to break that down a little bit because I think the people I know who are in the A-class and new build are you know they're certainly feeling things a little bit more than we are.
Ryan: Yeah so what we've heard from some of our clients in terms of early on so may June in terms of rent collections class A's were actually from a nationwide perspective actually exceeded the class B and C product. Now we don't think that will continue going forward and the main reason is that new deliveries that are coming online they will compete with the existing top of the market product and so we think that it will be short-lived in terms of the top of the market outperformance and another part is due to just the nature of this downturn where low-wage sectors were hit extremely hard in April, got some bounce back in May and June but the leisure and hospitality sectors lower-paying positions those have been the most impacted so far. But going forward we don't think that this downturn would be any different than prior recessions in terms of the class A leading the way down in terms of jobs and occupancy and also rent growth or rent cuts in the near term. So class A’s will lead the market down but then as we get out into the later part of next year and into early 2022 then class A's would outperform the broader market. So yeah we think through the end of this year until early next that B's and C's will hold up relatively better but that's mainly a function of just the competition that it takes to get these new projects they will get leased up it's just a matter of the market-clearing price and so those have to compete those could be mostly with the top end of the spectrum and so we see big rent declines and concessions in the class A space going forward.
Buck: You know there's this thesis that's going around in the multi-family space and you know I've been sort of you know looking at it this way too for a while though I'm starting to you know feel like it's maybe not gonna happen is this idea that there's going to be a potentially before we really rebound and start heading up again that there’ll potentially be a you know big tsunami of defaults and things like that. Right now at least what I'm you know seeing and hearing about in terms of the lending markets and in terms of these properties, there really isn't much indication of that right now is there I mean what do you think?
Ryan: No at least not in the short term I mean again there's it goes back to my earlier comment there's been no distress really and so that is due mainly to the huge stimulus packages that have been passed those from a fiscal standpoint and a monetary standpoint which is it's crazy to think that GDP declined at an annualized rate by 32 however incomes soared and so that's all due to the stimulus that we saw and so that's helped prop up renters incomes and allow them to pay rent. Now going forward I think some of these the number of defaults I don't think there will be a tsunami, at least that's how we view it right now, ask me again in a week and it could change, but I think that the defaults will be very market specific and so those geographies that have been hit harder we'll see a larger number but many of the Texas markets, Phoenix, Denver, southeast high growth markets where you've got this short-term tailwind in terms of folks at the margin more and the trends that have been in place for years of folks moving from gateway markets into these inner markets will be kind of you know given a stairway shot really in the near term and so that would help to prop up multi-family fundamentals and so yeah if you're expecting a tsunami of defaults in any of those markets that I've mentioned again it kind of gets a little bit granular in terms of you know potentially Orlando might have some problems just with the amount of supply and then the you know low-wage in tourism industries being impacted more dramatically and that would lead to some weakness in Orlando but out outside of that maybe Houston you could argue you know somewhat but outside of those two and those those areas of the inner west Texas, southeast Florida should be but hold up you know relatively well and I would think that the main stress points will be out you know on the coast in California potentially portland we do think seattle holds up relatively well and then northeast in terms of you know New York and Boston as well so I think it's very locally market driven.
Buck: Yeah it's interesting you know we did we were a little worried about Houston too but our you know Houston portfolio is actually doing awesome it's not having any problems at all which is which was you know again, knock on wood that’s what it's been so far. Let me ask you another question you mentioned the pent-up demand of you know money on the sidelines waiting to get back in and you know and in many situations, they have to get back in right they're mandated to deploy capital and that sort of thing do you the one thought that I've had through this is you know multi-family and well multi-family in general has held up so well during this period of time does that potentially create a situation where you know the big money that's coming in starts looking at this even harder as potentially a little bit of a hedge or a little bit of safe haven. What what do you guys think is going to be the effect of that you know the relatively stable performance and then ultimately you know having all of this money on the sidelines,? Do you see paradoxical even further compression of cap rates over the next couple years? What's your thought on that?
Ryan: Yeah and so kind of pre-corona our forecast was for cap rates to continue to decline and you know taking a step back it was mainly driven by global factors with the aging populations across the globe that have built wealth up and all that investment needed to be placed somewhere. And so those trends were driving returns lower for longer and so those are the demographic that have not been affected by the pandemic. And so just from a global standpoint, we're expecting returns across all assets whether stocks bonds you know all classes of real estate whether it's multi or industrial retail office, etc those returns would continue to head lower. Now we've had the pandemic and we've seen multi-family and industrial hold up exceedingly well and who knows what to make of retail office and lodging just lots of pain and in those sectors and so if you need to be allocated to real estate then multifamily and industrial or where you want to be at least in the short term and especially if you're looking for consistency of returns and you know risk-adjusted on a risk-adjusted basis you know multi-industrial or have outperformed other asset classes and so really to get into the lodging office retail space probably more opportunistic mindset in terms of those assets may need to be repositioned etc and so I think a lot of that money that's out there is not looking to get there's a lot that's looking for that type of asset turnaround story but there's also a lot of money out there that needs the stability. And so that should continue to compress cap rates or put a really put a cap on that cap rates and so it would be no surprise if cap rates on an aggregate basis hold steady and maybe even decline despite a deterioration in short-term fundamentals and part of that is due to the long-term belief in apartments going forward and so yes there's a short-term dislocation where we expect some move-outs that you know this year actually there are a lot of move-outs that we expect and so there's going to be a lot of doubling up folks moving back in with their families but then there's going to be pent up demand as we as that recovery takes hold next year and that will be released and so we see leasing to be through the roof next year and then out into 2022. Then at the same time as that demand story improves in the short term we see starts decelerating dramatically so we've we're going from a 400,000 unit run rate to about 200,000 units by the early part of next year. And so new production is going to get cut in half now that we don't get any benefit of that immediately so we have to wait till later part of 2022 and 2023 before we see that slowdown and production really lift fundamentals and so I think everyone is seeing that yes there's some short-term disruption in the multi-family market right now, but the long-term drivers are there and if you have the capital to wait out this very painful period in the short term then there will be major benefits after that we should see after next year.
Buck: Now one of the things you said I think earlier is that the worst is behind us do you believe that's the case in terms of rent growth and you know rent cuts and that sort of thing right now?
Ryan: I think the worst is behind us in terms of the economy. I think that going forward we should continue to produce job gains on a monthly basis, though this next report could see some layoffs we'll see the consensus is one million one and a half. In terms of multi-family we do not think the worst is behind us we think that fundamentals will continue to deteriorate into the early part of next year we think that you know kind of right now in terms of year over year rent growth in the early part of this year let's call it three, three and a half percent we've since gone down to zero percent in the second quarter. So on a quarterly basis we've seen some dramatic rent cuts, again this is on a national basis and then as we move forward we see occupancy dropping by about three percentage points into the early part of next year, rent declines of about eight percent through the remainder of this year into the first quarter of next year and so no we do think that there will be some deterioration and fundamentals going forward. On the flip side of that might present some opportunities and so any assets that were purchased specially in your space in terms of if they were bought at the top of the market at the end of last year in the early part of this year and now that value-add story isn't there where you might not be able to get the rent bumps that you were expecting so some of those assets will have to be recapitalized and so that might present some opportunity as the year progresses but again like you said we haven't seen that materialized so far.
Buck: Yeah that's the tricky part right I mean it's sort of like I think when you're on the buy side here you're saying well I mean these prices that we're seeing right now you know with prolonged you know low-interest rates which we can pretty much guarantee at this point for a period of time and then the pent-up demand. It's sort of like okay well I mean this actually might be one of the better times to buy if you consider what could potentially happen in the next you know 18 to 24 months in terms of you know explosive growth. When you look at those indicators that you're you know that you're talking about that may lead to some of the more explosive growth metrics what markets come to mind the most for you?
Buck: Now one of the things you said I think earlier is that the worst is behind us do you believe that's the case in terms of rent growth and you know rent cuts and that sort of thing right now?
Ryan: Yeah so our general geographic areas that we like we like the southeast, parts of Florida, Texas and the inner west. We really like Atlanta, we like South Florida though there's a little more pain in the short term some of our clients are saying it kind of in terms of you know rent collections you know northeast but also yeah LA but then South Florida is outperforming those two areas but still lagging some of these other markets. So we like the Texas markets long term the interwebs you have Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake as well. We like Seattle that's an outlier on the west coast but then the other markets whereas in the Bay Area we expect those you know rent growth numbers to average four, four and a half percent which stack up really well across the nation but for those markets that's a recession pretty much and so compared to what's normal and the cap rates you have to pay the rent growth numbers there kind of you know lackluster. So the midwest the markets they won't be hit as hard but still they don't get that explosive growth going forward and so we really like the inner West Texas, southeast of Florida markets and you know part of that has been driven being driven by the migration flows. So domestic migration numbers have really helped out all of these markets we've seen outflows from the northeast boston new york the bay area Southern California we've seen migration outflows from those markets into the you know inner west you know Las Vegas the inland Phoenix, Denver you know people moving from the coast into those markets and then you know also parts of texas as well but then in terms of the northeast the flows that are coming in to the Nashvilles the Charlottes, Raleighs, Atlanta, Florida markets we and then also Texas as well and so those trends have been accelerated at least in the short term, but it's important to remember that those have been going on for a decade at least even more and then other markets and so it's not anything new but at the margin that will support many of these other markets.
Buck: Yeah on the west coast I mean there's that flight to Arizona as well right from California. One of the things that you know is worth talking about is what effect this has had you know the pandemic and the recession on the lending market, with Fannie and Freddie and you know how that might be playing into any of the growth or lack of growth.
Ryan: Yeah I think on the financing side you know debt for stabilized assets it's there and it's cheap you may have to you know have higher reserves than you've had typically but for the most part it's there and so that's part of the appeal of buying assets right now with these record low interest rates. So I think for stabilized assets yeah it's there for new construction it is dried up considerably and this is a change in the last 30 to 60 days and so the fed does a survey each quarter of banks and their tightening of multi-family construction lending standards and that the latest report shows 70 percent of banks tighten their multi-family construction loans last quarter which we haven't seen those levels since 2008/2009. And so I think part of it's the lenders are trying to make sense of what they have in terms of all these other asset types in terms of real estate or retail, lodging, office loans, they're trying to you know spend a lot of time working those out and so then you add on the uncertainty in terms of the economic recovery etc, they've pretty much put a halt on new construction loans. And so that's been a big change here in the last two months call it. Then on the equity side I think returns have been increased but still available and interested but you know a lot of you know equity and especially focusing in on the new starts pipeline if all the deals that have been started are continuing and it's kind of a mixed bag from our clients in terms of are you seeing delays or actually some other clients that reported these they were able to speed up the timing in terms of getting able to get trucks into sites very easily and then also the construction workers that were on you know working on hotels motels those have come into the apartment sector and so that's provided more manpower in terms of getting these deals done. And so those that were under construction are continuing to proceed, those that were capitalized I think that but haven't begun those have been they haven't pulled out completely they just said let's press pause to see let's say can we get any break in construction costs over the next several months and so the equity and banks they're still willing to do it move forward on those deals that have been capitalized but are you know slow playing it. And then you get to the others where there's land sites and they hadn't been entitled and haven't been capitalized those deals we think have been shelved for right now and so it kind of where some opportunity could be is on the land side of you know potentially purchasing some land sites that might be teed up for development as we get further along in this recovery.
Buck: Again one of the things that you're saying though in terms of construction loans not being there again it helps us for those of us who have apartment portfolios already that are already there that that again goes to the issue of a simple supply and demand issue which we can benefit from if there's not a whole lot of new builds. You know this is a major driving variable in in apartment buildings nationally can you give us a little bit of the idea of you know just not being able to keep up with you know population growth in various parts of the country, can you give us a little bit of you know sort of a thousand-foot view on the perspective on how big of an issue that actually is?
Ryan: I don't know if it's that big of an issue you know on on the whole and I think that you know some of these higher growth markets in terms of where we've you know call it the Atlantas and North Carolina markets, Central North Florida, Texas, the inner west regions where we've seen large population growth statistics you know high growth markets but they're also they also tend to be the highest in terms of supply for housing and so it's more easy to build in those markets especially you know out as you get away from the know central cities etc and so where we've seen the the biggest barriers to supply are out on the coast and so we've seen you know job growth be pretty good in those markets but the supply hasn't kept up at all and so that's why you're seeing you know these big you know rent affordability you know problems in the coastal markets and so we think that supply not keeping up with the population dynamics is more of a coastal problem but then you know as you get into the markets that are more accepting of new development then you know we've seen housing supply increase at a rapid clip in many of these other markets I think you know Austin you know even through the June of this year permit activity for multi-family continued to set it reached big big levels and so I think year to date in Austin it's already pulled permits on almost 10,000 units already which is you know huge numbers. And so I do think that while these population growth numbers and some of these markets are you know off the charts especially compared to you know some of the coastal markets, that supply has been able to keep up there and so yeah you see pockets of where you know rent growth you know bumps up to you know five, six percent levels, it's especially that was the case in Phoenix and Las Vegas over the past two to three years where those markets were leading in terms of rent increases but they tend to you know be markets that you know will accept more new supply and so that will tend to even out over the long term.
Buck: How's Vegas doing out of curiosity because that one was just crushing it. It seemed it seemed a little dangerous you know it seemed like one of those markets where it's like wow is it real or is it one of those things that's just gonna go back to Vegas.
Ryan: Yeah exactly and yeah kind of thinking that you know before kind of goes back to your comment earlier about people moving from the coast to getting in their car and driving to the riverside and then Las Vegas and Phoenix and so it was benefiting from a real out-migration from expensive coastal California. That said that just the nature of this pandemic crushing leisure and hospitality and the conference circuit that the job losses in Las Vegas I think you know through April into May led the nation. We've seen some a bit of a bounce back there but really the question is you know how fast does the the conference you know a circuit come back, how fast are people willing to travel to casinos, I know they have already, but I think that pre-corona the growth was real and yeah absolutely now it's a little bit different you know market in terms of the cost and you don't want to go in there and if you're a developer you don't you know want to build a high-rise there and so your strategy is a little bit different but so far it's held up relatively well, all things considered, but still a lot of weakness that is materializing in Vegas.
Buck: Interesting stuff. Well listen I don't want to keep you all day long, Ryan, but it's been great talking to you. Where can we learn more about your work?
Ryan: Sure. Probably the easiest is wittenadvisors.com you can go there, all our contact information is there, feel free to reach out with a phone call or send me an email anytime and I'll be happy to give you more details on the services that we provide and how we add value to many clients that are in either owner, operators, developers, equity or lender clients.
Buck: Fantastic thanks again and we'd love to have you again you know in a few months to reassess where we are at.
Ryan: All right. Sounds good. Looking forward to it.
Buck: We'll be right back

• Kindly note that the price range mentioned above is only for the books in the megathread list. Any requested books unavailable in the list can cost more, so please do not make any wrong assumptions.
  
• If you find your book in the thread below, comment "PMed" below and then send your request by clicking here (expect super quick replies).
  
• Don't mention the title of the book in comments section, please
  
• Almost all the books are in their latest editions and some of them are available in multiple editions too
  
• All the payments would be upfront and accepted payment modes are PayPal/BTC/ETH/LTC. Gift cards can also be accepted in special cases
  
• Books are delivered through Google-Drive or Dropbox links within a few minutes/seconds of payment
  
• You can also send requests via email/Google-Hangouts request/Skype request to [email protected] for faster communication
  
• If you don't find the book in the list, you can send your new request to the mod by clicking here
  
• If you want solution manuals/testbanks, you can also request them to the mod by clicking here
  
• Please subscribe the sub to find all the latest textbook releases
  
• Also, upvote the megathread if you found it useful
  
• Thousands of students have already been helped. Here is the proof
  

Please find the list below:

1. Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing: Materials, Processes, and Systems, 6th Edition: Mikell P. Groover
   
2. Precalculus Essentials: J. S. Ratti & Marcus S. McWaters
   
3. Genetics- A Conceptual Approach, 6th edition: Benjamin A. Pierce
   
4. The Global Casino, Fifth Edition: An Introduction to Environmental Issues: Nick Middleton
   
5. Macroeconomics, 2nd Canadian Edition: Paul Krugman & Robin Wells & Iris Au
   
6. Biology: A Global Approach, 10th edition: Neil A. Campbell & Jane B. Reece & Lisa Urry & Michael L Cain & Steven A Wasserman & Author
   
7. Information Technology Project Management, 5th Edition: Jack T. Marchewka
   
8. Clinical Laboratory Hematology, 3rd Global Edition: Shirlyn B. Kenzie & Lynne Williams
   
9. Exploring Medical Language, 10th edition: Myrna LaFleur Brooks & Danielle LaFleur Brooks
   
10. Business Essentials, Eighth Canadian Edition: Ronald J. Ebert & Ricky W. Griffin & Frederick A. Starke & George Dracopoulos
    
11. Chemistry Atoms First, 3rd edition: Julia Burdge & Jason Overby
    
12. Sensation and Perception, 2nd edition: Steven Yantis & Richard Abrams
    
13. Abnormal Psychology, 8th Global Edition: Thomas F. Oltmanns & Robert E. Emery
    
14. Documentation Manual for Occupational Therapy, 4th edition : Crystal A. Gateley & Sherry Borcherding
    
15. Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement, 13th edition: Michelle A. Green
    
16. Java For Everyone: Compatible with Java 5, 6, and 7, 2nd Edition: Cay S. Horstmann
    
17. Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application, 9th edition: Bessie L. Marquis & Carol J. Huston
    
18. Economics: The User's Guide: Ha-Joon Chang
    
19. Gendered Lives, 12th edition: Julia T. Wood & Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz
    
20. Community as Partner: Theory and Practice in Nursing (Anderson, Community as Partner), 7th edition: Elizabeth T. Anderson & Judith McFarlane
    
21. Community as Partner: Theory and Practice in Nursing (Anderson, Community as Partner), 7th edition: Elizabeth T. Anderson & Judith McFarlane
    
22. Calculus - Early Transcendentals, 8th edition: James Stewart
    
23. Willard and Spackman's Occupational Therapy, 12th edition: Barbara A. Schell & Marjorie Scaffa & Glen Gillen & Ellen S. Cohn
    
24. Digital Design: With an Introduction to the Verilog HDL, 5th edition: M. Morris Mano
    
25. Principles of Risk Management and Insurance, 13th Global Edition: George E. Rejda & Michael McNamara
    
26. Community & Public Health Nursing: Promoting the Public's Health, 9th edition: Cherie Rector
    
27. Environmental Science for AP®, Second Edition: Andrew Friedland & Rick Relyea
    
28. College Algebra, 4th Edition: Cynthia Y. Young
    
29. Sustainable Urban Development Reader (Routledge Urban Reader Series), 3rd Edition: Wheeler and Beatly
    
30. Psychiatric Nursing: Assessment, Care Plans, and Medications, 9th edition: Townsend, Mary
    
31. Managing Business Process Flows (3rd Edition): Ravi Anupindi
    
32. Precalculus, 10th edition: Michael Sullivan
    
33. Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition): Sarah Grison & Todd Heatherton & Michael Gazzaniga
    
34. Introductory Algebra, 12th edition: Marvin L. Bittinger
    
35. American History: Connecting with the Past-Vol 2: Alan Brinkley
    
36. Cities of the World: Regional Patterns and Urban Environments, 6th edition: Brunn, Stanley D.; Hays-Mitchell, Maureen; Zeigler, Donald J.
    
37. Strategies for Successful Writing, 11th edition: James A. Reinking & Robert A. von der Osten
    
38. College Algebra with Modeling & Visualization, 6th edition: Gary K. Rockswold
    
39. Understanding Psychology (11th Edition): Tony Morris
    
40. Understanding ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS: A Worktext, 3rd edition: Mary Jo Bowie
    
41. Making America: A History of the United States, Volume 2: Since 1865, Brief 6th edition: Carol Berkin & Christopher Miller & Robert Cherny & James Gormly & Douglas Egerton
    
42. Crossroads and Cultures, Volume II: Since 1300: A History of the World's Peoples: Bonnie G. Smith & Marc Van De Mieroop & Richard von Glahn & Kris Lane
    
43. Microbiology: An Evolving Science, 4th edition: Joan L. Slonczewski & John W. Foster
    
44. Web Design: Introductory (HTML), 4th edition: Gary B. Shelly & Jennifer T. Campbell
    
45. Problems from Philosophy, 3rd Edition: James Rachels & Stuart Rachels
    
46. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America (Fourth Edition): John Charles Chasteen
    
47. Data Structures and Algorithms Using Java: William McAllister
    
48. Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods, 6th edition: Edward Allen & Joseph Iano
    
49. Principles of Instrumental Analysis, 7th edition: Douglas A. Skoog & F. James Holler & Stanley R. Crouch
    
50. Hands-On Microsoft Windows Server 2016, 2nd Edition: Michael Palmer
    
51. A Guide to Computer User Support for Help Desk and Support Specialists, 6th edition: Fred Beisse
    
52. The World A History, Volume One (3rd Edition): Felipe Fernández-Armesto
    
53. Discovering the Life Span, 4th edition: Robert S. Feldman
    
54. E-Commerce 2016: Business, Technology, Society, 12th Global Edition: Kenneth C. Laudon & Carol Traver
    
55. Ethics for the Information Age, 7th Edition: Michael J. Quinn
    
56. Human Communication in Society, 4th edition: Jess K. Alberts & Thomas K. Nakayama & Judith N. Martin
    
57. Traditions and Encounters Vol 1 (History), 6th edition: Jerry Bentley
    
58. E-Commerce 2016: Business, Technology, Society, 12th edition: Kenneth C. Laudon & Carol Traver
    
59. Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions, 6th edition: Ron Larson & Bruce H. Edwards
    
60. Diversity Consciousness: Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities, 4th edition: Richard D. Bucher
    
61. MCSA Guide to Administering Microsoft Windows Server 2012/R2, Exam 70-411: Greg Tomsho
    
62. Your Office: Microsoft Excel 2016 Comprehensive (Your Office for Office 2016 Series): Amy S. Kinser & Kristyn Jacobson & Eric Kinser & Brant Paige Moriarity
    
63. Principles of Macroeconomics (Second Edition): Lee Coppock & Dirk Mateer
    
64. Veterinary Surgery: Small Animal Expert Consult: 2-Volume Set, 2nd edition: Spencer A. Johnston
    
65. College Algebra, 7th edition: Robert F. Blitzer
    
66. Certified Paralegal Review Manual: A Practical Guide to CP Exam Preparation, 4th edition: Virginia Koerselman Newman
    
67. American Government: Power and Purpose (Fourteenth Core Edition): Stephen Ansolabehere & Benjamin Ginsberg & Theodore J. Lowi & Kenneth A. Shepsle
    
68. Numerical Analysis, 10th edition: Richard L. Burden & J. Douglas Faires & Annette M. Burden
    
69. The Mechanical Design Process, 5th edition: David G. Ullman
    
70. Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development, 6th edition: Rowntree,Lewis, Price & Wyckoff
    
71. The Old Testament Story (9th Edition): John Tullock
    
72. Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 3rd edition: Jon Rogawski & Colin Adams
    
73. Differential Diagnosis of Common Complaints, 6th edition: Robert H. Seller & Andrew B. Symons
    
74. The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach, 6th edition: James W. H. McCord & Pamela Tepper
    
75. Ethical Problems in the Practice of Law (Aspen Casebook), 4th edition: Lisa G. Lerman & Philip G. Schrag
    
76. Principles of Auditing & Other Assurance Services, 20th edition: O. Ray Whittington, Kurt Pany
    
77. Language Disorders from Infancy Through Adolescence, 4th edition: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating: Rhea Paul & Courtenay Norbury
    
78. Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 4th Australasian Edition: Wood, Jack; Zeffane, Rachid M.; Fromholtz, Michele
    
79. Essentials of Corporate Finance, 9th Edition: Stephen A. Ross, Randolph W. Westerfield, Bradford D. Jordan
    
80. Development of Children, 7th edition: Cynthia Lightfoot
    
81. Asian Art: Marika Sardar & Dorinda Neave & Lara C. W. Blanchard
    
82. Macroeconomics (6th Edition): R. Glenn Hubbard & Anthony P. O'Brien
    
83. Electron Flow in Organic Chemistry: A Decision-Based Guide to Organic Mechanisms (2nd Edition): Scudder, Paul H.(Author)
    
84. Biochemistry, 1st edition: Roger L. Miesfeld & Megan M. McEvoy
    
85. Stress Management for Life: A Research-Based Experiential Approach, 4th edition: Michael Olpin & Margie Hesson
    
86. Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering, 5th edition: Saeed Moaveni
    
87. Articulation and Phonological Disorders: Speech Sound Disorders in Children (8th Edition): John E. Bernthal & Nicholas W. Bankson & Peter Flipsen Jr.
    
88. Communication in a Civil Society: Shelley D. Lane & Ruth Anne Abigail & John Gooch
    
89. The Immune System, 4th Edition: Peter Parham
    
90. Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, 4th edition: Anthony J. Hayter
    
91. Social Psychology: The Science of Everyday Life: Jeff Greenberg & Toni Schmader & Jamie Arndt & Mark Landau
    
92. Foundations in Microbiology, 9th edition: Talaro
    
93. Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements, 5th edition: Krishna Palepu & Paul Healy
    
94. Introductory Chemistry, 8th Edition: Steven S. Zumdahl & Donald J. Decoste
    
95. Single Variable Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, 4th Edition: James Stewart
    
96. Foundations of Education, Third Edition: Volume I: History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments: Various
    
97. Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology, 5th Global Edition: Eric J. Simon & Jean L. Dickey & Jane B. Reece & Kelly A. Hogan
    
98. Mastering the World of Psychology, 5th edition: Ellen Green Wood & Samuel E. Wood & Denise Boyd
    
99. Business Data Networks and Security (10th Edition): Raymond R. Panko & Julia L. Panko
    
100. America's History, Volume I: To 1877, 8th edition: James A. Henretta & Eric Hinderaker & Rebecca Edwards & Robert O. Self
     
101. Investigating Social Problems: A. Javier Trevino
     
102. Tropical Ecosystems and Ecological Concepts, 2nd edition: Patrick Osborne
     
103. Read, Reason, Write, 11 Edition: Dorothy Seyler
     
104. MGMT (New, Engaging Titles from 4LTR Press) 10th Edition: Chuck Williams
     
105. MLA Handbook, 8th edition: The Modern Language Association of America
     
106. The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology (MIT Press): Katie Salen Tekinba & Eric Zimmerman
     
107. American Politics Today, 5th Core edition: William T. Bianco & David T. Canon
     
108. Essentials of Physical Anthropology, 3rd edition: Clark Spencer Larsen
     
109. Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, 5th Edition: Patrick S. Bresnan
     
110. Discovering Computers ©2016 (Shelly Cashman Series): Misty E. Vermaat & Susan L. Sebok & Steven M. Freund & Jennifer T. Campbell & Mark Frydenberg
     
111. Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (4th Edition): Jonathan Berk & Peter Demarzo & Jarrad Harford
     
112. Human Anatomy & Physiology, 9th/10th edition: Elaine N. Marieb & Katja N. Hoehn
     
113. Structural Analysis (9th Edition): Russell C. Hibbeler
     
114. Hydrology and Hydraulic Systems, 4th edition: Ram Gupta
     
115. Between One and Many: The Art and Science of Public Speaking, 7th edition: Steven R. Brydon & Michael D Scott
     
116. Logic: The Essentials: Patrick J. Hurley
     
117. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History, Volume I, 14th edition: Fred S Kleiner
     
118. Paralegal Professional: The Essentials, 5th edition: Thomas F. Goldman & Henry R. Cheeseman
     
119. Chemistry: Structure and Properties, 2nd edition: Nivaldo J. Tro
     
120. Introduction to Physical Education, Exercise Science, and Sport (B&B Physical Education),10th Edition: Angela Lumpkin
     
121. Principles of Macroeconomics, 7th edition: N. Gregory Mankiw
     
122. American Government, 2014 Elections and Updates Edition: Karen J. O'Connor & Larry J. Sabato & Alixandra B. Yanus
     
123. Nutrition: Science and Applications, 4th Edition: Lori A. Smolin & Mary B. Grosvenor
     
124. Experiential Approach to Organization Development, 8th edition: Brown, Donald R
     
125. How to Work a Room, 25th Anniversary Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Making Lasting Connections--In Person and Online: Susan RoAne
     
126. The Creative Spirit: An Introduction to Theatre, 6th edition: Stephanie Arnold
     
127. The Philosopher's Way, 5th edition: John Chaffee
     
128. Problem Solving with C++, 9th edition: Walter Savitch
     
129. Skills for Success with Office 2016 Volume 1 (Skills for Success for Office 2016 Series): Margo Chaney Adkins & Lisa Hawkins & Catherine Hain & Stephanie Murre-Wolf
     
130. The Physics of Everyday Phenomena, Eighth Edition: W. Thomas Griffith & Juliet W. Brosing
     
131. Precalculus, 6th edition: Margaret L. Lial & John Hornsby & David I. Schneider & Callie J. Daniels
     
132. Starting Out with Programming Logic & Design, Fourth Edition: Tony Gaddis
     
133. MKTG11, 11th Edition: Charles W. Lamb & Joe F. Hair & Carl McDaniel
     
134. The Business Writer's Companion, 8th edition: Gerald J. Alred & Charles T. Brusaw & Walter E. Oliu
     
135. America: A Concise History, Volume 2, 6th edition: James Henretta
     
136. Macroeconomics, 10th Edition: David C. Colander
     
137. Psychology, 11th edition: David G. Myers & C. Nathan DeWall
     
138. American Education: A History, 5th edition: Jennings L. Wagoner Jr. & Wayne J. Urban
     
139. Give Me Liberty! An American History, Seagull 5th edition-Vol 1: Eric Foner
     
140. Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 15th edition: William A. Haviland & Harald E. L. Prins & Dana Walrath & Bunny McBride
     
141. Lifespan Development, 7th edition: Denise Boyd & Helen Bee
     
142. Essentials of Database Management: Jeffrey A. Hoffer & Heikki Topi & Venkataraman Ramesh
     
143. GOVT8 (New, Engaging Titles from 4LTR Press), 8th edition: Edward Sidlow & Beth Henschen
     
144. Horngren's Accounting: The Managerial Chapters (11th Edition): Tracie L. Miller-Nobles & Brenda L. Mattison & Ella Mae Matsumura
     
145. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context, 3rd edition: Stephen Orvis & Carol Ann Drogus
     
146. Experience Psychology, 3rd Edition: Laura A. King
     
147. Real Communication: An Introduction, 3rd Edition: Dan O’Hair & Mary Wiemann & Dorothy Imrich Mullin & Jason Teven
     
148. Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 9th edition: Raymond A. Serway & John W. Jewett
     
149. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 5th Edition: Kerry Ferris & Jill Stein
     
150. Biological Science, 6th edition: Scott Freeman & Kim Quillin & Lizabeth Allison & Michael Black & Emily Taylor & Greg Podgorski & Jeff Carmichael
     
151. Communication: Embracing Difference, 4th edition: Daniel M. Dunn & Lisa J. Goodnight
     
152. A Sequence for Academic Writing, 7th edition: Laurence Behrens & Leonard Rosen
     
153. Guide to Operating Systems, 5th edition: Greg Tomsho
     
154. THiNK, 4th Edition: Judith Boss
     
155. Principles of Economics, 8th edition: N. Gregory Mankiw
     
156. Shelly Cashman Series Discovering Computers & Microsoft Office 365 & Office 2016: A Fundamental Combined Approach: Jennifer T. Campbell
     
157. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature Of Matter And Change, Eighth Edition: Martin S. Silberberg, Patricia G. Amateis
     
158. Cultural Diversity: A Primer for the Human Services, 5th edition: Jerry V. Diller
     
159. Social Psychology, 10th edition: Saul Kassin
     
160. Our Sexuality, 13th edition: Robert Crooks & Karla Baur
     
161. Professional Nursing Concepts: Competencies for Quality Leadership, 3rd Edition: Finkelman, Anita & Kenner, Carole
     
162. Maternity and Pediatric Nursing, 3rd Edition: Kyle, Theresa & Ricci, Susan & Carman, Susan
     
163. Psychology, 4th edition: Schacter, Daniel L. & Gilbert, Daniel T. & Nock, Matthew K. & Wegner, Daniel M.
     
164. 21st Century Astronomy, 5th edition: Laura Kay, Stacy Palen & George Blumenthal
     
165. Calculus, 11th edition: Ron Larson
     
166. Surface Water-Quality Monitoring: Steven C. Chapra
     
167. Pearson's Federal Taxation 2018, Comprehensive: Thomas R. Pope
     
168. Strategic Management and Business Policy: Globalization, Innovation and Sustainability, 15th edition: Thomas L. Wheelen
     
169. Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Grace A. Luppino J.D
     
170. Family Law for the Paralegal, 3rd edition: Mary E. Wilson
     
171. Successful Writing at Work, 10th edition: Philip C. Kolin
     
172. Real Communication: An Introduction, 3rd edition: Dan O'Hair & Mary Wiemann & Dorothy Imrich Mullin & Jason Teven
     
173. Intimate Relationships, 7th Edition: Rowland Miller
     
174. Software Engineering, 10th edition: Ian Sommerville
     
175. Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Structure, and Change, 10th edition: Peter Atkins & Julio de Paula
     
176. Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications (11th Edition): Geoffrey E. Mills & L. R. Gay
     
177. At a Glance: Writing Essays and Beyond, 6th edition: Lee Brandon
     
178. Delmar’s Standard Textbook of Electricity, 6th edition: Stephen L. Herman
     
179. Psychology, 5th edition: Saundra K. Ciccarelli
     
180. Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 15th Edition: Michael T. Madigan, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, W. Matthew Sattley, David A. Stahl
     
181. The Little Seagull Handbook, 3rd Edition: Richard Bullock, Michal Brody & Francine Weinberg
     
182. STAT 2: Building Models for a World of Data: Ann R. Cannon
     
183. Interplay-The Process of Interpersonal Communication, 13th edition: Ronald Adler
     
184. SELL 5 (New, Engaging Titles From 4LTR Press), 5th edition: Thomas N. Ingram & Raymond (buddy) W. Laforge & Ramon A. Avila & Charles H. Schwepker & Michael R. Williams
     
185. Marketing Channels, 8th edition: Bert Rosenbloom
     
186. The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution, 7th Edition: James S. Monroe & Reed Wicander
     
187. Applied Regression Analysis and Generalized Linear Models, 3rd edition: John Fox
     
188. Development Economics: Debraj Ray
     
189. Organic Chemistry, 9th edition: Leroy G. Wade
     
190. A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 9th edition: Jan A. Pechenik
     
191. DSP First, 2nd Edition: McClellan, Schafer & Yoder
     
192. Epidemiology, 5th Edition: Leon Gordis
     
193. Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, 7th Edition: Dee Unglaub Silverthorn
     
194. Essentials of Sociology 12th edition: James M. Henslin
     
195. Lehne's Pharmacology for Nursing Care, 9th edition: Jacqueline Burchum & Laura Rosenthal
     
196. Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, 6th edition: Michael E. Kraft & Scott R. Furlong
     
197. Financial Management: Principles and Applications (12th Edition): Sheridan Titman & Arthur J. Keown
     
198. Animal Physiology, 4th Edition: Richard W. Hill
     
199. Microbiology with Diseases by Taxonomy (5th Edition): Robert W. Bauman
     
200. Understanding Basic Statistics, 7th edition: Charles Henry Brase & Corrinne Pellillo Brase
     
201. Organic Chemistry: Student Study Guide and Solutions Manual, 3rd edition: David Klein
     
202. Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 11th edition: Howard Anton, Irl Bivens & Stephen Davis
     
203. An Introduction to Student–Involved Assessment FOR Learning, 7th edition: Jan Chappuis & Rick Stiggins
     
204. The Bedford Researcher with 2016 MLA Update, 5th edition: Mike Palmquist
     
205. Roots of the Western Tradition: A Short History of the Ancient World, 8th edition: Guy Rogers & C. Warren Hollister
     
206. Contemporary Logistics, 12th edition: Paul R. Murphy & A. Michael Knemeyer
     
207. Personal Finance, 13th edition: E. Thomas Garman
     
208. C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, 8th Edition: D. S. Malik
     
209. Information Systems Today: Managing in the Digital World, 7th edition: Joseph Valacich & Christoph Schneider
     
210. New Products Management, 11th Edition: Merle Crawford & Anthony Di Benedetto
     
211. A World of Ideas, 10th Edition: Lee A. Jacobus
     
212. Industrial Automated Systems: Instrumentation and Motion Control: Terry L.M. Bartelt
     
213. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics 11th Essentials edition: Benjamin Ginsberg, et al.
     
214. Wardlaw's Contemporary Nutrition, 10th edition: Anne Smith & Angela Collene
     
215. Technical Communication, 14th Edition: John M. Lannon
     
216. Electronics Fundamentals: A Systems Approach: Thomas L. Floyd & David M. Buchla
     
217. Discrete-Event System Simulation, 5th edition: Jerry Banks & John S. Carson & Barry L. Nelson & David M. Nicol
     
218. Engaging Social Welfare: An Introduction to Policy Analysis: Mark J. Stern
     
219. Social Welfare Policy and Advocacy: Advancing Social Justice through 8 Policy Sectors: Bruce S. Jansson
     
220. Foundations of Astronomy, 12th edition: Michael A. Seeds & Dana Backman
     
221. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Volume: 1 (Concise Edition): Elizabeth Pollard & Clifford Rosenberg & Robert Tignor
     
222. The Art of Public Speaking, 12th Edition: Stephen E. Lucas
     
223. Genetic Essentials: Concepts and Conncections, 3rd edition: Benjamin A. Pierce
     
224. Prosthodontic Treatment for Edentulous Patients: Complete Dentures and Implant-Supported Prostheses, 13th edition: George A. Zarb & John Hobkirk & Steven Eckert & Rhonda Jacob
     
225. Essentials of Physical Anthropology, 9th edition: Robert Jurmain & Lynn Kilgore & Wenda Trevathan
     
226. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook with 2016 MLA Update: Richard Bullock, Maureen Daly Goggin & Francine Weinberg
     
227. Biochemistry: Concepts and Connections: Dean R. Appling & Spencer J. Anthony-Cahill
     
228. The Basic Practice of Statistics, 7th edition: David S. Moore & William I. Notz & Michael A. Fligner
     
229. Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, 2nd edition: GEORGE YOUNG and William Hopwood
     
230. Macroeconomics, 4th edition: Charles I. Jones
     
231. Web Development and Design Foundations with HTML5, 8th edition: Terry Ann Felke-Morris, Ed.D
     
232. Invitation to Public Speaking - National Geographic Edition, 5th Edition: Cindy L. Griffin
     
233. Marketing: the Core, 6th edition: Roger A. Kerin, Steven W. Hartley
     
234. Development: Infancy Through Adolescence: Laurence Steinberg and Deborah Lowe Vandell
     
235. Sports Economics: Roger D. Blair
     
236. Quick & Easy Medical Terminology, 8th edition: Peggy C. Leonard
     
237. Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals (Aspen College Series), 8th edition: Deborah E. Bouchoux
     
238. Evidence for Paralegals (Aspen College Series), 5th edition: Joelyn D. Marlowe
     
239. Criminal Law, 12th edition: Joel Samaha
     
240. Natural Resource Economics: An Introduction, 3rd edition: Barry C. Field
     
241. Learning with LabVIEW, 1st Edition: Robert H. Bishop
     
242. Methods in Behavioral Research, 12th edition: Paul C. Cozby & Scott C. Bates
     
243. Contemporary Human Behavior Theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work , 3rd edition: Susan P. Robbins
     
244. Managerial Accounting for Managers, 4th edition: Eric Noreen
     
245. Basic Marketing Research: Using Microsoft Excel Data Analysis, 3rd Edition: Alvin Burns & Ronald Bush
     
246. Dosage Calculations Made Incredibly Easy! (Incredibly Easy! Series®), 5th edition: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
     
247. Fundamentals of Financial Management, 14th edition: Eugene F. Brigham & Joel F. Houston
     
248. Global Issues: Politics, Economics, and Culture, 5th edition: Richard J. Payne
     
249. FOCUS on Community College Success, 4th edition: Constance Staley
     
250. The American Promise, Value Edition, Volume 2, 7th edition: James L. Roark & Michael P. Johnson & Patricia Cline Cohen & Sarah Stage & Susan M. Hartmann
     
251. The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, 11th Edition: Frederic S. Mishkin
     
252. Management, 14th edition: Stephen P. Robbins & Mary Coulter & Joseph J. Martocchio & Lori K. Long
     
253. Organizational Behavior, 17th edition: Stephen P. Robbins
     
254. Race and Ethnicity: The United States and the World (2nd Edition): Scupin, Raymond, Ph.D
     
255. Entrepreneurial Small Business, 5th edition: Jerome A. Katz & Richard P. Green II
     
256. Teaching Discipline-Specific Literacies in Grades 6-12: Preparing Students for College, Career, and Workforce Demands: Vicky I. Zygouris-Coe
     
257. Human Development A Cultural Approach (2nd Edition): Jeffrey J. Arnett
     
258. Listening to Music, 8th edition: Craig Wright
     
259. Work in the 21st Century, 5th edition: Frank J. Landy
     
260. Principles of Microeconomics, 8th Edition: N. Gregory Mankiw
     
261. Strategic Management: Text and Cases (Irwin Management), 8th Edition: Gregory G Dess Dr. and Gerry McNamara
     
262. Essentials of Sociology, 2nd edition: George Ritzer
     
263. Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, 7th Edition: John Perry & Michael Bratman
     
264. Real Estate Development - 5th Edition: Principles and Process: Mike E. Miles & Laurence M. Netherton & Adrienne Schmitz
     
265. Real Estate Finance & and Investments, 15th edition: William Brueggeman
     
266. A First Course in Differential Equations with Modeling Applications, 11th edition: Dennis G. Zill
     
267. The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual, 10th edition: James W. Zubrick
     
268. Administration of Wills, Trusts and Estates, 5th edition: Gordon Brown & Scott Myers
     
269. Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years (Early Childhood Education Series): Judy Harris Helm & Lilian G. Katz
     
270. Fundamentals of Physics Extended, 8th Edition: Halliday & Resnick & Walker
     
271. Financial and Managerial Accounting, 2nd Edition: Weygandt & Kimmel & Kieso
     
272. College Algebra, 6th edition: Mark Dugopolski
     
273. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture: Volume Two, Brief 4th Edition : Joshua Cole & Carol Symes
     
274. Society: The Basics, 14th Edition: John J Macionis
     
275. M: Marketing, 5th Edition: Dhruv Grewal, Michael Levy
     
276. Mass Media and American Politics, 10th edition: Doris A. Graber & Johanna L. Dunaway
     
277. Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 8th Edition: James Stewart
     
278. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2018 E-Book: 5 Books in 1 (Ferri's Medical Solutions): Fred F. Ferri
     
279. Organic Chemistry, 5th Edition: Janice Gorzynski Smith
     
280. COMM4 (New, Engaging Titles from 4LTR Press): Kathleen S. Verderber, Deanna D. Sellnow & Rudolph F. Verderber
     
281. The Theatre Experience, 13th edition: Edwin Wilson
     
282. Mcknight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation, 12th edition: Darrel Hess & Dennis Tasa
     
283. Intermediate Algebra, 12th Edition: Marvin L. Bittinger
     
284. Strategic Management Concept, 3rd Edition: Frank Rothaermel
     
285. Moral Issues in Business, 13th edition: William H. Shaw
     
286. Marketing 2016, 18th edition: William M. Pride & O. C. Ferrell
     
287. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change, 6th Edition: Michael Molloy
     
288. Fundamentals of Cost Accounting, 5th edition: William N. Lanen, Shannon W. Anderson, Michael W. Maher
     
289. Motivational Interviewing in Health Care: Helping Patients Change Behavior (Applications of Motivational Interviewing): Stephen Rollnick & William R. Miller & Christopher C. Butler
     
290. Community and Public Health Nursing: Evidence for Practice, 1st edition: Gail A. Harkness & Rosanna DeMarco
     
291. Community/Public Health Nursing: Promoting the Health of Populations, 6th Edition: Mary A. Nies & Melanie McEwen
     
292. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 4th Edition, Volume One: Robert Tignor
     
293. Microeconomics: Theory & Applications, 12th edition: Edgar K. Browning
     
294. CCNA Routing and Switching ICND2 200-105 Official Cert Guide, Academic Edition: Wendell Odom
     
295. Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 11th edition: Ross & Westerfield & Jordan
     
296. Daniels and Worthingham's Muscle Testing: Techniques of Manual Examination and Performance Testing (Daniels & Worthington's Muscle Testing (Hislop)), 9th Edition: Helen Hislop & Dale Avers & Marybeth Brown
     
297. Worlds Together Worlds Apart, 4th Edition , Volume Two: Robert Tignor & Jeremy Adelman
     
298. Human Relations for Career and Personal Success, Concepts, Applications, and Skills, 11th edition: Andrew J. DuBrin
     
299. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, 6th edition: Leigh Ryan & Lisa Zimmerelli
     
300. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy, 16th edition: Joel Feinberg & Russ Shafer-Landau
     
301. Environment and You, The (2nd Edition): Norm Christensen & Lissa Leege
     
302. Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik, 6th edition: Jamie Rankin & Larry Wells
     
303. Essentials of Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach, 14th edition: William D. Perreault & Jr. & Joseph P. Cannon & E. Jerome McCarthy
     
304. Financial & Managerial Accounting, 17th Edition: Jan R. Williams
     
305. Statistics, Data Analysis, and Decision Modeling (5th Edition): James R. Evans
     
306. Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship in American Politics, 8th edition: Christine Barbour & Gerald Wright
     
307. Big Ideas of Early Mathematics: What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know: The Early Math Collaborative- E
     
308. Bailey's Research for the Health Professional, 3rd edition: Diana Bailey & Angela Hissong
     
309. Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th edition: John W. Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson & Stephen D. Burd
     
310. Survey of Operating Systems, 5th edition: Jane Holcombe
     
311. Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents, 7th edition: Jane Case-Smith & Jane Clifford O'Brien
     
312. McGraw Hill Taxation of Business Entities, 2018 Edition: SPILKER & AYERS & BARRICK & OUTSLAY & ROBINSON & WEAVER & WORSHAM
     
313. Accounting Controls Guidebook: Third Edition: A Practical Guide: Steven Bragg
     
314. The African-American Odyssey: Volume 2 (6th Edition): Darlene Clark Hine
     
315. Exploring Psychology in Modules, 10th edition: David Myers & Nathan Dewall
     
316. The Human Body in Health and Illness, 5th edition: Barbara Herlihy
     
317. CPHQ Exam Secrets Study Guide: CPHQ Test Review for the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality Exam: CPHQ Exam Secrets Test Prep Team
     
318. CPHQ Exam Practice Questions (First Set): CPHQ Practice Tests & Review for the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality Exam: CPHQ Exam Secrets Test Prep Team
     
319. Philosophy: A Text with Readings, 13th edition: Manuel Velasquez
     
320. Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics: Using Microsoft Excel 2016, 4th Edition: Neil J. Salkind
     
321. Tort Law: Text and Materials, 5th edition: Mark Lunney & Ken Oliphant
     
322. Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practice of Graphic Design, 5th edition: David Dabner & Sandra Stewart & Eric Zempol
     
323. Microbe, 2nd edition: Michele Swanson, Gemma Reguera, Moselio Schaechter & Frederick Neidhardt
     
324. An Introduction to Modern Welfare Economics: Per-Olov Johansson
     
325. Human Sexuality, 4th Edition: Roger R. Hock
     
326. The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology, 6th Edition: Lisa J. McIntyre
     
327. THINK Psychology, Second Canadian Edition: Abigail A. Baird & Anjanie McCarthy
     
328. General Medical Conditions in the Athlete, 2nd edition: Micki Cuppett & Katie Walsh
     
329. Laboratory Techniques in Organic Chemistry, 4th Edition: Jerry R. Mohrig & David Alberg & Gretchen Hofmeister & Christine Hammond
     
330. C++ Programming: Program Design Including Data Structures, 8th edition: D. S. Malik
     
331. Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere, 7th edition: C. Donald Ahrens
     
332. St. Martin's Guide to Writing Short Edition with 2016 MLA Update, 11th Edition: Rise B. Axelrod & Charles R. Cooper
     
333. Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology, 12th edition: Elaine N. Marieb, Suzanne M. Keller
     
334. Intermediate Algebra for College Students, 7th Edition: Robert F. Blitzer
     
335. Manual of Structural Kinesiology, 19th Edition: R.T. Floyd
     
336. California: The Politics of Diversity, 8th edition: David G. Lawrence
     
337. American Government and Politics Today: 2017-2018 Edition, 18th edition: Lynne E. Ford
     
338. Business Essentials (11th Edition): Ronald J. Ebert & Ricky W. Griffin
     
339. Music: An Appreciation, Brief Edition (B&B Music), 9th Edition: Roger Kamien
     
340. Graphic Design Solutions, 5th edition: Robin Landa
     
341. Classics of Western Philosophy (Eighth Edition): Steven M. Cahn
     
342. International Business, 1st Edition: J. Michael Geringer, Jeanne M. McNett, Michael S. Minor, Donald A. Ball
     
343. Texas Politics Today: 2017-2018 Edition, 18th edition: Mark Jones
     
344. The Film Experience: An Introduction, 4th Edition: Timothy Corrigan & Patricia White
     
345. Adobe® Dreamweaver® Creative Cloud™: Comprehensive: Corinne L. Hoisington & Jessica L. Minnick
     
346. Web Design: Introductory (Shelly Cashman), 6th Edition: Jennifer T. Campbell
     

continuing
As I was picking myself up off the shooter’s shack floor, I glanced over to the TV.
The ballplayers were all wandering around the field, looking skyward. Evidently, there was this hellacious explosion…even the television sports commentators were speculating as to what happened.
Whoops.
I looked out into the quarry. The wall that I had charged had receded some 75 feet.
There was rather a large amount of shattered, blasted dolomitic limestone now in the quarry. Enough, I found out later, for a full month’s worth of orders.
We never did find the blasting mats. I think they sort of evaporated.
Luckily, the quarry is essentially an open amphitheater in plan view; basically a big hole in the ground with vertical limestone walls. The shockwave of the blast that didn’t spend itself shattering the limestone into which it was housed, blew out laterally, hit the opposite quarry wall, rebounded, and then dispersed, rather energetically, vertically upward.
I set off car alarms for a 20 block radius.
There were no broken home windows, as the lion’s share of the shock wave was redirected upward.
Good thing there were no low flying zeppelins or dirigibles in the area...
I waited the requisite time to allow for any loafers. There were none, so I jumped into the nearest wheel loader and began clearing the quarry floor. Hell, I had to so I could open the front gate.
As I was clearing the floor, making pile number eight of the loose rock I had liberated, I heard the characteristic whoop-whoop of emergency vehicles.
I parked the wheel loader, opened the front gate, and raised the green flag. That was enough blasting for one day.
A few minutes later, three police cars zoom into the site. Two were local city cops, and one was a state trooper.
“Hi, guys!” I waved, “Nice day, innit?”
“Doctor Rock! We should have known.” One of the local boys groaned.
“Hey, I did call you beforehand, as per procedure,” I said.
Polack the cop walks up, just knowing I was responsible. “Yeah, but we didn’t figure on you terrorizing the entire city.”
“Polack! How goes it?” I asked.
The other local cop and the state trooper look to Polack, “You know this maniac?”
“Oh, hell yeah. For years. Don’t worry, the good doctor is mostly harmless.” He chuckles.
“Damn. OK. I guess everything’s OK. Just no more shooting today, please, Doctor. It’s going to take hours to calm everyone down.” He laments.
“Yes, sir. I’m done for the day.” I reply, snickering slightly.
The one local and state trooper depart, shaking their heads in amazement. This left Polack to follow me over to the shooter’s shack to mooch a cigar and whatever else he can find.
“Jesus Hula-Dancing Christ, Rock. What the hell was that? I was all the way out in Whitewatosa and heard you.” He asks as he sneakily snakes a smoke out of my case.
“Just some common chemicals in the proper proportions.” I snicker.
“Which were?” he asks.
I go in the back of the shed and toss him an empty container of one of the parts of the binaries I used. He catches it, reads the label, and drops it like a live grenade.
“Binaries? Fuck! Like what you used at the tower?” he asks.
“Yep. I used just a little more.” I reply.
“Little more? Damn, as I said, we’ve been briefed on the stuff. This shit’s nasty.” He shakes his head.
“Yeah. Fun, too.” I reply.
Polack grabs a Sprechler’s Cream Soda out of the fridge as I opt for a cold Cream Ale and shot of potato juice. Hell, I was done for the day, so…
We sit around and have a chat, just shooting the shit, as it were. Manly topics, so the conversation eventually steered over to guns.
“Hey!” Polack remembers, “That’s right! You fucking owe me. Let me borrow that fucking cannon you carry. I want to show the chief a thing or two.”
“Yeah, that’s right”, I agree, “When do you need it?”
“This Friday, after shift. It’s the monthly qualifiers for us.” He notes.
“Are pyromaniacs allowed in?” I ask.
“To observe? Sure. To shoot? Nope. Insurance regulations.” He says.
“What time?” I continue.
“1800 hours.” He tells me.
“I’ll be there. I’ll bring my gun and an assortment of loads. Hey, this could be fun!” I evilly smile.
“Doctor. You’re doing that thing again. You’re grinnin’ like a shithouse rat. You know how much that scares me. Stop it.” He pleads.
“No worries. Friday at 1800 hours.” I reply, grinning.
Polack slurps down his Sprechlers, snitches another stogie, and squeals out of the quarry in a cloud of dense dolomitic dust.
I arrive back at our flat, after stopping for two frozen custard Turtle Sundaes, to go. I give one to an appreciative wife and I ask her about her day.
“Oh, went shopping with Oma. Got the cutest shoes, and a new purse, and…oh well, never mind. You’ll see.”
Between bites of Turtle Sundae, she asks how my day went.
“Oh, my dear. I had a real blast.” I replied, not lying in the least.
Monday, after my first classes, I’m back in the faculty lounge, savoring a Greenland Coffee.
There was the usual instructor chatter when Dean Vermiculari walks in.
“Good morning, Dean!” I say. “Care for a sit-down and a coffee?”
“Good morning, Doctor Rock. Yes, please to both.” He replies.
I fix us both a fresh Greenland Coffee and return to our table. I hand him one and sit down to savor my soupçon.
“How was your weekend?” I ask the Dean of the College.
“Oh, very nice. Had a fine time catching some perch and crappie out on Lake Genever. I see you had a victorious weekend as well. Twice.” He smiles.
“Twice?” I asked.
“Well, your handling of the tower demolition made all the papers. Very, very well done, Doctor. I congratulate you.” He smiles.
“Thank you, Dean. That means a lot. Just doing what I can with what I’ve got. But twice?” I replied.
“It wasn’t front-page news, but I saw there was some, well, let us just say, ‘energetic activity’ out at the Silurian reef limestone quarry yesterday.” He grinned.
“Oh, yes. I had a job to do and well, as I always say: ‘Nothing succeeds like excess.” I smile back.
“Quite. This beverage you’ve created is really rather extraordinary, Doctor. Again, I thank you.” He tips his mug my direction in the age-old Midwestern salute.
“It’s a little recipe I picked up on my last expedition to the northlands. I grew rather fond of the concoction.” I replied.
“Ah, I see. Marvelous.” He smiles.
“Thank you, Dean. High praise indeed.” I reply.
“Which leads me to…ah, Doctor Rock. I have another favor to impose upon you.” He says, all serious.
“Yes, Dean? How can I be of service?” I ask.
“We, as you no doubt know, have many, many fine extractive mineral company connections. We actually receive quite a large amount of funding and endowments from them. They recruit here extensively for our young geoscientists. Now, since Dr. Pataariki has left for industry himself, I would like to appoint you as the College of Natural Sciences corporate liaison.” He explains.
“Indeed?” I replied, too stunned for words for once.
“Yes, indeed.” He continues, “It will require travel, mostly domestic, and delivering symposia at various companies on differing extractive geological subjects. You will also serve as host and university coordinator when they are present on recruiting tours. There will, of course, be additional remuneration to accompany the added responsibilities.”
I slurped my coffee, thinking furiously.
“Could I please first discuss it with my wife before I answer?” I ask.
“Oh, Doctor. Of course, of course. Take your time. I will not require a reply until… tomorrow.” He smiles, finishes his coffee, thanks me again, and toddles out.
“Yow, Es!” I exclaim, “This is one hell of an opportunity. It’s never before been offered to a junior professor. This will cement my tenure-track. It’s going to be a bitch with time, though. What do you think I should do?”
“Well, Rock, honey, I think you should do…” Es begins.
“No! None of that ‘do what you think is best’ stuff. I want your own thoughts, just like when I decided to go after my doctorate.” I explained.
“OK, then.” Esme looks all serious like she’s going to deliver a bipartisan political speech.
“Yes.” She says, firmly
“That’s it?” I ask.
“Yep. You asked I answered. We’ll make it work. We always do. You can’t let the Dean down. You will accept tomorrow without fear or qualms of your wife’s hesitations, of which I harbor none.” Esme proclaims.
“Did I ever tell you of the myriad reasons I love you so?” I ask.
The next morning I meet with Dean Vermiculari. He’s pleased that I accept and hands over to me the charter. Then the lists of company representatives, their contact information, and some other secret stuff that I can’t divulge right yet.
A raft of oil companies will be coming in the late spring semester, so I need to contact each and every one to solidify dates, times and positions for which they’re recruiting. But that’s for then, I have something more proximal for now.
I have a Friday appointment with Polack the cop at the town police shooting range.
I arrive spot on time with my Casull .454 Magnum pistol, in its carry bag, along with a small duffel crammed with Pyrodex, Tannerite, and selection of specialty loads I had Herman the German, the inveterate gunsmith, create.
Herman the German, his actual sobriquet, was this incredible gunsmith, craftsman, and all-around artillery specialist. Have any sort of problem with a rifle, shotgun, or pistol? See Herman. Gun holding too high? See Herman. Barrel warped? See Herman. Need solid gold projectiles for a certain one-off job? See Herman.
Herman the German can sort it out.
Just never ask him: “How?”
“Ach! I’ve lived so long to learn, and you want it free? I’ll fix it, you pay, but I am only one knowing how!”
Herman was a cranky old Kraut, and has lived here for as long as anyone can remember. Even my Grandfather had deferred to Herman when he had some particularly delicate machining operation that need special attention and was unique.
As far as anyone knew, Herman had no family, but was never at a loss for friends. He was one of the most popular, and well known, but still oddly really unknown, kind of mysterious, old bastards in the entire community.
Herman the German liked me because I could obtain for him certain high-energy things he couldn’t. All were entirely legal, but some were sort of out there in the gray zone.
He also liked that I was educated, as he held education in the highest esteem. He also liked that I was of German extraction myself.
I often made it a point to drop by with odd and unusual high-octane potables while never expecting anything in return other than a story or a shared cigar.
Herman created some special loads for my .454 Magnum, which he prized.
“I like your gun, Doctor Rock, it is so big! I can still see well enough to build things for it.” He told me one day over cheroots and Schnapps.
Herman was a character to be certain. It must have been the pixie in him to dream up some of the specialty rounds he created for me to share with the local constabulary.
He lived out in the county by himself in an old farmhouse. He had a full machine shop in his basement, complete with forge, metal handling equipment, and a firing test range.
He handed back my .454, rather solemnly.
“Doctor, I am afraid to say I couldn’t test all the special rounds I’ve created for you. I need to patch the hole in the cinder blocks in the downstairs range. Your gun punched right through the back…” he apologized.
Now, Herman does all sorts of work on the local’s deer rifles, the police’s ordinance and has even worked some with the Baja Canada National Guard. Some of the little novelties he’s dreamed up for me are the first to escape his homemade basement test range.
I felt oddly honored.
After proving who I was to the nice range officer, I looked around trying to find Polack.
“It’s 1550. Where the hell is Polack? I wondered.
“Rock! Over here.” Polack calls to me.
He motions me outside to the police department’s tactical outdoor range. I had thought all along he was referring to the indoors police target range. This might pose some problems.
The tactical range was a series of clapboard shacks, all setup and designed to represent some downtrodden urban inter-city landscape. There were a couple of junked cars, broken sidewalks, storefronts, houses, bus stops…in short, all things necessary to replicate the seediest sections of a settlement where malefactors live and breed.
The cops all run around this range, shooting at bad guy pop-up cut-outs and avoid the not-bad-guy pop-up cut-outs. They’ve got music blaring, firecrackers going off, all trying to re-create a shady deeply urban environment. Points are awarded by the accuracy of fire on the run, time to maneuver the course, and the ability of not gunning down innocent bystanders.
It is not the best place to test a .454 Cusall. This hand cannon recoils like a fundamentalist Christian being solicited for donations to Anton LaVey, shoots flames and incandescent gasses like Smaug after a hard night of drinking and a stop at the Taco Bell buffet, is louder than a dime-store Karen demanding to see a Manager, and more powerful than a Ghost Pepper suppository.
To quote Joe Piscopo: “It shoots through schools.” Especially faux-schools made of plywood.
A .32 or .38 cop special is the correct weapon here; even a 9mm is a little heavy. Enough power to make a serious dent, easy on control, light on the recoil…a good tactical weapon.
But, nothing succeeds like excess.
Polack’s Chief is running around, capping off his ‘big ol’ .44 Magnum, and making the valley echo. He punches considerable holes in the pop-up cut-outs, but has such a hard time handling the recoil, his score is barely passable.
Polack runs his test with his standard 9mm sidearm and qualifies easily. However, he’s nowhere near done with his Chief yet.
I suggest to Polack we have a shoot-off. And since a .44 Magnum bullet ‘is so close to a .454 Magnum’, which it isn’t…the .454 Casull generates nearly 85% more recoil energy than the .44 Magnum; that we’d need something other than holes punched in plywood to judge the efficacy of each.
We are literally just down the road from Max Yazzer’s farm and market. They’re the place you go for your Halloween jack-o-lantern. However, now, he has a surplus of melons.
I think you can see where this is headed…
I borrow Polack’s personal conveyance and run down to Max’s farm. I return with a trunk-load of elderly, overripe, cheap as chips, melons. Watermelons, Honeydews, Musks, and Casabas.
We place them in strategic areas on the course, five for the Chief to find, and five for Polack.
A .44 vs. a .454 melon-wise results in pretty much the same sort of mess: high-velocity fruit spatter. Although, the Chief was very impressed by the report of the .454. So, after running the tactical-melon course, clear demarcation of a winner was elusive.
OK, OK, clever dicks. How about this? A standing shoot-off? We’ll set up 3 melons each at 30, 20, and 10 yards. Beginning at 30 yards, your time will be until you take out all three melons. But, they’re not going to be in a straight line, we’re going to make them somewhat camouflaged. You will stand in one small demarcated area, hunt those miscreant melons, and bring them to justice. Fastest time and greatest display wins, as determined by the Police Peanut Gallery.
Polack and the Chief agree.
The Chief goes first and dispatches the melons, with a fair amount of spatter, in 15.3 seconds.
Not bad.
Polack is next. He wipes out all the melons and creates some thoroughly impressive displays with Herman’s ‘special’ rounds. Normal ballistics for the .454 are, for a 250 grain (16 g) bullet, a muzzle velocity of over 2,400 feet per second, developing up to 2,800 ft-lb of energy.
Herman’s hot loads are double that.
Polack wins the day on impressive high-velocity melon distribution, but misses, so close, with a time of 17.0 seconds.
Recoil’s a bitch.
Then there are Herman’s ‘specialties’.
The Chief is duly impressed and even comments that his ears are ringing even with the ear protectors. He asks to inspect the weapon. He is even more than duly impressed.
Polack knows what’s up and asks the Chief if he’d like to give a whirl.
Of course, the Chief can’t back down.
Polack loads the .454 with 5 of Herman’s specialties: hollow-point rounds loaded hot, compressed, and tipped with alkaline earth metals, like metallic sodium and metallic potassium…
We set up the nastiest, glorpiest, just barely-holding-together, overripe, laced with Tannerite (an impact-actuated low-explosive) watermelon at the ‘Concealed Carry’ distance of 5 meters.
We slowly fade back into the distance to avoid the inevitable ‘Gallagher reaction’.
The Chief fires one, and just nicks the top of the melon. Don’t laugh, with the type of recoil and heft of the sidearm, and tensing up in anticipation, it’s easy to be off the mark initially.
The second round impacts dead-center. Now, alkaline earth metals and water don’t get along really well. In fact, their relationship is explosive. Especially explosive when delivered at 2,900 feet per second.
The Chief catches a huge smattering of vitamin-packed watermelony back blast goo.
He’s not entirely happy. He looks positively grisly with all that blown-up melon schmoo on his nice, neat uniform.
He returns my gun and bans me from ever showing up at the police range again.
Polack is on traffic duty for the next month.
He figures it was well worth it.
Back at the flat, Esme is shaking her head and wondering if I’ll ever grow up.
“I may grow old, but I’ll never grow up.” I reply.
I see I have several missed phone calls. Ah, me; no rest for the weary. Back to company-university liaison duties.
After I had contacted these companies, I receive no less than 12 requests for symposia, talks, and seminars to be given to various level of industrial scientific employees in their respective companies.
I am now slated to give academic conferences on stratigraphy, sedimentology, and seismic structural geology to different companies in Houston, Oklahoma City, Denver, Casper, Corpus Christi, New Orleans, and Tulsa. In the next 12 weeks, I’ll be giving no less than 8 talks in seven cities.
I speak with Dean Vermiculari on how best to handle the situation. He understands and appoints two graduate student teaching assistants to handle my classes while I’m on the road. That relieves me of being physically there, but I still have to grade papers, compose lesson plans, and keep things running smoothly until finals.
Besides giving the talks, there’s travel to oil fields, production facilitates, manufacturing plants, hotels, restaurants while I’m in town…the pace is excruciating. I’m gone more than I am at university. Plus in my time back home, I’m still the ad hoc master blaster for the limestone quarry.
Then, there’s the companies arriving on campus, and the roles are reversed. Now I’m the welcome wagon and have to sort out the logistics of receiving the company representatives. I need to set up the colloquia to introduce the companies to the prospective students, arrange lodging, arrange passes for the university, transportation, “Meet-and-Greet’s, ad infinitum.
I knew this was having a bit of effect on me when I came back to the flat after one particularly grueling ordeal of canceled flights, full hotels, missed connections and lukewarm reception by the company workers.
“Hello”, I said, as I walked in the flat, “I believe you have a reservation for…”
Esme just stood there, wondering if I was having a laugh.
No, I wasn’t. I was completely hallucinating from road weariness, lack of sleep, jet lag, and total disorientation. This continued on for the next approximately 18 months.
Esme was beginning to have second thoughts about all this.
My teaching load was diminished by one whole introductory course. However, I was still flying hither and yon, delivering symposia, meeting with young geoscientists and getting to know the ins-and-outs of the Oil Industry.
I found it particularly fascinating.
Time marched on and it was once again it was the recruiting season. We had no less than eight oil companies visiting the university in their quest to swell the roster of their junior scientists.
I’m still busier than a one-armed paperhanger in a windstorm, but have settled into a groove of sorts. I know the company recruiters and they now know me. I’ve actually struck up friendships with several. Particularly since I take them to the best local restaurants and bars after their recruiting duties are finished.
I’ve met with recruiting representatives of Shrill Petrol, Mexxon, Nobil, Nocono Oil, Flug, Geddy, Brutish Petroleum, and Qexaco.
The recruiting season is winding down and I find myself with Red (not Adair), of Nocono Oil.
“Well, Doctor Rock”, Red states, “Another fine recruiting run. We’ve snagged two of your young geologists and one geophysicist. I’d say it was almost a perfect score.”
We’re sitting in the Norton’s Steakhouse. After a couple of prime pink porterhouses, we’re working on the post-dinner double vodka and bitter lemon for me, and Lagavulin for Red.
“Almost perfect?” I ask.
“Yeah. There’s been this one small nagging concern from our company higher-ups.” Red continues.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“We need some more senior people. For one thing, we’ve recently opened a new petroleum laboratory down in our Houston office. Going to need some serious talent to run that show.” Red says.
“I see”, I reply, “And…?”
“We need mentors. Those with varied and far-flung knowledge. They must be well educated, global in experience and stature, with an [ahem] diverse set of skills.” Red notes.
“Whew”, I agree, “That’s a tall order. You want my help with names of possible candidates? Is that it?”
“Not as such, Doctor.” Red drains his drink, motions for me to do the same, and orders another round.
Our drinks arrive and Red downs half his in one gulp.
“Well, then”, I continue, “How can I help?”
Red chuckles, “For someone so educated, you can really be thick as two short planks at times.”
I sit back, and sip my Old Thought Provoker.
The mercury-vapors light off.
“No!” I say, incredulously.
“Oh, yes.” Red smiles.
“No?” I ask, slowly taking in the possible effects of what he’s hinting at…
“OK, Doctor Rocknocker”, Red gets all serious and corporate, “We’d like to offer you a position at Nocono Oil as Senior Laboratory Manager and Head of Corporate Continuing Education.”
You could have knocked me over with a grenade. I was stunned. I fumbled with my drink.
“Red, you old con artist” I reply, “Is this a set-up?”
Red, serious as a heart attack, looks directly at me and replies, “Doctor Rock, absolutely not, it’s a genuine offer.”
He slides over a folder with some papers inside. “Here are the particulars.”
Reeling, I accept the folder. I open it and right after the corporate logos and legal bullshit, I see a tall figure with a whole raft of zeros trailing behind it.
I read furiously. The job would be both interesting and challenging. It would be in Houston, with travel and teaching at all other company outposts on a regular basis. I reexamine that figure from before and verify that I’m not now hallucinating.
The job comes with furnished, corporate-paid housing, incredible benefits, loads of opportunity for advancement, more opportunity to travel, really generous vacation time…
“Right. On the level?” I ask again.
“Yep.” Red bluntly says.
“Well”, I gulp, “you know I have to discuss this with Esme”, whom he’s met several times previous.
“Of course, and you probably want to finish out the semester, correct?” red asks.
“Oh, yes.” I reply. There would be a monsoon of paperwork and other grunt work I’d need to conclude or hand over if I were to accept this offer.
“OK, then”, Red finishes his drink, motions for me to do the same, a real rarity; but I was in another dimension at this point. He orders another round and sits back, waiting on a refill.
“You have two weeks to reply” Red states.
“I know that’s not a terribly long time, but we need to fill this position ASAP. Can I ask for that? Your answer, yea, or nay, within a fortnight?” Red demands.
“Yes”, I reply. “I at least owe you that.”
And that was the end of the discussion for the night about me joining the private sector. We stayed a few more hours, chatting, smoking my cigars, and discussing everything but the lumbering elephant in the room.
We part outside as I need to head back to our flat. Red wants to go downtown to one of those “Gentleman’s Clubs” he’s heard were so famous at the time.
I was flummoxed the whole cab ride home.
It was late when I returned, but I simply had to wake Es with the news.
“Rock, for pity’s sake, its 2 o’clock in the morning!” Es protests. “Can’t this wait until later?”
“Sorry, my dear” I reply, probably as serious as I ever had with Esme. “This is a potential game-changer.”
“What is it? Are you OK?” Esme trembles.
“Oh, I’m fine. Better than fine.” I reply.
She’s relieved.
“Then what’s so important?” she asks.
“Um…how would you like to move to Houston?” I ask.
“You going to teach at Cougar High (University of Houston)?” she inquires.
“Nope. Brace yourself. I’ve been offered a job with Nocono Oil.” I finally spill the beans.
Esme is slightly stunned and sits down.
I go to the wet bar, fix me a bracing potato juice and citrus and Esme a stiff white Zinfandel.
I hand her the wine and she is still semi-dazed and digesting the information.
I slurp a good portion of my drink, retrieve her Sobranjes and me a cigar from my Turkmenistan humidor.
I sit on the couch next to her and hug her soundly.
“Esme? Es? Earth to Es? You in there?” I joke.
“Oh, Yeah. Rock. Really? Hang on”, she leaves, returning with her housecoat as this might take a little time.
“So?” I ask, “Your thoughts. Now! Immediately! Initial reaction!” I try to jar her back into reality.
“Well, what do you want?” she asks.
“C’mon, my dearest. You know I hate that. No, what do you think? What do you honestly think?” I reply.
We both fire up our smokes, and I refresh our drinks. We return to the dinner table where Red’s folder lies.
“Es, here. Look at this.” I say, sliding the portfolio over to her.
She reads like a hungry man at a Vegas casino buffet. I can tell where she was stopped by something extraordinary.
“This is for real?” she asks, “Red’s not pulling a fast one?”
“Nope. It’s the genuine article”, I tell her, “He needs my reply within two weeks.”
“Rock, Rock…I just don’t know. It’s a lot to process at 0230 in the morning. Let’s go to bed and have a think in the morning. You have the luxury of at least that amount of time.” She notes.
“Right again, as usual”, I say, “Stuff it. It can wait.” We toddle off to bed.
The next morning, over Cuban omelets and Greenland Coffees, we sort through the particulars.
“Rock, it’s an extraordinary offer. But, do you want to leave teaching? I remember how you got all animated by Dean Vermiculari giving you the corporate liaison job and how that would improve your shot at tenure.” She notes.
“I just don’t know. I’m still shell-shocked.” I tell her. “Let me go to school and we’ll pick this up tonight. We both have work to do no matter what. Oh, bloody hell. I hadn’t considered your job. Another wrinkle in the mess.”
“Don’t you worry about that”, Esme smiles. “One catastrophe at a time.”
“I do so love you.” I hug her soundly. “Think I should mention this offer to anyone at school?”
“No. Definitely not.” Esme shakes her head. “Let’s figure this out on our own.”
“I agree”, I say, kiss her and depart for school once again.
The next week was a blur. Recruiting duties were dragging and I was being preoccupied.
Even my students noted the lack of in-room explosions lately.
I spend the next Saturday at the quarry, doing some small amount of blasting. I quiz the quarry owners about their progress in acquiring a new master for the quarry’s operation.
“Oh, Doctor Rock” they gush, “You’re doing such a fine job, we haven’t really looked. Why do you ask?”
“No particular reason at this time, I reply, “But perhaps you might want to begin looking”
The chinks in my armor were finally starting to show.
Sunday was spent out on Sliver Lake, with Esme and me chasing the elusive crappie, perch, and bucketmouth bass. It also gave us a chance to clear our heads from work, school and other such intrusions. We both needed a bit of downtime.
Later that night, after a meal of beer-battered fillet of crappie and perch on the barbie, we sit down at the dinner table.
The portfolio sits there, taunting us.
I get up, makes us both our drinks, sit down and declare that this is it.
“Es, darling” I say, “its nut-cuttin’ time. We need to make our decision.”
“You’re right.” Es agrees, “Time for risk-reward analysis. Get some paper and some pencils.”
We spend the next few hours listing the pros and cons of accepting the Houston position or staying here and pursuing my tenured professorship.
After several hours, I stretch, stand, and go to the fridge. I retrieve the bottle of Bollinger Les Vieilles Vignes Francaises I had purchased the other day.
I return to the table with the wine and the glasses, pop the cork and pour us both a glass of high-brow bubble water.
I hug and kiss Esme like I had just returned from a long, solo expedition.
“Esme, my darling. I’d like to propose a toast. First to us. Hа здоровый!”
“Cheers!” Esme replies.
“Secondly to Red, Dean Vermiculari, the quarry guys, Polack the Cop, and all the others that makes our life weird around here.”
“Seconded”, Es echoes.
“Finally: to Houston, Texas. Our new home!” I finally add.
The next morning, Dean Vermiculari peers over the top of his pince-nez glasses. He’s not looking overly happy with me right now.
“Why is it, Doctor, that everyone that receives the job of corporate liaison ends up going with corporate?” he asks.
“Perhaps it’s just the exposure to another world that exists beyond academia.” I reply, truthfully.
“Doctor Rocknocker,” the Dean gravely states, “I am not at all happy about your decision. We had great hopes for you here and you were riding right up the tenure track. Another five years and it would have been assured.”
“Five years is a long time, Dean”, I state the obvious.
“Yes, indeed.” The Dean replies frostily. “However, you are young. Perhaps you need to get this private sector nonsense out of your system, then you can return to academia where you belong.”
“Perhaps, perhaps”, I reply.
“Please, do consider this option down the road. You and your antics will be missed here, by students and faculty alike.” He says.
“I will, Dean, I promise.” I reply “However, for now, it’s time for my boot heels to be wanderin’.”
“Doctor, I will miss your strange and unique way of looking at life. I reluctantly accept your resignation at the end of the current semester and wish you all the best in your newest endeavors. Please remember us when corporate support for academia is mentioned in your new company.” he says.
“I promise you, Dean, I will not forget what I’ve learned here and what you’ve taught. It’s the least I can do,” I reply. “I will never forget my roots.”
“All I can ask”, he concludes. He stands to shake my hand. We shake and my audience is over.
I resign from the quarry a week later. They haven’t found a new blaster but wish me well on my new journey. I tell them I’m here until the end of the semester, so I won’t leave them high and dry.
I tell Polack the Cop about all the goings-on.
“Who the hell can I roust for beer and cigars now?” He whines. “Let me know when you get to Texas if they need any cops. I wouldn’t mind trying’ that. Hell, maybe a Texas Ranger!”
“A Cheesehead Ranger…?” I assure him I will and pass a box of cigars to him as a parting gift. He gives me a mayoral-signed get-out-of-jail-free card.
“Now you can drive that old Harley just as crazy as you want.” He chuckles.
“Thanks, Polack.” I say, shaking his hand. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I sold my bike a week earlier.
Red was very chuffed with the news.
“Snagged me a big one this time!’ He laughed, over the phone.
There was enough paperwork, considerations and decisions to be made to last the remaining time Esme and I had in-state until our move. Already, a moving company had arrived, done inventory, and was preparing for our move to Houston.
Esme resigned her position and decided she wanted to take some time off. She wanted to be a housewife, a colleague, and not have to work for once at an outside job. My new position allowed for that in spades. Besides with her credentials, anytime when she wants to re-join the workforce, there are myriad opportunities in the Bayou City.
We made the choice of housing out west of town, in Katy, Texas. We could have chosen Sugarland, Addicks, Greenspoint, Greenway, or the Memorial area. However, these west Houston company properties were closest to the job and largest in square footage.
My students got wind of my resignation and relocation. They threw me an unexpected farewell party at the Gast Haus. It was nickel-beer night and since they were footing the bill, it all worked out just fine.
I would miss the old place. The camaraderie, the seasons, the university; hell my home these last many years. I’ve been on many, many expeditions, but I always returned home.
Now, home was moving and was awaiting our arrival.
Esme and I said our farewells to our families as well. We were the first through college, the first ones to travel international, the first Doctor in the family, and the first to leave the state.
That’s a lot of familial firsts.
I had to keep reminding everyone it wouldn’t be the last. Hell, we’re just moving to Texas, it’s not like we’re off to Greenland or Mongolia…
[Gasp]
We saddled up Es’s old Chevy Nova, took one last, lingering look in the rearview mirror, and said fare thee well to our previous lives.
“We’ll be back. Someday. I promise” I told the city of our youth and young married adulthood.
We decided to drive to Houston because we had the luxury of a bit of time. We needed the stretch to chew over some interpersonal and private things on the way to the next chapter in our lives. Besides, the weather was good, the roads ahead open and clear, and Texas had no ‘Open Container’ law, yet.
We pointed the old Nova south and hit the gas.
A week later, we’re wandering around our new house in Katy, Texas. Our belongings, scant though they may be, arrived the day after we did. Esme and I spent the next couple of day rearranging the house, buying necessary domestic bits and pieces, and getting to know our new neighborhood.
First thing, though, Esme wanted to replace the old Nova. I concurred, but insisted we keep it as a second car and went out to purchase our first new car as a couple.
I wanted a Land Rover. We ended up with a glossy black Toyota 4-Runner. Close enough.
I was scheduled to show up at my new job the next Monday.
I had my own parking spot, complete with “Reserved for Dr. Rock” painted on the bumper block. I was shown my new lab and was introduced to my seven laboratory assistants. I was shown the catalogs I could use to order what I needed and went over the requisition procedures.
I was trotted around to meet the company CEO, CFO, CIO, VPs and many, many more company executives and managers. I’ve met with presidents and heads of state, I was impressed but not overly. They seemed like a more or less nice bunch of chaps.
Almost exactly five weeks to the day from our arrival in Houston, I come home, yelling “Darling, I’m home!”
Esme comes to greet me with a rib-rearranging hug. She tells me to sit at the dinner table, where my long hard day at the office drink, cigar, ashtray, and lighter are already set.
“How was work, dear?” she asks, sitting down with her Perrier water.
“Oh, it’s going great. The knotheads let me have an open-ended budget until I get the labs sorted just the way I want it. These guys pay their bills on time and I have carte blanche at Wards Scientific, and other supply houses. My crew is great, no interpersonal crapola, and hard workers. I can smoke in my office and no one dares give me shit about my cigars. I’m getting to know the exploration department quite well. They’re really interested in our expeditions and are more interested in my opinions of their new exploration directives.”
Esme just smiles and sips her water.
“Odd”, I thought.
“That’s great, dear.” She says. “I am so glad to hear it.”
“Me too”, I say, “How are you holding up after all these weeks alone?”
“Oh, I’m getting used to it.” She smiles.
And smiles. Beatifically. Glowing.
“What?” I ask.
“Remember what we talked about in the car on the way down here?” She asks.
“We talked about a lot of things…” I say, suddenly my eyes grew very, very wide indeed.
“Yes. You’re going to be a father. I’m pregnant, Rock.” Esme smiles.