Oh Connie, you did make me so very very happy and our memories still do — Love you always — Sparkie
- Misty
- EDS Dress Code and Christmas Parties
- Country Music
- Tragedies from the 70’s
- 1980 — Some Changes
- The Accident February 1980
- House Prices and Disney World
- The Ax Murder
- Record Setting Heat Wave
- A Housing Scare
- Car Dealership
- First National Bank
- Installation at GLH
- Christmas 1981
Tidbits From The 70’s That I Forgot
Before I begin the 80’s. I would like to go back and reflect on some things that I forgot about that happened in the 70s.
Misty
One of the main things I forgot to write about in the ’70s occurred in late ’78 or early ’79. We had a sheltie named Brandy and our vet called us as he had an abandoned sheltie that needed a home. I insisted to Connie that we had one dog and did not need another one, but she convinced me to just go look. That was a mistake. I felt so bad for the little sheltie as she was so thin, and you could tell she had been mistreated. Connie wanted to take her so badly, so I agreed, and I am so glad I did. Out of all 4 shelties she was the most loving one. We named her Misty. It took about 6 to 9 months for Misty to not be afraid of me. At first, every time she saw me and if I had anything in my hand a broom, a knife, etc. she would just cower and tremble. Connie and I came to believe that the person who mistreated her had to be a male and used things to hit her. Once she got used to me and to know I was not going to hurt her she became so affectionate to both of us.
EDS Dress Code and Christmas Parties
EDS Dress Code and Christmas Parties
I did not talk much about the dress code at EDS. It was a very strict dress code; very conservative suits, white shirts, and ties. For shoes, no loafers were allowed only dress shoes. Your suit jacket must always be on unless you are sitting at your desk. If you were on call and had to come in during the night you were required to wear a suit if you came in to do something on a Saturday you had to wear a suit but on Sundays, you did not. Sometime during the mid- 70’s the dress code was changed so that you did not have to wear a suit on Saturday. In 1979 they changed the dress code so that we could wear other color shirts not just white. I cannot believe how excited we were about that based on the way things are now.
EDS was a very conservative company that was made up of most ex-military people. There would be no such thing as people living together and were not married and if you were married and getting a divorce you better not be dating. Ross, believe if you could not keep your promise of marriage that you made before God, how could he expect you to keep any promise you made to the company? There were real conservative values that flowed through the company not only about the previous things I mentioned but about being honest with everyone including your customer. If you were on call you were not allowed to drink alcohol during the week you were on call. Your conduct at all times must be above reproach because Ross felt that no matter where you were or what you were doing you were still a representative of the company.
Over the next 25 years, things would change so much but during those early years, you knew what standard of conduct was expected of you.
There were a couple of parties that I did not mention earlier. One was in 1976 and the Insurance Division had a Christmas party at a fancy hotel in downtown Dallas with a nice meal and a great band. I think that was the only time they had a big Christmas party like that for our whole group. Connie and I enjoyed ourselves that evening and I do not know why but can remember how lovely she looked.
The other was a New Year’s Eve party for our team which was about 10 people plus their spouses. We went to the original Trail Dust on Highway 380 between McKinney and Denton. For those of you who do not know, if you went there and had a tie on, they would cut it off. They always had country music going and cooked their steaks over a real wooden fire. This year it was a team outing to celebrate the New Year. We got there about 7:30 and it started ok. Then we found out that the wind was blowing so hard that they were not able to cook the steaks. They kept telling us it would only be a little while, but they never got around to being able to cook any steaks that night.
At about 11 PM when we had waited over 3 hours to see if they would be able to cook our steaks we gave up. Almost all of us went back into Plano and went to a restaurant named Steak & Ale. They were supposed to close at midnight, and we all got there about 15 minutes before closing. Because there were about 12 of us, they decided they would stay and serve us. So, we finally got our meal and finished at about 2 PM. We all had a good time and were so thankful for the management staying open to serve us, but it was not the way we had planned to spend our New Year’s Eve nor to start our New Year’s.
Country Music
Connie and I used to disagree on what to listen to on the car radio. I liked country music but she was not a big fan of country music in the 70s. During the summer of 1976, we made a bet and I cannot even remember what the bet was on. Nut the bet was that whoever lost had to listen to the other’s music while in the car for a whole week. Guess what I won, and we did a lot of driving that week with nothing on the radio but country music. I guess it can of wore on her because she did listen to a lot of country music especially when it changed in the late 80s and early 90s. She did become a fan of country music even though she still preferred the other types of music.
Tragedies from the 70’s
During the 70s there were two incidents involving a murder that I remember. One was these two guys and 1 gal watching Monday Night football. A guy broke in and took them hostage, he raped the girl and then shot all of them. Miraculously one of the guys survived and was able to give them a description of the guys whom they eventually caught. I remember this because they were all about the same age as Connie and me. The other was a young man working for the same company I did EDS. He came home from a business trip and his wife had been attacked and killed in their apartment. I am not sure if that case was ever solved. I have also written about “The Ax Murder” that occurred in 1980. It is under “Stories – Other”.
It is funny how my memories of the eighties are nowhere near as good as it was in the seventies, but I am trying to get everything in the right year.
1980 — Changes
The eighties begin with some changes. During January, I was still doing some traveling to Jackson Mississippi as we were working out the problems from installing our new system on January 1st. One of the major problems we were fighting was that we could not process our EFT (bank drafts). The guy working on that portion quit two days before we went live. He had been producing great test results unfortunately, he was faking them. It took us about a month to get this straightened out.
Then there were some, re-adjustment as I returned home because I had been so involved for the last 14 or 15 months and Connie had gotten used to being on her own. So, we had to get into a new routine as I was now home all the time, and with the pressure of the implementation behind me, I was home and very involved again in our daily life. It was at this point I decided no matter how much traveling, or how hard the project was I would never get so wrapped up in it that I would forget to focus on our marriage.
Car Accident February 1980
It was February and Connie was traveling north on Central Expressway from Plano to McKinney. The car dealership she worked at was there. There was some snow and ice, but Connie thought if she left early and took her time, she would be ok. Central at the time was a 4-lane highway and very old and not in good shape. There were a couple of places where the was a significant drop off of about 12-15 feet. Connie was doing ok but suddenly a car behind her could not stop and rammed her from behind. It knocked Connie across the oncoming traffic headed south. Luckily, she did not get hit but the car’s front wheels went over the guard rail, but the back wheel caught and held on the guard rail. Some people stopped and got her out of the car, thank goodness. If the back wheels had not caught on the guard rail the car would have probably rolled over going down the steep embankment and landed on the service road where she may have been hit by oncoming traffic. She was so lucky that day. They took her to the emergency room in Plano and called me. I went and after treating her they released her. We were so lucky that she was not injured and only had minor scrapes bruising and soreness.
The little Volkswagen that she loved so much was totaled, and the other lady’s insurance paid for it. Since she was working for a car dealership, they gave her a loaner to drive until she got another car. The dealership helped her with the insurance and settling with them. I am not sure but maybe because of them we got $300 more for the car than we had paid about three and one-half years earlier.
Connie then bought a Pontiac Sunbird with a spoiler on it. It was blue and was a very nice car. Supposedly we got a good deal because she worked there but who knows? It was after that, that even with the littlest bit of snow did not want either one of us going out in the car.
House Prices and Disney World
House prices were going up, salaries were going up and a lot of our friends were moving to a more expensive home further out from Dallas. It was during late April and early May that Connie and I started looking for another house. My salary had gone up, Connie was now working, and our house was worth quite a bit more than what we originally paid for it. Also, inflation was high.
In April of that year, we met with travel agencies to book a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. I remember it so well because back then society was not as open to the gay community as it is now. This travel agency was run by two guys who were gay, but Connie and I enjoyed working with them. We booked a trip to go in late August or early September if I remember correctly.
In the meantime, we were looking at a new home just north of Plano where we currently lived. The town was Allen and only about 8,000 people living there at the time. When we moved to Plano in 1976 the population was about 30,000 and by 1980 it was about 72,000. We were ready for a bigger place especially, where we could get more home for our money.
We found a house that we liked and was bigger than the one we were currently in and it was on a corner lot with a big yard. Again, it was on our anniversary day of May 30th, that we out a contract on this house. The condition was that we had to sell our house first. So, in the next couple of weeks, we contacted some realtors and finally, after selecting one, we put our house on the market. Unfortunately, in July of that year, someone else put a bid on the house we wanted. The agent asked us to remove our contingency of us having to sell our house first or the other buyer would be getting it as they had no contingencies. Like the housing market, inflation, was very volatile at the time Connie and I decided not to remove the contingency, so we lost the house.
Connie and I had gotten so used to the idea of living in that area, so we continued to look in the same area. It took a while and we looked at maybe 10 homes and finally found one on the same street only two houses up and across the street from the house we had originally put a contract on. Now it was time for us to decide on our trip to Walt Disney World. We needed to cancel the trip or lose our deposit. Based on everything going on and we might be in the process of moving we decided to cancel the Disney World trip and get our deposit back. We told ourselves we would go the next year, but it was almost 9 years before we made it to Disney World.
We were about to experience one of the hottest summers ever in Texas. It had been a mild winter in the 90’s when we celebrated our 10th anniversary on May 30th. Things quickly changed as on June 7th the temperature broke 100 degrees. That summer set many records that still stand. There were 60 days over 100 degrees and 42 of them in a row. Everyday in July was over 100 degrees.
The Ax Murder
Around mid-June of that year, there was a lady named Betty Gore who was killed by an ax murderer. She was struck 41 times and a baby was left in its crib unharmed. That young baby will turn 40 next year. We were all on edge during this summer. I have written more about this under Stories – Others”, it is called the Ax Murder. This is a true story in which a book and TV movie were made about it. Please click here https://joelbuntley.com/stories-others/#Ax to go to the story. Two of our good friends, Gary and Carol knew both couples.
A Record Setting Heat Wave
We were about to experience one of the hottest summer ever in Texas. It had been a mild winter in the 90’s when we celebrated our 10th anniversary on May 30th. Things quickly changed as on June 7th the temperature broke 100 degrees. That summer set many records that still stand. There were 69 days over 100 degrees and 42 of them in a row. Every day in July was over 100 degrees.
As the heat of the summer continued all through July and our house was on the market we were faced with a major decision. Should we take our house off the market or try to find a new place in the area we had originally chosen? We decided to keep looking and had looked at several places but none of them could replace the house we had lost the contract on. It took a while but eventually, we found a hose that had just gone on the market. It was two houses up and on the other side of the street from where we had put a contract on the other house. Things quickly fell into place as we had a great offer on our house.
From when we bought the house in 1976 until we sold it almost 4 years later in 1976 home prices had escalated tremendously. We sold that house for $68,500 more than double what we had paid for it in 1976. Of course, that meant the house, we were buying had also increased in price.
A Housing Scare
It was a Monday in August I am just not sure which one, but I think it was around mid-August when we were to close on the home we were selling, and then on Tuesday we would close on the home we were buying. Things went well on Monday as the signed contracts from the buyers of our house were fed ex to us and we completed the sale. Tuesday brought a problem that we had never even thought about. Interest rates were crazy during that time, and we had a promised interest rate of 11% which was not too bad during that time. Unfortunately, when we went to close, they told us they were not going to let us close on our new home until they were sure what was going on with the interest rates. That was happening all over the area. Now we had just sold our home and could not close on the new one. Instead, they gave us a letter letting us occupy the new home for 30 days at which time they hoped things would be settled with interest rates. Connie and I were panicked but there was nothing we could do. We had to be out of our home by Friday. Our only choice was to accept the move-in letter and start moving our things to the new house. Fortunately, before the end of the week, things had changed, and they let us close on the house. There was one catch though, the interest rate would not be 11% but would be 12.5%. We were so mad and upset and I may have said a few things to our real estate agent and the company that was to be used for closing that I should not have. A lot of people lost the homes that they were going to buy that week because of the increased interest rates. While Connie and I did not like it, we were very conservative in financial matters and knew we could handle that increase. But I will never forget the turmoil we were in for a few days wondering if we would have to move out of our new place in 30 days.
There are two things that I remember so vividly about that week, one was going back to the house on Friday after all the furniture had been moved to pick up Brandy and Misty our shelties and how scared they were. They were so scared that we had left them, especially Misty and I will never forget how happy they were when we came back and got them. The other thing was Connie, leaving a nice bottle of champagne and flowers on the counter for the new couple.
From a professional standpoint, this was the first time, I got to lead a team responsible for one of our accounts. The division I was in had a lot of people who had been there a long time, so after 7 years, my friend Gary and I were given a team to lead in support of different accounts.
Labor Day found us trying to get settled in the new house. It had a bay window and we had to find someone who could create curtains.and drapes for it. It took a while and Connie finally selected a lady to do it. I also dealt with the yard and hired a landscaper to plant some crepe myrtles and pine trees in the yard. I like the way they turned out.
The bad part about that year was that the hot summer and no rain had taken their toll on the water supply. We were only allowed to water from 4 AM to 6 AM two days a week. So, I found myself getting up extra early on those days to try to keep the yard going so we did not lose all our bushes, trees, and grass.
Car Dealership
Let me tell you a little bit about Connie’s work at the dealership. She was the owner’s secretary and enjoyed working for him. But at that time being around car salesman was a different story. They just view life a little bit differently than we did. Connie and I did attend a couple of parties that were held for the dealership and some of those guys could drink heavily.
She had been there for a little over two years and became friendly with one lady in particular. She did not work there but was seeing the owner on the side. Her husband had moved out, but the owner was still married. Connie was unaware of this at first and it took her a while to catch on. The lady would ask when he left and where he was going but by this time, they had become friends. She also lived in Allen and was a builder. I had also gotten to know her, and she seemed like a very nice and successful lady whom we both liked. She was very successful. Finally, Connie concluded that one of the main reasons she liked her was that she could give her information about the owner. Connie was getting restless there and the lady helped Connie get a job at First National Bank which had just opened in Allen about a year before. More about that later.
About nine months before Connie left the lady and the owner of the dealership offered us an opportunity to go in with an investment with them. If I remember correctly, we would all put up $10,000 and buy a lot in a new division going up McKinney called El Dorado. They were going to build luxury homes in that subdivision and today it is still a very wealthy area of McKinney. At the time, I had the money but did not want to put it up and wait for some years before they sold the property, and even then, I was not comfortable they would make money. I should have been as they were both very successful people. They bought a lot in El Dorado for $30,000 and two years later they sold it for $75,000. They sure made a nice return on their money.
Connie paid all the owner’s bills and at that time his house payment was almost $5,000 a month. That was a lot more than my $600 dollar a month. He lived in a very wealthy area of Dallas.
Connie paid all the owners bills and at that time his house payment was almost $5,000 a month. That was a lot more than my $600 a month. He lived in a very wealthy area of Dallas. Also, we had an incident with one of the salesmen and a lady that I worked with. She was a librarian for our team, I was now in my thirties and this young lady was in her early twenties. She had gone there to look at cars and one of the salesmen got her phone number and information. He was in his mid-fifties. He kept calling her trying to get her to go out with him. He did not have any idea that we worked together When I told Connie, she spoke to him and said if he did not stop calling her, she would tell the owner. Thank goodness he stopped.
First National Bank
Connie left shortly after buying her new Pontiac Sunbird probably around August or September of 1980. It did not take long for Connie, and the lady builder to lose contact with each other after she left. The banking job did not turn out very well either. She was only there for less than two years.
It turned out that some of the other ladies that worked there had a friend that they wanted to get the job. It was hard at first and Connie just did not seem to fit in with them very well. It did not seem to be a very professional group of people to me. The good thing about the job it was barely 5 minutes from our house, and she could come home and take care of the dogs at lunchtime. They offer Connie some stock in the bank. Connie convinced me to buy some as it was very reasonable as there were not many banks in Allen in 1980. They had convinced her that it would be worth a lot more in the future. Besides, as Connie said the bank with so few banks in Allen (I think there were only 2 counting this one) surely would do ok with all the growth going on. It turns out it was one of the worst investments Connie and I ever made. The stock turned out to be worthless in less than 5 years. The bank had all kinds of problems and a new bank opened a few years after they acquired them and just closed that office completely down and if I remember correctly let most of the people go.
Installation of GLH
While all of that was going on with Connie the team that I was now leading was assigned to install our insurance system for a company called “Group Life & Health” a subsidiary of Blue Cross / Blue Shield in Texas. They were located in the same building. While all of my work so far had been on working on the installations of our insurance systems. I had never been in charge of a complete installation. I had installed parts of the system and led people to install parts of the system, but this would be my first time totally responsible for the complete installation of the entire system.
We must have signed the contract in late 1980 because I remember being on-site, with the team doing analysis work the day President Reagan was shot and that was in March of 1981. It was a small team of only about 6 or 7 people, but I found good about being chosen to lead the whole project. I had just finished up the major project at Lamar Life in early 1980 and now here I was taking on another major project at the end of the year. Installations can be tough and very time-consuming. Even though installation our time consuming, I did my best to balance the time better. I remember on July 4th, we were having to work because we were supposed to go live on September 1st, and we were behind. One of the team members called in sick, and it did cause problems with some of the other team members who I think did not believe him. Anyway, Sept 1st came, and the company delayed the installation until October 1st. I was feeling bad about the delay since this was the first installation, I was responsible for. My regional manager then offered me a great piece of advice. No one is going to remember that it was a month late if everything goes smoothly but if you install it and there are all kinds of problems no one is going to forget it.
One of the stories that stuck out in my head was meeting with the actuary who was helping us with what we called the plan file. It was a file that contained information about all the products they were selling. We were talking to him and he asked some questions about what he should name them. We said whatever you want. Someone said it does not matter to us, you can call them ABC if you want to. Now we all thought he would come up with descriptive names for them like 5 Year Term, Whole Life Paid Up at 65, etc. but no he took us at our word. When we got the plan file back that he had coded to send to keypunch, he had lnamed the plans AAA, BBB, CCC, all the way through ZZZ. That did set us back as we had to re-educate him about using descriptive names for the insurance plans they were selling.
The installation went extremely well on October 1st and all of the team members got a bonus.
Christmas 1981
Reunion Tower was an unusual place as it had just opened in 1978. It was a big ball in the sky, that rotated around. So, you could sit in the restaurant and it would rotate so you got a view of all the areas surrounding Dallas. Also, there were dance floors above the restaurant with a live band. One of the problems I thought was the fact that there were only three elevators (I think there were only two in 1981). I have included a picture of the tower and some facts. I cannot recall Connie and I ever going there again. The tower is 560 feet high. What I found surprising there are only 989 steps to the top. The dome is surrounded by multi-colored LED lights that are controlled by a computer. The lights can be seen from 15 miles away on a clear day.
I do remember Christmas of 1981, as First National Bank took all their employees to Reunion Tower. I had not met any of the people that Connie worked with at the bank. It was because I was at work most of the time it was open and really did not have any desire to base upon what Connie told me. Also, we never moved our banking there based on what Connie told me. We rode down with another couple who worked at the bank and lived nearby. They seemed very nice, but she left him shortly after that. There were a lot of rumors going around and I will not be going into them, but she ended up getting her on Insurance Agency.
On a sad note to end this section. One of the ladies that Connie worked with who was very much against her getting the job became very friendly over the time she was there, She and her husband seemed very nice when I met them at the Christmas party. Her name was Carolyn and she and her husband were killed in a motorcycle accident in South Texas in 1983 or 1984. It upset Connie not only because they were so young but also because even though it was a rough start, they had become friends. Sorry to end on a sad note but was afraid, I would forget this later.