Retiring tomorrow after 40 years, 9 months and 20 days at my current employerThat's not counting leap years.
How lucky was I to get a job with a great company during the days of generous corporate benefits.
Here are a few facts from 1973, the year I was hired.
National Average home price was $32,500. I purchased an older but perfectly fine home in Fort Smith for less than $10,000 and I assumed the previous owners mortgage without financing anew and avoiding all the associated expenses involved with that.
National average household income was $12,500 and I'm sure a lot less in Arkansas.
Gasoline started the year around $.35 a gallon. The first OPEC oil embargo later that year and “only” 6.6% inflation soon fixed that.
Dow Jones average ended the year at 850 and while gold began the year near $78.00 it soared to almost $90.00 by years end.
Jet skis, MRI’s, air bags (Oldsmobile Toronado), and UPC bar codes (Wrigley Gum) made their very first appearance.
Sam Waltons upstart Walmart had stores in 5 southern states. It’s stock split for the first time at $47.00.
Motorola, on a prototype phone, made the very first cell call to confirm the technology worked. It would be 10 more years before the first cell phone became available at a cost of $3900.00. It weighed 2 ½ pounds and was larger than a brick.
Looking forward to more time to pursue my own interests and learning to understand speech with my new cochlear implant that's allowing me to hear stuff I haven't heard since childhood. Who knew clocks ticked, leaves rustled in the wind, and raindrops made music when they hit the ground. Pretty awesome. Blessings never stop coming.
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