Before going on our July 1992 trip up the California Coastal Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco, I had left instructions with Ed Walker, my Account Executive at Merrill Lynch to sell my accumulated stock from options and my investments and when I returned he told me he had done so. It was now up to me to invest the proceeds for our retirement however many years it would be.  I sought advice from Ed and also from a golfing neighbor who had retired and was giving financial advice for his own retirement income.  The net result was that I bought six Bonds that were dated in such a way that I could get the quarterly        income from two of them each month as a reasonably steady income.  After I had done this, I had just over $100,000 left to invest.  As I was going in September to Boca Raton, FL to the annual meeting of PESA, the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association as an Advisory Director representing Production Operators Inc, I told Ed Walker I would wait to invest the balance on my return I had particularly wanted to go to this annual meeting as it was at the Waldorf-Astoria Resort and the program included two golf afternoons on the hotel course.  Coincidental with our visit, Gerald Ford, the only man to ever be Vice-President (1973-74) and President (1974-77), without being elected to either position, was staying at the hotel and was the speaker at a General Motors Convention.  Whenever he moved in the hotel the elevators were locked by security until he settled again and this made him very un-popular with the rest of the guests.

On the drive home from Boca Raton, we decided to take the coastal road along the panhandle of Florida and we stayed one night in Destin, where we had had two annual family gatherings in rented condos. Not having to rush home, we spent time shopping, sight-seeing and a lot of walking and sitting on the beach.  It has always been what we all called the best beach in the US with its snowy white sand-like powder and the fabulous Gulf water.  As we sat on the beach enjoying it, I suggested that we should consider getting a condo there and Doris agreed so we spent the rest of the day looking at condos right where we had chosen to sit.  We were at the Seascape Resort about three miles east of the main street in Destin.  We saw three two-bedroom condos that afternoon, liking all of them.  The realtor told us that it was a perfect time to be buying as there was an over-supply of condos and prices were coming down.   We got information on all three and left to drive the 600 miles home to Houston.  As we drove, we discussed the pros and cons of owning a place near this great beach and a town full of really nice restaurants.  By the time we got to Mobile, AL, I told Doris that I wanted to stop and make an offer on one of the units we saw.  After a few more miles, Doris agreed and we stopped and did just that.  Our choices were the one with blue walls, the one with the green walls and the one closest to the beach.  We agreed on the last one and I placed a call to the realtor and made a cash offer, telling her to call us in Houston if it was accepted.  By the time we got home, there was a message on our phone saying, “Mr. Glover. You have just bought yourself a condo.”  Neither of us could remember exactly what it looked like because we had got them all mixed up in our minds.  We were able to do the closing by phone and fax and, after telling our Atlanta son, Nigel about it, he immediately said that he would go there with his girl-friend Robin the next week-end.  We learned all about it from him and were happy to hear about the view, the location, the balcony over-looking the lake and golf course as well as the large loft big enough to sleep our four grand-children.  It became clear that we had got a bargain and about five weeks later, we drove to Destin for a week’s stay and loved everything about it. We wound up enjoying that condo with family and friends for thirteen years when we sold it for three times what we had paid.  This was the best investment I ever made.

I retired as President from POI in January 1992 and, as I write this 24 years later, I realize that I have had a fantastic retirement, playing golf in my new golf cart, travelling to great places with our British friends, the Carringtons and going to the many enjoyable golf resorts with the Senior Golfers Association. My original plan was to continue this auto-biography, writing about those wonderful trips but a visit to the hospital in December, 2015 and having two stents put in my heart in January has slowed me down. I had three 90% blockages and they have only fixed two of them and I also have a 50 to 70 per cent blockage in an artery to one of my kidneys. I feel great but I was and still am, at risk with my 89 year old heart.  This and other complications added to my near blindness has caused us to leave our lovely home and pool where we have lived for 36 years and move to an assisted living facility.  The one we chose is close to our home and slightly nearer for our daughter, Melanie and her husband David to visit us.  David and Nigel and his wife Donna combined to get our furniture and things moved.  When Doris and I moved in it was so emotionally pleasant for us to see so many of our familiar things already in place.  It was hard to leave our home after 36 years but we are accepting that it is a new phase of our 64 years together that has become necessary.  We are fortunate that we are able to do this, particularly since it is such a nice high quality facility with a very helpful staff and conveniences.  We enjoy the three meals a day and I particularly like having my 12 pills and three eye drops brought to me at appropriate times.  We have so many activities to choose from and a quarter mile walking track around the building.  I barely have time to get to my computer so this will be the last of my memory chapters.  Thank all you people who have followed me on this project.  I am sure I will get the urge to add to my short articles in the “Other” category of texaslimey.com.  Click on “Follow me” on the bottom right corner of my opening page to be notified when I do so.