Charles Barnett:
CLASS OF 1970
Midway High SchoolClass of 1970
Waco, TX
Baylor UniversityClass of 1976
Waco, TX
Charles's Story
2 yrs MCC, 4 yrs Baylor, Solar King, was in position to retire at 31, lost that fortune, successful in different field, was married 10 yrs and faithful in marriage and lost assets as result of divorce, have 2 wonderful boys. My youngest son, Alex, graduated high school at 16. He began working early and continued multiple jobs while in college locally and later in my company. Alex used his experience here as a stepping board into a successful tech career in Vegas and currently works remotely in Austin, TX as a product manager in the computer field for a company headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. His older brother, Matthew, was programming in 13 computer languages as freshman in high school, and has his degrees from TSTC and Texas Tech. He manages product development and IT security for my company.
I was involved in martial arts during 6 yrs of college, quit martial arts for many years then began again for a year and suffered a back injury which put me out of that activity about 20 years ago. I've since recovered. Martial arts was fun but this is not the age to take it up that branch of it again.
For a number of years, we especially enjoyed balcony front row center seats at Dallas Summer Musicals.
Spent good bit of time with business in Vegas, attended almost every significant professional fight for 3 yrs. Sat with Tommy Hearns at last fight and near Billy Crystal at one before, etc (although they probably wouldn't remember me). Met a lot of people. The casino brought the actors over to watch me play BJ when they filmed Rain Man but they had no idea what they were watching ;-) Invited to a fair share of celeb parties but attended few. My favorite room they comped us to had very wide 2-story glass wall, grand piano, full bar, 4 bedrooms, curved staircase and marble floored double door entrances on 2 levels with double marble columns on each. Also stayed in presidential suite at Dunes, top restricted floors in Atlantic City, etc. Lots of trips salmon fishing in Alaska and Canada, marlin fishing in Cabo. One of only a handful invited for 2 week free trip (to Spanish Riviera then on to safari in Kenya) - but at the time, my wife said no way ;-) Won $250k playing BJ one weekend in Caesars in Tahoe and $300k doing same one weekend in Caesars Vegas. But haven't been to Vegas in many years now except to exhibit in conventions for my business.
Became somewhat of a recluse from dating after my divorce ;-)
Fortunately I had previously provided bridge capital to an acquaintance's company here in Waco before divorce and had 12% of stock. That was lost when the company's owner transferred all assets to new company as a new investor provided significant capital for growth. Post-divorce, I worked for the new company for a number of years before venturing on my own to start a company.
diversion - I never dreamed it would happen but after flying high power rockets for hobby (We have a 24,000 ft FAA waiver) I wound up consulting on 2 NASA funded scale projects. We flew one of them locally at our 6,000 acre club launch site and NASA informed us that what they learned from the proj...Expand for more
ect will have an impact on the next generation craft. I was pres of the HOTROC for about a decade but work has kept me too busy to continue the hobby.
The company that I founded proved successful and has occupied a fair amount of my time in last 17 yrs. It required a little over a man-year in preparation and became profitable starting at 6 weeks in business. It is a challenge to maintain the same corporate feel while adjusting to the changes in management style necessary to accommodate the small company's growth. My son/s friends matured to become valued employees. It was fun mentoring employees and watching them mature in their understanding of business and nurture traits which will further their success. We moved once again to accommodate growth in support and processing.
I moved into Hidden Valley years ago and have enjoying time eating out, watching movies, etc. After many years, I finally cleaned out the other house in Waco. I've been considering season tickets to Dallas Summer Musicals again, spending more time with good friends, etc. Warm summer nights, I have swum in the backyard pool next to a gazebo occasionally laying back on the pool steps or attached hot tub with the two 5-globe street lights turned out to watch the stars.
It was fun seeing underground lakes, crystal caves, snorkeling, visiting Mt Rushmore, taking my kids to Ski lessons while spending time at Lake Tahoe and a host of other activities. Like many dads, time with my kids has a special place in my heart.
From time to time, I enjoy remembering ballooning over the west coast vineyards before the formal dinner in the huge cast room at the winery, relaxing at a retreat while enjoying the view of the croquet lawn, watching a harlequin in the wild, climbing the falls in Jamaica, climbing the pyramid (inside and out) in Chichen Itza, observing bears in the wild, snorkeling, viewing 7 air-born water spouts from whales at once, seeing eagles swoop down to retrieve fish near our boat, and a host of other fun times. Incidentally, a mature eagle looks surprisingly large when it is right next to you facing you at your level with its wings stretched out and those formidable talons open.
I never had a clue that my life would include the fantastic experiences that it has. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Secondhand Lions so much. Although all those events are from previous chapters distant from the normal existence of today's life, I cannot dismiss the fact that it has been an amazing run and wonder what surprises the future holds.
update: I've managed to acquire a small amount of knowledge of Chinese history, religions, and general culture and have begun to study Mandarin and written Chinese characters. It may be too late in life to progress far enough to tackle ancient writings. But perhaps the study will help keep my mind a little fresher. It has made ordering food at Chinese restaurants more interesting and gave me advance notice of Covid-19 in 2019 significantly before news and governments were acknowledging it.
update: I'm technically retired now ;-) That just means that I work for free.
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