David Cox:
CLASS OF 1974
Trumbull High SchoolClass of 1974
Trumbull, CT
Niagara UniversityClass of 1978
Niagara university, NY
David's Story
Life
Greetings to THS & NU pals. Yup, I'm still upright -- and back in Trumbull again, living in the house I grew up in, with my Dad -- many of you will remember Manning, who's still as much a character as ever at 84. 'Coming off a double-bypass and valve replacement in late February '08. He wouldn't get up and walk like he should, no matter what I'd say to him. That is, until I handed him an ultimatim -- that if he didn't get up the next morning to walk with me, we'd instead be going shopping for his casket. Well, THAT got under his skin, and pissed him off enough to get him off his ass and moving ... and after only 3 days of daily walking, Manning was able to return to playing golf. Not shooting his age just yet, but the trend is an upward one -- 'not too shabby. But the only 'person' Manning genuinely likes speaking with is his third and favorite son -- our 4 year old, 140 lbs. Newfoundland dog 'Alex'; friendliest animal on earth. 'Tells Manning exactly what he wants to hear -- NOTHING!
I've tried to stay close to the people who've stood by me -- you know who you are -- though having remained single has placed me on a far different path than most of you. I've lived in WA, TX, then CT, and then Long Island before returning to CT again, and I do regret having drifted apart from many good friends -- hence why I've joined classmates.com.
'Not as slim as I once was, but my shoulders are still a lot wider than my ass, and the Doc assures me that all those cheeseburgers and fries haven't done me any abject harm, which surprises ME most of all.
I pitch Broadcast & Professional camera support equipment, mostly to mid-western TV stations on 1-2 week sales trips...to which I've coined a proverb; "a bad day on the road is better than a good day in the office." A recent trade show picture is included.
'Been in the industry for the past 17 years. Developing a comfort-zone with people I've just met is apparently one of my talents, so the travel and my interest in what I sell sorta fits my inclinations. It's hard work, but it's often fun.
There've been moral dilemmas -- one in particular that still haunts me today -- along with some poor choices, stupid mistakes, tough scrapes, tough times, and terrible disappointments along the road, but refusing to give up has resulted in at least as many good times and moments of triumph & vindication. Sittin' on the bench at NU taught me that. You just have to hang in there, wait for your chance to perform, and don't quit.
'Seems I haven't changed a whole lot. Anything that either uses gasoline, plugs in, or needs batteries invariably fascinates me, so I somehow need two cars, a fairly mean motorcycle, a highway-legal scooter, a big RV, and a myriad of Gravely power equipment (for utility as well as a hobby), computers, A/V, 2-way radio, and photographic gear -- and a fair-sized gun collection to keep sharp.
Back in the '80's, I started up a video production company; 'shot and edited 100 weddings. It got me my start in my current career, though I had to eventually shelve the company for lack of time. I apparently possess pretty fair talent, and I've since missed the regular opportunities for such creative 'expression' (?). But nowadays the technology vs. cost aspect is just too attractive to resist, so I'm about to give it another go -- if only part-time. I'm a plain ol' PC addict, not a 'Mac' snob. I'll use Sony 'Vegas' for NLE.
'Took my first long motorcycle trip in May '07, which demonstrated to me the kind of 'bike that's 'me', then I immediately treated myself to a great big beautiful new Yamaha Royal Star Midnight Tour Deluxe -- sort of a cross between mean cruiser and touring 'bike. I try to get out there on the open road every weekend that I'm home. 'Like an instant vacation.
Since acquiring the RV, there've been plenty of RV 'tailgate-party' road trips to football games and air shows, along with trips to see NU teammates Ollie Harper & family (in DC and Virginia) and George Rautins in metro-Toronto, Ontario. THS teammate Bob McElroy lives and works nearby to George, though I typically see him on his many trips to CT. 'Still discovering new ways to make use of what we've tagged the 'Piss-Up Mobile'.
But the house in Trumbull is still my favorite summer resort. 'Lots of work on weekends keeping it up, but well worth the effort. Unless I've scheduled either a sales trip or an RV mission-from-God, all I wanna do during my time off from June to August is kick back by the cold spring-fed pool to perfect the art of preparing a frozen margarita. I LOVE company while doing so. 'Looking forward to a new start with old friends.
Trumbull High School
I'll have to stop short of divulging my crushes; there were a lot of girls I would have liked to have gotten to know, but dating was an impossibility. My parents would insist they weren't prejudicial, but any girl in whom I ever expressed an interest or whom might take an interest in me immediately fell under an unfair scrutiny that invariably resulted in DISASTER.
About the only weekday outlets I had for my energies was sports, and of course I was dedicated to them, especially hoop. My best friends were my teammates, and they still are.
Funny moments? In '74, we were practicing inside the chain-link fenced football field just after a thunderstorm. Walter 'the Pole-Vaulter' Fedor ran up to Coach Walt Czekaj and frantically told him that the fence was electrified, to which Coach Czekaj just rolled his eyes and shook his head. But Walter insisted that it was no joke. Now, Walter was a pretty zany character anyway, and Coach Czekaj was having a bad day. He finally snapped on poor Walter, yelling that Walter was always so full of sh_t and what-not, vowing to prove right then and there that he wasn't buying in. Despite Walter's pleading not to touch the fence, Coach Czekaj marched right over to it, looked at Walter, and grabbed the top rail of the fence with both hands. You could tell he was about to say, "See, wise guy?" But instead, he INSTANTLY jerked back from the fence, screaming. His eyes were as big as saucers, and he finally blurted out, "Jeez, the f__king thing REALLY IS ELECTRIFIED!!!" And it really WAS. Somehow the thunderstorm had 'charged' the unitized fence -- don't ask me how. Coach Czekaj's hands were actually burned -- no kidding. But his expression had morphed to one of pure incredulity, and we were ROARING. Even Coach Czekaj started laughing at the irony. What eventually had Coach Czekaj cringing for weeks was of course that he never heard the end of Walter reminding him afterward, "I TOLD you not to touch the fence!"
I suppose the funniest moment of all was in spring of '74. 'The Brothers Five', played by Vin Laczkoski, Tom Nicholas, Mark Coslett, Mike Periero, and Ray ('Petey') Hannan in sunglasses and ridiculous afro-wig get-ups, performed at the year-end variety show, miming some 'Temptations' tunes -- and WELL. They were all pretty animated; not surprising considering they were all three she...Expand for more
ets to the wind, and Cozzy played the whole gig unaware that his fly was unzipped. We in the audience were CRYING from laughing so hard.
Niagara University
My principal motivation was to make a dent in the hoop program, but overall, the best I can say for that aspect of my NU experience is that I toughed it out, refusing to quit like A LOT of other guys did, even though it became ever-clearer to me that practically NO ONE wanted me there. That I was a contributing member of the team practically every game for four years was therefore something of which I could be quietly proud. Though the hoop program deserved its criticism, the school itself truly looked after me, for which I'm grateful. I missed a lot of classes due to road trips and other hoop-related commitments; the school NEVER once shirked its responsibility to my future, providing whatever summer classes (with boarding) and tutors I needed to get me to my diploma -- in four years.
NU was a contradiction in terms of social bonding. On the one hand, the 'no co-ed' policy intentionally impeded resident students from developing entirely natural relationships with the opposite sex that life is supposed to be all about. The priests fouled it all up with an apparently misplaced sense that their own vow of chastity somehow applied to we students, strongly implying that love and sex is furtive, dirty, and just plain wrong. The only good thing I can say about the policy is that on the occasions when a girl had the nerve to sneak past the gauntlet of sphincter-police RA-types to make it into my room, I could be sure she meant business.
On the other hand, I'll never know a more comfortable, friendly environment than a Friday night at the Rat. The priests apparently saw nothing furtive, dirty, or otherwise wrong AT ALL with falling face-down, dead-drunk on the sidewalk every weekend.
'Funny how the co-ed and alcohol-on-campus policies have flip-flopped over the years. Most current NU students do not even know that there was once a 'no co-ed' policy; neither can they even imagine a time when on-campus drinking was not only condoned, but actively encouraged.
Just a few years ago, I had attended an NU hoop game in the Student Center, and walked over to the Rat afterward for a few beers. The door was locked, so I walked around, thru Clet Hall, and into the Rat thru the rear. Empty. Dark. Near-desperate, I hunted down the first officious-looking person and exclaimed, "Where in this God-forsaken place can I get a cold beer?!!!" The guy looked at me as though I had two heads, then kinda looked down his nose, and very-curtly informed me that, "I'm afraid we do not condone that sort of thing here on campus..." I was INCREDULOUS! WHAT PLANET did this IMBESCILE come from, anyway? NO BEER AT NIAGARA U? A DRY CAMPUS?
'You know? Maybe the priests were right. 'No Beer' just might've been even worse than no co-ed.
Workplace
It seems I've been just about everywhere -- at least within the lower 48 states. 'Sorta fell into procurement. Moved to Richland, WA in '79; 'bought piping components, supporting construction of a commercial nuclear power plant (no, I DON'T glow in the dark). But I DID pick the wrong time to get into that industry, what with the Three Mile Island meltdown and 'The China Syndrome' movie -- both of which had headlined earlier that year.
Still, WA was a fun place to live. Long, hot, dry summers, water-skiing on the Columbia River, several rafting trips, and there isn't a nicer town to spend a weekend in than Seattle. I hated to leave, but nukes had fallen out of favor, so the work ran out. I'd thrown my heart out here and there, and there were a few takers, but no relationship ever moved far enough along to be considered serious. 'Seems everyone inately knew that NOTHING in the boom-town of Richland could be permanent.
Spent a year in Houston from '82-'83. Had a fun job flying around the US, expediting structural steel production, which supported a coal gasification project. 'Hooked up with my NU teammate Ollie Harper. What I never knew about Ollie is that the man can COOK -- which certainly worked for me considering that I LOVE to eat. Houston was a barrel-full of girls and fun of every kind -- while it lasted. But like the commercial nuke industry, the syn-fuels industry was being de-emphasized in favor of importing cheap oil. Thank you, Mr. Reagan. Bye-bye Houston. Hello unemployment.
I wound up back in Connecticut in '83 working temp contracts and crummy jobs, figuring that I'd played out. It appeared there was nothing more for me. But in '84 I met an attractive girl with ambition who at least didn't initially seem to mind that my current fortunes had gone sour, and I found the motivation to climb back up the ladder. The relationship went south a year later, which I took pretty hard. But my nuke and syn-fuels experience had finally paid off; I'd landed a position as a buyer of aerospace engine components. At least I'd found something to sink my teeth into. 'Took an apartment with my high school teammate Tom Nicholas up in Seymour. The job was tough, but there was good camaraderie -- a lot of good friends.
'Started up a video production business. Shot 100 weddings over 3 years. The expertise I developed caught notice of a manufacturer of Broadcast battery systems for TV News cameras in Shelton, CT, and in '90 I went to work for them -- in Outside Sales. I took the plunge not really knowing if I'd be good at it, but I am. I pitched to TV stations throughout the western US. Previously untried, unorthodox sales approaches are my bag; I'm an improvisor -- and it made things happen. Spent an incredible month in Lillihammer, Norway to support the '94 Winter Olympics broadcasters -- 'watched the Kerrigan / Harding faceoff -- rinkside. What a circus.
Mixing business with pleasure became my favorite pastime. I'd gladly take a 2-week sales trip to give me an in-between weekend to do something interesting, and have regularly done so all over the country. I'll take in an MLB or NBA game, and in my younger days, I skied Colorado and Lake Tahoe, & sampled the CA beaches, though nowadays I tend more toward the bar districts.
I moved on to Long Island, pitching Camera Support (fluid heads, tripods, and lighting) in '94, then did more of the same as the Eastern rep for a CA-based competitor in '95. 'Enjoyed great success for 4 years, but became increasingly frustrated with policies that increasingly tied my hands, until I'd had enough of them in '00 -- and they had had quite enough of me. Sold software (which to me is like selling air), pay phones, and amusements through '03, and then was re-hired by the new owner of BOTH my former Camera Support employers -- a lucky break had finally come my way. Been there nearly 5 years now, covering the Midwest US. Good company, money, & benefits; great boss.
I've missed the creativity of video production, so I'm acquiring the equipment needed to give it another try -- if only to satisfy the 'itch'.
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