The Republic of Texas

by on August 7, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Bludworth Marine quickly became the Republic of Texas Navy’s largest supplier of new and recycled oceangoing ships. They refurbished numerous old United States Navy warships for Texas, like the retired Wasp-class amphibious assault ship that had spent the previous decades languishing in the Beaumont reserve fleet. Texas renamed her Ranger and sent her out to patrol the gulf waters against all enemies, foreign and domestic. She did not end up fighting the United States Navy, which did its best to stay out of the disagreements between the Federal and State governments of the time, though did support numerous operations against the Mexican drug cartels. Most of her original air group came from the Marines of Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, and when it came time for America to stand up to China’s advance against Australia, Ranger led the Republic of Texas contingent. She carried Cowboy F-35s and Ospreys into the standoff, and participated in the final strikes against the Singapore Collective. Ranger then returned home to serve as the Texas flagship for decades to come, proof of Bludworth Marine’s superb capabilities when it came to rebuilding and maintaining the aging warships that served most of the American States in those days.

 Comment 

The Republic of Texas

by on August 6, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Houston riots ravaged most of downtown Houston during the Second Great Depression. The mayor ordered the police to leave the “peaceful protesters” alone, and one of the largest cities in America burned in the riots that followed. The State of Texas had many calls for its attention, but it did send a Texas Ranger to Houston when Bludworth Marine asked for help to secure its facilities. The man lived up to the old tradition of “One Riot, One Ranger.” He deputized the dockworkers to protect them from local prosecution, and then led the posse that stopped the rioters short of the docks, yards, warehouses, and other infrastructure that ran up and down Houston’s massive waterfront. The Republic of Texas would use that to build Naval Station Houston into the single largest military naval reservation in all of Texas.

 Comment 

The Republic of Texas

by on August 5, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Bludworth Marine was the largest owner of naval construction and recycling yards in Texas when the Second Great Depression came upon us all. They owned multiple port facilities on the gulf coast, and competed successfully in the civilian shipping market. They also held contracts with the Texas State Guard to perform long-term maintenance and end-of-life recycling on many of their gulf and coastal ships. When Texas began looking to expand their navy into something that could compete on the global stage, they knew Bludworth Marine and its various competitors would be critical to their success. So the call went out, the call was answered, and Bludworth Marine instantly went to work building the quasi-private/public industry that would revolutionize the Republic of Texas Navy.

 Comment 

The Republic of Texas

by on August 4, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Texas had few State-owned naval yards when the Second Great Depression began. They had long relied on private enterprises to support their small number of State Guard ships, and the Federal government had long since abandoned all major naval bases in Texas to favor major Western or Eastern Seaboard ports. Texas needed to remedy that situation if they were to support a Texas Navy capable of doing anything more than patrolling the rivers or the shallow gulf waters. So they contacted the major private yards and ports scattered over their coast in hopes of building that capability. Bludworth Marine was eager to explore such a new relationship, and returned the call with nearly indecent haste.

 Comment 

Twenty Years

by on August 3, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I graduated from college in 1999. I studied in computer science with a business secondary, and went straight to work in the industry I had long since chosen to aim for.

Computer technical support. My first full time job was on site at the Mayo Clinic for one of the many companies that contracted out to them. It lasted for three months. You may remember the 2000 scare. All the computers would fail to boot up on January 1, 2000, because their motherboard clocks were designed to only recognize two digit years starting with 84, so 00 was just right out. Many people were hired to work on that, and I was hired on the tail end of that job. As the job came to completion, my company began to downsize. I was laid off in the second round. There were two or three more rounds after that, and then they sold the company. And at the same time, every other computer company was laying off their excess computer techs as well.

It was the worst time to enter the computer industry. The only way to get a computer job in my hometown was to be an 8+ year veteran of IBM, which had been downsizing for years already. Those computer scientists with 4 or 8 year degrees who had designed entire new computer systems for the world banks and such were getting tech support jobs. The rest of us could pound sand.

I got a part time job at Best Buy while trying to find something better. Then one day I sold a computer to a businessman who was starting a new company. He liked how I asked what he wanted, and then got him a computer that would do what he wanted. Two actually. He offered me a job on the spot. I started working on the overnight shift when the hotel was still sticks, lacking even doors on the rooms. First it was my job to keep TVs from walking out. Then it was my job to run the daily audits. And then the owners wanted me to run and report the numbers for them, and many other business related items.

I guess that business secondary turned out to be more important than I thought it would be.

Twenty years later, I am still here. Three owners, three names, more managers than even I can count, and I am the last man standing of those who saw the hotel rise from the field. I’ve bought two homes, multiple vehicles, and built a good life I am happy with all thanks to this job.

This weekend, the longest-running manager we have ever had left for another opportunity.

And my twenty-year watch continues…

 Comment