Sunday, March 18, 2012

Wells Fargo


Another beautiful day, and if things keep up like this, we will be planting vegetable and flowers way ahead of mother’s day.

Had an early wakeup call with an issue at work, and after helping out, decided to just make a cup of coffee, and start the day.  Kyle and Sue got up around 8ish, because we have an early soccer game out east against Mattituck.  Need to be at the field at 10AM, so quick showers and out the door we go.

It is still quite cloudy when we arrive at the field, and instead of sitting in the car, I decide to go for a walk.  2 miles later, the sun is starting to make its way through the clouds and the referee is checking in the teams.
Soccer doesn’t end well for Kyles team, and they take a 3-2 defeat in the first round of the State Cup.  Unlucky, but now they get to concentrate on their regular season.

This day in history “On this day in 1852, in New York City, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo join with several other investors to launch their namesake business.
The discovery of gold in California in 1849 prompted a huge spike in the demand for cross-country shipping. Wells and Fargo decided to take advantage of these great opportunities. In July 1852, their company shipped its first loads of freight from the East Coast to mining camps scattered around northern California. The company contracted with independent stagecoach companies to provide the fastest possible transportation and delivery of gold dust, important documents and other valuable freight. It also served as a bank--buying gold dust, selling paper bank drafts and providing loans to help fuel California's growing economy.
In 1857, Wells, Fargo and Co. formed the Overland Mail Company, known as the "Butterfield Line," which provided regular mail and passenger service along an ever-growing number of routes. In the boom-and-bust economy of the 1850s, the company earned a reputation as a trustworthy and reliable business, and its logo--the classic stagecoach--became famous. For a premium price, Wells, Fargo and Co. would send an employee on horseback to deliver or pick up a message or package.
Wells, Fargo and Co. merged with several other "Pony Express" and stagecoach lines in 1866 to become the unrivaled leader in transportation in the West. When the transcontinental railroad was completed three years later, the company began using railroad to transport its freight. By 1910, its shipping network connected 6,000 locations, from the urban centers of the East and the farming towns of the Midwest to the ranching and mining centers of Texas and California and the lumber mills of the Pacific Northwest.
After splitting from the freight business in 1905, the banking branch of the company merged with the Nevada National Bank and established new headquarters in San Francisco. During World War I, the U.S. government nationalized the company's shipping routes and combined them with the railroads into the American Railway Express, effectively putting an end to Wells, Fargo and Co. as a transportation and delivery business. The following April, the banking headquarters was destroyed in a major earthquake, but the vaults remained intact and the bank's business continued to grow. After two later mergers, the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company--shortened to the Wells Fargo Bank in 1962--became, and has remained, one of the biggest banking institutions in the United States..”

Some of us were talking about the stock market rebound over the past couple of years, and even though we are now back at levels before the real estate bubble burst, most of us have not really seen our 401K grow as much as we thought is should.  Where are all the profits?  Bailouts, subsidizing bad loans, paying for enormous executive bonuses, or just that a lot of us did not STAY invested, and decided to move our money around and protect it from further loses.

Seems Wells Fargo knows how to stay the course, and have made it thru depression, recession, corrections, and bailouts. 

Since it was so nice this afternoon, I decided to cut back the old growth in the perennial beds, remove dead weeds, and uncover the now emerging plants.  There is too much to do in a single afternoon, but some good progress was made.  Tomorrow, I need to pick up a new wheel barrow.

Peggy decides to stay over another night, and gets treated to some of my paella.  This time it is chicken, chorizo, and shrimps.  I think I have made it too many times in the past few months as it is starting to lose its luster.  

Waiting for the amazing race to start, I can feel the gardening in my neck and back.  Maybe some to the stiffness is due to me getting hit in the back with a soccer ball from the adjacent field.  I can only imagine how hard the guy struck that ball because it almost knocked me over.  Good thing I was standing behind Sue’s chair or that ball probably would have hit her in the back of the head.

Looks like there is another problem at work, so I have to go…..Gone are the days when you worked 9-5 and really had weekends off.  Hey, maybe I will have some extra money leftover to put some in the bank....LOL
 

Photo of the day “Wells Fargo”


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