“I started hearing voices in my head that said, ‘Get gas pumps.’ There is always room for more gas pumps. They are long gone from gas stations and I found most of these from farms and ranches that had their own. I have warehouses of things. The dream is to do this ten times bigger. I love getting out on Route 66 and the other backroads and I have an offer to move this store to Route 66 in Santa Rosa. I lost my partner to breast cancer five years ago. We were together for two years. She lived life with gusto and should have had many more years left. I still miss her, but I have to keep moving. I grew up in a military family and lived all over the world. I had a science background and Los Alamos was the world headquarters for science. I worked there for 25 years. I started in laser research and then military simulations. It took me to Fort Rucker and Huntsville. I have good memories from being in Alabama. I tried to plant magnolia trees in New Mexico. The nurseries didn’t have them because they won’t grow out here. I tried to plant the trees anyway and failed. They were right.”