Day 5 - West Des Moines
Working from Des Moines and visiting friends.
West Des Moines. I'm glad I made it in one go without stopping short in Omaha or Lincoln. I'm staying at the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and I'm beginning to discover one of the challenges of travel - finding out the quality of the internet at a hotel. The two places I have stayed so far have been worse than cellular.
But today is meeting day, so I get to practice my theory that I can work and travel like a digital nomad. I managed to participate in my meetings, and then I headed over to see Brad and Kelly Taylor.
Brad is recovering from cancer. It is a miracle that a new type of blood test helped him find his cancer before any other traditional methods would have identified it. The surgeons literally had to go in and look and were shocked to find his cancer in full swing, but because they had acted so swiftly they got it all.
Brad is now recovering which is a full time process. As a consequence he left the GameTruck business to focus on his health which is totally understandable. Brad was the 15th owner to enter the system and a solid operator. But we also have a personal connection because a few years ago my oldest son Ryan was playing summer ball in Iowa when he broke his hand when he got hit by a pitch.
Sometimes college baseball is just savage. None of the coaches or his host family were able (or willing, or thought it was necessary) to take him to the hospital for x-rays and treatment. With no Uber, or Lyft operating in rural Iowa, I asked Brad for help. He hopped in his Ferrari and drove to the middle of nowhere to get my son and take him to the airport.
Once back in Phoenix we were able to get him to a hospital where they were glad we brought him in and they took wonderful care of him. But they confirmed it was extremely important to get him in as soon as possible.
So, I will always be eternally grateful to Brad for helping take care of my kin when no one else could.
We spend the afternoon together and Kelly showed me Brad's pride and joy - his car collection. I felt so blessed we got to spend time together and I'm so happy he's going to make a full recovery.