CHAPTER NINETEEN 2002 -2010
Here comes Da Judge – Three Times
The Interviews: A President and a Beauty Queen
By now, I have learned that having a career in the military and making a career as a civilian are two entirely different things. Traveling the world whether you want to or not,
(the military part) is quite exciting. Most of the time you have no idea what awaits you in a particular country or city whether it's in the USA or somewhere else in the world.
But you have no choice. They say you are going and you go.
Once retired from the military (after 24 years in my case) you settle down in theory and for the most part that's a one - time choice and there you are, just there and you are totally on your own to make things happen.
Well, for me it finally happened, but it took nearly 14 years after that retirement to experience that adventurous feeling
I always had while in the Air Force.
It's early 2002. I am still with the magazine and the tour company Iceland Explorer, except under new ownership. My job was writing, editing, ad sales, layout and distributing the magazine when it came out. In other words, all of the positions. In addition to and telling the then assigned military all about Iceland and the beautiful areas and tours throughout the country, I wanted to explore and write about the people, focus on places and anything else that demanded a story be told. How well that happens is determined about how good a writer the person is, and the real interest they have in a given subject.
There are so many ways to approach any subject you want to write about, no matter what it might be. It does require thought and genuine interest in all cases. What I found in Iceland was it was a lot easier than I ever dreamed it would be. Just a casual look around and you could find an interesting story pretty much anywhere.
One such area was the sport of golf, which at this time was rapidly experiencing phenomenal growth in the country.
For example, Just picking a client up at the international airport and taking them the 40 miles to their hotel,
(a 40 minute trip) the subject of golf might come up in the conversation. I'd ask if they played or perhaps like to play while they were here. Most had never given it a thought.
Then, I'd ask how many golf courses they thought we might actually have in the country. The answer usually came back anywhere from three to five courses.
When I told them that the actual number was
(at the time) 60 courses, the surprised expressions were priceless.
Many, men and women whom we did our say as they were being taken to the airport for their departure back to wherever, said they were coming back and were bringing the clubs the next time. Some have done exactly that.
One California Highway Patrol motorcycle policeman came back three times, once learning about the "Midnight Sun" golf tournament. In this annual tournament, foreign players tee off starting about 8:00 PM or later the first night of play. This is so they are actually playing on the world's certified, northern most, 18-hole golf course in the world at midnight.
Before I retired fully at 75 years old, I did clients for this tournament for twenty years. Actually, I still do, just now unofficially. Everyone that plays the tournament, loves it.
But, as they say, probably in most any business, sometimes the good can generate the bad and even the ugly. Such was the case in a one off experience, with a US golf provider, not an individual player.
One morning, an individual shows up in our offices wanting to work with us sending golfers from the states to Iceland to play many of the challenging courses here. So far so good.
The focus was specifically on the annual tournament, the Arctic Open. We were interested of course as an at the time small, personalized services company. So we listened intently to the "pitch."
The only problem was that the narrative was mainly about this individual, how great and prosperous he and his company were, and almost nothing about how he wanted it to proceed.
After two years and an indication of potentially several hundred clients, (up to 300 a year was the statement) it didn't take long for us to count them all. There were SEVEN in total the first year.
Then the other shoe fell. A party of three, was coming to play in the tournament. After many requests for pre-payment which was company policy, we finally received a company check for payment after over a dozen requests, which came to just under $5,000.00 for the players.
We proceeded, they played and went home happy.
Three weeks later, we received a notice from our bank in Iceland that a STOP PAYMENT order had been placed on the check by the same individual, the day after he presented it to us drawn on his US bank in Massachusetts
My fears from the very outset it appeared were coming true. Our company owner decided we'd take the loss and never do business again with this company or individual.
Being from the USA, employee or not, I simply could not allow that and asked him to let me pursue it. He agreed and I started looking into it.
What I discovered, almost every day was essentially mind boggling. It served to make me more determined than ever to get what was due the company.
Since this company was in Massachusetts, where I was from as well, I learned that a small claims action was limited to $2,500.00 and anything more would have to be heard in a superior court. That meant a judge, a jury and lawyers.
In other words, it could cost twice as much or more to prosecute your claim than the money actually owed our company. I was convinced this individual knew that, so after a little thought, I filed a small claims action agreeing to get at least half of the money back in front of a magistrate, no jury. and no lawyers, just one on one.
I flew to Massachusetts, won the case, received a promise of full payment by the individual on the order of the court. Seven weeks later, we were still waiting.
I would not just let this go.
I decided to call the local sheriff, in the town where the case was heard, to see what we could do.
He suggested that he be arrested and they would bring him to court, and gave me a date to appear. I have to be honest,
I loved the idea. Then the cavalry arrived, or so it seemed.
An employee of this golf company quit in disgust concerning his knowledge and in many cases being ordered to tell clients things that were simply not true. He decided to go to an investigative news station near Boston and tell the story.
They started checking and discovered all sorts of basic scams this owner was pulling on clients all over the USA. It involved hotels, casino week-ends, rental cars, you name it.
Then the station discovered my pending case and that really peaked their interest. So on the day we were to appear in court they were there, camera's locked and loaded to video in court. The sheriff went to the man's house to affect an arrest just after 5 AM on the court date, but the individual was not at home or would not answer the door.
Just after court started at 9:00 AM, a radio call came in that the police had gone to the individual's business in a plain car to affect the arrest. Success! He was arrested and brought to court in handcuffs.
This time there was a presiding judge. This sometimes happens when the higher courts are not fully in session
The judge did not look very happy when he called the case. After a little back and forth, the individual promised he would return to his company after the court session and get a check. The judge then said, Sir, that was the problem the first time, this is the second time you are here, this time under arrest.
The only place you are going is back to jail until you come up with a satisfactory plan so I hope you have friends in court or very close by.
Another surprise! He just happened to have a "friend" close by. This friend had $800.00 in cash, offered it to the court and the judge asked me if that were acceptable as an interim payment. The agreement was the rest would be paid at a minimum of $500.00 each month for four months bringing the total to $2,800.00, the maximum of the small claims action and the $300.00 I had to advance to affect the arrest.
I wasn't thrilled because I could almost see what was coming. But I agreed, saying to the judge, I hoped he would pay but I thought what was actually happening here was he was trying to make it cost as much or more for us to pursue what amounted to half of the amount owed by making me travel now a second time back to the USA and get little or no results.
The judge paused at my statement, then said much to the surprise of me and I think everyone in the court. You know he said, I think you might be right.
He said, please make me a list of ALL your costs and expenses for the first and this appearance in court including airfares, hotel, meals, rental car, all of it. I will authorize up to another $2,000.00 for those expenses.
I hate to do this to you but I will need to bring you back for a third appearance in a month I think this will be necessary to make sure he is living up to the agreement.
I made the third appearance a month later, received another $500.00 and more promises. In the meantime, this investigative arm of the Boston TV Station aired a six-and-a-half-minute report on the company, the individual and what was apparently his first assistant. It wasn't pretty.
Then the dam broke. Another 10 – 12 people who saw the TV story, filed lawsuits against the company.
Within days, the company went bankrupt.
Since I had filed against both the company and the owner personally, because something told me this might happen, he could not escape the debt without declaring personal bankruptcy himself.
About a week after returning to Iceland, I got a call from a new young lawyer. He told me that he and his client had talked and if I would accept another $1,000.00, (rather than the $2,000 he owed) they would then call off the prosecution, I'd have half yet again of was ordered by the court, everyone would benefit overall and his client would not have to file personal bankruptcy or pay the attorney fees and court costs.
That could have been several thousand more dollars considering where this law firm was located. Turned out it was a new law firm on Beacon street in Boston, where lawyers get north of $900 plus and hour.
Talk about a "can't we all just get along moment."
I said no, your client has two choices. Pay the amount owed, $2,000, or the sheriff would pay him another visit and that meant jail for a much longer period. Later that evening another call saying that the individual would pay.
Just to be sure since I was not needed a fourth time, the local sheriff said if an arrest was needed, it would be "on him."
It all ended a few days later. The sheriff went to this new law office met the lawyer and his client. We received a check from the sheriff's department and it was finally over.
The company touted as the USA's fourth largest, (also not true) US golf provider, was bankrupt. We later found out that the biggest debt owed in the bankruptcy action was nearly $85,000.00 to this individual's lawyers. This TV investigative unit aired a follow-up story on the matter.
So that was the bad and ugly. I relate the story because besides being 100% true, it shows clearly that in business and life you win only if you are paying attention and ready to think on your feet. OK, honestly, I loved telling the story again.
Now the good, in fact closer to two great events one three year later and a second five years after that.
Interview with an Icelandic President
I believe that everything happens for a reason, even though at the time we may not know what that reason is.
This is about an absolutely never to be forgotten interview with the world's FIRST democratically elected female President, Ms. Vigdis Finnbogatottir, the president of Iceland for four terms from 1980 to 1996.
She retired from politics after 16 years serving as Iceland's President, Many politicians brag about approval ratings in the 30's and 40's percentile range.
President Finnbogadottir's approval ratings were in the 90% range for most if not all of her Presidency.
In the 1980's as mentioned in earlier chapters, Iceland received a slice of a giant California redwood tree. Clearly marked on the age rings of the tree, were the historical moments of the country from its first settlers in 874 AD to the start of the world's first Parliament in 930 AD also marks signifying the declaration of Christianity becoming the official religion of the country in the year 1000 AD, all the way to its declaration of independence from Denmark on June 17th, 1944.
I was at the university theatre that day covering that story for the American Forces Television news station at the NATO Base in Keflavik. I met the US Ambassador to Iceland at the time,
Mr. Nicholas Ruwe. He found out I was at the ceremony and in Iceland in 1972, and doing the afternoon show on air.
He said he used to come to Iceland back then to go salmon fishing. Then he said, "come with me, I have somebody I want you to meet." I followed and that someone, was the then President, of Iceland, Vugdis Finnbogatottir.
Talk about an afternoon one would never forget. But one thing led to another and in a very brief, polite conversation,
I asked if at some point I might do an interview with her. We would tape it and air it on the radio after her approval.
She agreed. But for whatever reason it actually never happened back then and as I think about this, I can't really remember why.
But, we fast forward back, nearly 20 years later it finally did happen and once again a special moment in this ordinary nobody's life when you least expect it.
I was at the international airport, meeting a couple of clients for the company. They were to come in on an afternoon European arrival from Helsinki, Finland. The weather that day was essentially horrible, with periods of driving rain showers but accompanied by over 50 plus mile per hour winds and higher gusts.
Of the some six or seven arrivals from European locations that afternoon, all but one, including the one I was meeting, were held on the tarmac after landing, away from the jet ramps. The wind gusts were at times so bad it actually caused these ramps to move or sway. Not much, but enough to potentially damage aircraft that might be parked there. So, it was going to be a longer afternoon than planned. The winds were forecast to suddenly subside as often happens here in about an hour, so this action was prudent in an abundance of caution. The one flight that was able to park at one of the ramps not subjected to these winds was a flight from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Passengers started to come into the arrivals hall. Then suddenly a very familiar face walked through the door, rolling her own luggage, no aides, no assistants, no entourage. Someone like me from the USA might expect all of that and police escorts as well. Yes, it was now the former President of Iceland, Vigdis Finnbogatottir, who was now spending a lot of her time in Denmark, working with UNICEF.
I was perhaps 30 feet from the arrivals door that exited to the lobby. Unbelievably, she noticed me, smiled, I nodded, she nodded and coming closer said hello. Understand, the one meeting we had was nearly 20 years earlier. I didn't really know what to say, so I just blurted out, "one day, we really need to do that interview." She laughed and said "yes, we really do." Once again, I was next to speechless, a rare occurrence in any setting many would say. Since I was writing for a magazine I had a greater reason than ever to do this interview. After all, she was the world's first democratically elected female President of a country. Since she was now a past President, I thought she might have a little more time.
I had nothing but time, certainly for this once in a lifetime event. It was sudden, unexpected, but perfect. I said "well madam President, I'd be thrilled to do it, any time, any place, you are the busy one."
Then she said, "well let me review my schedule and we'll get it done." My daughter will call you. "When we do, why not just come over to the house, I'll let you know."
Now can you in your wildest dreams, ever imagine being personally invited to a President's personal residence? I actually gave her my mobile phone number. I have that same number to this day.
I was excited, and totally in awe in those two minutes.
About three weeks later that call came, but not from the daughter a I thought it might be but from the former President herself. My nemesis Murphy, must have been in the room at the same time.
After a very hard day at work, I was a bit exhausted. I went to the place we had rented, plugged in my phone to charge it, then went to the bedroom to lay down. About 20 minutes later, the phone rang.
It always did in this job when you really didn't want it to.
Then once again, Murphy, (Murphy's Law) intervened and the one thing you think would never happen, did.
My wife answered the phone in the kitchen and walked with it towards the bedroom. She said something on the spur of the moment I would never forget either.
She said, "there is some lady on the phone for you who says she was calling from Copenha and her name is Vigdis. Who is it really?"
She handed me the phone. I was again somewhere between disbelief, and Neverland but this time for two reasons.
I hadn't expected a phone call from Copenhagen certainly and could not believe my wife, not thinking the person on the phone could hear everything she would say, or even think what she did.
I said hello madam President, the wife cringed and the former President said with a small laugh said, "be sure to tell your wife it is me, Vigdis." Every once or twice in anyone's life, I am sure are moments where you could want to just disappear. That was one such moment for me.
She said she would be in Reykjavik the next day but also had to attend a function at Thingvellir Park, where the world's FIRST and OLDEST parliament started meeting annually in 930 AD.
She said to come by the house about 4:00 PM as the meeting or event there should be over about 2:30 PM and she'd be headed home from there.
I arrived the next afternoon promptly about 3:50 PM and was met by her daughter. She said she had just heard from "mom" that the event was going a little longer than expected, could I come back about 5:00 PM or just wait there.
I thanked her, left to not impose actually and review some of my prepared questions and returned about 30 minutes later. The daughter showed me to the deck just off the living room at the house.
About 20 minutes later, she came out and got me and directed me to the sofa in the living room. She said, "mom's in the kitchen making Icelandic pancakes, for us.
Seriously, how many times can one foreigner be blown away in a single day, a week for that matter a lifetime?
But folks it's absolutely true. In this case a former President of the country, doing me a favor by consenting to an interview, then personally making the famous Icelandic pancakes while we would talk?
She came in, we talked probably for 40 minutes or so, I made pages of notes.
I was ready to write starting the very next day. The article was a little more than 3 pages, with some photos, provided by a press office and I made sure she got to look at it first.
This was one thing in my life I will never, ever forget. The cooperation, the kindness she and her daughter showed and of course that phone call.
It wasn't over, it was about to happen again a couple of years later. Another one of these things in this ordinary nobody's life so unique, almost unbelievable would occur.
That was in 2006. Iceland was known for its very beautiful, steady, smart women. Remember that sergeant who told me over 22 years before as I was headed on my first trip to Iceland about the beautiful women behind every tree?
That was the one true thing of his litany that was true and he had never been to the country. For the most part, it still is.
When you're trying to write for a publication on a specific thing like tourism, you can only do so many angles of the basic same story, so you, with genuine interest are looking for different even unique things to write about.
One article was about the Icelandic police force I called "You've Got a Friend" yes after the song of the same name.
In previous chapters I talked a little about timely comparisons, but I saw it as the perfect title. Once upon a time there was almost no crime in Iceland, certainly compared to the rest of the world. There still isn't much and the police carry mace and night sticks but still do not carry guns.
One day though as I had dropped off four clients at the private aviation service at Keflavik on the base side, I was approaching the main gate and slowed down should the policeman there could wave me through or want me to stop.
She, yes a she, came out and I was face to face with what I knew was the most beautiful Icelandic woman I had ever seen, and she was a policeman. She smiled and waved me through. Bad luck LOL !!
I saw her again, on television, as she was being crowned
Miss World 2005. The mind went into overdrive, it still does, just not as frequently, as it used to. I had to do an interview at some point when she was in Iceland and not traveling the world. Some months later, I contacted her representative, who of all things gave me her personal telephone number.
I called, she answered and she agreed to be interviewed for an article about the pageant, the responsibilities, and the travel as Miss World, all of it.
She gave me some possible dates we could sit down together. We agreed on a date and time and to make it as relaxed as possible, I invited her to lunch. She accepted. A few days later, we did just that at the restaurant Caruso in Reykjavik.
During the interview I was completely impressed by her friendliness, level headedness, and completely in tune with current events. We spoke about the countries she was visiting, of particular note her dedication to young children.
You know well what many say about beauty contestants, win or lose, meaning you hear an awful lot about world peace. Not with this person, far from it. That was really impressive.
I needed a good title for this very special story. At the time there was an American television show most said would not survive more than two weeks on a major network.
It lasted over six years. I had my title when I viewed one of the photos we were going to use with Unna Birna at a baby's crib. I called the article, "Touched by an Angel" The article was a big success
Then the unfortunate happened and this time it as personal. I woke one morning and had about ½ of my vision in my right eye. I had no idea what was going on so I asked for an emergency appointment with an eye specialist, and got seen in about three hours. The results of an x-ray showed a small clot that had lodged itself in the eye canal just behind the optic nerve. There was nothing that could be done. I was later told that when this happens, it's sudden, it's permanent, and incurable. Before long my vision in that eye was down to about 30% mainly in the area around the optic nerve.
That was permanently gone. I could still drive as the left eye was good but over time I decided not to especially with clients. I gave up my license to drive when it expired in Iceland on my 70th birthday.
I was a bit handicapped now but undeterred. I was not going to let this be a major problem
Then, yet, another experience for my record books. In 2007, conditions in Iceland and around the world including the USA and Europe were anything and anywhere from good, even great, but looking around I saw it as chaotic.
In Iceland, contractors were building everything, everywhere and anywhere there was space it seemed. Banks were loaning huge sums of money to pretty much anyone with a job. . These were things like office buildings, tourist attractions and home building went a bit crazy. I remember thinking, at least when I was in the USA and you went to any bank for a loan, you almost had to prove you didn't need the money, to get it. I believed that storm clouds might be gathering on the horizon. All of this was simply too much, way to fast. That was 2007.
Icelanders have a reputation of being very consumer oriented.
The people like "gadgets" so computers, mobile phones, laptops, DVD, TV,s and new cars were everywhere.
Many surveys show Icelanders at number ONE per capita in all of it. I was offered a chance to buy my own apartment. Realizing, or so I thought, that considering this building and buying spree continued in such a small country, I thought a crash was inevitable. It was happening everywhere else in the world as well, but I was mainly concerned what effects might have on a crash here, forget the rest of the world. I said a "crash" had to be coming. It was a crazy time.
Banks were loaning huge sums of money in almost instant loans in the Icelandic currency, the Kronur and in foreign currencies as well, to buy pretty much anything. Many people here and everywhere were doing just that. I declined on the apartment thinking if a crash did come, prices which were going up almost daily for apartments would plummet as would the currency. Prices for apartments had doubled and more in some cases in just a little more than a year. I thought of Issac Newton law that says "what goes up, must come down. "
In September, 2008, the crash came. Some believe it all started in Iceland. I really don't think so but while the currency fell dramatically, homes and houses, many of them repossessed along with cars and boats, you name it. Banks collapsed in a lot of places including Iceland, unemployment in Iceland went from one half a percent, to nearly 10%, real estate crashed certainly in the USA but again, NOT in Iceland.
Banks as I mentioned were allowed to fail here. Wheeling and dealing were at a fever pitch all the failed banks quickly reformed and regrouped, some with new names. All in all however, Iceland recovered quickly, very quickly almost back to where it was a year before the actual crash.
As it turned out due to many events we do not need to mentioned, I left Iceland Explorer in 2009 and started with a new company with people I had worked with as a guide for several months We were all on the same page with how service to customers and clients needed to be done. It was a very good move.
Next, we journey through those years with the new tour company and the huge increase in tourists coming to Iceland.
This mind you if you remember, nobody thought of coming to Iceland really for any reason in the 70's and even 80's other than military told they were being assigned here.
There were a few "tourists" sure, but very few. I remembered a news story in the 90's that said 199 people came to Iceland for the New Year's eve fireworks. Two years ago nearly 20,000 did.
Now-a-days, with the tourist count in 2008 just under 500,000. There was a decline for ONE year after the crash of about 60,000. In 10 years, to 2018, it's nearly touched two and a half million.
Next the final frontier. Also the final chapter. Enjoy the ride.