Sam is my Facebook friend, he requested to be my friend as his way of reaching out to us since my husband don't do Facebook. Earlier in July, my husband asked me to jokingly invite him to my 70th birthday party though we knew that he is not in town.
He replied: "sorry ma'am but I'll only be there in early August".
Sam came by yesterday like he usually does whenever he is in town very year. We went out to lunch as usual and I left them to hangout at Starbucks afterwards. He always devote a day of his vacation to catch up with my husband.
Sam works in Dubai as a contracts Engineer of a major Australian construction company, a coveted position where he negotiates projects with sub-constructors.
Sam was the farm engineer when my husband developed and managed a school farm early on. I recall when I interviewed him, I immediately found him quite likable; he had the work experience needed for the job so I didn't hesitate to hire him right after the first interview. I learned that he already worked abroad but came home to be with his wife to start a family.
I made it definitely clear to him that we couldn't match his previous salary when I explained his compensation package and he understood; however, he asked me if I could make the offer a bit higher;
"You see, I need a little more since I'm paying house amortization", he told me. I looked at him and thought for a moment. I was bent in keeping the compensation range for a new hire but I found myself debating in my mind that we are badly in need of a farm engineer and this guy seems to be the right fit; he is also very professional and matured. Moreover he lives in that side of town close to the farm which is also a plus. Definitely we want a guy like him since the farm is about 4 hours (if traffic is light) from the main headquarters, and supervision will be minimal.
Finally I said:
"Ok, I'll give you one level higher", and we shook hands.
Around that time, my husband was recovering from "work-burn", (having managed three companies simultaneously for quite a long time). So I encouraged him to apply for farm manager even though the compensation was not what he was used to; I thought it would be good for his health to be outdoors so he can take in a lot of sunshine and fresh air.
When my husband eventually came in to jumpstart the development of the farm, he found Sam easy to work with. He is a very receptive and dedicated worker, he took his responsibility seriously and he took to heart every method and formula my husband applied to their work.
They worked together for almost two years, and when my husband finally made the farm operational, having established the roads and infra-structure; (he even made it fit for kids' campsite), he felt that his job is done since he is not an agriculturist after all. Eventually, Sam also resigned. In his exit interview he was very adamant in expressing the help and training he learned from my husband, his mentor.
After about two years working in the Middle East, he came back home and visited us for the first time. He was very grateful to my husband who taught him the ropes; needless to say that he applied everything he learned from my husband, using the complicated project spreadsheets and graphs. While relating his experiences, he detailed which formula worked best that gained him a lot of respect from his foreign bosses.
Oh yes, I should mention here that he got his wish to have a child. They were blessed with a baby boy who is now almost 7.
Every year thereafter, whenever he is in town, he never fails to come by, somehow he has become very close, just like family and we also look forward to his visits. Besides, I enjoy the chocolate concoctions and dates he brings all the time. But most of all it makes us so happy to know how far he has arrived.
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