Dad Letter 091221

12 September, 2021

Dear Dad--

I went on a bog boardwalk walk today! We have a bog in Bangor, and they built a very nice boardwalk trail that loops through the bog, and you can see all kinds of...well, bog shit, like peat and moss and peat moss, which are probably the same thing. There were very informative signs up every so often, but I was too busy photographing them to actually read any of them. I’ll include some of the pictures I took. We got there at about 8:00 on a Saturday morning, so the only company we had on the trail was the occasional old person having their morning walk in a place of visual splendor. And it’s not as splendid as the Grand Canyon, but it’s very cool. It’s a huge area covered with moss and water that’s 6 inches deep and in the middle, somehow, all of the trees have agreed not to grow over about six feet tall.

There was lots of sphagnum, including rare red sphagnum, and also there was supposed to be wildlife, although we didn’t see anything bigger than a bug. The place is called the Orono Bog Boardwalk. You start out in a parking lot, and then you take a trail for a quarter mile (incidental exercise, which I did NOT appreciate) and then you’re on the bog boardwalk. And it’s in the middle of a forest. And in spots, the bog boardwalk is, to a limited degree, free-floating. This means that, when you step on parts of the boardwalk, it sinks a few inches and there’s audible water rushing noises as you think, “Shit, I broke the bog boardwalk, and I’m about to lose my good work shoes.” But then it stops sinking, just inches above the surface of the shallow bog water, and your shoes are safe. Most of the bog boardwalk doesn’t do that!! Most of the loop through the “Mosaic of Moss Lawns” is solid beneath your feet. The whole thing is wheelchair accessible, since it’s a bog, so it’s pretty completely flat.

It’s been a busy week. I gave my employer a copy of my vaccination card, they gave me the $50 WalMart gift card, and I went to WalMart yesterday and blew the whole card on beverages, and sugar free gum. The gum is because I’m going to attempt to quit smoking. (The beverages were because we enjoy having a working backlog of sodas.) What I’m really saying when I say I’m going to quit smoking is that I’m going to stop smoking and see if I can remain stopped long enough to kick the addiction without accidentally murdering anyone because I want a cigarette so bad. I was perfectly quit in Austin; not only quit, but quit for a good six months, and then I got to within about 4 days of moving to Maine, and said, “Fuggit, gimme cigarette.” But now they’re simply getting too expensive. Also I believe I read somewhere that they are questionable for your health. So I bought a small mountain of sugar free gum, and as soon as my current pack (of cigarettes) runs out (about a dozen cigarettes from now) I’ll begin my great tobacco-free adventure. I’m not looking forward to it, but I wouldn’t look forward to lung cancer, either.

Oh, I have now viewed some of the pictures on my camera, and found out why the trees in that one part of the peat bog are all short: Peat is a bunch of plant matter--leaves, seeds, sticks--that accumulates faster than it can decompose. It builds up, it begins to decompose, then runs out of oxygen, stops decomposing, and just sits there forever, being peat. It’s very infertile, so it causes dwarfism in the trees. Science, baby! I shall have to speak with plant scientist guy and drill him on his peat bog knowledge, now that I’m an expert.

It seems you weren’t getting my emails for a while! I can’t imagine what happened. Did your email address change at all? I write them on Saturday and tell GMail to send them Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, which is my time. I’m not sure if I can do anything to make sure they arrive in your inbox. I’ll send this one extra hard! :)

I’m writing this on 9/11, and I’ve spent a lot of time watching documentaries and youtube videos about 9/11, because it’s basically the Pearl Harbor of my generation. It’s the reason I’m still kind of angry about the year 2001. We were supposed to get Hilton hotels orbiting the moon, and instead we got 9/11. Anyway, since today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I kind of feel like I should do something to commemorate it, even though I don’t know anyone very directly affected. Perhaps reflect on the lessons learned? Okay, um...same lesson as everything else in life: killing is bad, and love thy dang neighbor.

This is also the Sunday of my weekend, even though it’s everyone else’s Saturday. That makes tomorrow my Monday. The boss has, to my relief, said he’d rather I did fewer audits, and did them correctly, then attempt all seven and fuck it up six ways from Sunday like I kind of did last week. This puts a bit less pressure on me, and I’m in favor of that, especially since tomorrow is when my cigarettes are going to run out. I’ll remember to have the small mountain of gum with me, a sort of remote branch office of the mountain of sugar free gum, existing at work, and enabling me to chew something angrily while working on my audits and wishing, more than anything, for a real menthol cigarette. Tobacco really is sown by the devil. To that extent, I’m surprised smoking isn’t allowed in the casino. I thought the casino was where we concentrated all the sinning on purpose, you know?

It’s actually getting close to my bed time on Saturday as I’m finishing this up, so I’ll say good morning to you, and send all my love to you both. Until next week!

Richest People in Pakistan

1. The Nishat Group Mian Muhammad Mansha Yaha is the captain of this splendid ship having around 30 companies on board. Mansha, who owns the Muslim Commercial Bank as well, is now setting up a billion rupee ($ 17 m) paper sack project too. He is one of the richest Pakistanis around. Nishat Group was country's 15th richest family in 1970, 6th in 1990 and Number 1 in 1997. Mansha is on the board of nearly 50 companies. Chinioti by clan, Mansha is married to Yousaf Saigol's daughter. He is deemed to have made investments in many bourses, currency and metal exchanges both within and outside Pakistan. He has had his share of luck on many occasions in life and has recently been awarded Pakistan's highest civil award by President Musharraf. He could have bought the United Bank too, but then who doesn't have adversaries. Nishat Group comprises of textiles, cement, leasing, insurance and management companies. If Mansha was bitten by Bhutto's nationalization stint of 1970, his friends think he was compensated by Nawaz Sharif's denationalization programme to a very good effect. There is no stopping Mansha and he is still on the move!

2. The Jang Group This huge media empire was founded by late Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman some six decades ago. Today, around 10 top newspapers and the multi-billion rupee GEO TV project are being run by Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Mir Khalil's brainy son, who has a lot of projects pertaining to real estate under his belt too. Though he can be very modest, Shakeel is known to have taken country's Prime Ministers head-on. His tussle with Nawaz Sharif in 1999 spoke volumes of his unmatched influence in all domestic and international quarters which matter Shakeel is one of Asia's most well known media barons, whose newspapers have served to be the breeding nurseries for country's top journalists. He invests massively in stocks business regularly. His elder brother Mir Javed ur Rehman and tender son Mir Ibrahim also assist him in business. Such magnificent has been his influence that at times, a few governments have opted to take a few of his employees as ministers. The Group, as most politicians agree, has been instrumental in both toppling and building governments in Pakistan for decades now. Limelight is the product that he sells but doesn't like tasting the fruits of his own garden.

3. The Hashoo Group Led by the vintage Saddaruddin Haswani, the Hashoo Group is more known for its dominance in Pakistan's hotel industry, though the people who know a bit more about the Hashwanis are of their strength in real estate business too. Hashwanis are involved in trading of cotton grain and steel and till the nationalization of cotton export in 1974, they were widely being dubbed as the Cotton Kings of Pakistan. Today, this group has excelled in export of rice, wheat, cotton and barley. It owns textile units, besides having invested billions in mines, minerals. hotels, insurance, batteries, tobacco, residential properties, construction, engineering and information technology. In 1984, Hashwani defeated the Lakhanis in the bid for Premier Tobacco but was arrested along with his brother Akbar in 1986 for allegedly evading customs duty on cigarettes. Sadarduddin's brother Akbar and the children of another late brother Hassan Ali Hashwani together manage around 45 companies. Akbar runs the second Hashwani Group. He is one of the most well-known magnates in Pakistan who is a regular invitee at the Diplomatic Enclave. The list of local and international bigwigs known personally to Hashwani is unending.

4. The Packages Group The seed of this huge empire was sown by Syed Maratib All, a renowned supplier for British Army and the Indian Railways before partition. The group launched a joint venture with Lever Brothers soon after 1947, but massive production of Pakistan Tobacco Company later reportedly made Syed Maratib All and sons install a packaging Unit by the names of Packages. Two of Maratib's sons-Syed Amjad All and Syed Babar Au have remained Pakistan's finance Ministers and two of his well-known grand-children-Syeda Abida Hussain and Syed Fakhar Imam-are political stalwarts who need no recognition. Late Syed Amjad Ali was Pakistan's first Ambassador to the United Nations, while Syed Babar Ali is the force behind the establishment of the LUMS. The group owns Nestle Pakistan too which is being run by Syed Yawar Ali. Syed Babar Ali has also served as Chairman National Fertilizer Corporation during the Bhutto regime too and has been the Chairman of Hoeist Pakistan, Lever Brothers and Siemen. The group also acquired a good number of Coca Cola plants in Pakistan. Its famous brands include Nestle Milk Pak, Treet, Mitchells and Tri Pack Films. It has stakes in the textile, dairy, agriculture and rice Sectors too. The groups Contributions towards the cause of an independent Pakistan are unprecedented.

5. The House of Habib Legend has it that the Goddess of Wealth has been in love with the seasoned Habibs more than anybody else in Pakistan. Most pundits believe that Habibs own at least 100 companies throughout the world, but these content mega-tycoons never boast off, something which has made it uphill for most to predict about their financial standing. This industrial group was founded by Seth Habib Mitha, born in 1878 to Esmail Ali-a factory owner in Bombay. The financial strength of the Habibs can be gauged from the fact that Muhammad Ali Habib was gave a cheque of Rs 80 million to Quaid-e-Azam in 1948 at a time when Pakistan government was penniless owing to delay in transfer of Pakistan's share of Rs. 750 million by the Reserve Bank of India. They had offices in Europe in 1912. They incorporated the Habib Bank in 1941. They own the Habib Bank A.G Zurich, Bank Al-Habib, Indus Motors assembling Corolla cars and many dozens of units in sectors such as jute, paper sack, minerals, steel, tiles, synthetics sugar, glass, construction, concrete, farm autos, banking, oil, computers, music, paper, packages, leasing and capital management. Habibs today are headed by Rafiq Habib and Rashid Habib in two distinct groups. What makes them extremely influential players of all times is the fact that for dozens of top businessmen today, Habib were a myth once.

6. The Saigols Saigols originally hail from Jehlum. The pioneer of the Saigol dynasty in 1890 was Amin Saigol who established a shoe shop that eventually transformed into Kohinoor Rubber Works. And then times saw them shining literally like the Kohinoor until their progress was by Nationalization in which they lost two-thirds of their wealth. Saigols got trifurcated in 1976 and 15 descendents of Amin Saigols tour sons got a share. The name of the Saigols has been used in this part of the world as similes describing quantum of wealth. Yousaf Saigol, along with his brothers Sayeed Saigol, Bashir Saigol and Gul Saigol then nourished an excellent crop. In 1948, Saigols established the Kohinoor Textile Mills with a cost of Rs 8 million and this group happens to be the first to open an LC with the State Bank of Pakistan. They bought the United Bank in 1959 and then witnessed five of their units getting nationalized. They lived in Saudi Arabia during the Bhutto regime. Today, cousins Tariq and Nasim are holding the family's fort together and have risen to unprecedented heights in individual capacities. NAB did haunt Nasim but Tariq spent more lime either accepting or refusing prized slots everywhere. Tariq is the one of the finest business brains around.