The Home of Public Net Xchange

Originally I planned to write about politics and the general election for this month’s post, but that all changed as a result of my recent trip to Cleveland, Tennessee. I took a road trip to meet the new owner of PNX Internet, Mr. Craig Thompson.

When Craig and I worked out the details of the purchase of PNX Internet, part of the deal included several pieces of hardware including three different servers; the data base server, the web server and the mail server, a router and a network switch plus several other pieces. Originally we planned to take the equipment, especially the servers, down late one afternoon, box them up and ship them overnight, early morning delivery via UPS. We figured this would be the best plan to minimize the down time of PNX email.

In theory, the shipment would arrive in Tennessee early the following morning and Craig would unpack, plug in and turn on the servers and everything would be good to go… right? Well that was originally the plan until Hurricane Gustav entered the Gulf of Mexico and a mandatory evacuation order was issued for Orange County. I remember explaining to Craig what was going on and recall him asking me if UPS would still be running during the evacuation. Living in Tennessee he had no idea what was happening on the Gulf coast.

Well Gustav came and went and we started making new plans to ship the hardware and guess what? That’s right another mandatory evacuation order was issued for Hurricane Ike and we were back to square one. This time however Craig took advantage of the evacuation and began the tedious process of transferring the information on the three servers across the Internet onto his servers. Since the now famous PNX generator once again performed flawlessly during the power outage caused by Ike, Craig was able to successfully transfer most everything he needed and was able to remote into each of the servers in Orange and power them down once his servers took over their duties.

With the equipment in Orange now down we still had to figure some way to get the hardware to Tennessee however there was no longer a need for the expensive, expedited overnight service. That’s when I decided I would take off and deliver them personally. After all, I had come to know Craig pretty well over the telephone the past 3 months sand I wanted to meet him personally as well as his staff.

As I started to make plans for the trip, I emailed Craig for a recommendation for a hotel room and he invited me to come and stay with him and his family. And that’s what I did. I left early on a Thursday morning and drove straight through. After an 11 hour drive I followed directions Craig emailed for me to use once I hit town, I turned into the parking lot of one of Cleveland’s city parks. There I met Craig and we spent the next couple of hours visiting and watching his 11 year old son’s football team (with an undefeated 8–0 record) practice for the playoffs.

After practice, I followed Craig to their home. As we turned into the driveway the sign read Peaceful Hill Farm. During my visit I came to realize how proper that name was for this family’s home. I met Craig’s wife Deana, their 8 year old daughter and their 4 year old daughter. I would have to wait until the next morning to meet their 2 year old son because he was already in bed for the night.

I was welcomed and felt very much at home. I noticed the eldest son slipped off and changed clothes. He had chores to do. You see, this really is a farm, and the Thompson family is pretty self sufficient. They have 3 milk goats that have to be milked twice a day. The eldest son milks 2 of them and and the eldest daughter milks the other one. This evening, however, she was already ready for bed so he took care of the milking. He asked me to go along, and for the next 20 minutes I watched him go about his chores with practiced precision, and he talked non stop. There is no doubt that he is all boy. He loves sports stats, and, try as I might, I was out of my league trying to stump him.

After the chores we went in for hamburgers and Game 2 of the World Series. Once the meal was finished however, the TV was turned off and Craig asked the eldest daughter to go and get her Bible. He read a Psalm and one by one, each of us was invited to share our thoughts about the reading. The devotion concluded with each one of us offering a prayer for special requests or simply in thanksgiving for prayers answered. That was my first evening at Peaceful Hill Farm.

The next morning I met the youngest boy. What a pleasant little man! He and the oldest daughter grabbed me and took me down to the barn for the morning milking. Then, back to the house for a big breakfast. Deana had prepared eggs, grits and wheat biscuits made from wheat they milled themselves. And the biscuits were topped with fresh honey from Craig’s bee hives. And yes, there was plenty of cold milk to wash it all down with. Before the meal, I was treated to another special prayer by this family. Grace before breakfast was sung rather than spoken at Peaceful Hill Farm.

After breakfast, Craig spent some quality time with the kids. The youngest two would run round and round the couch squealing with delight as Craig “chased” them. The little boy would break away and run to Deana, grab her and yell “Safe.” But that was only for a minute, and then he would break away and rejoin the “chase.” It was a pleasant Friday morning at Peaceful Hill Farm.

Craig and I spent the day together at his office where I finally got to meet Cindy. Cindy has been a big help to me both on the phone and via email through the transition of PNX customers from Orange to Tennessee. We had a great visit and I learned about a business she and her husband own where they create just about anything you can imagine from Styrofoam. Their creations range from realistic scale models of space ships to special event props like castles to three dimensional signs. Take a look at their web page at www.dreambigstudios.com.

That evening after dinner and chores, I didn’t know it but I was in for another special treat. I was privileged to be present on a Friday night and got a front row seat for Devotional Theatre. All four of the kids sat on a couch and recited a bible verse from Matthew: Chapter 8 where Jesus rebuked the wind and calmed the sea and yes, the young est boy was right in the middle of everything. After they recited the verse, they then acted out the story. It was funny, it was genuine and it was holy. I was humbled to be the recipient of prayers of thanksgiving and wishes for a safe trip home the following day from each of the family members. The kids all went to bed and Deana and Craig and I sat up and talked for awhile until, at last, we said good night.

Normally when I’m away from home I don’t sleep very well. I know you know what I mean; a strange bed, different night time sounds and lights. But that wasn’t the case for my 2 night visit to Tennessee. I slept sound and was well rested both mornings. After all, I was at Peaceful Hill Farm.

And thanks to the kids prayers, my drive home was safe and uneventful. Though I traveled alone, I wasn’t alone. For company I had the memories that were made the past 2 days along for the drive home, the memories of Peaceful Hill Farm.

There were many things that impacted me during this road trip. After meeting Craig and his family, my belief that I had made the right decision when Craig and I struck a deal on the sale of PNX Internet was affirmed. We hold many of the same values and beliefs. So I guess in a way, this does bring me full circle to what I originally wanted to write about, politics.

My visit to Tennessee reminded me of what’s best in America. The freedom we have as Americans to worship. The freedom we have to work hard and grow a business to support our family which in turn also supports our community. I make no apologies for my Christian, conservative beliefs. I believe we must recognize and admit our shortcomings and work together to restore America to a nation that is once again, “One Nation Under God.”

I witnessed once again what’s good in America during my road trip to Peaceful Hill Farm.