So, and if you also say, like, how does that show up in the way they communicate or make decisions? Are there kind of signs, early signs, on that someone is operating from that place?

Are there early signs when the trust is not working and the relationship's not working? Yes, I think there are.

You know, you get it in all levels of communication, whether it's a telephone call, a text, an email, a letter.

Communication, the human communications is the most difficult part of any relationship, be it personal or business.

Lots of resources one has to manage in business.

And that includes all the mechanisms and tools and equipment you have that's an asset that you have to use to build your product.

and all the technology and know-how and that particular specific intelligence.

So if we talk about our daily life, for someone who is listening right now, who is running a small business or leading a team, how does this idea of trust building actually show up in their daily life? If you can share something.

Right.

So if you could take those variables and establish a methodology that would be something you could repeat and would be accurate, then you got something.

And that was my kind of hypothesis there.

on how I started out in the project.

And then I realized that everybody, when they putt, you know, it doesn't matter how you hold the club, they teach you that at the PGA schools and stuff, and that's great.

But everybody rocks their shoulders.

You have to rock your shoulders.

Oh, sure.

My first question for you is, what does it feel like the exact moment in everyday annoyance turns into an idea you can't let go of?

Well, it's kind of interesting.

I had no idea.

I had just about retired from my third air pollution control company at the end of 2023.

And I was simply at my daughter's house in Decatur, Georgia.

We were having a couple cocktails before we went out to a very nice restaurant.

We were all dressed in our best clothes.

Do you set goals for yourself or intentions? And what is one of your next

But what's the process to actually take it from idea and design, like you did, to actual putting it on the market? I think that's got to be quite a process.

It is.

And, you know, we're still working at it.

The easiest part of...

For an engineer, anyway, the easiest part of problem solving is to go through, define the problem, analyze the problem, create some alternatives, test your alternatives, then come up with the best solution.

Kind of a five-step problem solving technique that engineers normally use.

And that's basically what I did with this, because I knew that what I wanted to do was create something that was really workable and usable And as I say, this is a pre-heated coaster.

Do you have any projects coming up beside these two, or are you just...

But all of a sudden, when was it that golf just exploded, that everybody wants to play golf now?

Well, you know, of course, I...

My hero is Jack Nicklaus.

I've had the opportunity to talk with Jack at a couple of his tournaments along the way, just as a casual spectator.

And he's just a great guy.

But honestly, I think Tiger Woods has done more for the game of golf as far as getting people into the game of golf and creating the excitement.

And then just the new breed of golfers from Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and all these guys that are playing, they're getting in shape, they're working out, they're making it more of an athletic event than it used to be back in the old days.

Oh,

Right.

And I can, I can putt my ball and it'll go 33 feet with a three-inch putter retraction from the ball and then striking through the ball.

So the IPF, or the individual power factor, is 11 feet of travel for one inch of retraction.

My wife's IPF for our downstairs carpet is seven and a half feet per inch of retraction.

You take those, you take this individual power factor, which is your individual power for the stroking of the ball, and everybody's is a little different, and you take it to the golf course, okay? You pro- you go to the, you go to the, you go to the golf course 30 minutes before your tee time, you go out in the practice green, and you practice striking the ball and seeing how far it travels for a given putter retraction.

Then you write that number down.

Like, most courses that I play, the ball travels 20 feet for every inch of retraction when I'm putting on the green.

Right