8/29 ~ Ingram Micro Santa Ana

1995 USAIDS 5,000
(20th Anniversary Pictorial Tour)
Post #70: 
[ Excerpts from AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM STORY accompany each photo, edited to show actual names. ]  

[You’ve heard of getting up on the wrong side of bed? How about starting the day out bicycling ten miles in the wrong direction? I’ll blame it on a late night, but that’s what I did. Since my Boy Scout days, I’ve always prided myself on having a natural ability to go in the right direction, as well as knowing what direction that is. With a major corporate sponsor waiting patiently, I chose this day to lose my bearings—Murphy’s Law at its purest. Carl dug out the map and convinced me “the other way is correct.” I kicked things into high speed, rolling into Ingram Micro’s western headquarters parking lot in Santa Ana in the late morning. Most of the welcoming team had dissipated and gone back to work, a big time oops! . . . ]

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Picture #175

[ . . . Not surprisingly, we learned how this company had grown to become an international software leader and industry force, then marketing the newly unveiled Windows 95. (That seems like eons ago.) Our tour started with a warm reception organized by the philanthropic committee. One by one, I shook their hands while being introduced to a number of staff that that have been motivated by USAIDS 5,000, enough to participate in the April San Francisco to Los Angeles AIDS Ride, which benefited those two cities. A computer analyst guided us through the complex sales, marketing, purchasing, and warehouse operations of just one facility; there were several. Shipping departments were so highly automated that fork lifts had been designed to ride the aisles dead center. . . ]

— with Ingram Micro Bike Team #1, Ingram Micro Marketing Mgr., Ingram Micro Warehouse Mgr. and Ingram Micro Bike Team #2

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Picture #176

[ . . . I was only scantily dressed to begin with, so I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t pass quietly through the metal detector to get out. Carl saved the day by suggesting that my cycling shoes must contain some steel reinforcements. He was right. Our visit ended with a kick-ass lunch in Ingram Micro’s Hard Disc Café. They had one final gift for me—a complimentary night at the posh Windsor Suites, complete with glass elevators and indoor gardens and pools, with suites large enough for a good-sized family. “This mile is for Ingram Micro and a dozen or so more for their bicycling team for AIDS.” ]