Work History

well, the best I can recollect.  Here goes …

1. Paperboy (Upper Darby, PA) – did as a kid and it taught me how to handle money, keep to a schedule (had to rise at 4AM), keep track of who paid and who didn’t and be my own boss (at least when I was on my route).
2. Mowed lawns (Upper Darby, PA) – no sissy gas mower used here
3. Dishwasher (Arlington, VA) – not sure the company name but some restaurant.  A summer job.
4. USAF (Tucson, AZ) – Did 3 years and 1 day thanks to Nixon.  Joe College halted things for me and I don’t know if I was even there.  I guess proof is not needed in the military.
5. Janitor (Tucson, AZ) (4 months) – Not sure the company name but responsible for cleaning up two post offices before they opened.  I think I got up at 3 AM and worked 6 days a week.
6. Sweeper in pottery factory (Washington, PA) (1 week) – had to travel to get this one.   One week breathing in that dust was enough.  Memorable sandwiches for dinner though.
7. Shipping/Receiving clerk Hilton Inn (Washington, PA) (2½ months) – chef who hired me acted like a stereotypical mobster (Italian, tough talking, said he worked the room at weddings he catered for known mobsters) and hired me because I was in security in the AF and said he needed someone he could trust.  Was there about two months and he let me drive his caddy sometimes.
8. Exterminator (Tucson, AZ) (6 months) – this was 6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day and I probably took home between $125-$150/week.  Bought my first motorcycle from my boss (Honda CL350) and found out this business can be a real racket.  Especially when there are those willing to make a box to trap scorpions for less than $5 worth of materials but charge the client $150 and it probably won’t do much more than provide them with peace of mind.  After six months got a job offer from CA working with my brother; was I happy to leave!
9. Maintenance Man (Oakland, CA) (about 1 year) – well, the assistant manager position originally offered wasn’t really there and this was all that was available.  Seems the manager was my brother’s girlfriend and he worked as her assistant.  I was able to do this job even though I never had before in their 98-unit building across the street from the main office of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).  I did a lot of OJT in my life.  I have always been a fast learner and this job helped me a lot.  I tried to do it justice.  I did learn a lot though:  painting just about anything; plastering; carpeting; windows/glass; and whatever else came along.  I did this for about a year before I moved onto my next.
10. Student Laney College (Oakland, CA) (about 1½ years – dropped out) – here’s where I cashed in my GI Bill and started my dream of becoming a veterinarian.  The classes were pretty basic (English, Trigonometry, Physics, Chemistry) and were just the requirements I would need to transfer to Davis.  Everything was going ok even though I was walking a tightrope.  I had a girlfriend who had a low paying job at a department store so that helped a lot with the bills because the reality is the GI Bill doesn’t go very far.  I didn’t want to work and be a student.  I was taking about 15 credits and there was still just 24 hours in a day.  When my relationship ended with Jean Geyer, I had to figure out what I was going to do next as a large part of my financial support was now gone.  What I did next was a suggestion from my mother as I had never heard of CETA.
11. Student CETA (Oakland, CA) (about 4 months) – while being paid I could learn a trade.  I wanted to get into welding because I’m not afraid of heights, Jean’s father (he was an engineer for Bechtel and was part of the construction/planning of BART) showed me a little bit as he had one, therefore I figured I could do it, and it was supposed to start at $19/hour.  As I needed a paycheck as soon as possible, I found out that there was a year’s waiting list for this class.  My next question was Well. what do you have?  They said We have word processing.  I said What is that?  They said Not sure but it’s something to do with typing and computers.  Well, I had never worked with computers (remember, 1978) but I taught myself to type when I was about 13 but hadn’t typed in about 7 years.  As the CETA office was a block away from my apartment, I tested myself to find out where I was.  I typed 12/wpm.  I still remembered the keyboard and I needed to do 30/wpm to pass.  With a week’s practice, I did exactly 30/wpm!  Sweet!!  I waited a month for class to start and finished a 9-month course in 2 ½ months.  Now I know this sounds impressive but CETA had a 98% placement rate and they needed to make sure the slowest student passed too.  By the end I was able to use four word processing machines, how to type on a page properly (I never took into account margins or what pica or elite were) and was now typing up to 55/wpm.  I procrastinated for a month not getting because I found you had to interview for a job with a resume, something I had never done before.  I had always just filled out a job app and asked when do I start?  The first (and only) place I interviewed wanted to hire me.  I made almost 3 times ($750/month) what I made at CETA.   Here’s info on some requirements.  http://www.michigan.gov/careers/0,1607,7-170-46398-64721--,00.html
12. Crocker National Bank (CNB) (San Francisco, CA) (5½ years) – started work in their Training & Development department typing up the manuals for CNB for all of CA.  Started with 12 people; when I left I was all that was left.  I found that not only had my speed increased (about 100/wpm) but I would read (and sometimes understand) all that I typed.  I learned a lot.
13. Townsend & Townsend (San Francisco, CA) (6½ years) – was able to both work with my sister, who I and my mother had just moved here with her daughter from IL, but also being paid much more for what I did.  I didn’t think I would ever make much in the public sector and was glad for this opportunity.  I think this brought me, my sister and niece closer together.  Went from WP department to taking care of all computers.  No network.  When a Novell network was discussed, thought I would transition into managing it.  Instead the salesman who was selling us our computers was hired and given that job.  It took about two years but figured those I thought had my back, didn’t so I went elsewhere when an opportunity arose.  There may have been other considerations to this decision besides what could be perceived on the surface.  I felt that my boss, Joan and I, were friends.  After all, I went motorcycle riding with her husband, Reggie.
14. Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe (HEWM) (Palo Alto, CA) (3½ years) – with the recommendation of Julie Mar-Spinola came to this firm.  My duties were to include:  Training instructor to this office on the use of a computer or specific applications as needed; Word Processing supervisor (13 employees of various shift); Supervisor of the individual responsible for the Ameritech phone system (worked with ROLM before but not this one); MIS Manager of Banyan network – responsibilities shared with Office Manager, my boss.  The person who hired me left and the one who replaced her, Geri Rice, was a micromanager to the enth degree.  I finally got tired of it and what seemed like a dream come true in Indiana, I went for it.
15. Pythia Consulting (Indianapolis, IN) (14 months) – I got this job after being recommended by my sister-in-law to her former boyfriend, who owned the company.  His biggest client was the Statehouse where I spent 99% of my time.  I learned a lot about how government worked behind the scenes.  Shocking!  I even had my first and last brush with the KKK who demonstrated on the steps about three weeks after I started.  As weird a group of folks in person as they were on TV.
16. Computer Based Services, Inc. (CBSI) (Sheridan, IN) (19 months) – phone support for about 32 applications that clients (center owners) used to run a business.  The average startup cost was about $6-$8K, depending on which ones they chose.  Some would spend $15K.  Worked with people all over the country (and sometimes world) whose expectations of running a business was not always in touch with reality.  Cash from the floppy drive seemed to be the thought at times.  I would at times help with marketing ideas and would bring their equipment back to CBSI at our expense if need be.  This could either send them through the roof or bring great elation.
17. Entex (Indianapolis, IN) (5 years, 2 months) – started out configuring and repairing laptops to a Windows 95 environment for an insurance company.  Found out why they called a ThinkPad a stinkpad.   LOT’S of screws.  First time I took one apart it was 3 hours before it was back together.  I could do the same thing in about a half hour 3 months later.  I think I did about 25 of them in all and configured about 100.  I went from there to be part of the onsite help desk at Indiana Gas.  It became part of Vectren when it merged with an Evansville company (SIGICO) and DPL.  I went from the HD to be the tech in the northern part of Indiana.  At first I used my car but when I started working on their wireless laptops in their trucks, they gave me a truck.  I was also involved in the Vectren merger by going to Dayton and identifying and upgrading their equipment and then going to SIGICO and deploying some software to their existing infrastructure using SMS.  I learned a lot while at this company and had a chance to grow.
18. S&R Resources, Inc. (onsite at FHLBI)  (Indianapolis, IN) (8 months) – Hired as a consultant to migrate all their computers to Windows 2000 and their applications as directed.  Fun creating an image that fit on a CD and all one had to do is insert it and walk away.  30-45 minutes later it be done!
19. K-Force (onsite at Lilly) (Indianapolis, IN) (6 months) – I had a chance to hone skills I didn’t know I had.  I also walked about 5 miles each day!  My boss, John Peters, knew the ins and outs of all the equipment and willingly shared his knowledge.  I wasn’t there long enough but picking his brain made me better tech.  He was a good manager too.  No micro!
20. DCL (just shy of 4 years) – I really enjoyed working again with Sean (met him at CBSI and he also worked at Entex, but just at Cinergy).  He recommended me but I hope I convinced Bryan I was worth the money.  Unfortunately this is where my illness got worse and it became more and more difficult to keep my standards high.  I’m not sure everyone understood what I was going through cause I sure didn’t.
21. Disabled since March, 2007