Friday, August 31, 2007

Travel Time/Jobs I have known


8:50 PM


Here goes....Jumped in the Jeep and headed up to Nappanee, Indiana, (about 120 miles NW of Celina) this morning to pick up one of two RVs that I will be delivering to a post Labor Day show at the Hershey Chocolate World grounds in Hershey, PA...and I thought New Orleans was Chocolate City...guess I was misinformed. So I will officiate a JV football game at St Henry tomorrow, watch a little college football(Ohio State's new starting QB is from St Henry, where the wife teaches), then head out and make my way towards Pennsylvania. Will deliver RV#1 Sunday AM, come home...stay the night, then head back to Nappanee Monday pick up RV#2 then run that back to Hershey...getting home, if all goes well(they or the Jeep have broken down before), Tuesday evening sometime.....will work in Greenville Thursday and Friday of next week, rather than the usual Monday-Tuesday set-up.


0-49 years ago

_____________Did you ever look back and(being old enough) remember exactly how many jobs you have held in your life? My dad passed away about 35 years ago(this coming Christmas Eve 1972).....Mom will on occasion recall just how many jobs the Old Man had during his career....a mechanic by trade, Stan Houseworth was never without a job....but he did switch quite often....I think mom counted about 31 different jobs in their 27 years of marriage....I used to smile about that wanderlust way....however, thinking back...I've had my share in the past 49 years of my 58 years on this planet....here is a quick list:


Toss in first the 20 years I spent as a Environmental Health Sanitarian...my major career, spending 8 years in Mercer County(Ohio), and the final 12 as Director in my birth county of Van Wert....20 years as a bureaucrat was more than enough...I enjoyed the job, but let's face it, enforcing rules and laws in which you didn't believe in 75 or 80% of, 20 years was plenty.


The rest....from the start, the ones I remember:


paper carrier-9 years old-Venice, Florida

carry out groceries-16-18-Marsh Supermarkets-Celina, Ohio

Bike Factory(Huffy)18-19-Celina, Oho

(a) several different jobs there

US Air Force Security Police-19 to 23 years old

Dover, DE, Nha Trang RVN, Tan Son Nhut RVN, Griffiss(Rome) NY

Back to the Bike Factory 1 more year

Metal Sheet Factory 2 weeks

School Janitor 1 year age 24

Bar Tender/Bouncer 2 years The Red Door, age 25-26 Celina, Ohio

College-Athens and Nelsonville, Ohio

Pizza Delivery Guy-Van Wert, Ohio

Broadcast School -Wausau, WI

Bartender-Wausau

Ski Lift Operator-Wausau..finally reached 30

Broadcasting Jobs fulltime age 30-34

Stations WRIG Wausau DJ/WJMT Merrill, WI DJ/WIOU Kokomo, IN Morning News Anchor/KGNO/KDCK Dodge City, KS News Director/WCSM Celina, Ohio Program and Sports Director, Morning DJ. Part-time gigs TV News Anchor Cable 7 News Ohio/Sports Play-by-Play WKSD Van Wert and Paulding, Ohio...........WHEW!


Since "retirement" in 2002

RV Delivery, ave delivered in 46 states(Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Vermont are the exceptions)

High School and American Legion baseball umpire(since 2000)

High School and Rec football official(2006)

and Inventory and spread sheet work as a private contractor.


And I'm sure I left out a few part-time gigs while in college and the Air Force...couple more bar tending gigs, sold typewriters(whatever the Hell they are?).....amazing....no matter your education level, and believe me I used my GI Bill up and more....I bet when you think back, you've had more jobs that you really ever thought about.


OK...back and forth between Indiana, Ohio, and Chocolate City for the next 4 days...


[photo: this is RV#1 a mid price 40 footer from Gulf Stream..sitting in my drive-way until I head out late tomorrow afternoon].


prh



4 comments:

GUYK said...

I don't think I can remember all of the jobs that I have had..my first paying job was pumping gas and fixing flats when I was 11 years old and at 12 I went to work in the oilfield as a roustabout..mostly cutting grass along pipelines and digging ditches kind of stuff. At 13 I was working on the oil field service rigs and at 14 I was roughnecking on a drilling rig. And, when I couldn't find work in the oil patch I cowboyed, farmed, hauled hay, built fence and whatever else there was to make a dime. During my 22 and a half years in the USAF I had part time jobs doing everything from tending bar to night manager in the clubs and when in the states did whatever I could find to do...in Great Falls MOntana I got a part time gig one time running a D-9 cat on a big wheat farm pulling a plow and another job later driving a semi hauling gasoline. After I retired I cowboyed some, worked on a wheat farm, was Chief of Security at a Mercury marine plant, owned a bar for a while, sold cars, and finally went into business for myself. I never was afraid of work...I have done so much of it in my life that I can go to sleep with it happening right beside of me.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Man, that background ought to give you some stories...can't wait for them to unfold!

What do those RVs run...$1 to 200 grand...at least?

I had about 14 jobs over the years, but I ended up a Communications Manager for DOE for the last 29 years!

PRH said...

The one pictured is a "low" ender...lol...only about $125,000..to be perfectly honest, some are not user friendly...but what the heck? Guess if you want to spend, spend...keeps people working.

Speaking of which, I forgot, when I was in broadcasting school I also was a security guard at nights....that lasted about 6 months....I'm sure I will think up some more.

Have a great Labor Day weekend gang....I'll be back in full force Tuesday.

pat

FHB said...

I bet going back to the bike shop was interesting after Nam. I delivered pizza for a while, and was a security guard in college, and worked in a Revco drug store, and mowed lawns, and delivered beds, and spent the last 17 years teaching college. Damn, my list sounds enimic compared to y'all. Oh, I was a bus boy in a German restaurant, and a ticket taker in a movie theatre.

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