Labor Day 2008

Because it’s Labor Day, I’ve been thinking about all of the jobs I’ve had in my life. I don't remember what I wanted to be when I grew up, my earliest memory of a career path is when I was in high school. I wanted to learn about computers (they were pretty new back then, I was one year removed from punch cards on a mainframe at UT) but my dad talked me into majoring in engineering, he said that I could always work with computers with an engineering degree, but if I majored in Computer Science and discovered that I didn't like computers, I was stuck. Even though I really didn't understand what an engineer did, I agreed, and in my first semester I realized that engineering was my calling. There was a big construction wall around the new Mechanical Engineering building, and someone had spray painted "Engineering isn't everything, it's the only thing" on it. Other graffiti was removed, but they left that. It was inspiring, and at the time, I agreed. One professor said (tongue-in-cheek) "I consider anyone not working in the engineering field to be a leach on society." I regret now that my college career was so focused on engineering and left-brain activities. I've come to value my creative side, with reading, writing, and other "liberal art" outlets. If I won the lottery I would go back to university for sure.

My first real job (other than paper routes and mowing lawns) was at the Oakwood Glen swimming pool. A couple of my friends got summer jobs there as lifeguards, and they hired me to come in the morning and clean the pool. It was about 30 minutes of work, six days a week, and I got paid $20/week, which paid for a tank of (leaded) gas!

When I went to school I didn't work my freshman year during the school year, but my sophomore year I had to get a job. I went down to the local Wendy's and applied, and was hired on the spot. That was a tough job at first, mostly mopping, wiping, cleaning grease, on your feet all day long, and then I worked my way up to the salad bar. I occasionally did fries and made burgers, one day I even got to work the grill, but that was a skill position, you had to anticipate how many burgers to have going at the same time. Too few, and everyone has to wait. Too many, and there's a lot of waste. I think I lasted one semester there, I eventually gave my notice when the semester was up. The next semester I was a pizza maker, a much nicer job. No grease, and we ate and drank for free on the job.

In the summers, I became a lifeguard and a swim team coach and swimming instructor at Willow Forest. I made enough money in the summer to last me most of the school year, living large until around April and scrimping by until the summer. Eventually, the pool company I worked for got out of the business of managing lifeguards, and I stayed on as a chlorine delivery truck driver (the world's best!) and commercial pool repair. That was a tough job, I worked 100+ hours a week most weeks in the summertime. The boss worked just as hard as we did, and I really learned a lot about the rewards of hard work and a job well done, and also I learned what I didn't want to do for a living for the rest of my life.

In a break from school I worked as an engineering intern for 3D/International, designing HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems for office buildings. I also worked on the construction of the George R. Brown Houston Convention Center, although I was disappointed when I saw the architectural styling. After returning to Hancock Pool Services for another year, I started working at FERA Corporation as a CAD (computer-aided drafting) technician while I finished up my degree. When I graduated, they hired me as a corrosion engineer. Four years later I went to work at El Paso, and with a brief interlude at Enbridge, I'm back where I was.