I had work for Stewart Stone, at the rock quarry off and on from the time I was 14 years old. Mostly after school and during the Summer break from school. My father was the superintendent at Stewart Stone, so he managed to convince the owner that I was worth the risk. I liked the job and it was a great opportunity to gain some experience in operating heavy equipment. My Dad worked there for 47 years, and finally retired after a shoulder injury.
I went to work for a local heating and air conditioning firm, Pawnee Heat and Air, straight out of high school. After a short company sponsored school, I was performing maintenance, installations and anything necessary to keep people cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter. I left Pawnee Heat and Air and went back to the rock quarry since breaking rocks paid better than twisting wires.
While working at Stewart Stone, a coworker, Alvin Smith, talked to me about working at ODOT. He had worked for ODOT for a very short time, until he decided it was detrimental to his Social Security. Alvin was around 62 at the time and planning on retiring at 65. He said ODOT's retirement system was designed for younger people who could stay for a long time. Old Al knew what he was talking about, and I'm glad I listened.
I applied for the job and got a response within a week. After a short interview I was told to show up on January 15. My supervisor used my equipment operating skills as a base to train me to flag traffic, and cut brush along the right-of-way. Since it was January in Oklahoma, I did those manual labor tasks in sub-freezing temperatures.
I seriously considered returning to the rock breaking business, but some unseen power convinced me to stay. ODOT, or any state agency in Oklahoma for that matter never paid what I could have made in the private sector, but having health insurance, vacation and sick pay, and a retirement plan almost made up for the low pay.
The benefits weren't a good selling point to a 20 year old, but since I was married and had a little girl to consider, I stuck it out. I had to work for ODOT for 7 years to finally get back to the salary that I was making in the rock quarry, so needless to say, we had to learn to live a little more frugally than we had in previous years.
In April 1975, a Division Wide crew came to Pawnee County to apply a chip seal to State Highway 18, South of Pawnee. The Supervisor, Jim Hayes, talked to me about my skill set. The next day, he asked if I could drive a 10 cubic yard dump truck, with a 10-speed transmission. I said I could, and he had me drive the truck all day hauling 5/8" chips from the stockpile to the chipping machine. The following day, Jim asked if I could operate a front-end loader. I told him that was my favorite piece of equipment. He had me load limestone chips from the stockpile, onto the trucks until the job was complete. I believe I loaded nearly 1,000 tons of chips before the end of the job.
When Jim's crew was ready to move to the next job, he stopped me in the maintenance yard. I assumed he was telling me goodbye. Instead, he told me the crew would leave a 5 yard dump truck in the Pawnee yard for me to drive to Osage County for the next job. Jim said, "you work for me now." That was a major turning point in my career. I worked for Jim until the crew was disbanded, at which time I returned to the Pawnee County crew.
I was contacted by Frank Chiles, the Maintenance Engineer, in October 1979. He asked if I would take the Maintenance Superintendent position in Osage County. I originally told him no, but he called back about a week later and asked if I would do it for 6 months, or until they could find someone else. 10 years later, I was still in Osage County. I must have accidently accepted and worked there until 1990.
In April 1975, a Division Wide crew came to Pawnee County to apply a chip seal to State Highway 18, South of Pawnee. The Supervisor, Jim Hayes, talked to me about my skill set. The next day, he asked if I could drive a 10 cubic yard dump truck, with a 10-speed transmission. I said I could, and he had me drive the truck all day hauling 5/8" chips from the stockpile to the chipping machine. The following day, Jim asked if I could operate a front-end loader. I told him that was my favorite piece of equipment. He had me load limestone chips from the stockpile, onto the trucks until the job was complete. I believe I loaded nearly 1,000 tons of chips before the end of the job.
When Jim's crew was ready to move to the next job, he stopped me in the maintenance yard. I assumed he was telling me goodbye. Instead, he told me the crew would leave a 5 yard dump truck in the Pawnee yard for me to drive to Osage County for the next job. Jim said, "you work for me now." That was a major turning point in my career. I worked for Jim until the crew was disbanded, at which time I returned to the Pawnee County crew.
I was contacted by Frank Chiles, the Maintenance Engineer, in October 1979. He asked if I would take the Maintenance Superintendent position in Osage County. I originally told him no, but he called back about a week later and asked if I would do it for 6 months, or until they could find someone else. 10 years later, I was still in Osage County. I must have accidently accepted and worked there until 1990.
The new Maintenance Engineer, Ed Kellogg, asked me to transfer back to Pawnee County to accept the Maintenance Superintendent position. That position was vacated by my old supervisor, Loy Dallas, aka "Ol' Blue Eyes". Funny how things sometimes go full circle.
I supervised the maintenance operations in Pawnee County for 10 years, until I applied for the Area Maintenance Manager position at the Division office, in Tulsa.
I supervised the maintenance operations in Pawnee County for 10 years, until I applied for the Area Maintenance Manager position at the Division office, in Tulsa.
I took the promotion and began the job in June 2000. I managed maintenance operations in a 12 county area for 13 years and finally decided enough was enough. Driving 70 miles to the office, and then driving 100-300 miles each day just got old.
I had driven as many as 400 mile checking snow removal activities. My wife, Peggy didn't like the idea of me driving 50-60,000 miles per year, sometimes all bight long. She thought I had been lucky for all those years, but that sooner or later, she would get a call from the highway patrol or ODOT.
She wanted me to take the retirement, while I was still healthy. She knew that the average life expectancy of an ODOT employee after retirement is 6 months.
I have taken on the mission to raise that number as much as possible. Now, when it snows, or someone is needed to clean up after a natural disaster, I can put another log on the fire, and remember the "Good Ol' Days". The Good Ol' Days really were good, but I am finding out that retirement is even better.
