When I got involuntarily released via a RIF from active duty, I put in 250+
applications and resumes. Ended up getting ONE interview with Parks &
Wildlife - they filled the entry level job with a PhD.
When the end of my terminal leave rolled around, i couldn't afford real
health insurance, so I bit the bullet and went back to school full time at
the orange & white junior college of central Texas to have student health
insurance.
Since I had no GI Bill benefits and therefore wasn't eligible for the
Hazelwood Act benefits, I had 4 paying jobs/businesses and a volunteer
position while getting a degree in Computer Sciences -
1) Naval Reserve duty 1 weekend a month and 7 or 8 weeks a year overseas
2) Teaching adult computer software user classes (Lotus 123, WordPerfect,
MS Batch Files, Enable and more)
3) Substitute teacher for Leander HS in Leander, TX
4) Odd jobs - house painting, septic tank repair, fence repair and
installation, general carpentry, roof repair, - if it paid and they were
willing to let me work around my schedule I did it. Digging out septic
tanks and septic field lines were weekend jobs.
5) The unpaid gig was as a firefighter and EMT. Ended up doing that for
over 30 years with 2 departments
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 1:47 PM Mark Kelley <markrkelley77@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yeah, former ditch digger here, too. And commercial truck driver. (Got
good at double-clutching and using a running gear splitter.) When money was
needed, there wasn't any job below me. I had a family and bills had to be
paid. There were days I didn't want to get up, but as y'all know, quitting
never was an option.
Actually enjoyed driving a truck. That is until I would before so tired I
would hallucinate that there were giant puppies on the highway and that the
overpasses had collapsed.
That wasn't so fun.
For the most part, I spent my adult life as either an industrial supplies
salesman or a secondary school educator. In retrospect, they were pretty
much the same job. Only thing different was the age group I worked with
and the level of micromanagement.
Mark R. Kelley
markrkelley77@xxxxxxxxx
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 9:06 AM Edward Retta <
eretta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Steve M.,
Yup that sounds correct. The "outdoor" inside the mall, seating.
I had a similar sentiment a couple of years later. As previously
discussed in this thread, several of us have worked as ditch diggers. Even
attorney Jeff Davis. Well, Steve Wright came to Carswell AFB, flying B 52s.
Schwennsen convened a pizza dinner for us. I was between jobs... long
story, I worked at my uncle's aircraft company and he died.
The next day after pizza dinner with Lt. Wright & others, I went back to
my temp job, demolition of a water park south of Carswell. Everytime a B 52
flew over, I imagined it was Wright above me, while I was digging ditches.
Longevity, and rasing kids have a way of rounding out life. I long ago
left behind feeling like an underachiever. Probably a 20 something
syndrome.
Here's to ditch diggers, flyboys and life long friends like y'all!
Edward Retta
On Mar 27, 2021 18:43, steve monroe <monrstep@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Ed
We think we do, but that was a few years ago. Wasn't it actually in
Ridgmar Mall and they had an "outdoor" patio (that was actually in the
mall) where we sat?
Steve
On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 7:07 PM Edward Retta <
eretta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Steve Monroe,
Do you remember dining at El Fenix, Tex Mex restaurant in west Ft. Worth
a day or two after your wedding? Pretty sure I was your waiter. It was
lunchtime. I think it was Ridgemar Mall or Ridgeway Mall...something like
that.
I remember thinking, wow, Steve is married and I am still living in a
tiny apartment with my Mom & sister!
My uncle was the supervisor of the El Fenix chain. He took me there for
one day because it was a new opening.
Edward Retta
+1 214 394 3000 (GMT -5)
crossculturecommunications.com
linkedin.com/in/edwardretta/
On Mar 26, 2021 18:25, steve monroe <monrstep@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes - it was me and Glazner in the SE corner in the Fall semester, then I
got married and upgraded ol' ladies. We put a bar my dad made in the hall
with the other lounge necessities (fridge, couch, loft...).
There were a bunch of us that drove out to the Sun Bowl in David Tiffin's
van - David/Patti, Jim/Lisa, Me/Melana, We actually cut our honeymoon a day
short and drove to El Paso early because of a potential ice storm (didn't
happen). Melana has always joked she spent her honeymoon with the aggie
band....
