I have done other work besides electrical work.  Both before starting the electrical trade, and in between steady work, I had other jobs.

Being raised on the farm, I have driven 30 different kinds of tractors, two combines, a hay mower, and a hay rake.  I have driven horses, hauled hay, grain, bundles of grain, and shocked grain (Canadians call it “stuked”)

I have milked cows and goats, butchered animals, thinned beets, picked potatoes, picked cotton, worked on a sheep ranch, a cattle ranch and worked in the woods skidding logs with a horse.  I have picked fruit, irrigated beans, worked in a department store as a delivery boy, and worked as a common laborer.

I have worked in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, California and New York.  I owned my own electrical contracting business for 22 years.  I have also tried to keep up with my wife’s “honey-do” list.

Although I enjoyed farming, electrical work has always been more interesting and challenging.  Now, however, I do very little work that would be classed as “earning a living.”  Though I am the Administrator of my sons’ shop, I am mostly retired, but being retired is pretty tiring.  I think that’s why they call it RE-tired.  Therefore to stave off RE-tired-ment, I try to keep up on my wife’s “honey-do” list.

My advice to everybody is “Don’t Get Old!”

With all that variety of work experience, one common lesson I learned is: Do Not try to tell someone who works in another craft how to do their work!  It will only make enemies.

Find out what you do best and stick with it.

Play it safe.

Generally speaking, I try not to be the one in charge.  You are the guy that winds up in the middle, between everyone; – The Boss and the men; The customer and the Boss; The architect and the engineer; The engineer and the inspector.

As a result I was never given the position of Foreman, which suited me just fine.

Many times I worked alone.  I actually preferred it.  In fact years ago I worked alone on government projects for months.  Towards the last they put me in charge of working out the “Punch List.”

When the inspector inspected the job, he made a list of all the things needing correction – the “Punch List.”  I noticed certain things came up again and again on the punch list.  I made up a list of my own.  I called it the “Pre Punch List.”

I showed my list to the Foreman and he thought it was great.  He took it to the upper echelon and they also liked it.  In fact they liked it so much they made copies and sent it to every one of their crews.  We eliminated the “Punch List” because of it.

Years later when working alone, I would use that system.  As a job neared its finish, I would make a pre-punch list and post it somewhere convenient.  I would add to the list as things needed to be done and scratch them out as things got done, and thus, no punch list.  You can punch out a job more efficiently using that system.

One job required us to drive 100 miles one way to get to the job site.  There were just two men, the foreman and me.  One day the foreman had to take the day off to take care of personal business.  He told me to take care of things while he was gone.  No problem!

And there weren’t any problems.

When I got my check at the end of the week the company had included foreman pay for one day.

Surprise, surprise.

One of my friends worked as an engineer at a local radio station.  The talk among the electricians I worked with, was that if you could get to the top of the radio tower and replace the bulb you would get paid $25.00.  This was in the early ‘60s and $25.00 was a lot of money!

I asked my friend about it.  He explained that a man came regularly to change all the bulbs whether or not they were burned out, except for the top one.  The top one was only replaced when it was burned out.  He didn’t know how much the station paid, but he thought it was pretty good.

One day he called me up and said some of the bulbs were out on the tower.  He wondered if I would like to try changing them out.  I jumped into my 1948 Ford Flatbed Pick-up and hurried out to the tower site.

When I got there and looked up at the tower I thought it was really high!  I didn’t think I wanted to try it.  My friend hadn’t arrived yet and I didn’t want to leave without talking to him.  I laid down on the bed of my pick-up and studied the thing.  The longer I studied it, watching the clouds drift past the tower, or the tower drift past the clouds (it was hard to tell which), the easier it looked.

When my friend showed up I said O.K. let’s do it.  (Sometimes it’s better to go with your original instinct.)  He informed me that he would call the station and inform them that the power would be cut for a little while.  I asked if that was necessary – couldn’t I jump quickly from the earth to the first rung?  That’s what the experienced fellows do.  He didn’t want to take a chance on me as this was my first time.

I strapped on my gear and proceeded to the first light – about ¼ of the way up.  I tied myself off and took the glass cover off.  It was about the size of a quart jar.  The glass cover was tied to the fixture with a small chain so it would hang there while you changed out the bulb.  What I had not realized was the chain was rusted in two and I almost dropped it.

That totally unnerved me.  I somehow got the bulb changed, the cover back on and I came down.  I informed my friend that I couldn’t do it – don’t pay me as I didn’t get the job done.  That eliminated any ambition to be the light bulb changer on radio towers.

The funniest part about the whole incident was a week later when I received a check in the mail from the station for $5.00; for changing one bulb.

It didn’t change my mind about climbing towers and changing bulbs.