107 Jobs I've Had II
I left off Wednesday leaving my cooking job, and yes, it was hard to leave a career like that, as I enjoyed it so much. (michelle, I'll have to tell you via email what they did.)
There's definitely something to be said for taking a raw material and making a finished product out of it, and the best part was when a customer sent his appreciation to the kitchen, or the ones that insisted we slip into the dining room so they could tell us themselves (meaning we'd have to put on a new, dress white chef jacket and go out, then back into the hot kitchen and switch back to the other jacket. On hot, summer nights.. the walk-in refrigerator was a welcome friend that we visited often. Remember, this was a 5 star restaurant. We served Steak Diane made at your table by the Maitre D, a home made salad dressing that was the invention of the head chef, Cherries Jubilee and Baked Alaska for dessert, and something you pretty much can't find anymore as an entree, Steak Tartar. Yes Mark, it broke my heart to say no.. and I've often said "what if..."
But, I digress.
Upon leaving cooking, I heard a place the next town over was looking for workers. It was a machine shop named Chapman Machine Shop, and they made a lot of parts for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. I interviewed, and the manager said he'd train me, offered me a fair pay and I said yes. I learned how to run vertical and horizontal milling machines, surface grinders, and tapping machines. I lasted there over a year, until my boss retired and then got another machinist job at a place called NAPCO (National Plastics Corportation). I had a great time there for a year or so. I remember I was working there during the blizzard of 1978, and I had a big Dodge van with my snowmobile in the back. I ended up taking people home on the snowmobile all night!
More on Monday... (yes, there's a LOT more to go)
Have a great weekend all!
posted by Dave
4 Comments:
You're on Dave, i'll look forward to that email!
It's always interesting to be so introspective about one's past, looking over the good and the bad, and seeing how far we've come in some things, and regressed in others!
i can't wait to hear more! Your writing has improved over the years, and now you have a "style" that's yours alone, and i thoroughly enjoy reading what you write.
Yours,
michelle ('lil o)
My hat is off to anyone that can make Baked Alaska. My mother and I attemped to make it one time and laughed about it for years to come.
~smile~
Reba
michelle is right; your storytelling style has evolved out here.
You finished with that part about the snowmobile, and it was so cool that I almost forgot the rest of the post. Just imagining living in a place where snowmobiles are sometimes needed (and often used for recreation, I guess) is totally foreign to me.
From Chef to Machinist -- that's your autobiography title, man.
Hi Dave ~~ Another good post about your many jobs, all interesting. I
noticed in the first of these posts
your number was 106 Jobs I have had.
I smiled and thought surely not. Glad
you got a smile from my jokes.
Take care, Regards, Merle.
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