The Road I'm On (pt 2)

More from The Road I'm On:  

My second job was with Radiation Detection agency.  In 1976/1977, nurses and techs who worked with equipment like xrays would wear a little piece of film that measured their exposure to radiation.  Their stats were monitored and tracked.  I was in pre-processing.  The film that was worn by employees of a company would send back a batch of film.  My job was to remove the film from it's clip, alphabetize the preprinted film (it looked a lot like an old photo slide), and compare the names on the film to the names on a printout.  These pieces were put into a tray and taken to a darkroom were they were processed and measured for radiation levels.  There would be stacks of reports afterward, the information sent back to the company.  Staff was comprised of 95% women, with four men in senior positions.  I was one of the younger employees and didn't comprehend all of the dynamics that were going on .... fraternizing and such.  (lol)  

I worked here when I was a senior in High School.  I would go to three classes in the morning, then ride my bike 2 miles to get to work in Sunnyvale.  I think I worked 11-5 until I could get a car, then I went full time.  One of the most memorable days was the day Elvis Presley died.  I can see myself sitting there, getting film ready for processing; the radio was on and the terrible news was broadcast.  Girls were crying, people were in shock.  

I left that job and got another job with United Motors (I believe back then it was a division of Emerson).  I did office work for my future mother-in-law.  It was a good job, something that suited me, typical secretarial stuff.  But they closed the office shortly after I started working there.  (It was on Kifer Road)  Then there was a temp agency for engineering type folk.  I was totally wrong for the job.  I was called into the office and invited out for drinks with staff and I declined (I wasn't 21 yet!).  The next day, I was answering phones and a gal asked me about the secretarial position posted.  That's when I knew I was being let go.  Which was fine -- this wasn't where I wanted to make a career!  This job was on De La Cruz near the airport. 

Then I interviewed for a job with Clarklift of San Jose.  And it seemed like I would be well suited for the job:  it was secretarial type work for a service department.  The mechanics worked on forklifts, I matched their time to the company work sheet and someone typed up the billing.  (This was way before computers!)  Shortly after that, we forged ahead and stopped all the typing of bills and just wrote hand calculations on the actual work sheet filled out by the mechanic.  I was very happy when we became automated with computers!   I was able to move up from being the service secretary to being the dispatcher.  My job was to take calls from customers who needed a forklift repair, and to send the mechanic out to fix it.  In other words, I told 10 men what to do and where to go --- best job ever!!!!  lol   I ended up learning the business of renting forklifts, how to coordinate delivering these huge machines all over the Valley, and even played a big part in helping create software specific to our company.  I ended up staying 22 years with Clarklift, and really enjoyed it.  But then, I had the best boss ever:  Ed Show.  He was smart, caring, and took time to teach.  He was like having an Uncle for a boss.  I could go to him with any kind of problem and he didn't mind taking the time to talk.  After we both left the company and moved away, we stayed in touch until he died.  

  

It changed over to Moore Material Handling Group when we added Nissan forklifts to the lineup.  It was a small company of about 60-70 employees over the years.  In my younger years, I thought that there would be better work opportunities if I worked for a large company, rather than a small one.  Now that I work for one of the largest retailers, I keep wishing for the small "family" I had with Clarklift.  

The things we don't really know when we think we know it all ......

The building is still there and it doesn't look changed, only repainted.