The Road I'm On (pt 3)

 Moore Material Handling Group decided to open a branch office in the East Bay, and found an office building in Dublin.  They asked me to be the one who runs things (since I knew how to do service, parts and rental departments).  They provided a company car, and allowed me to work 8:30-4 because the travel time each way was far (40 mins drive time each way).   And I liked this gig!   I worked closely with one mechanic dedicated to doing repairs in this area, and with two sales men who also worked the area.  I thought the drive would do me in some days, but most days I enjoyed it.  I could tune in Family Radio and listen to a talk show each day.  I worked in this branch for three years.  

And that's where my road took me to Hamilton, Ohio.

My job was "stay at home mom" for three years.  I was mom to six kids all together.  And while the pay sucked, I wouldn't trade those years for anything!  Field trips, helping in classrooms, volunteering with Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, cheer mom, Little League, small town parades, and every other thing kids can do in a small town.  

When the day finally came that I realized that I needed to get a job, there wasn't much opportunity in a small town.  So I opted for Wal-Mart.  At the time, I had no idea just how large they were, and in the past 20 years, have become even larger than ever.  But my thought process was that some day if I needed to relocate, they have stores all over America, so ... why not join them?  I had a love/hate relationship with my different positions in the store.  My favorite of all time was being the manager of fabrics and crafts. I loved arranging the different fabrics, coordinating colors, and shifting them again each week to give the department a fresh new look.  And it worked, because I had some good sales figures.  

Then another twist in my road and I ended up in Trotwood, Ohio.  I needed to be close to Dayton so Brian could attend school at Sinclair College.  It was a townhome, two story, and close to the bus route so he could get to school and back.  It was a cute town, and a good move for us at the time.  I commuted from there to Hamilton for my job for 9 months, 55 miles each way!  Then I transferred to a brand new store in Eaton, Ohio.  The store manager asked me to come run the fabrics and crafts department there, and I jumped at the chance!  I made many good friends, several I still refer to as "sisters", we were that close.  It was as close to a small company as I would get within this huge conglomerate retailer.  I was very sad when I had to leave and make the move to Arizona. 

My journey within Walmart has taken me to Chandler, AZ.  I have been in the same position for 12 years now, and (mostly) enjoy each day's work.  In the simplest of terms, all the items returned by customers need to be processed into a vendor claim, destroyed or donated.  That's what I'm in charge of.  There are several other aspects of the job, but that's the main focus.  And while in the bigger picture, each day can be the same -- lots of stuff returned, lots of processing to do -- the challenge is in the details.  Each item, each vendor has a different set of "rules".  Shipping things via truck also has it's own set of regulations set up by the DOT, and must be followed.  I can honestly say I'm never bored.  I can also honestly say that every day has it's annoyances as well.  lol  

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.