As these things usually are, unless you’re lucky enough to inherit a business or farm, I had some really random stuff that landed me in Omaha.
When I was a sophomore in college majoring and doing well in geology and civil engineering, a buddy said, “you’re going to end up in Bumf@$# Egypt. There aren’t any women in BFE”. That was a definite fork in the road for me! I aced every biology and chemistry class I every took through Organic, and wondered about med school, but was too chicken to gamble on a good score on the MCAT. I changed to IE as if it was a command.
By the time I was interviewing for jobs, I was already married and was working nights as a tradesman at 3M in Ames. Trane in Lacrosse offered me a production engineering job, which was very tempting. I love that part of the world. I also took a trip to Bartlesville OK and got an offer from Phillips Petroleum as a safety engineer but it seemed too remote. Also, a buddy said something like, “safety’s for wienies. You’ll be selling ice to Eskimos.”
I got the very last interview for the Bell System during the old Memorial Union Great Hall scramble. Western Electric was a Bell company in Omaha had 3 million square feet of manufacturing, distribution, and office space and it was an amazing campus. Most interviews are probing and culling, but they acted like they wanted me from the first discussion. They invited my wife along and gave her a plant tour and she ended up getting a job two years later after getting an MBA at UNO. I started as a packaging, material handling and distribution engineer, and had a variety of assignments over 24 years. Great company and people while it lasted until 2001. I got lucky and landed at UP and retired 3 years ago.
Always wondered about Lacrosse, but love Omaha. All our kids stayed and are doing well here. No regrets on career or companies. OK, I still wonder about med school, but I hate sick people. 😛
When I was a sophomore in college majoring and doing well in geology and civil engineering, a buddy said, “you’re going to end up in Bumf@$# Egypt. There aren’t any women in BFE”. That was a definite fork in the road for me! I aced every biology and chemistry class I every took through Organic, and wondered about med school, but was too chicken to gamble on a good score on the MCAT. I changed to IE as if it was a command.
By the time I was interviewing for jobs, I was already married and was working nights as a tradesman at 3M in Ames. Trane in Lacrosse offered me a production engineering job, which was very tempting. I love that part of the world. I also took a trip to Bartlesville OK and got an offer from Phillips Petroleum as a safety engineer but it seemed too remote. Also, a buddy said something like, “safety’s for wienies. You’ll be selling ice to Eskimos.”
I got the very last interview for the Bell System during the old Memorial Union Great Hall scramble. Western Electric was a Bell company in Omaha had 3 million square feet of manufacturing, distribution, and office space and it was an amazing campus. Most interviews are probing and culling, but they acted like they wanted me from the first discussion. They invited my wife along and gave her a plant tour and she ended up getting a job two years later after getting an MBA at UNO. I started as a packaging, material handling and distribution engineer, and had a variety of assignments over 24 years. Great company and people while it lasted until 2001. I got lucky and landed at UP and retired 3 years ago.
Always wondered about Lacrosse, but love Omaha. All our kids stayed and are doing well here. No regrets on career or companies. OK, I still wonder about med school, but I hate sick people. 😛
