Earlier this month my family celebrated my dad's 50th anniversary of being a welder. The sign below was courtesy of my nieces, Jessica and Victoria, who are my brother John's daughters. They ran out of time to make "welding" pretty.
Dad started working for Tom Tomberlin (yes, that was really his name) at Tom's Welding Service in Ellinwood when he was a green 18-year-old back in November of 1958, just months before he married my mom. That's where he learned the ins and outs of being an oilfield welder. After 13 years, dad left his job at Tom's and started his own business at my parents' home south of Ellinwood, with my mom as his bookkeeper and business partner, even though to my knowledge she's never welded one bit.
When I was a kid, his business expanded by leaps and bounds from that first shop, which was the size of a two-car garage, to accommodate the surge in drilling for oil in the area. Dad bought some adjacent land and built a bigger shop. He turned the old shop into an office for him to do his paperwork. He hired a professional artist to come and paint lettering on the side of the new shop, so "Larry's Welding Service" could easily be seen from the highway a quarter of a mile away to help guide delivery drivers to the yard. It's been touched-up once, but it's still leading people to the shop. At the height of the '80s oil boom, he employed eight people. And they either built from scratch or renovated several drilling rigs during that time. He was featured in the local newspaper. It seemed there was constant activity in the yard.
My childhood memories include the fact that dad was gone overnight sometimes while doing surface jobs. These jobs meant that he would weld the long pieces of pipe together as the drilling company laid the surface pipe for the oil well. They have to drill enough pipe down into the ground to reach the oil deposit, which is a different distance at each site, depending on the geology of the area. This is an important step in the drilling process and although I never got to accompany him on any of these jobs (I'm sure I asked) I know he is a master at his craft.
Then the oil business fell on hard times. All of the employees left for various other jobs (one of them is a big, successful executive at an auditing firm in Dallas now) including my brothers, because there wasn't enough work to keep them busy. After that dad was on his own and usually had enough jobs from local farmers and the oilfield to keep him busy. He was frequently visited by various friends who kept him company while he worked on something for them or who just stopped by to chew the 
fat. This still goes on, although some of those friends have since passed away. One of the things that's kept his business intact through thick and thin is the integrity he possesses. He's a fair and honest businessman and that's what keeps his customers coming back year after year.
To the left is a picture of my dad taken earlier this month. He's standing
next to one of his lathes. Watching him do lathe work is fascinating because of the precision that's required. I also love the piles of metal shavings lathe work produces (photo at right).
About eight years ago, my brother John lost his job as an engineer of front-end loaders when Great Bend Manufacturing closed its doors. He began working with my dad at that time in the hopes that someday dad will want to retire and John will take over the business. Dad turned 68 years old this year and he is far from retired, although he's talked about it some. He also happily lets John do all of the surface jobs these days. Currently Larry's Welding Service employs three full-time employees (including my dad) and two part-time employees (including my mom). The recent boom in the oilfield industry has kept them extremely busy in the past couple of years.
Occasionally mom and dad take little trips to either come to Wichita or to visit my sister Jenny and her family in Oakley. Sometimes they leave for a couple of weeks and drive to California to visit my mom's aunt, but that big of a trip doesn't happen more than once every two years. The biggest concession he's made toward retirement is taking a daily nap after eating lunch until it's time to go back to work at one o'clock.
Dad's worked hard and deserves to sit back and relax, but I get the feeling he doesn't know what he'd do with himself if he retired. Plus, I imagine it would be really hard since the business he and my mom built from the ground up is just outside the house. And I suppose 50-year-old habits do die hard.
Much like the importance of getting the surface laid properly to insure the integrity and success of an oil well, dad's built a good foundation of something that will carry on into subsequent generations. The second generation is already in place and I'm very proud of what my parents have accomplished.
For the past two weeks I've been pretty scarce on the blogging scene, but it's all been for a good reason. My new job has kept me plenty busy even though I'm to keep my hours to 40 per week. I've been putting in longer hours toward the beginning of the week (perfectly OK with my new boss, Lori) and then taking some time off on Friday to reward myself. The job is still wonderful and even though it's a little overwhelming at times I think it's going quite well.
Along with starting a new job, I also became the owner of a brand new washer and dryer. Once I had a job secured, I knew that I needed to take some money out of savings to make this big purchase. My 15-year-old washing machine was not agitating anymore and that was agitating me. It means I was doing smaller loads to make sure the clothes came clean. And that's a pain.
Out with the old Whirlpool models...and in with the new Maytag Centennial models.
Notice the clear lid on the washing machine. Also, we had to move the dryer away from the wall because it's a bit deeper than the old one and the door to the laundry area wouldn't close otherwise. But the most amazing thing (I didn't even know this when I purchased them) is that there's a light in the dryer! Now I don't have to search blindly to see if I've gotten everything out.
For some reason, laundry isn't such a chore anymore.
My friend Lori tagged me in her blog, so I give to you my response. Sorry I'm so late to the party!
Here are the rules: - Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post the rules on your blog.
- Write 6 random things about yourself.
- Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
- Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
Six random things about me:1. One of my very best friends is British and lives in Wantage, a village not far from Oxford in jolly old England. Lucy and her husband, Ian, and kids William and Ellen, live 5000 miles away from me, but when we're together every three or four years, we pick right up like we saw each other last week. Lucy and I have been friends since October of 1993. Wow, I guess we just celebrated 15 years of friendship! And we've only physically been in the same place nine different times for various spans. I plan to post a longer blog about our friendship at a later date.2. I just started a new job with Catholic Charities and I love it! I'm a Family Recruitment & Intake Specialist with the Marriage for Keeps program. It's exhausting learning the ins and outs of a new job, but I'm so excited about it and I haven't been excited about my job in a long time.
3. Recently I joined Weight Watchers for the second time. I struggle with my weight all the time and it's time I did something about it. I'm trying to lose at least 40 pounds before I'm 40. I still have almost five months to do it. Keep me in line if you see me about to eat something dripping with calories, but be gentle about it.
4. During my time off between jobs I got some things done around my house. Lots of cleaning and organizing. I'm still working on the computer/sewing room, but it's coming along. I need to get it finished so I can start working on some Christmas sewing projects.5. I am addicted to way too much television. Some shows I watch religiously: Grey's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model, ER, Dancing with the Stars, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives (even though they did the 5-year fast-forward) and The Starter Wife. It's going to be hard to keep up with everything since I've started my new job. I might have to drop a few. Thank goodness for TiVo.6. My parents are coming for a visit this week. I'm looking forward to having the company. Mom comes once a month for painting (September through May) but dad doesn't always come along. This time he's got errands, so he's coming. Luckily with my new flexible schedule, I'll be able to come home earlier since I'm working longer hours Monday and Tuesday. Definitely a bonus!
I'm tagging:HeatherLindaJenniferRobynLoriJill
My mother has always been a picture-taker on the first day of school. She requested I take a photo of myself on my first day of work, so this is a self-portrait snapped this morning at about 8:15 as I arrived for "Within Our Reach" training at Newman University. My first day was great. Bacon for breakfast at the training and I met a lot of the other people I'll be working with on a daily basis. They are all friendly and helpful and much younger than I am.
The training was pretty good, but I'm looking forward to Thursday afternoon when training concludes and I'll be able to sit at my new workspace and log into the system for the first time. I'm trying to decide which pictures I'll display and what pen/pencil holder to take for my desk. I'm sure these are exactly the things Barack Obama was thinking when he toured the White House today with his family.
I got a job! I was offered the position of Family Recruitment Specialist with the Marriage for Keeps program a couple of weeks ago. Marriage for Keeps is a research program under the umbrella of Catholic Charities whose mission is to strengthen the relationships of married couples who have children. The hope is that if the marriage is stronger, the family will be stronger.
I'm really excited about this opportunity to do something totally different from anything I've ever done before. I have taken a pretty substantial pay cut, but I feel so fortunate to have found a job I anticipate I will love in this crazy economy. I will primarily be doing intake of the couples who commit to the 12-week program. It all became very real today when I went for a short orientation and then filled out all the paperwork that new employees have to fill out. I'd forgotten how many things there are to sign. Next week I'll be in training for four days, but after that I'll get keys to the building and start learning how to manage the intake process. For now at least, I'll share an office with Nikki that actually has windows! After 10 years of cubicle living with limited access to windows that faced outside, that's a real bonus in my book.
Dad started working for Tom Tomberlin (yes, that was really his name) at Tom's Welding Service in Ellinwood when he was a green 18-year-old back in November of 1958, just months before he married my mom. That's where he learned the ins and outs of being an oilfield welder. After 13 years, dad left his job at Tom's and started his own business at my parents' home south of Ellinwood, with my mom as his bookkeeper and business partner, even though to my knowledge she's never welded one bit.
fat. This still goes on, although some of those friends have since passed away. One of the things that's kept his business intact through thick and thin is the integrity he possesses. He's a fair and honest businessman and that's what keeps his customers coming back year after year.
next to one of his lathes. Watching him do lathe work is fascinating because of the precision that's required. I also love the piles of metal shavings lathe work produces (photo at right).
