My first job was toward the end of high school, working at Radio Shack in Crystal Lake, Il for one year. I was already a ham, and one of my buddies, Bruce WB9ELV, had worked there and recommended me. It got me out of the basement and into the jaws of the general public, which was quite an awakening. Mostly I was responsible for electronic components since I knew what I was talking about. It was also my introduction to audio equipment, which turned into yet another other hobby.
My First Job: Radio Shack
I was pilfered from Radio Shack by another friend from high school, going to work at a small company nearby called Apollo Microwave Products Co. They made an analytical instrument for moisture analysis based on a microwave oven. It was the perfect job for me. Design, fabrication, electronics, machine tools, and a fun bunch of young fellas to work with. This job lasted well into my college years before they were acquired by a company in New York. Here is the complete history of Apollo Microwave.
Apollo Microwave Products
So there I was mid-college and no summer job after Apollo evaporated. Luckily my dad, recently retired, was working as a county sheriff's deputy on the water patrol, on the Fox River and the Chain-O-Lakes in northern Illinois. There was a small navigational lock and dam complex on the river no far from our house, and they need summer help, so I signed on. Also, we owned a boat at the time, and I was a member of the U.S. Power Squadron, a boating eductional organization where my dad was commander for a year. So I continued to be around boats, which was nice.
What a contrast from my other jobs. Working outside all day, setting aids to navigation, cutting trees and brush, driving tractors, and watching hot babes going by in their boats. Awesome!. They would even throw us cans of beer. It was rather a dream job when you're 20. I would ride my bike back and forth to work (12 miles each way), work on my tan, and build myself up until I could do 50 pushups. The pay was ok, and the old brain got the summer off.
McHenry Lock and Dam
Looking North from the locks. That's my dad in the boat on the left. This was shot with a borrowed Pentax Spotmatic, shooting my very first time with an SLR, on Kodachrome. It's probably the best photo I've ever taken!
I was recruited out of college in 1981 by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and worked there my entire career as an electronics enginner, 35 years. Eventually I'll write some more about this... Like the photo of me below, which clearly requires some explanation.
A Real Career: LLNL
Typical Saturday. It was always like this. We would fight to get the day shifts on weekends. I think you can see why.
One of my evening jobs was as an engineer (operator) at WILL AM/FM, a PBS station with studios in Gregory Hall at the University of Illinois. Since I had a commercial radiotelephone licenese, I was ready to go. Several friends also worked there including my old ham buddy, WB9JTK.
At College: WILL Radio
Left: Master Control with its many Ampex 300 recorders and all sorts of controls for the station.
Right: My roommate, Dave, at the console. We spent countless hours there running AM and FM stations at the same time.
My other part-time job (yes, I worked a lot and paid for my education!) was at the university's distributed computing facilities where I was a student operator. It was a lot of fun getting behind the scenes of the big mainframes (IBM 360 and CDC Cyber 175).
At College: Computing Services Office
Here's Doug, who lived on my dorm floor, loading a CDC tape drive in the machine room.