Employment

I went to grammar school PS123, junior high school PS162, George Westinghouse Vocational and Technical high school, and finally to RCA Institutes. At George Westinghouse I majored in electrical installation. My first job was at some factory where they expected you to work on live wires, something told me that it was too dangerous, so I quit after two days. My next job was installing heating controls for an electrical contractor. I would install Honeywell heating controls for boilers shortly after they were turned off, and  the sole of my feet got really hot climbing atop of those boilers. The New York the electrical code required rigid conduit made of steel, not those flimsy aluminum pipes or god forbid Roamex. The main problem with rigid conduit is that it is a bitch to bend with a tool known as a hickey, I only weighed 140 pounds, so it was exhausting.

I took a test with the New York City Transit Authority (MTA) and passed; I landed a job as an electrical helper. I worked on the MTA's private subway phone system and on train signals and switches, this too was a very dangerous job. I remember changing a signal light bulb on a bridge above the east river, we had no safety equipment, you just hung on for dear life when a train passed by shaking the signal pole. I looked down the 60 feet or so and saw the black water of the east river below me. Years later on a dinning cruise around Manhattan I looked up and saw that same signal pole that I hung from as a 23-year-old and I started to cry realizing how far I had come. The MTA job was unionized, had great benefits and decent pay, but I felt that I had to move on to use my education from RCA institutes.

My next job was with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). I was hired as a computer tech, then promoted to a Product Support Engineer, I stayed in that position for many years. Then I was approached by my manager asking me if I wanted to become a Project Manager, after some thought I concluded that it would be a good turning point in my career. This was a difficult job because I had to learn how to deal with a wide variety of people. Computers never talked back.

In the late 1990's the layoffs began, so ended my career at 24 years and 11 months with DEC. My next job was working for the police as a Project Manager, and then as the IT Manager. This job was grant funded by state and federal dollars. The grants were being cut back, so I got laid off after 11 years.

My next job was with a company as an Account Executive owned by a ex-DEC employee. As an Account Executive I sold communication equipment like antennas and microwave systems. I also sold surveillance software and hardware. One problem was it being a family owned business their son who was the top manager who felt you couldn't do anything right, and it was impossible to criticize him. It became unbearable, but luckily I was old enough to collect Social Security and we came to the understanding that it was better for them then to to lay me off rather than endure the escalating office tensions.

I retired, but felt I needed to do something to keep my mind active and get me out of the house so I studied to be a health insurance agent. I am now a Certified Insurance Agent helping people obtain heath insurance through Covered California.