St. Joseph, Missouri. January 1974 – Summer 1976

This was a very turbulent time in my life. I was recently divorced having suffered and survived many unpleasant moments in the previous two years. I took a job as a maintenance engineer. The pay was $13,000 a year. Seems like nothing today, but I do not remember suffering any financial hardships, even paying child support.

I was single again. I remember moving into a small two bedroom house for $24,000. When buying, I remember deciding it was the better choice since a slightly larger house was $3,000 more.

My job required some adjustment. I was an experiment for Quaker Oats. Their maintenance department had always been run by senior mechanics who had worked there way up the ranks. They thought they would try using a college graduate with military officer experience. There was resentment from the other maintenance supervisors having this young kid thrown in with no actual maintenance experience.

They had a point. Even with four years of engineering education, I had zero practical experience. I had to learn quickly or be overwhelmed by the others in my department. I was not a cocky type, so eventually they did lighten up on me and helped me by sharing their experience with this new, young kid. I learned a lot. I especially liked electrical troubleshooting and I started designing and maintaining electrical control panels.

Quaker Oats experiment was not deemed a success and withing a year, I was put into the project engineering group instead of maintenance. My most extensive project was installing a new instant oatmeal line, which was a relatively new product at the time.

My social life took a turn for the better. The guys in the maintenance department always went to a tavern close by after work. I usually ended up drinking more beer than I should have with them, but it ending up making us close friends. I remember a couple of the supervisors that gave me the hardest time time early on actually became good friends. The lesson to learn from this is always be honest, be yourself and usually people will respect and accept you, even if you have very little in common.

I dated some girls that worked there. This is where I started learning how much I enjoyed a more active social life. I had always been so shy. I still had a Calvinistic mentality about sex from my youth, but I began let go of my guilt and started enjoying myself. I ended up with a girl regularly near the end of my stay there. However, she wanted more than I was ready for in terms of a long term commitment. Sometimes relationships end up hurting someone when they end. I was learning too late that having an intimate relationship does not commit you to marriage. I really enjoyed her company, but I was not in love with her.

At that time, engineers my age were in high demand and headhunters were always looking for new blood. Just about the time, I realized was ready for a change, I was offered a job at Russell Stove Candies office in Kansas City for $24,000 as a corporate project engineer. I took the job. I remember my fellow employees and good friends were not pleased with me for leaving without discussing the move with anyone and also for leaving a hurt girl behind that everyone liked.

Regardless, it was time for change. A farmer that lived across the street bought my house for cash. I was thrilled with the $1,500 profit after closing.