CARMEN LEE--LIFE IS NOT A VACATION, IT IS A JOURNEY

Day 123, "Every picture has a story"

"For sure" this picture brings to mind MANY MANY stories.

• I had graduated from University of Minot in the spring of 1969.  Mr. Hayek offered me a contract to teach at the North Dakota School for the Deaf and I signed it.  I was so excited as I was going to earn $6000 during the 69/70 school year.  Of course to get such a HIGH salary I had to not only teach but help coach football and basketball.  The only problem was I did not start teaching until the fall and we needed money NOW.  I drove to Lake Ready Mix which was located off of highway 2 west of Devils Lake, ND.  I said I was there to apply to drive a truck!  I explained my background on the farm and told them that driving a truck was no big deal for me.  They hired me on the spot!  I guessing it had nothing to do with my experience but rather my lean mean build😀 and my muscular upper body, ya right!  Well I was to start the next day with a starting salary of $1.90 an hour.  I would get paid every Friday, which I found out later meant I would have to work Saturday mornings for sure as some of the guys would stop at the bar on the way home Friday and therefore would not be in shape to drive the next morning!  I drove all summer and often my pay check was actually over $100 most weeks.  That is just the beginning of my cement driving tales!
• In the picture I am pouring cement at Fort Totten which was about 5 miles south of town.  Every summer Lake Ready Mix would pour maybe 5 or so new homes.  If we poured in the summer of 1969 we would do the same in 1970 and see where the new homes of a year ago would have broken windows, doors that would not shut etc.  A sad sight for sure.  Fort Totten was also very near Sully's Hill where we, as a family, would go many times a summer for picnics and a drive through to catch a glimpse of deer and or bison.  This picture was taken in the summer of 1973 which was the last summer I drove.  After that I spent summers going to grad school in Grand Forks.
• One of my most favorite and least favorite memories at the same time is of the red hooded jacket.  I always left it in my truck as it often was chilly in the morning.  One morning I came to work and my beloved red hoodie was missing.  Now it probably was old old and perhaps hole ridden too but I wore it and liked it.  I mean a new one would probably set me back 2 hours wages.  How could it be gone.  It just so happened that I took the first load of the day and it was to be delivered west of Devils Lake near Churches Ferry.  As I shifted my truck into high and headed west there, along highway 2, was my red sweatshirt walking with a man in it!  I put on the brakes and came to a stop but not before reaching over and locking the passenger side door.  I rolled the window down a tad and yelled, "that is my hooded sweat shirt and I want it back!" The guy stepped up on the running board and peered into the cab.  He said he was cold and had slept in my truck over night.  Today I would be show more compassion but that was back then in my youth.  I said I wanted my hooded shirt back or I would turn around and get the police.  He stepped down, took off the jacket and handed it through the window.  From that time on I always took it home at night.  My truck was old enough so it would not lock.  
• I walked into Lake Ready Mix in the spring of 1970.  I was looking at the end of school, a small balance in our checking account and I wanted to drive truck again.  As I came into the building I was greeted by Joe, a co-owner.  He immediately asked if I wanted a summer job and I said yes but I wanted to talk about pay.  He nodded towards a back room where all kinds of trophies were displayed.  ALL of them were for trap shooting.  The other co-owner, Duane, spent much more time on the road shooting than he did in his business.  Joe said Duane would talk to me.  As I knocked on the door he immediately got up and asked me to come in.  After greetings I said I would like to drive again this summer but I did need a pay raise, $2.00 an hour.  He slowly allowed his smile to fade and said, as he looked at his desk, that business was not all that great and the best they could do was the same as last summer, $1.90.  I thanked him for his time and said as I turned to go that I just could not work for that. I mentioned that not only did I show up for work every Saturday last summer when so many were sleeping but I now had a family and I felt that my work was worth at least a 10 cent raise.  Before I could reach for the door Duane said well he could go the extra 10 cents then.  I had a summer job and now I could maybe look at a pay check that would be $110 a week!!!  
• My favorite gig that summer was taking liquid cement out at nights to where they were drilling search holes for oil.  At some point they would call and want several yards of liquid cement to fill the holes.  When that took place I would back my truck into the load area just before dark.  I would head out east of town and would be there until well into the night.  I would back up towards the hole and then dump maybe a yard.  The workers would then ask for another yard or so in 30 minutes.  That would often happen until 9 or 10 at night.  No, I did not like the night work but I knew the hours would always be time and a half so I would never turn down the chance to work that gig.  ENOUGH but I promise there is more!

Tennis at 7:30 and 10:30 today.  Then league tomorrow and league on Wednesday.  

Terry and I enjoyed the play yesterday.  It was not the kind of play you would take little ones to but it was entertaining.  I felt that at the end my right foot was on rung #2 in my cultural journey.  Not sure how many rungs I want to climb but we will see.

My last sip of FP is at 6:57 and that should do me for my 7:30 match.