Where I've Worked

Here's a review of where I've worked over the years.

The School Years

Odd Jobs

My earliest experience with the world of work was through odd jobs for neighbors. Cutting grass was the most common way. And back in those days -- the 1940's -- it was indeed work. My family had a push lawnmower, and that's what I used. (I guess I had heard of power mowers, but they were for rich people.) I believe my standard rate was 50 cents an hour.

The Golf Course

A couple of new money-making opportunities opened up for me when my family moved to East Stanton Avenue in Baldwin, New York. Our backyard was separated from a private golf course by a chain-link fence. The downside was that the nearness made it so attractive to me that I didn't try to find work as a teenager anywhere else. In retrospect it would have been better to get some work experience at some other place of business (preferably a technical one, as it later turned out,because of my eventual choice of career). The upside was that the golf course was conveniently located adjacent to our property.

   Buy a Golf Ball, Mister?

We moved to that home just 8 days after Pearl Harbor (which occurred on December 7, 1941, for those who have forgotten their history). But anyone who lived through that period will recall the growing shortages of goods in categories such as food, gasoline, and shoeleather. Such goods were needed in the war effort, so that civilian supplies were limited and soon subject to tight rationing.

Another material in short supply was rubber. Automobile tires were one victim (remember synthetic-rubber tires?). Another rubber shortage was in the supply of golfballs. It was hard to find new ones, so that any used ones were a valuable commodity to a golfer.

It so happened that the sixth hole of the golf course ran along the fence past our home, from left to right. Also, it so happened that the average golfer on the 6th tee (to our left) would put his first shot just about even with our property. But since the average golfer would slice more often than hook, a tee shot would often wind up in our backyard. And that average golfer would not want to lose that now-valuable ball. Spence Coleman to the rescue!

When I'd see a ball in the yard, I'd bring it inside and clean it with a scouring cleanser. Then I'd examine it for general condition. Any nicks or cuts or scuff marks? Also, what make is it? Depending on those factors, I would set a price for selling it to a passing golfer. Back in those days, a good price would be $.50 for the best make and condition, $.35 for a downgrade in either department.

When I felt like setting up shop in the backyard, I would put $.50 balls in one box and $.35 balls in another and wait for golfers to walk past. I would call out if they wanted to buy any balls and, if they did, I'd pass one at a time through the chain-link fence. The golfer would look at it and decide yes or no.

The interesting thing to me is that, during the several years I did this, never once did a golfer walk off with the ball without paying. That impressed me. Of course, it happened to be a private golf course, if that made any difference.

   Caddying

When I grew older I took up caddying on the golf course. I could walk up to Grand Avenue to the main entrance. Most of the time I could carry two bags (for two golfers), making twice as much money. And, if I was lucky enough to get out early in the morning, I could go out again in the afternoon with another twosome. We were paid a standard rate for each bag plus whatever tip we might earn.

The hardest golfers to caddy for were long-ball hitters who couldn't keep the ball on the fairway, especially if one sliced and the other hooked. The easiest golfers were women who didn't hit theirs long but kept them on the fairway. After their drives I could just hand them their 3-woods and meet them on the green.

Job Interviews

During my senior year at college the job recruiters from various companies came around to interview us for possible permanent employment. The employment picture was pretty good back then, so there were usually several offers from which to pick. As an engineer, I interviewed with Boeing, Lockheed, and Westinghouse. The first two were in Seattle and California, respectively. Westinghouse, however, had a choice of locations and positions throughout the corporation, and it had a Graduate Student Program that involved both training and trial work assignments. I chose them.

The Working Years

Westinghouse, Before the Army

   Graduate Student Program

Just a week or so after graduation, I flew to the Pittsburgh area, where Westinghouse has its headquarters. The indoctrination and training was at the Graduate Student Center in suburban Wilkensburg. I roomed there and went through the introductory activities. When it was time to choose a temp assignment, I chose the plant in East Pittsburgh, where George Westinghouse started it all way back when. There I and others were introduced to the shop floor of the Switchgear Division, partly, I presume, to get our hands dirty and give us a taste of what the hard-working, hourly employees go through.

After some more GSC classroom training, I took a longer assignment at the company's Motor Division in Buffalo, New York. I took a room in suburban Williamsville. By then we had been introduced to the Westinghouse's three employment options of engineering, manufacturing, and sales. I chose manufacturing. I was assigned to assist an employee who was in charge of testing a line of large motors.

My third trial assignment was at the Meter Division in Newark, New Jersey. They made some industrial relays and some measuring instruments, but their bread-and-butter product was watthour meters. They're the glass-enclosed devices that you see hanging on the sides of houses, with their spinning disks and turning dials recording the amount of electricity the residents are using.

   Newark

It was at the Newark plant that I found a challenge in the manufacturing area of the business. I helped the foreman keep the assembly and test line moving, troubleshooting any problems that arose and trying to shorten any downtimes. At the end of my several weeks there, I decided that, after another training session at the Graduate Student Center, I would come back to Newark for a permanent position as a Manufacturing and Test Engineer.

So, from the spring of 1953 until I was drafted into the Army in January 1955, I worked at that position, analyzing problems and suggesting fixes. The company was generous with its time, too, allowing me to meet with employees of other companies at a business-oriented club luncheon. Also, they let me attend on company time a course on manufacturing techniques.

You're in the Army Now

   Fort Dix, New Jersey

I could tell that the draft board was breathing down my neck (it was the end of the Korean War) so I volunteered for the draft, a move that I thought would be helpful; that and a college education. It did turn out well, but at first it was puzzling. After my eight weeks of basic training was up, my orders hadn't yet come through. Others in my platoon were receiving their assignments: in the infantry at another Army base, for instance. I hung around Fort Dix for another two weeks, doing odd jobs, until I heard my orders had come through. I was pretty sure they would be sending me to the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth. But what did they do? Report to the Quartermaster Corps in Chicago, the orders read. Are you sure these orders are for me? I asked the company clerk. Yep, no mistake, the corporal said.

   The QMF&CI, Chicago, Illinois

Well, it turned out that it wasn't as far-fetched as I had thought. When I reported to my facility -- the Quartermaster Food and Container Institute -- I learned that it was my background in engineering and test that they were looking for. The place did R&D on two items: the rations the Army air-drops to troops in the field and the cushioning material that protects the parachuted loads from being destroyed on impact.

If they were to use too much parachute, the load would hang in the sky so long that it could alert the enemy as to where our troops are based. Too little parachute would result in smashed food. So the object was to place cushioning material underneath with a skimpy parachute and still have undamaged food to feed the troops. The idea was to find that optimum combination.

There were two ways of creating an impact for testing. In the lab, there was an inclined plane that a test load could slide down and hit a barrier at the bottom. After enough of those tests, they could proceed to a nearby stairwell that could enable dropping a test load several floors. The procedure up to that point had been largely trial and error: let the load hit and see what happens. The civilian managers wanted to get more scientific about it. They wanted to rig up the load with test equipment to quantify what was happening. For that, they needed someone with experience with electronics and testing. Maybe they could requisition some GI who could fill that position. Enter Private Spence Coleman.

They pretty much gave me a blank check to order whatever I needed to set up the new elecronics lab. I was fortunate that right there in Chicago were two very well equipped electronics-parts stores: Allied Radio and Newark Electronics. They were both catalog operations, but they also had nearby storefront sources. Eventually, the heart of the setup became an accelerometer, an oscilloscope, and a Polaroid camera. The result of any test impact was a photograph of a trace that showed the force levels that the load suffered during an impact. We could correlate that with the resulting damage to the test load and the crushing of the cushioning material. From such results we could recommend what was needed to protect an airdrop in the field.

It's worth mentioning that, when I talk about cushioning material, I'm not talking about a spongy material. That would merely act like a spring: compress the material and it will throw the load back where it came from (meaning cans of food would be spread all over). What we needed was an energy-absorbing material that did not act like a spring.

(I could go on and on about this, but I'll spare you the details.)

Westinghouse, After the Army

As my Army tour wound down, I began to think about where I would go after separation from the service. I looked into where I could apply my electronics and testing background, and I wound up interviewing with Westinghouse Baltimore. They hired me, and I took a position with the Advanced Radar Development section. Once again, I lucked out. They were looking for a new hiree to take over development of test equipment for airborne radar. Enter now-civilian Spence Coleman.

   Radar Development Engineering

The engineering section I joined was busy developing (if you know what I'm talking about) a breadboard airborne X-band pulse-doppler fire-control radar. They needed a breadboard target simulator to test the radar in the lab, before they flew it to track actual flying aircraft. The transmitter engineer had interrupted his work to start developing the simulator. I took over that project so that he could back to his regular assignment.

To make a long story short, over the years, I finished that project and then went on to develop a target simulator for a C-Band PD radar and later one for the Bomarc missile.

   Other Duties as Assigned

Along the way, I took on other assignments such as editing what other engineers were contributing for project reports and proposals for new programs. Also, I would write other sections for such documents. Later, that expanded to editing and compiling inputs for in-house R&D programs. And I began writing (often at home) a newsletter of relevant R&D news that I distributed to all sections within the engineering section.

   Technical Publications

After a while, I became more interested in writing than in engineering, so I started to ask around. When a disruption came to Engineering due to the loss of an expected Air Force contract, in 1972 I made the move over to Technical Publications, the section that prepares documents for reproduction and delivery to the customers.

This is the position from which I retired, although my time there took many unexpected turns. In addition to reports and proposals, I took on other interesting projects.

      Slide Shows: Some of the engineers and managers would come to me with a collection of 35-mm slides and ask that I create a presentation for some conference. That was fun. One engineer, in appreciation, invited my wife and me to attend the dinner at which he gave his presentation.

      Newsletters: One in particular, a women's engineers' association, asked me to edit and produce their issues. I also wrote and photographed for two work-related organizations for which I volunteered: the Westinghouse Veteran Employees Association and the local chapter of the Association for Quality and Participation

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Last Updated 11/12/11