One author I enjoy is Lee Child who writes the novels with Jack Reacher as the main character. Reacher is a former marine military policeman who travels the country like a hobo, finding wrongs and righting them. All with only the clothes on his back and a toothbrush. Don't get me started on the two movies where they cast Tom Cruise as Reacher - a guy who is supposed to be six foot five inches tall.
This week I listened to the Reacher book "61 Hours" again. It's set in cold snowy South Dakota. In the book, Reacher needs military information, so he contacts one of his former offices where a female officer serving in that capacity ends up assisting him. In repayment, she wants to know the lore behind the big dent in the big metal government desk she sits at. She'd heard rumors that Reacher put the dent there with a colonel's head.
It took nearly the whole book before Reacher reveals the story about the dent. The colonel was corrupt and had been selling MRE (ready to eat meals) to enemy forces while Reacher and his team were starving in Afghanistan. And he used the money to buy stupid things - like a 1980 Corvette, the worst Vette ever made, which added insult to injury. It's those kinds of details that make the Lee Child books excellent. They add texture to Reacher's character that not all books attain.
Listening to the author describe that desk put me into the "Wayback" machine. I started thinking about all of the desks I've sat at through the years.
I have the very first one downstairs. Mom purchased an unpainted desk somewhere and probably had Pearl the Painter match it to the wallpaper in the room lil sis Betsy and I shared. Our room had blue carpet with cream wallpaper with a blue design. So the desk was blue at that time. But the beauty of the desk is that it can be any color! When Mom gave it to daughter Amy, it was purple at one time. Because - of course, it was! Amy loved colors! Now it's blue again to match the guest room (Amy's room) in our DSM home.
My next desk memory is at Washington Elementary School when we had those little desks with the lid that opened. Inside we kept all of our stuff: Elmer's Glue, crayons, pencils, a ruler, scissors, and paper. The hinged lid allowed us to hide from the teacher at times. That created opportunities for hijinx like make faces or talk to neighbors unseen. Or one could slam it on one's hand. After elementary school, I found that desktops were smaller as students were mobile for classes. I didn't get as attached to those desks.
My first job was at age 15 at an Atlantic gas/service station - Hjortshoj Fina, where owner, the wonderful Harry Hjortshoj, taught me to help keep the books. I remember a big old desk in the station office but not if it was wooden or metal. I do remember Harry stashing beer in the soda machine for "after hours" when his pals would stop in.
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| Loraine Dunn (my first roomie) and Chris Deardorff (visiting from U of I) lounging in my first dorm room |
When I went off to Iowa State University, I discovered that I needed to be flexible when it came to study/workspace. My Maple Hall dorm room had built-in desks like the one pictured above. And I studied in various buildings around campus. Note how the desk is being used to prep to go out for the night. Not study! Wow - those curlers were definitely not mine. #icantcurl
My first job post-college at Gamble Robinson, a grocery wholesaler in Sioux Falls, SD, came with a nice, fairly new office desk. I was proud to learn the office skill of running a 10-key adding machine (without looking) at the desk. I got educated to the fact that I didn't learn all that much in college, even with a Business Minor, that would help me to be an office manager. I've come to the realization that college prepared me for life after college: how to live on my own, dealing with adversity, and how to recover from alcohol poisoning. haha
After a year in Sioux Falls, I had the opportunity to transfer with the company to a branch in Omaha - right near the Old Market on 10th Street. The branch there was an old warehouse complete with old furniture. My desk was wooden with a large file drawer that I'd open in the morning and close at night - because it was heavy and rickety. I have fond and vivid memories of that job. It was during that time I got engaged and married to Paul who was living in Oakland, IA - the best decision in my life!
I continued to work for Gamble Robinson even after we moved to Osage - in Northern Iowa. I traveled to Wisconsin and Michigan (UP) for the company, working at small grocery company branches, helping them implement IBM System 32 computers. They were huge with a tiny screen. I helped assign numerical codes to every type of product they handled to computerize them. I sat at many old desks and tables.
When Paul and I decided it was time for a family, I was lucky to land a job right in Osage at the woolen mill, Fox River. They are a family-owned company that manufactures fabulous socks and gloves. I worked with another young woman and a contractor to "computerize" company ordering. Karla and I would take order sheets and input them (IBM System 34) manually. We only had tables - no desks. For years I could spout off-color numbers - like Heather Gray is 7600, something like that. Crazy!
In 1986, Paul landed a new gig in Creston. When we moved there we considered another stop along the way - following his career. Amy was one year old. Something happened along the way. We met wonderful people (and some weird ones) and settled into the town. We got involved in activities and the great Catholic elementary school there. Creston became our hometown. It's a small community - with limited employment opportunities. Good thing I'm so flexible!
I started at First National Bank in Creston as a bookkeeper - in the basement of the bank. As a bookkeeper, you float around at all the positions - so no desk. One cool thing was the proof machine that we used to key by hand all the checks the bank got for deposit. The machine $ amount had to match the adding machine tape attached to the stack of checks. On other days we all sat around tables set in a square and stuffed bank statements into envelopes. That is how I learned how to pronounce all of the Creston names that don't sound like they are spelled. And I learned all the gossip - working with Cathy Lacina, Sandy Hysell, and Pam Grey. Fun times!
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| Credit - Creston News Advertiser from Bank website - FNB was purchased right before Paul and I moved to Creston |
During my bank years, a position came open for a Loan Clerk - upstairs with a window! That desk was a built-in one, in a hallway. It was a great location out of the public eye. Sharon Higgins and Danny Purdum sat in offices behind me, both great people. The ever-so-nice Pat Barkalow sat down the aisle. That is when I really got to know the staff of Loan Officers gem of a person, Lamona Bilderback and crusty exterior, gooey inside Dan Porter - whose daughter Katie Porter is a California US Representative. Steve Crittenden is one of our best and longtime friends. The big boss back then was Dick Anderson - whom I nicknamed "the Dickster". Nuff said.
A year or so after Jud was born, paying for childcare but a crimp in fulltime outside employment. I quit working at the bank and had an opportunity to be on call and deliver home oxygen around SW Iowa. My Chevy Lumina and later a light blue Grand Caravan woody with a clipboard were my desk. Once I was a few months pregnant with our son Patrick, I was laid off from that job. I guess they didn't think I could haul a heavy O2 machine upstairs in my condition!
After we lost our infant son to a heart defect, I was at a loss for what to do next. I was fortunate that a local couple reached out to me to ask me to help with their financial planning business, to hang in the office when they weren't there, and to help with marketing. The office was on Pine Street in Creston. Mike and Judy always have their offices done upright, with nice furniture. I will always appreciate the Moffits generosity for letting me sit at their desks.
Once both kids were in school all day, the Goldsmith budget told us that I needed to work fulltime. I applied for a job as a planner at Gits Manufacturing, a local plant that manufactured automotive and other metal parts. When I first started, my newish desk was up front, in a big room with sales and accounting. Later, Cynthia Wolf, Jeanne Piel, and a purchasing person Juliann Sinn were moved to a small office in the middle of the plant called "the Blockhouse". We got brand new office systems type pressed board desks there. I think it was a tradeoff for being in a sunless blockhouse. We did enjoy our privacy out there. Being a production planner in the automotive industry was a high-stress low benefit job. I enjoyed my co-workers, but I couldn't wait to find something else after 2 years.
My salvation came in the form of a "Help Wanted" advertisement in the local newspaper. The landfill was looking for a recycling education person. Pick me! And they did - for a two-year grant-funded position, 30 hours per week. My first office was at Creston's City Hall with a modern desk borrowed from the city.
Once the job turned into a fulltime director position at the landfill, I was tasked with outfitting the new scale office and my office. I decided to hit the KSIB radio waves to beg for unused desks and chairs. Creston peeps came through - I hit the jackpot with a big old metal desk like the one Jack Reacher described. Solid! It came from the Central Iowa Power Cooperative north of Creston. That was my favorite desk - so much character and history.
As a Department of Natural Resources employee, I worked in a cubicle. My desk was a countertop built into the 5 foot sidewall. In the last few years, I had it raised so I could stand up to work, or sit in a tall chair. There were plenty of drawers and flippers for storage. I miss the people there but not the cubicle. #loudtalkers
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| I can picture Dad's desk in the living room of our Atlantic home with a big huge adding machine on it. Dad mostly worked in his chair too. |
Now I work at home, my "worky" stuff is in my Dad's desk in our office, with the printer on Paul's side of the room. But the magic mostly happens when I'm sitting in my big chair with ottoman and my laptop. Or at our kitchen counter when I need to spread out more or do a video meeting. Have I mentioned I'm starting a business in June? Goldsmith Environmental Consulting (little 'ol me). I hope to work with solid waste agencies, counties, and cities on environmental stewardship. Stay tuned!
