Deep-voice Dude who had interviewed me was also my main supervisor. There was a cadre of underlings that catered to him and kissed his ass from time to time. Once you worked there for a bit and they gleaned some dedication from you, you might find yourself being asked to work over the winter months. Normally, the operation pretty much went dormant for the long Wisconsin winters. However, this special winter gig was a precarious relationship because they would only call you during blizzards to help facilitate their snow removal contracts.
Deep-voice Dude would call the duplex in the middle of the night during a snow storm. Because I had slept just yards from a M60 and Sheridan tank calibration range in the Army, I was able to sleep through anything. My sleeping cot used to lift off the ground when the tanks would fire all night long in night training. This being said, when Deep-voice Dude called at one AM in the morning, Heide had to answer. She insisted he had whiskey voice.
Heide still talks about how he would whisper on the phone at one in the morning. "Why is he whispering?" Heide always says, "He has already woken the whole house up with the ringing phone!"
In the whiskey theme of the developing employ, there was a fellow that worked with us out at the insurance headquarters that arrived late every day. He claimed he played drums in a tavern band and liked whiskey. "Sorry boss," Whiskey Guy would say every morning to Deep-voiced Dude, "A bottle of Jack jumped out from behind a tree last night and in order to save my life, I had to drink it."
"Don't let it happen again," Deep-voice Dude would tell him every morning for the whole time I worked there.
All things being considered, it was a rather tight ship for a landscape company. There equipment was acceptably maintained, my truck was almost new, and there was always adequate supplies. I have more fond memories than poor ones of the place.
Once I was summoned to trim the trees at the garden retail store they ran. They sent a different supervisor with me than normal. She had a reputation for being a toad but I had never previously worked with her. For most of the tree trimming she yakked with another employee. I was using a light-weight chain saw that was attached to an extension pole. Supervisor Lady was not strong enough to hold it up to the overhanging branches. Over a couple of hours time I had quite a pile of branches laying on the parking lot under the trees. After a time Deep-voice Dude rolled in to check on us. He was her supervisor as well. Supervisor Lady saw Deep-voice Dude's truck pulling in and with out hesitation, she grabbed, literally yanked, the saw out of my hand and planted herself in the middle of a pile of branches.
"How's it going?" Deep-voice Dude asked as he rolled down his truck window.
"We have cut the hell out of these trees," Supervisor Lady said as she grinned from ear to ear.
After working for the landscape company for a summer and a winter and a piece of another summer, antics like Supervisor Lady's, plus having been in the industry for 10 years and all the antics along the way were taking their toll on me. I had cut back to just every other weekend at the farm store and worked at their tire service desk. Even though those weekends were ruined socially, I often looked forward to the extra money and the different type of co-worker the farm store afforded me. Eventually I would throw them all under the career bus.
Wisconsin Military Service Person of the Week
Marine Lance Corporal Daniel R. Wyatt, 22 was killed due to enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq, on Tuesday, October 12, 2004. Wyatt had been in Iraq for a month as a U.S. Marine Corps Reservist. He was serving Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Division, Marine Forces Reserve based in Illinois. The unit was activated June 1, 2004. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Daniel was the youngest of three sons. He grew up in Racine. CNN has him listed as being from Calendonia. He signed up for the Marine Reserves after graduation. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Wyatt wanted to be a police officer and was studying criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College just before deployment to Iraq. Daniel Wyatt was the 23rd Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
88,253 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
8,693 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,180 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
606 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
314 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
371 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
30,680 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
2,490 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
91 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
11 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
135 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
15 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
