You boys looking for work....

I graduated from high school in 1969 and received a large suitcase from my parents as a graduation gift....what's that supposed to mean?  See ya!  Get the heck outta here and get a job!  No, I don't think that was their intention, but it certainly sent that message.  Remember that if you're considering luggage as a graduation gift.  Didn't matter, suitcase or no suitcase I had plans....big plans.

My cousin, Charles, who is a year older than me, had a friend who had talked to a friend, who knew a fellow working on a pipeline job in Texas.....and they're looking for summer help.  Sure they are, and we're just the guys for the job(s). 

Charles came to town for my graduation, and after the obligatory graduation parties were over, I packed my over sized suitcase with an ample supply of work clothes, work gloves, new Red Wing work boots, and of course.....clean underwear. Ready to go!

You ever hear of a place called Jacksboro, Texas?  Me neither, but that's where we headed in his bright red 1965 SS Chevelle.....a true "work vehicle" if you ever saw one.  Like many of my early road trips, the ride to Texas is kind of foggy, but we made it in time to check into the Green Frog Motel where we asked where we might find the pipeline office.  "It's a couple of miles outside of town, but you'll find most of guys across the road at the Green Frog Restaurant.  Time for dinner, I guess.

We met a couple of "regular" guys who assured us that if we were at the warehouse in the morning at 6:00am, ready to work, we would be hired.  So far so good.  Next morning, armed with new boots, new gloves, freshly packed lunch sacks (courtesy of the nice ladies at the Green Frog Restaurant)  we were at the office when it opened......"You boys looking for work?"  Duh, what was your first clue?  "You boys both 18?".....Uh oh, this might be a problem.  My birthday isn't until August...do I dare tell a little white lie.....I do, and we're hired.

"You, Jack you're going to be swamping for the set-up tractor so when we get out to the job site, ask for Howard"  "Yes Sir" what the heck is "swamping", and what the heck is a "set-up tractor" 

Without going into excruciating detail about the job, it consisted of stringing long joints of 12" pipe along side a deep trench. Suffice it to say it was physically demanding, mentally numbing, and just a tad bit more dangerous than I've ever let anyone know.  Six days each week, twelve hours each day, all summer long...

There were of course some benefits....number one, I made a lot of money for a seventeen year old kid, and number two, seeing the look on my football coaches' face when I checked in for fall practice.  He was literally astounded when I weighed in packing an extra 25 pounds of solid muscle... developed one day at a time, six days each week, twelve hours each day......