Work milestone today

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low_48

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Joined
Jul 1, 2004
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2,177
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Peoria, IL, USA.
I got my 25 year service pin at Caterpillar Inc. today. If I had not gone on an 11 year sabatical (started a woodworking business and worked for Woodworker's Journal Magazine) it would have been 36. That kinda haunts me as I get older, but I sure don't regret that business experience. Hope to make it a couple more years, then take the early out. Retirement there starts to get better when your age and service equals 85 points. So for right now I enjoyed the free lunch and the gold plated pin with a single small diamond. Monday it will be back to the model shop grind. It was kinda fun telling the young pups what it was like in the "old days" on the drafting table. One phone for four drafting tables, a single Wang 4 function calculator in the corner of the room, no cubicles, drafting boards as far as you could see, and engineers having to empty their ash trays at noon. Some of those guys lived on coffee and cigarettes all day, everyday. The entire complex is smoke free now. Heck, a few of the designers weren't born when I started. Yikes! Thanks for letting me ramble.
 
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I know the feeling about what ifs. I have 14 years of broken service with my military/Public Health job.

Congrats on the milestone; someone has to keep those young whippersnappers in line!!
 
25 years now-a-days is almost unheard of, congradulations thats sure something to jump up and down about!:bananen_smilies051: Just had to try the new smilies!
 
Did you ever come to Japan with Caterpillar? I have met a few Cat people in Kobe/Osaka over the years.

I have been with my organization 23 years without a break like you had, but I didn't start with them until I was 38, which is HARD in starting a new language as difficult as Japanese is.
 
low_48 said:
I got my 25 year service pin at Caterpillar Inc. today.

It was kinda fun telling the young pups what it was like in the "old days" on the drafting table. One phone for four drafting tables, a single Wang 4 function calculator in the corner of the room, no cubicles, drafting boards as far as you could see, and engineers having to empty their ash trays at noon.
Click to expand...

That is quite an accomplishment!
I started in drafting. I still have my "Drop Pen Set" somewhere downstairs. When the place I worked switched to CAD / CAM, I stumbled into computers as I was knowledgeable about computers already. After awhile, I was doing only computers and no drafting, so I started looking for a job in computers specifically.
 
That's impressive... longest job I ever held in my 40+ years in transportation industry was 11 with a major airlines(TWA) in SF, then the last 10 with major export packer/forwarder in Houston. I probably shipped a few parts and pieces from your plant... I remember working some loads out of PIA to Peru to a mining industry.

Way to go. Know what you mean about the retirement age + service thing too... TW had same policy. I had enough vested when I left that it made up difference in SS when I retired at 64.
 
Congratulations!

I remember being a 16 year old kid .... having a job .. and then two weeks later being bored out of my skull. I never had a job that didn't immediately bore me to death. I remember worrying that when I grew up I'd always be bored with my job. Fortunately, I've been in the same profession for 38 years and still have a passion for teaching.
 
Hey Low, Congrats on all those years with catapillar. Did you ever run into a fellow who worked at the Peoria Plant for most of his life named Bob Souba. He and I were stationed in Germany together in the late 50's and when he got home he put in like 40 years with Catapillar. I know they got a lot of employees but just thought I'd ask if you knew him.
 
Congratulations!! I know what you mean about the old days. I still have my slide rule, my small home drafting table and the drafting machine that was quite a tool in its day. The engineers and designers that work for me today just look dumb-founded when I talk about the ammonia smell from the blue print machines, and the lettering guides we used, and just laugh out loud when I bring out my slide rule. What really gets them is how fast the slide rule can actually be. I still have my drafting tools and my lead sharpeners from the better (old) days. Now its all Cad/Cam, and the designers of today are really missing out on their knowledge for this. I feel they are too reliant on the computers and programmable calculators as most of them cannot remeber how (or never learnt how) to do more than punch buttons, and don't you dare ask them to do any hand calcs! :eek:
 
Congratulations Rich. That's a great record in anybody's organization. You've gotten to do some neat stuff.
By-the-way, I sent you a private message on the board a few days ago. Didn't know if you had found it or not.
 
Congratulations, I remember the days of the board drafting and everyone smoking at the tables.
I just found out about a work related milestone for me today (I'll post it in a separate thread)
 
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