Twenty Years at Boeing

20 Years ago today, I started working at Boeing Space Exploration. I had worked the previous 23 years in broadcast TV as a video editor and video engineer. When broadcast TV transformed from analog to digital, I lost my career. So instead of going back to school to learn the digital way, I shifted gears and learned on the job about secure video communication over IP (Internet).

I was working as a freelancer in Chicago when I received an email from Boeing asking if I was interested in working for them. I couldn't finish that job fast enough and hop on an airplane back to Houston. I remember that email in detail; the subject line said ‘Query’.

A little trivia about my work career: I never got a job that I applied for; I was always offered a job out of the blue. I had applied for Boeing years before this, but that application and this offer were not related.

On my first day at Boeing, I met my new boss, Shane Gashette, who, by the way, it was his birthday and he was taking the day off. He was called back into work to onboard me in my new job. When I found that out, I thought, 'Great! Now my new boss will hate me for making him come to work on his day-off birthday'. Shane and I became good friends. Shane does not do Facebook much anymore, so I rarely hear from him.

Now, 20 years later (Wow, has it really been 20 years?) I work as a contractor in the International Space Station Integration Office as the IT Liaison supporting several different Programs. I even work contract for Lockheed as a video editor when they have a need. There is so much more that I am a part of that I cannot talk about. I really love where I work and hope I can stretch out a few more years before I retire. I told my Boeing manager that I plan to retire as soon as the next boots on the moon return. My Dad was here when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon; I would like to be here when the next boot print is left on the moon. I am getting tired, however, a tired that you cannot sleep off. One day closer to retirement...

I would have never dreamed of doing what I do now when I graduated from college in 1983