Class of 1950.

I graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1950. Times were hard in 1950. I was hired by Air Reduction (now AIRCO). After training for a month in Los Angeles I was made Manager of the Air Reduction store in Bakersfield, California. I was a big shot, I had a staff of one. He drove a welding gas delivery truck and was gone all day. I did paper work and sold welding rod.

There was only one problem. My salary was $250 per month. I received $112 every two weeks.That did not go very far. I had a wife, two children, and a dog. In my spare time I cleaned and delivered turkeys,  swabbed out oilfield trucks, and sold mens clothes at Sears.

After six months of white collar work (not too white).I got a job as a roustabout at the Golden Bear Oil Refinery in Oildale. Some Mechanical Engineer! But I made a hundred dollars a month more.

In a few months I got a job with Schlumberger where I stayed for 15 years.

I will always remember the Class of 1950.