Wow last post on this blog was back in August!!
It has been a pretty busy last couple of months, but I do want to get back to working on these recollections.
In fact next Monday November 2nd, will be 28 years to the same day that I'd started with San Bernardino County Animal Control. Taking a job that I thought I might enjoy "until something better came along!"
And so around 25 years later I guess nothing else much better came along until we decided to retire early and 'get outta Dodge' before the California economy really tanked as bad as it has to this point.
Not that there were not any options over those decades, I had applied and interviewed for two other animal control agencies over the years. I was looking at getting to a new area of California back then. In the overall scheme of life as I sit here in Northern Idaho, I surely can not complain about where I've ended up, so far! But back in the mid 1980's I was looking at other options.
I had first applied to work for Merced County animal control. I wound up interviewing all the way to the end. Three trips from the San Bernardino area to the small county near Fresno. I was able to fly myself there twice (I'm a private pilot) but had to drive once because of bad weather and fog in the big San Joaquin valley.
I ultimately turned them down because they wanted me to work for them at what would have worked out to be an almost $600.00 a month cut in pay!!! Yes, I was told I'd get much of it back with on-call and overtime, and the old story of how it "costs less to live here" but it was just too much of a cut so I had to tell them "thanks, but no thanks".
Second and last place I tried was for a position with Santa Barbara County. I had two of the interviews there, I think I might have enjoyed living in that area, especially at the time. Although as crowded and drought and fire prone as it has become and with the fore mentioned current economy troubles of the state, I sure wouldn't like it now! I'd always liked going through the area or staying there to visit. I flew myself up to the Goleta Airport and rented a car for the final interview, made it kind of an expensive afternoon, but there, the interview and back in just 3 1/2 hours instead of at least a full day for the round trip.
I've always felt like I lost the job because I just wasn't sure of their local ordinances on the oral interview.
Maybe, but as I found out when I was in on interviews for new hires at our department during my years as a supervisor, it could be as simple as looks, attitude, or just 'holding the job' for an employee to move up in, that could keep a hopeful outsider from getting the job. I know, it was always supposed to be on that persons merit, more often than not it just flat wasn't! It was all FIRST IMPRESSIONS!
I know of a few people that interviewed fantastically only to be lousy when they actually started! One still works there, should have NEVER passed probation, but her supervisor became her "bud" and gave her all kinds of special breaks just because she liked her.
Twenty minutes was all they got, so it was first impressions, a resume that sometimes was just plain unbelievable, yet most of the time people were decided on right at that time, right after they'd left the interview room. They were kept on pins and needles for up to a week, but the decision had been made then.
Our daughter Laura kept up an animal control career until just recently when she was hired on with AT&T. She likes animal control work much better but after working six days a week or more, for over two years at minimum wadge and in honestly lousy working conditions for Scott County in Iowa, she just had to go to someplace with 'normal' hours and better pay, and finally landed the job.
Her last field call though cost her a lot, it was an after hours or on-call response to impound a couple of aggressive pit bulls that had been contained in an RP's (Reporting Parties) yard. She arrived, the local P.D. (police department) officer had cleared the scene, Laura attempted to handle the call herself without adequate lighting or any backup people (she wasn't allowed to call for backup by her supervisor!), and in her attempt she was badly bitten by the male of the two dogs. Severe bite wounds to her left calf, she'll have very bad scarring from incident. And so far the department there is giving her problems over what is clearly a workers comp claim for her hospital visit after she'd gotten the dogs and impounded them at the shelter!!
I really don't know of anyone in an animal career that hasn't been bitten by something! I had 5 bites over my career, seems like they all got progressively worse to the last time I was bitten on a Sunday back in July of 2000. At that call I slipped on wet grass at the residence and an aggressive Rottweiler that they'd called about got me on the head while I was down on the ground. 13 staples across the back of my head left a nice scar and a hope that I never go bald!
Stacy was bitten a few times too. Her worst was at a call in the desert where the dog ran right at her from under a garage door as it was being opened and attacked her, bit her on the inside of her thigh. It would have been much worse had she not had another ACO there to assist. He was able to get the dog after it bit her.
I knew employees of S.B. County that had good lawyers and would try to sue the dog owner anytime they were bitten. One guy went to the Bahama's on vacation twice on his booty from bites to his 'bootie'!
The one time I tried that, I got an attorney that just told me it was "part of the job" and that was that.
Until next time, and maybe not so long! Tad
