• Born in 1963 in San Antonio, Texas.

• Married for nine years to Susan. He has two children, Blake and Matt, and she has three children, Michal, Sydney and Cole.

• Enjoys working on his ranch, spending time with his children, fishing for trout and redfish, and hunting ducks near the coast.

Early Years

The manager of my co-op came to my high school during the end of my senior year and did some recruiting. Line work sounded like an interesting career, so I applied and was hired. I was hired on as an apprentice lineman. In the beginning, I served as a swamper on the digger truck. Then, I started learning line work. Twenty-six years later, I'm still here.

A Day in the Life

I now work as a journeyman lineman for the DeWitt Division of Guadalupe Valley Electric Co-op in Cuero, Texas, about 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. During a typical day, my crew works on new construction to new members such as building taps and service drops, or system maintenance such as pole changeouts. As lead lineman on the crew, I am responsible for making sure the job goes smoothly and answering questions from the younger guys. We typically do our regular duties for eight hours and then take trouble calls after hours. We are on 24-hour call for a week at a time every five weeks.

Challenges and Rewards

The biggest challenge for our mostly rural co-op is providing excellent service at a competitive price. We accomplish this goal, but we often have to work harder at it because we're a rural co-op. Keeping up with and implementing technological advances can be a challenge, but in the utility industry, the sky is the limit as to what can be done.

Learning Safety on the Job

I learned the importance of safety when I saw firsthand the awesome power of electricity. We were using a bucket truck to replace a jumper that had been arcing against the pole on a three-phase vertical double dead-end. We installed the insulated bypass jumper on either side of the jumper to be replaced. As soon as we let go of the insulated bypass, it caused the bare jumper to get against the pole and arc. Luckily, no one was hurt, but for a short time, there was a bright flash and a lot of heat. My lead lineman and I immediately dropped down in the bucket until the OCR opened.

Restoring Power After a Storm

Working in East Texas after Hurricane Rita came through was my most memorable storm moment. We worked for two days on a line feeding into a subdivision without getting a single meter back in service because of all the damage to the line. The evening of the second day, I asked the guys if they wanted to quit for the day or get some people back on-line. We unanimously decided we wanted to see some fruits for our labor. We finished the work and energized that subdivision at dark. That made us feel good. I would do that all over again a hundred times. It was very gratifying to be able to get electricity restored to people who had been without for so long.

Drawing Inspiration

I am inspired by the desire to have a good life for me and my family. I take pride in being a good provider to them. I am also driven by the desire to learn new things and to do my job better today than I did yesterday. I am all about new ways of doing things better, faster and safer.

Training the Future Workforce

I want these younger guys to know how to do their jobs well. I take pride in seeing them learn how to do something. It's gratifying when they do something enough times that they can do a great job without asking a lot of questions. They are going to be the old-timers one day, and it will be their turn to pass on what they have learned.

Looking Ahead

Retirement from this job is in the not-too-distant future. I plan to devote much of my time to working on my cattle ranch and traveling with my wife. Working two full-time jobs rather limits that now. We both love to travel, and I think that will be a priority then.