14 MARCH 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Free Lunches by Rick Jordan Retired Mineral Processing Engineer WWDR’s Troy and Marie met Rick Jordan when he conducted a World Museum of Mining tour during the 2023 Shallow Exploration Drillers Clinic in Butte, Montana. WWDR welcomes Rick as a contributing writer. Here is his first submission: In the late 80s, I was hired by a large Montana mining operation. I arrived at the mine on my first day with a pair of gloves and my old hard hat. I was surprised when I was told the company provided these things. The company also provided steel-toed boots, hearing protection, and rain gear. I had previously worked in construction and had to buy all these things myself. Two hours into my first shift, a coworker told me it was time for our break. Break? I never had a job where employees took breaks. He led me to a lunchroom where the rest of the crew was drinking coffee and eating snacks, some which had been heated in the microwave. A microwave! The company even supplied the coffee. I was overjoyed with my good fortune. One of my favorite work areas was the crusher nestled in a building separate from the rest of the plant. I had worked as a crusher operator in the past and knew enough to be left unsupervised for most of my shift. The crusher operator spends the majority of his time monitoring operating parameters, and is also responsible for keeping the area clean. During one Sunday night shift, I decided to clean the refrigerator. When I opened the freezer compartment, I was amazed at what I saw. It was stocked with frozen TV dinners. I could not believe my eyes. On top of everything else, the company provided lunches for their employees? For the next few months, whenever I was scheduled to work in the crusher, I didn’t bother bringing a lunch. Instead, I feasted on TV dinners. One night John, an experienced operator, came to the crusher to help with some extra cleanup left over from a maintenance project. When it was time for lunch, John opened the freezer and said, “I’d like to get my hands on the Son-of-a-B*t*h who’s been eating my lunches.” John said he stocked the freezer with the TV dinners every month or so and lately the meals had been disappearing. While John was heating his meal, he asked what I had for my lunch. I told John I was trying to lose weight so I didn’t bring a lunch. He offered me a TV dinner, but I declined saying I did not care for that type of fare. John and I ended up working together for 26 years and became good friends. In all that time, the TV dinners were never mentioned again. Sadly, John passed away a few years ago. He went to his grave never knowing I was the Son-of-a-B*t*h eating his lunches. Rick Rick Jordan may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com MIN Time for a Little Fun! January Puzzle Solution: Win a prize! Send completed puzzle to: WWDR PO Box 660 Bonifay, FL 32425 fax: 850-547-0329 or e-mail: michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com MOonceON Can you determine what phrases these mean? LOluckyVE wood knock
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