I hope that the people who don’t like me or my blog website will read this post.

In the summer of 2014, I began working for a small, locally owned company in Dickinson, North Dakota.  I liked the work that I was doing, better than any work that I had done in the past.  When I started with this company, I was pleased with the money that I was making.  I made about $25,000 in the first six months.

Then, there came the winter work slow down.  The owner of the company had a talk with me in person.  He asked me if I would like to be the manager of the company, and I said that I would.  He explained to me that he planned on retiring in two years.  He said that if I could manage the company O.K. for two years, he would give the company to me.

I was contented with the money that I had been making at this company.  I was happy that I was asked to be the manager.  I didn’t know if I would be able to afford this company, even if it was given to me, because of the possibility of a customer not paying.  If a customer didn’t pay, and there was a history of a government customer not paying for several months, I would not have enough money in the bank to meet payroll for three months.  I didn’t know if I wanted to own this company or not.

January and February were lean months, but there was a good project in March where I made about $7,500 that month.  I liked the work, and I liked the amount of money that I was being paid.  The owner of the company was fairly nice, and he did not bother the employees unnecessarily.  The owner of the company left the employees alone to do their work.

This small locally owned company did various small projects each month.  These small projects were always in town.  The company did not make very much money on these small projects, and the employees did not make very much money on these small projects.  Nevertheless, the company owner liked doing them because he believed that they were good for business, these small projects could lead to bigger projects, it was good advertising, and it was good public relations.

The older, experienced, long-time employees, did not want to do these small projects.  They were a pain in the ass, they didn’t pay much, they interfered with working on bigger projects, and they were always “on front street” in town, where everybody could see what you were doing, and bother you while you were working.  Before long, I clearly recognized why the older, experienced long-time employees did not want to do these small projects in town.

What was actually happening, and I didn’t like it too much, was that the older, experienced, long-time employees who refused to do the small projects “on front street” in town, they were actually getting to work on bigger long-term projects outside of town, and they were making a lot more money than me.  Because I was the manager, I kind of felt that it was my duty to do these small projects in town, which were more for advertisement and public relations, than an opportunity to make money.

I tried to be professional and do a good job on these small projects in town, but the truth was, because I was doing these types of small projects regularly, it was keeping me from making very much money.  The big, long-term projects out in the middle of nowhere, that is where I wanted to be.

This blog post is mostly for the people that came to figure out or find out that it was me writing these blog posts about Dickinson.  Even before anyone knew or had any idea that it was me writing these blog posts about Dickinson, when I was working in town, people would sometimes bother me when I was working.  I don’t mean the casual, pleasant, polite conversations.  I mean when people come up to you, and you can tell that they are trying to instigate a fight or antagonize you, because of their disrespectful attitude, inappropriate familiarity with you, or leading and inappropriate questions.

I would try to avoid, discourage, and not be drawn into any kind of conflict while working in town.  The truth is, that I wanted to keep my job, and not lose my job by getting into some kind of conflict while working in town.  It was not that I liked working in town, I didn’t like working in town because these projects interfered with me making money.  I wanted to keep my job so that I could work on the bigger long-term projects outside of town.

Now, it looks like it is the case, that some people have figured out or found out that it is me who is writing these blog posts about Dickinson.  The people who don’t like me or my blog posts, have probably informed my employer, and have told him, “I don’t think that it is right for you to have him work here.”  Now my employer, considering the people who have voiced their concerns, has probably come to the conclusion that he can not have me working in town “on front street” because these small projects are all about good advertising, and good public relations.

It may be the case now, that the only place that my employer can have me work, is out in the middle of nowhere on some long-term project where there aren’t any people around.  This is what I wanted in the first place.