Monday, August 19, 2013

Thoughts From the Field

First day at office after a long holiday for eid celebration with family in Malaysia. It was two weeks off! Now I'm ready to serving my company to the field of god knows where. Reading some thoughts of one Technical Director of my company, Mr. Rodney Janssen based in Jeannette, to one of his staff who has retired recently. Mr. Kevin Smelser, he was a Senior Field Service Technician retired after 38 years with the company. I cannot imagine how one could work that long in one place. Must be something that make him/her to keep loyal to the company. 

Rodney first met Kevin on July 4th 1989 at the Campbell Soup Plant in Napoleon, Ohio. Rodney was new to Elliott that time, dispatched to train with Kevin on repairs to three pinion PAPs installed at the plant. 

Elliott's three pinion PAPs motor driven air compressor I worked on before I join Elliott. This product is no longer in Elliott-Ebara production. It had been sold to China company and later to be call FS-Elliott. 

According to Rodney, like many in field service, Kevin missed countless birthdays, holidays, weddings and funerals while doing his job for Elliott. He recall one December when they shipped a 46M gas compressor to China and then enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday. Meanwhile Kevin was 9,000 miles away on an emergency shutdown in China and his family spent Christmas without him. Elliott's field service teams are often on the road 200 days a year but they rarely complain about missing the special events which most of others take for granted.

I am truly grateful that I was able to celebrate a wonderful eidulfitri with family this year. So far on my 9th year of career, I still never miss to celebrate eidulfitri with my family. Hopefully I still can on next year and years after. Finger crossed! On my line of duty, I cannot put the hope up so high, I don't know where and when they will send me. Just hope for the best. 

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