Timing is everything, as reprographics technician II Joe Walter can tell you.
Nearly six years ago he was suddenly laid off from his job in the print industry. That same day, someone he knew came into his workplace and suggested he apply for a job at 黑料网. Less than two weeks later he was on the job at 黑料网 in what then was known as reprographics, now . And now, when so many people have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, 鈥渢he bindery guy in the print shop鈥 as he calls himself, counts himself fortunate not only to have a job but also one he truly enjoys.
Tell us more about how you came to 黑料网.
I was in the printing group at United Health Group. It was my mom鈥檚 birthday. I went to lunch with her. When I got back, the shop manager said we are meeting in the lunchroom. I was there just short of 22 years. They handed me a letter (telling me I was being laid off) 鈥 everybody else, too. Someone I knew came into the shop that very afternoon and I said, 鈥淲ho is looking for a bindery man?鈥 He said they would be posting an ad here at 黑料网. I watched for it and I applied. I hit it off with Donna McAleer (now director of publications emerita) right away. I got a phone call asking when I could start. I was laid off May 5. I started here on May 11. I also had 22 weeks of severance and vacation pay.
If that guy hadn鈥檛 told me about the 黑料网 job, I probably wouldn鈥檛 have ever looked here, although I had been a 黑料网 basketball fan since I was in high school in Nebraska. I wouldn鈥檛 have expected an opening (at 黑料网). People don鈥檛 leave these jobs.
I had thought that when I was laid off I was going to go to Utah and cut trees and clean up my land near . You can just sit back and relax there. I love it. We go into town and have pizza. We鈥檙e really wild.
What are your general job duties?
Cutting, folding, booklet making 鈥 whatever is needed to finish the job, that is what I do.
Why do you stay at 黑料网?
I feel I am just damn lucky to be here with so many people losing their jobs. The printing industry in this town is just in horrible shape right now. 鈥 The hours here are right. The days are right. I don鈥檛 know anywhere that would be better. Being from Nebraska, I鈥檝e got that Midwest goofy thing that I feel I need to be working every day.
How is it different working during the pandemic?
We have had one problem. We鈥檒l get people ordering material but then they are not here to receive it. That鈥檚 made it a little more difficult. We have to play phone tag to get departments to have someone there to receive deliveries. For instance, one day we took five jobs out but only could deliver two.
Also, we鈥檝e had a lighter quantity of work. Some of our bread-and-butter people, like Fine Arts, haven鈥檛 had much for us at all.
When the university decides to go back full bore, we are going to get slammed.
Tell us about growing up in Nebraska.
I lived in . My hometown鈥檚 claim to fame is that it is the home of the famous Dryland Bridge. Look it up. It also has lots of colorful characters.
I worked for my dad in high school on big equipment. We did a lot of soil conservation work. Friday nights were busy in high school with football and dates. My dad would let me sleep in on Saturdays as long as I had come home at a reasonable hour. Otherwise, I had to start work at 7. I would hang with my girlfriend and buddies and come in late. He seemed to know if I had stayed out too late and he would come in and wake me up to go to work. My mom finally told me what he was doing. He would go out and feel the hood of my pickup on Saturday mornings! If it was still warm he would make me get up to work. I started leaving my pickup home and riding with someone else on Friday nights.
A book, movie, TV show, or podcast to recommend?
I鈥檓 a comedy guy. is one of my tops. I like , too.
An ideal vacation鈥
I think the one my wife and I took for my 40th. We have a real good friend who lives in Corvallis (Oregon). Other than seeing our friend, we had no set plans. We drove up by Tahoe and Shasta and Eugene. We had no time frame. No 鈥淲e have to be here or there at a certain time.鈥 We stopped in California at Gualala and San Simeon. You鈥檝e got plenty of time to be uptight. This was the opposite of that.
Something people would be surprised to learn about you?
People who don鈥檛 know me might be surprised that I like to cook. Guys think they can cook if they can turn on a grill. I learned because I didn鈥檛 want to starve! I bake and all kinds of things. My zucchini bread is my favorite thing to bake. I garden. At the end of the season, I had five big zucchinis. My wife ground them up. We froze them and now I use it for baking.
Also, I played the trumpet in high school. My grandfather was a lead trumpet player for Lawrence Welk when he played the music halls. I still have (the trumpet) somewhere.
Advice you would give your younger self
I probably would have stayed in sports longer. I probably would have gone to that second Cincinnati Reds tryout. I didn鈥檛 do well with the Reds at 16, so I didn鈥檛 go the next year when they sent me a letter. Also, I had a walk-on letter to play University of Nebraska football but when my dad passed, that threw a monkey wrench in that. When Dad died it changed the complexion of what was expected of me. He died two months to the day after I graduated from high school. My mom needed me. We had all that big equipment.
But, I鈥檓 not one of those people who sit on a barstool and tells stories about what I could have been. I鈥檓 pretty content. Now that the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, my bucket list is getting pretty short.
