True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By J. Charles Cheek[1] © September 2005 Executive Advise in Three Envelopes Don Hodel, BPA administrator from 1972 to 1978, told one of my favorite management stories a year or so after his reign as the head honcho at the Bonneville Power Administration. After accepting the appointment… Continue reading Executive Advise in Three Envelopes

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp Stories of Pacific Powerland By J. Charles Cheek[1] © September 2007 Nelson Olmsted (1914 – 1992) narrated over 1,000 three minute stories under the series title of Stories of Pacific Powerland. The stories were broadcast regularly over seventeen years on radio stations covering the six-state service area… Continue reading Stories of Pacific Powerland

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By J. Charles Cheek[1] © June 2004 A Man Called Thumper In the mid 60s, PP&L ( Pacific Power & Light Company), built a 230,000 volt transmission line from Walla Walla, Washington to Enterprise, Oregon. The contractor building the line hired a couple of dozen union linemen… Continue reading A Man Called Thumper

In line with the climate of political correctness now widespread in America, those of us from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri will no longer be referred to as HILLBILLIES because we find that term derogatory, degrading and discriminatory. We ask that you now refer to us as OZARK-AMERICANS. Thank you for complying. (It… Continue reading Political Correctness 1

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By John Cheek[1] © May 2004 How Much does a 500,000 volt Electrical Transformer Cost? I spent eight years of my career as the Project Manager on a 550-mile long 500,000-volt electric transmission line. The project attracted a lot of media attention and much of the positive… Continue reading How Much Does a 500,000 volt Electrical Transformer Cost?

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By J. Charles Cheek[1] © May 2005 Bob Beadnell, the Master Story Teller Bob Beadnell was a superb storyteller. I heard him tell many amusing tales during coffee breaks and lunch-time at the second-floor cafeteria of the Public Service Building in Portland, Oregon. One such story revolved… Continue reading Bob Beadnell – The Master Story Teller

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By J. Charles Cheek[1] © April 2005 Don Frisbee and the Lady Drafter Marge Thompson was a drafter in the Transmission Engineering Section. She was a very nice lady and wouldn’t say you-know-what if she stepped in it. Don Frisbee was the President and CEO of Pacific… Continue reading Don Frisbee and the Lady Drafter

What it Takes to Get What You Want. An article titled, 5 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires, concludes with the following paragraph: The Biggest Secret? Stop spending. Every millionaire we spoke to has one thing in common: Not a single one spends needlessly. Real estate investor Dave Lindahl drives a Ford Explorer and says his middle-class… Continue reading What it Takes to Get What You Want.

The note below was appended to a story about the healing effects of visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. “I have tried many times to walk the Memorial wall, I can never get past the entrance. I served in Vietnam in 1971 I was attached to the 101st a recon unit after serving on… Continue reading Healing Power of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

True Stories from the 20th Century at Pacificorp By J. Charles Cheek1 © April 2005 Louie Dyer, Don Martin and I Quit Smoking – Briefly Every organization, from the Cub Scouts and Brownies through big corporations and big government, has at least one memorable character. In the engineering arm of Pacific Power & Light Company… Continue reading Louie Dyer, Don Martin and I Quit Smoking.