Carl Finley of Finley Engineering Co.

Finley Engineering Company, Inc. " Carl Finley " I would like to begin by making it clear that Mr. Finley was in no way a part of what happened to me at the company he helped found and was part owner of. Carl was a man I admired from the start. He had a way about him that just made you like him. In my entire time of dealing with Carl & Charles Orrell, they both treated me very well. It was in 1974 that I decided to attend college. I had tried a number of jobs and wasn't getting anywhere. I went to NWMSU and after almost completing one semester, my father passed away. I dropped out that winter and took care of his estate. I never returned but instead went back to working for a living. I had grown tired once again of seeming to be not really getting ahead and I strongly considered going back to college. I was in fact making mental plans to put into action attending spring of 1979. In 1978 Finley's business was booming and they needed help. They needed people so bad that they put ads in the local papers for help. I noticed the ads and responded. I went to the office to talk to someone and I was very impressed with the office. It was clean and very cheery. I met with Charles Orrell and after an interview he hired me (never even filled out an application). "Come to work Monday morning", he said. Well it was tough as I now had a fork in the road of life. Do I go to work here or go to college? I decided to give this a try as it was different from anything I had done. I was issued a pick up truck to drive, credit card to pay for fuel and expenses, reimbursed for some of my food and all of the motel. I gave it a try and it really fit me. I was hired on as a field surveyor in the Bell Telephone dept. Charles Orrell was my boss. I was sent out on my first job with a trainer. Ron Arft was the man who gave me guidance and training. We had a good time over the years and worked hand in hand on many projects. I appreciated in him his desire to do the best he had in him. I too had that philosophy. Had I known Dec. 18th, 1978 (the day I started work for Finley's) that someone was going to STEAL MY LIVELIHOOD in 2002 I would have gone on to college. At this point I want to insert something I wrote straight from my heart dated---------07/07/2003
I want to say that as of this date I am left with the realization that unless I get lucky I am probably going to be stuck with having to accept some very menial, boring job where I use my body to earn a living, rather than my mind. I have a very active mind and with Finley's I was able to be independent and to be using my mind to create and design. I also used my body so it was a combination of both. I have cut brush with a hand held machete in temperature of 107 degrees, pulled a 200 foot steel chain in a blizzard and braved temperatures below zero at times. I have walked from Kansas City to St. Louis and part of the way back again on an AT&T project. I have waded through the swamps and rice fields of Arkansas and climbed unbelievably steep terrain. I have been stung by bees and wasps, picked off many ticks after work, and been eaten alive by mosquitoes and swamped by gnats in New York. I have waded time and time again through all types of briar bushes and at night in the motel room ,was able to remove most of the stickers. I have been in underground manholes that contain not only telephone cables, but we have removed as many as 23 snakes from a manhole before entering. I have pictures. I have gone in holes that were near a service station that had the powerful stench of deisel fuel and you couldn't get rid of it no matter how long you pumped fresh air into it, and we went in there when we shouldn't have. Being a field engineer isn't just about using your mind, it's a wonderful mix. A healthy mind is a terrible thing to waste and I feel this company has created just the right situation to do just that. I am handicapped as I have described earlier in that I only have knowledge to do what I have been exposed to. I have not had exposure to the technical end of the business and that fact prevents me from walking into another like company and filling a position unless it operated like Finley's. I chose NOT TO go back to college and to work for this company and I think it is criminal to rob someone in the manner that I was and I did nothing to cause it. It is a real problem to try to get re-employed at the age I am and especially in the economic mess we are in.

I am closing for now and will be back.