In 1997, I had been out of the petroleum industry about 15 years, having lost my first career in the industry down turn of the mid-80's. Sometime during the summer I stumbled over a recruiting ad for NUMAR. I quickly replied and much to my surprise got call from Dave Marshall. I interviewed and was told I had a job as an analyst. Well, things didn't turn out that way. Halliburton purchased NUMAR and the job offer disappeared. Somewhat desperate, I called Ron Cherry and inquired about the possibility of getting a field job. He told me to
contact Ted, which I did. A few days later I had an interview…and not too much later a job!
Now the important part of this story is this: in 1997 I was 51 years old. When Ted told the NUMAR engineers in Brenhem he was hiring a 51 year old engineer they told him he was crazy, but hire me he did. To make a long story short, I broke out as an engineer on my first training job (though Ted did say that that wasn't the usual practice) and six months later received a promotion (encouraged by Ted) to the analyst position I had lost the previous summer.
Over the last ten years, whenever I saw Ted, I made it a special point to thank him for giving me the chance to rebuild my career. Ted being Ted just smiled. To this day I can't hear or think of his name without thinking of how lucky I was.
Thank you, Ted, for the second chance. Thank you for my career!
Wyatt Canady
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