abel profile
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March 2009 NetWork 7 Making Connections appears in Superintendent Jorge Carrasco’s weekly inWeb message to employees. The feature profiles employees – their work and their lives off the job. NetWork will now publish some of those stories so that as many people as possible can read about their fascinating co-workers. D on’t let her stature and good cheer fool you – Debi Abel is one tough cookie. She once shot a bear for food. She built her own home from scratch, including the wiring, plumbing and digging a septic tank system by hand. For her first eight years in Washington state, she lived in a shell of a home with no running water, no heat and a chimney pipe that dripped coffee-can loads of creosote each day. Water for baths was heated in a camp stove. And then there is her job. Debi is a maintenance laborer at the Ross Powerhouse in Newhalem, where she works on the generator rotors. That means getting inside the machines “like a miner,” she says, to remove soot from the brakes. Debi has been with Seattle City Light since 1987, when she was hired as a temporary worker in the carpentry shop. She was hired permanently in 1988 as part of an SCL logging crew. “We died in the heat and froze in the winter, shared laughter as well as tears. We were a family. We have a love and bond that will never leave any of us,” Debi says of her experiences as a logger. Debi also worked with the Skagit plumbing, paint shop and boat crews. She particularly enjoyed her work as a deck- hand, helping people on the boat tours of the Skagit proj- ect. Debi is originally from Placentia, Calif., near Fullerton. She left that state in 1978 during the gas and water shortage, seeking a greener place with reliable water, good hiking and fish- ing. She ended up in Washington after exploring the map as far as Illinois and Arkansas. Debi has four boys, three of them all grown up. Like her, she says, they have all been taught to set ambi- tious goals, and to be handy and self-sufficient. Making Connections By Roberto Bonaccorso, publications specialist, Communications and Public Affairs Debi has been with Seattle City Light since 1987, when she was hired as a temporary worker in the carpentry shop.
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Transcript of abel profile
March 2009 NetWork 7
Making Connections appears in Superintendent Jorge Carrasco’s weekly inWeb messageto employees. The feature profiles employees – their work and their lives off the job.NetWork will now publish some of those stories so that as many people as possible canread about their fascinating co-workers.
Don’t let her stature and good cheer fool you – Debi Abel is
one tough cookie. She once shot a bear for food. She built her
own home from scratch, including the wiring, plumbing and digging
a septic tank system by hand.
For her first eight years in Washington state, she lived in a shell
of a home with no running water, no heat and a chimney pipe that
dripped coffee-can loads of creosote each day. Water for baths was
heated in a camp stove.
And then there is her job. Debi is a maintenance laborer at the
Ross Powerhouse in Newhalem, where she works on the generator
rotors. That means getting inside the machines “like a miner,” she
says, to remove soot from the brakes.
Debi has been with Seattle City Light since 1987, when she
was hired as a temporary worker in the carpentry shop. She was
hired permanently in 1988 as part of an SCL logging crew.
“We died in the heat and froze in the winter, shared laughter as
well as tears. We were a family. We have a love and bond that will
never leave any of us,” Debi says of her experiences as a logger.
Debi also worked with the Skagit plumbing, paint shop and
boat crews. She particularly
enjoyed her work as a deck-
hand, helping people on the
boat tours of the Skagit proj-
ect.
Debi is originally from
Placentia, Calif., near
Fullerton. She left that state
in 1978 during the gas and
water shortage, seeking a
greener place with reliable
water, good hiking and fish-
ing. She ended up in
Washington after exploring
the map as far as Illinois and
Arkansas.
Debi has four boys,
three of them all grown up.
Like her, she says, they have
all been taught to set ambi-
tious goals, and to be handy
and self-sufficient.
Making ConnectionsBy Roberto Bonaccorso, publications specialist, Communications and Public Affairs
Debi has beenwith Seattle CityLight since 1987,when she washired as a temporaryworker in thecarpentry shop.
