By GEORGE SMITH, student reporter
Conference calls and empty halls surround the door with a poster pinned up that reads, “I’d rather be 3 margaritas deep on my Mexican vacation.”
Typically teeming with 10 or 12 employees running around the office and in and out of the sign shop and laboratory, the Circuit Engineering District No. 8 office on the west side of Alva is a place for official roadside signs to be made. This is also where 45 county commissioners receive their reports on the health of the bridges and roads in the area for 15 counties in Northwest Oklahoma.
Donnie Head is the general manager at CED No. 8 and the only employee allowed to work in the building. All other employees must work from home and/or take their orders over the phone. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, no signs have been made, but inspections are still able to get done.
Head does what he can to ensure the prosperity of the business. He’s been the manager for close to 20 years, but dealing with the corona virus pandemic, has been an unusually struggling task.
“Being the only guy out at the office is a little strange,” Head said, “but I get done with my projects faster and get to help others with theirs.”
A manager has a lot to worry about, but his employee staff isn’t larger than 20 people, and he seems to like it that way.
“Things that get done right, usually get done by me,” he said, jokingly.
The workload isn’t any more or less because of the absence of employees in the office. It’s just more tedious to finish because the building houses all the hi-tech equipment that makes the job easier. That’s why Head still goes into the office every day to help his employees finish what they can’t. With a good attitude and bravado mustache, Head says he plans to make the best out of a bad situation and help his employees the best he can