[AT WORK]
Maintenance supervisor "Steg" Steglet >> "As the outdoor maintenance supervisor of a gated community -- we have 135 units -- my days are pretty much spent tidying up. Our authority extends to the common areas, the places where everyone goes, and the amenities everyone uses.
The need to be a jack-of-all-trades
keeps this job interesting
By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame @starbulletin.com
"We start off each day by cleaning the rec center. The swimming pool requires constant checking. On hot days, in no time at all, it can flash over and get a green tint, and we have to add chemicals. In the meantime, no one can use it, and residents get annoyed. So the pool is taken care of all the time.
"The great thing about this is that it's outside work, and it's not super-hard, but it takes dedication. You're constantly on the go. I like also that it's hands-on work. You have to be a jack-of-all-trades. I can do everything except for the roofs -- because of liability concerns, the housing association requires roofing professionals for anything that's more than eight feet off the ground.
"Everything else, we do. You might repair the roadway, or plant seedlings, or fix the sprinklers, or clean out the stairwells, or do masonry. You have to be a carpenter. And a painter! The painting never stops. Paint, paint, paint, it never ends."
AT WORK is a weekly feature that shows and tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send comments and submissions to business@starbulletin.com.