Addendum to Employed 15 Part2
For a while he operated a charter service in the western U.S., After he lost his ATR (license to fly airliners) because he had an altercation with a passenger and was found to have alcohol on his breath. He wasn't intoxicated,but he was fired. Despite his continued drinking, he did well. He once told me that if he didn't have a little Scotch on his breath, the plane might not recognize him and
might mis-understand his commands. Though he drank regularly, l never saw him drunk or even noticeably affected. He did a great job getting the medicinal
benefit of the booze without suffering the impairment that a normal drinker might. Even the incident that got him a life-time suspension of any level of flying license, he had been drinking, but was below the legal limit. Flying back to SanJose from LA one evening, after a couple of days and nights without sleep.
He was flying a single engine, four-seat Cessna 172. Some where over the Central Valley he was having a hard time staying awake. Just before Sundown he decided to land somewhere and get about 88 winks. He landed on a service road, that ran thru the middle of a walnut orchard. ln the state he was in, a tree
trunk nearby looked like a recliner chair and it beckoned to him. He grabbed the bottle of Ballentine's, slid out of the plane and planted himself in the tree's embrace. He fell asleep before he got so much as a sip from the bottle.
The bottle was still lodged between his legs, when the CHP officer awakened him. At that time, he had slept about seven hours, and the breath-o-lizer pro-
nounced him sober. The cop was not happy; he knew what the dawning day would involve: lt was nearly dark in San Jose by the time the Cessna had been extracted from the Central Valley orchard and returned to it's hangar in
Milpitas. John then had both the FAA and DMV to deal with. Together, they saw to it that John could never (legally) pilot a plane again.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Monday, February 13, 2017
Employed 15 Part 2
By lunch time on my first day at Hadley's Creek Ford, l had three couples in tow. If each had actually bought the car they had chosen, l would have made more than two hundred dollars that day. ('65 dollars) But l had been called away at about 2:30 PM and never got back to the dealership that day. A few days later, when l stopped by to see if l had made any money, l was told that two of my three prospects failed to qualify for financing and the third bought a Mustang. Since, at that time, nearly everyone wanted a Mustang and Ford Motor Company wanted to sell some of their models as well, commissions paid for the sale of Mustangs were paid, but not very-somely. And besides, the floor whore who took over for me deserved what little commission was due.
Some days later, l applied for a position selling a kind of indoor playground for toddlers. The presentation was made, for the salesman, by means of a home movie player by one Ed McMann, the side-kick to Johnny Carson on The Tonite Show, at that time. Ed did the entire twenty- minute minute pitch, as well as the close,so all that was left for the salesman was to hand the prospect a pen.
l was interviewed by the San Jose Manager for the company and l was very impressed by him. But l like to close my own deals as well as do the presentation when l'm the salesman. And l'm not a fan of Mr. McMann. But while l didn't like the deal, l did like the manager and l gave him my card and requested one of his. l intended to stay in touch. His name was John Doener.
Later that evening l got a call from my friend Fred Hartzel. We had been in the same class in school, first grade thru twelfth. Our friendship continued beyond school. l had asked him, in an earlier talk to let me know if he heard about any job openings l might be interested in.He said that Newmont Gold had the Maggie Creek claims all in place and ready to mine. Construction of the mill had begun. There were several good jobs still available.
Leaving early the next morning, l reached that little town in western Elko county by dinnertime. The next day, l was at the mill before the pipe-fitter's
bus arrived. l had a few interviews and wound up accepting the job as shipping and receiving guy. lt went something like this: Between five and a dozen tractor-trailer rigs would arrive and get parked in one or another of the
receiving bays. Usually, within the hour my copies of a given load's paperwork
to let me know exactly which numbered bin each arriving part belonged in.
Three hand-trucks of different sizes, two forklifts (one for in-doors or paved
outdoors, the other, larger and equipped to handle low-traction surfaces in all
kinds of weather. The tools and other equipment available to the worker in
shipping and receiving made it one of the best areas to work in at Newmont.
laid out the way it was, the job very nearly did itself.
One day, about three or four weeks into the job, some department had some sort of grievance that caused them to shut down the entire mill construction job until the dispute could be settled. This left about a dozen tractor/trailer rigs parked where they came to their stop at the moment of the shut-down.
None of them where they belonged and all of them in the way of my unloading the trucks' loads into the storage bins. After studying the situation for a few minutes, though, l saw that l could move two of the trucks just a few feet and free the way for all of the trucks to get thru the unloading process. l moved the first truck about twenty feet before a group of fifteen-or-so very angry Teamsters shouting expletives and ordering me to stop the truck. lt turns out
that, on a union job, any single worker can shut down the entire workplace if he is aware of a situation in force that violates any provision(s) of the union contract in force. l have no recollection of which rule had been broken,(if l ever did know) that caused the job shut-down, but l do remember that when the Union (teamsters,pipe-fitters,etc) decide to shut a job, everybody must stop working until the grievance is settled. l was not a Union member, nor did l intend to be, so l was not as well-informed as perhaps l should have been. But
we live and learn. l did learn a bunch o' stuff that day: Driving steel T-bar fence
posts is best left to guys..or others, who like working out. So when my supervisor took my shipping and receiving job away and handed me a T-bar driving tool and pointed me toward the fence line, l lasted about twenty minutes driving (both of them) before l stumbled to my car, drove the eleven miles to Chin's restaurant in that little town, had lunch, drove to fernley, spent the night and drove back to San Jose by mid-afternoon.
A couple of days later l got a call from Adolph. He asked if l'd be interested in managing a large set-up (100 spaces) in the huge Buy Sell and Trade swap
meet in Mountain View. (about 20 miles from San Jose) BST as they called it, was open Fridays as well as weekends and holidays. Within it's hundred spaces
the store in question stocks everything from baby clothing to hardware;new
athletic shoes to bicycles (new and used) The job paid a generous percentage
of all register receipts. l thanked Adolph for the lead and said l would check it out and let him know where it goes.
On the next Friday, l visited BST. The hundred-space store that was needing a
manager was called Swap 'Til You Drop. One sign on the front of the place
said "Swap 'Til You Drop". Another, just inside said "Shop 'Til You Drop" No one had yet put up a "Trade 'Til You Drop" sign.
ON THE NEXT FRIDAY, l visited the place. l arrived about 11AM and stayed until
closing, at Sundown. During that visit l talked to a lot of people and almost everybody voiced approval. (Nobody had any complaints).
On Saturday l was there in early morning and this time concentrated my inter-
views and focused on folks renting spaces for the weekend in which to sell their stuf.f l did introduce myself to Larry, the then current mgr of Shop Til Drop. and told him l was considering the current opening which he was about to vacate. He offered his help if needed and said he had application forms, if it came to that. l spent most of the morning walking around the place with him, learning as much as l could about his experience managing the place and why he was leaving. (He got an offer to manage a new flea market in Tucson,Az.)
which was also an RV park. Many of the flea market spaces were equipped with hook-ups. He was very excited about his prospects. l was at the Mountain View BST for each of the three days that weekend. Friday and Saturdaywere
extremely well-attended, but it rained on Sunday and the place was nearly empty all day. According to Larry, gross receipts for that Sunday fell well short
of a thousand dollars. At his percentage that Sunday paid him only $80.dollars.li"That's just for that one Sunday,"said Dahlia. What were the gross receipts for Friday and Saturday?"
"Together, they grossed eleven K, Larry's %age got him a little more than $900.
"That's pretty good for two days"
"And the workweek is just three days...l'm losing enthusiasm for this one".
"l think you should look at it again.See what next week will produce".
"l guess l could do that. ln fact, l'll give it another two weeks and see how it looks from there."
That was not, however possible.The owner of Shop Til You Drop wanted to have Larry's replacement start the weekend after Larry"s last day, which was
at the end of the next week. lt turned out that l wasn't ready to decide in time and had to give up on it. There have been times since that l thought l might have made the wrong decision on that one. l probably should have seen only one rainy day out of a possible three days (in the midst of February) a good thing.
lt had been some months since l'd seen John Doener, so l called and we got together for lunch. He had been thru a couple of jobs at the time of our meet was not employed, living on saved money (from better times) and using available time to contact prospective backers in a company that he was determined to build. l had no doubt that he could make it happen. He had a history of accomplishment. While still in his teens, he became a Navy fighter pilot in WWl l, flying missions in the South Pacific from Aircraft Carriers aboard
a Vought F4U Corsair. (Google has some good pictures of it) After the war, he flew for Pan Am and later a few other airlines.
Some days later, l applied for a position selling a kind of indoor playground for toddlers. The presentation was made, for the salesman, by means of a home movie player by one Ed McMann, the side-kick to Johnny Carson on The Tonite Show, at that time. Ed did the entire twenty- minute minute pitch, as well as the close,so all that was left for the salesman was to hand the prospect a pen.
l was interviewed by the San Jose Manager for the company and l was very impressed by him. But l like to close my own deals as well as do the presentation when l'm the salesman. And l'm not a fan of Mr. McMann. But while l didn't like the deal, l did like the manager and l gave him my card and requested one of his. l intended to stay in touch. His name was John Doener.
Later that evening l got a call from my friend Fred Hartzel. We had been in the same class in school, first grade thru twelfth. Our friendship continued beyond school. l had asked him, in an earlier talk to let me know if he heard about any job openings l might be interested in.He said that Newmont Gold had the Maggie Creek claims all in place and ready to mine. Construction of the mill had begun. There were several good jobs still available.
Leaving early the next morning, l reached that little town in western Elko county by dinnertime. The next day, l was at the mill before the pipe-fitter's
bus arrived. l had a few interviews and wound up accepting the job as shipping and receiving guy. lt went something like this: Between five and a dozen tractor-trailer rigs would arrive and get parked in one or another of the
receiving bays. Usually, within the hour my copies of a given load's paperwork
to let me know exactly which numbered bin each arriving part belonged in.
Three hand-trucks of different sizes, two forklifts (one for in-doors or paved
outdoors, the other, larger and equipped to handle low-traction surfaces in all
kinds of weather. The tools and other equipment available to the worker in
shipping and receiving made it one of the best areas to work in at Newmont.
laid out the way it was, the job very nearly did itself.
One day, about three or four weeks into the job, some department had some sort of grievance that caused them to shut down the entire mill construction job until the dispute could be settled. This left about a dozen tractor/trailer rigs parked where they came to their stop at the moment of the shut-down.
None of them where they belonged and all of them in the way of my unloading the trucks' loads into the storage bins. After studying the situation for a few minutes, though, l saw that l could move two of the trucks just a few feet and free the way for all of the trucks to get thru the unloading process. l moved the first truck about twenty feet before a group of fifteen-or-so very angry Teamsters shouting expletives and ordering me to stop the truck. lt turns out
that, on a union job, any single worker can shut down the entire workplace if he is aware of a situation in force that violates any provision(s) of the union contract in force. l have no recollection of which rule had been broken,(if l ever did know) that caused the job shut-down, but l do remember that when the Union (teamsters,pipe-fitters,etc) decide to shut a job, everybody must stop working until the grievance is settled. l was not a Union member, nor did l intend to be, so l was not as well-informed as perhaps l should have been. But
we live and learn. l did learn a bunch o' stuff that day: Driving steel T-bar fence
posts is best left to guys..or others, who like working out. So when my supervisor took my shipping and receiving job away and handed me a T-bar driving tool and pointed me toward the fence line, l lasted about twenty minutes driving (both of them) before l stumbled to my car, drove the eleven miles to Chin's restaurant in that little town, had lunch, drove to fernley, spent the night and drove back to San Jose by mid-afternoon.
A couple of days later l got a call from Adolph. He asked if l'd be interested in managing a large set-up (100 spaces) in the huge Buy Sell and Trade swap
meet in Mountain View. (about 20 miles from San Jose) BST as they called it, was open Fridays as well as weekends and holidays. Within it's hundred spaces
the store in question stocks everything from baby clothing to hardware;new
athletic shoes to bicycles (new and used) The job paid a generous percentage
of all register receipts. l thanked Adolph for the lead and said l would check it out and let him know where it goes.
On the next Friday, l visited BST. The hundred-space store that was needing a
manager was called Swap 'Til You Drop. One sign on the front of the place
said "Swap 'Til You Drop". Another, just inside said "Shop 'Til You Drop" No one had yet put up a "Trade 'Til You Drop" sign.
ON THE NEXT FRIDAY, l visited the place. l arrived about 11AM and stayed until
closing, at Sundown. During that visit l talked to a lot of people and almost everybody voiced approval. (Nobody had any complaints).
On Saturday l was there in early morning and this time concentrated my inter-
views and focused on folks renting spaces for the weekend in which to sell their stuf.f l did introduce myself to Larry, the then current mgr of Shop Til Drop. and told him l was considering the current opening which he was about to vacate. He offered his help if needed and said he had application forms, if it came to that. l spent most of the morning walking around the place with him, learning as much as l could about his experience managing the place and why he was leaving. (He got an offer to manage a new flea market in Tucson,Az.)
which was also an RV park. Many of the flea market spaces were equipped with hook-ups. He was very excited about his prospects. l was at the Mountain View BST for each of the three days that weekend. Friday and Saturdaywere
extremely well-attended, but it rained on Sunday and the place was nearly empty all day. According to Larry, gross receipts for that Sunday fell well short
of a thousand dollars. At his percentage that Sunday paid him only $80.dollars.li"That's just for that one Sunday,"said Dahlia. What were the gross receipts for Friday and Saturday?"
"Together, they grossed eleven K, Larry's %age got him a little more than $900.
"That's pretty good for two days"
"And the workweek is just three days...l'm losing enthusiasm for this one".
"l think you should look at it again.See what next week will produce".
"l guess l could do that. ln fact, l'll give it another two weeks and see how it looks from there."
That was not, however possible.The owner of Shop Til You Drop wanted to have Larry's replacement start the weekend after Larry"s last day, which was
at the end of the next week. lt turned out that l wasn't ready to decide in time and had to give up on it. There have been times since that l thought l might have made the wrong decision on that one. l probably should have seen only one rainy day out of a possible three days (in the midst of February) a good thing.
lt had been some months since l'd seen John Doener, so l called and we got together for lunch. He had been thru a couple of jobs at the time of our meet was not employed, living on saved money (from better times) and using available time to contact prospective backers in a company that he was determined to build. l had no doubt that he could make it happen. He had a history of accomplishment. While still in his teens, he became a Navy fighter pilot in WWl l, flying missions in the South Pacific from Aircraft Carriers aboard
a Vought F4U Corsair. (Google has some good pictures of it) After the war, he flew for Pan Am and later a few other airlines.
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