Besides delivering newspapers and some summer jobs....
I remember my mother telling me that I could find a job by going to the unemployment office and putting my name on a list of people looking for work...no experience necessary. So I did...and being only 16 it was an opportunity. I was seated in a small waiting room with half a dozen other guys. Man comes in and says "Ok We have a guy looking for workers...just come here tommorow morning".
I had no transportation but decided I could walk there if I needed to.
Talking to the guy sitting next to me, to try to bum a ride, I said "Hey..great! You coming in?". "Hell no!" was his response.
To be continued....

So I show up on time the next morning and see that none of the other guys have. Then a work van with a sign on the side that says "Jiffy Clean" pulls into the parking lot. The driver, a black man with a big smile, says "#^&#^&#^&#^& man....its just you?.....C'mon hop in". Joe introduces himself and seems like a real nice guy...says he has some cleaning jobs for "us" ...but first we're going for breakfast. We go to a little place in a Cape Verdean neighborhood not far from where I grew up, where he is obviously a regular. "That your new help, Joe" an older patron asks. He laughs and says. "That's right" as he pays the check for our meals. I'm starting to like Joe, he seems like good hearted guy and freindly...not a miserable prick like the boss at the sawmill job I worked last summer.

When I applied for a job at the sawmill the previous summer, I could tell right away, the owner was an #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&. "Whats with the #^&#^&#^&#^&ing long hair?" he asked. "Thats the style now I said". "Well you better keep it covered when you show up for work here" he said.
It was 11 miles from home to the sawmill and hitchhiking and walking were my only options so I would be a little late some mornings. There was a guy working in the shop, separate from the sawmill, that lived near me.
He knew I worked there too, but would drive past me on his way in. I approached him one day and offered to pay for gas if he could give me a ride. "No" was all he said. I'm starting to realize no one is required to help me, and I have to find my own way. But with a forty hour week paycheck of $44 it was not going to be easy.

Joe, my new boss at "Jiffy Clean" was driving us to a job he had lined up with a big company at the industrial park, explaining that he would get me started cleaning but had to leave to go look at some other jobs.

Polaroid was a thriving company back then with a very large facility and thousands of good paying jobs. Besides the very large main building, there was a separate building Joe called the power plant. We went in, got visitor passes and Joe talked to the supervisor, who showed us to the burner room. On our way through the facility I was amazed how clean and bright everything was, with all the employees wearing hard hats, safety glasses, and white jumpsuits.
The control room looked like something from NASA, with a crew of union workers, going through their daily routine. They opened a sealed door for us that gives access to the area between the huge main boiler/furnace and a massive brick chimney. The job was to clean that area of all the ash and soot that had built up on the floor and walls over time.
Joe brought in the shovel, broom and barrels I would need to get started and quickly left.

I realize I'm just rambling here, a bit cathartic for me as I look back at my work history of nearly 50 years, and forward to retirement. Thanks for listening.

Bob, I think it’s time

Bob, I think it’s time
Yeah Ray....i'm feeling it but, according to SSA, I've got another 22 months to reach full benefit. Wont be easy with these arthritic hands though.

PCs of cake

So I get started shoveling soot and ash into barrels and realize this is going to be a very dirty job and that I only came with the clothes on my back and a lunch, no mask, or any other protective gear. The floor is covered with at least 6" thick of densely packed ash with an occaisional seagul. And being in the chamber between a huge furnace and the chimney had me thinking "I hope somebody doesnt forget I'm in here and fire things up".

When I come out at noontime the union guys tell me I can sit in the lunchroom and eat with them, some of them chuckling at how dirty I was. The foreman, says its too bad but the adjacent room with showers and changing room is for employees only. Joe comes back late at the end of the day to pick me up and is pleased with the progress and says figure another day or two to complete the job.
On the ride home I can tell he is a little lit and smell alcohol. Joe tells me that he will pick me up in the morning... Im happy about that ...at least I wont be walking.

Next morning Joe picks me up at the corner of my street, right on time. My mom suggested wearing some clothing that could be discarded if neccesary, she didnt want to deal with soot covered clothing
in the washer again. I get dropped off at the power plant and get right to work. Joe says he'll pick me up at the end of the day. As I work I'm thinking...I'll have money in my pocket for the weekend...maybe even go to the drive -in movie with friends without being a moocher. My parents had eight children and struggled financially....I never once in my life asked for a penny from them.

:lurk:,,,, I'm listening

Being one of eight children...you soon realize that the world does not revolve around you, and I grew up taking what I was given and asking for nothing more.

Back in the chamber cleaning, I wondered what other dirty jobs Joe had lined up. I worked diligently.... making good progress, and by the end of the day I was close to finishing...and completely filthy.

I cleaned my hands and face as best I could and waited for Joe to come pick me up. I waited some more....then wondered if he was coming or maybe forgot me. After an hour or so I made the decision to start walking home...it was a long way but I had a lot of experience with that and I usually had good luck with hitchhiking rides.
Problem with that was I was filthy from head to toe...no one was stopping. Somehow I ended up on I 195...still holding my thumb out there but nada. Was about to give up and just walk when I saw a white Buick Wildcat coming down the highway....could that be my dad? It was....he must have recognized me at the last second....he quickly pulled over and I ran to the car.
"Jesus Christ"! he said "What the hell have you been doing?" I hadn't told him anything about my new job until now.

; )

My first paying gig (other than paper route or under the table local odd jobs) was summer between Junior and Senior year of HS: Mess Hall KP at the 2/37th Armor, Panzer Kaserne.

; )

My first paying gig (other than paper route or under the table local odd jobs) was summer between Junior and Senior year of HS: Mess Hall KP at the 2/37th Armor, Panzer Kaserne.

How was the pay? :-)

My dad was on his way home from work at Newport Naval Base, when he saw me hitchhiking on the highway.
We didn't have a lot of interaction back then, and he was gone for weeks sometimes, traveling to Navy bases all over the world to test fire weapon systems. I was about to graduate high school and had no plan or moneys to go to college or a career path to follow.

On the short ride home we discussed my situation and lack of transportation. I told him I had been looking for a used car but was far from having the $800 dollars it would cost. Without hesitation he offered to loan me the money, at the same time he suggested that I look for a better job with room to advance.
Next morning, Joe comes to pick me up and apologizes for leaving me stranded the previous day. I told him it was okay and that I might have a car soon anyway.

I knew my dad was right about getting into another line of work...but what. I started scouring the help wanted adds and saw one that I thought "I could do that".
Carpenters helper wanted for work on Cape Cod...transportation provided

My 1st job was blue gold sea farm in middle town on Burma road I lived in navy housing . And had my scuba diving license so they had me being a watch person in the boat when guys were in the water , and did a lot of piece work putting dowels in rope from which they hung the bags for the mussels to grow on . we got paid by the box

When I called the number listed in the want ad for helpers, a man with a deep gravely voice said to show up at the gas station parking lot at 5:30 am. and look for the orange passenger van.
When I got there that morning, a very rugged and weathered looking older guy, standing outside the van smoking a cigarette, introduced himself as Roger...the boss. "Get in" he said, as he looked me over. I found myself sitting between two other guys who had already taken the window seats, and off we went.
"Little did I know".......about a lot of things....but in particular that being a carpenter would be my life long vocation, and a turning point in my life.
I had already spoken to Joe at Jiffy Clean, to tell him that I would be taking another job. He wished me luck.

My new boss Roger was what I would call a home grown redneck. A country music lover and straight to the VFW after work. He was definately one tough SOB. He barked his orders and everyone jumped when he did. I was a skinny and under developed teenager, but I put as much effort as I could into it. I remember Roger looking at my skinny legs and with a grin saying "Bobby, how do those things hold you up? He was equally snyde with all the new guys, especially those of us with long hair. "What do you find under a pony tail?" He would ask us. He would answer himself with "A horses ass" and laugh at us. But as weeks went buy I found myself gaining respect and admiration for him as a leader and carpenter. I think he started to like me as well.
And..I started liking the job, the progress of a building going up, working outside in the fresh air, making new friends with some of the crew, and the takehome pay for my 50 hr week was $99!!
By the end of that summer of '73, my blisters had turned to calluses, muscles started growing where there were none, and with those big paychecks I was able to pay my Dad back for the car loan.

By the end of that summer we had worked all over the cape, framing houses in Brewster, Hyannis, and Harwich....weather was hot and the hours were long. Getting home tired and hungry every night and then up early again the next morning left very little time for anything else.
Come fall we were framing condominiums in Falmouth right by the water. I was getting very interested in learning everything I could about wood framed structures, beyond what I was learning on the job, so I started getting books on the subject and studied carefully on my own. I had always enjoyed building things.... first bicycle was built of scavenged parts from different bicycles I found at the dump.....a good frame from one...wheels and seat from another etc.
Roger the boss, noticed my enthusiasm, and that I had very little fear of heights...must have been all the tree climbing we did as kids. He assigned me to be the guy unhooking trusses from the crane as they were lifted into place, with just the last truss to stand on. Every payday I would go straight to the bank and deposit my whole check....except for a few dollars for gas. Next stop was a little hardware store where I set up an account and every week I would buy a new tool to add to my homemade toolbox, like the ones I had seen other guys with.
It felt good when I got a raise in pay.....like my efforts were being rewarded.

How was the pay? :-)




Terrible. Minimum wage was 4.25 but their was a provision in minimum wage for dependents overseas that was 2.90 / hour

Great read .

But I can,t ad anything …..just knew I had to survive & once I got married & a kid on the way pretty quick ...I was in OJT when she was growing .

I did what ever I could legal & illgal to make ends meet & because of unplanned events .I,m still doing the same , sadly at a much slower place .

R Marsh did it the right way .

I DID IT ANYWAY >> can,t change what was …..but I sure would have gotten a education ..

By the end of that summer we had worked all over the cape, framing houses in Brewster, Hyannis, and Harwich....weather was hot and the hours were long. Getting home tired and hungry every night and then up early again the next morning left very little time for anything else.
Come fall we were framing condominiums in Falmouth right by the water. I was getting very interested in learning everything I could about wood framed structures, beyond what I was learning on the job, so I started getting books on the subject and studied carefully on my own. I had always enjoyed building things.... first bicycle was built of scavenged parts from different bicycles I found at the dump.....a good frame from one...wheels and seat from another etc.
Roger the boss, noticed my enthusiasm, and that I had very little fear of heights...must have been all the tree climbing we did as kids. He assigned me to be the guy unhooking trusses from the crane as they were lifted into place, with just the last truss to stand on. Every payday I would go straight to the bank and deposit my whole check....except for a few dollars for gas. Next stop was a little hardware store where I set up an account and every week I would buy a new tool to add to my homemade toolbox, like the ones I had seen other guys with.
It felt good when I got a raise in pay.....like my efforts were being rewarded.

1 chisel a week..... LOL

1 chisel a week..... LOL

Yes Ray...thats how it was. Nowadays I have so many tools, its mind boggling.
Those first few personal hand tools, that I bought, turned out to be an investment in my future. Wasnt long before my boss noticed my seriousness about becoming more than a helper and started giving me more responsibilities, and the pay raises just reinforced my resolve to advance.
That fall the weather was glorious, but eventually the the harsh reality of working outside in the cold and wind of winter, brought a new set of challenges to overcome. I suffered through it like most of the guys on the crew. Some days were tough, with frozen numb hands...unable to even hold a framing pencil.....and feet that didnt thaw out until getting back home at the end of the day. Other framing crews werent even showing up...or calling it quits after a few hours....but Roger, my boss wasn't the kind of guy to show any weakness, and we stayed working through the bitter cold.

Hard work builds character. I remember having to shovel the snow off the top plates of the walls first thing in the AM in order to get up there and set floor joists, or nailing of strapping inside when raining with just some plywood on the roof so still getting wet, trudging thru snow climbing ladders boots frozen. Then I went from one extreme to the other moved to Tempe Arizona, left here April 1st with an inch of snow that day, got a job framing, by June we started at 5 AM so we could be done at 1, talk about hot, burning hot. I felt bad for the roofers. Next month I got a job in a cabinet shop, been doing that since.

Hard work builds character. I remember having to shovel the snow off the top plates of the walls first thing in the AM in order to get up there and set floor joists, or nailing of strapping inside when raining with just some plywood on the roof so still getting wet, trudging thru snow climbing ladders boots frozen. Then I went from one extreme to the other moved to Tempe Arizona, left here April 1st with an inch of snow that day, got a job framing, by June we started at 5 AM so we could be done at 1, talk about hot, burning hot. I felt bad for the roofers. Next month I got a job in a cabinet shop, been doing that since.

Smart move! LOL

Hard work builds character. I remember having to shovel the snow off the top plates of the walls first thing in the AM in order to get up there and set floor joists, or nailing of strapping inside when raining with just some plywood on the roof so still getting wet, trudging thru snow climbing ladders boots frozen. Then I went from one extreme to the other moved to Tempe Arizona, left here April 1st with an inch of snow that day, got a job framing, by June we started at 5 AM so we could be done at 1, talk about hot, burning hot. I felt bad for the roofers. Next month I got a job in a cabinet shop, been doing that since.


Yeah Slip, dealing with the extremes in weather will separate the men from the boys for sure. One July my boss decided to take on a large roofing job on a commercial building. He put me in charge of four newly hired guys to help.
First day was mid 90's and the forecast for the week was more of the same.
After about an hour or so, I saw one guy go to his car and leave, never said a word. Then as we kept working, I noticed another one of the new guys had gone down to rest in the shade. When he hadn't returned after 30 minutes, I went down and told him that he needed to be up on the roof working like everyone else until we all came down for a break. When I went back up on the roof I saw his car leaving too. Out of the four, only one made it through the week. We found taking salt pills really does help when you sweat so much in one day.

That first year of work, framing houses and condos on the cape, went by fast. I learned the basics, measuring, cutting, fastening and hauling lumber......alot of lumber. There were even informal lumber carrying challenges, like who could carry the most studs on there shoulder or multiple sheets of plywood or floor joists at a time. I was still a lightweight but tried to compete anyway.

But it was the more advanced stuff like layout and reading plans that interested me the most. When I saw Roger marking wall plates or figuring out rafter lengths and cuts, or stair stringers I wanted to know more. Whatever the job of the day was, I would go back home and study the chapter on that subject, in the carpentry textbooks I had bought.

On those long rides to cape cod to work, I would daydream about maybe building my own house some day.

Getting up early to work, and back home late, tired and hungry was cutting into my social life. I was dating my future bride at the time and nearly falling asleep on my drive home from her house......it was because of the travel time mostly, I thought.
When I heard about a job opening with a local custom builder, I called and set up an interview. We met at his cabinet shop on a saturday morning, he asked some questions about my experience, then if I had any tools. We went out to my vehicle, and I opened the trunk.
There I had my home made carpenter tool box, with its separate slots for my handsaws, and other compartments, filled neatly with all the basic hand tools. He turned to me and asked, "Can you start work today?" Caught me off guard, wasn't expecting that, but I said "Yeah...Ok". I followed him a short distance from his shop to a new home he was building, and he put me to work in the attic nailing up collar ties.
It was another raise in pay and only twenty minute ride to Mattapoisett, a beautiful seaside community, with a lot of wealthy residents. Much different than the inner city life in New Bedford where I was born and raised.

I love reading these posts. Thanks for sharing.
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I love reading these posts. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you for the positive feedback.....putting my thoughts and memories in writing is my way of dealing with the inevitable demise of my physical body and aging mind. I'm sure everyone here has a story to tell.

Thank you for the positive feedback.....putting my thoughts and memories in writing is my way of dealing with the inevitable demise of my physical body and aging mind. I'm sure everyone here has a story to tell.

Your story sounds a lot like mine. I started working in my trade when I was 15 and I’m 47 now. Got used and abused when I was younger by people I made a lot of money for. I suffered through it and it did eventually pay off. It took a long time though.
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Got used and abused when I was younger by people I made a made a lot of money for
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Jenn is a tough boss for sure....
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Thank you for the positive feedback.....putting my thoughts and memories in writing is my way of dealing with the inevitable demise of my physical body and aging mind. I'm sure everyone here has a story to tell.

Trust me,,, you’re pretty much gonna forget about all the hard work and look back with pride while your doing any freaken thing you want every day all day.... LOL

I’m available for lessons... LOL

Trust me,,, you’re pretty much gonna forget about all the hard work and look back with pride while your doing any freaken thing you want every day all day.... LOL

I’m available for lessons... LOL


Sounds good Ray! I'll try to get to the point of my story soon..........if there is one! :o.....I want to remember those first few years that shaped my future. Coming of age in very short amount of time..........:cputin:

Sounds good Ray! I'll try to get to the point of my story soon..........if there is one! :o.....I want to remember those first few years that shaped my future. Coming of age in very short amount of time..........:cputin:

Great read......

I think the point is most of today’s generation just wants to google tweet or instaface how to build something properly the first time every time without messing up or without getting off the sofa

Which isn’t how it works

I guess it may be going that way if you can click click click on an app to put a 20 x 20 addition on your house and it shows up on a few trailer trucks prefabbed in a warehouse.

I do also love the read every few days. Interesting stuff.
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That interview, turned workday, on a Saturday morning was to be a very significant turning point in my life. When I came back to start the new job on Monday morning, my new boss Jim, took me to where he was building new homes in an exclusive area near Neds Point. He had built his own beautiful home in this area of town, where he had also built houses for doctors, lawyers, business executives and the like. His home was actually the nicest of the bunch. The spacious cabinet shop he had built nearby was also very impressive.

I felt sure that working for him I might learn more than just the basics of framing, roofing and siding I had been doing for the last year.
Didnt know much about my new boss at first. He was very tall, had broad shoulders, a crewcut and wore neatly pressed matching #^&#^&#^&#^&ies work clothes.
He didnt smile much and seemed very driven and stern....made sense to me when he mentioned his basic training at Parris Island and being in the US Marines for several years.
Also explained why he was treating me like a drill sergeant treats a new recruit.

Working for my new boss, Jim, was not going to be easy. He was impatient and very critical, my work was neither good enough or fast enough for him, and working with him was grueling, he would yell and scream about picking up the pace, and at the same time calling out my less than perfect attempts "butcher work".
He sent me to the local lumber yard for materials, and when I mentioned his name as the account to charge to, heads turned to look at me quizzically, wasn't sure why. But a few weeks later, after several trips to get stuff, one of the desk clerks looked at me and said quietly..."are you still working for that guy?" "No one else stays for very long" he said.
I was starting to get the idea, and before long realized most people in town considered him to be a little crazy.

Jim was living up to his reputation... a real hard ass, but having had many other male authority figures in my life, starting with my Dad, I had developed "thick skin"....as a defense mechanism. Still after a few weeks of his unrelenting criticism, I was at my limit, and at the end of a particularly rough day I told him that if I wasn't good enough to fire me. Well, at that point his attitude changed, he lightened up a little and told me I'd be fine. I guess he saw a least some potential in me, or maybe he realized finding a replacement for me might not be so easy.
Whatever the case I started to realize it was okay to push back when he got obnoxious.
On the positive side, he was obviously a master carpenter/cabinetmaker, and had earned a degree at Wentworth Institute after his time with USMC. He had knowledge and skill but he wasn't a great teacher!

We worked, just the two of us, for the first month or so, on various remodeling jobs he had going on in town. He had told me about his foreman "Mike", who was finishing up a big commercial job in New Bedford at the time and that he would be joining us soon to get started framing a large custom home. I looked forward to meeting this guy Mike, maybe it would be good to have someone else around as a buffer....from working alone with Jim. I guess I had formed a mental picture of him in my mind, from everything I had heard,....but those assumptions turned out to be wrong.

When my boss Jim, a very tall, broad shouldered and lean individual, talked about his foreman, Mike, I guess I thought he also would be a tall and rugged kind of guy. When his jacked up pickup truck rolled up to the job one morning, I looked over as he opened his door to step out. When he did, I couldn't see him, he was so short he disappeared behind the door. Physical appearance and first impression.... he looked like an elf to me.
Mike was a very outgoing and pleasant guy, we hit it off right away, as he was quick with a joke, and I found myself amused with some of his antics. I was a bit relieved, working with him was going to be alot less stressful than working with Jim all the time.
He told me he had graduated tops in his vocational high school class, valedictorian and all, and also attended Wentworth for a few semesters before dropping out to start working and making money.
Right off I found him to be an excellent teacher, patiently explaining things about home building and carpentry skills that were still a mystery to me.
Mike was about five years older than me and over the next couple of years he became my mentor, and not just for carpentry stuff.

Things got better, stress wise, after Mike came into the picture, compared to working with the boss Jim. Jims way, when things didnt go well, was to scream and curse.... Mike on the other hand was so calm and lighthearted, working with him was enjoyable.....my thoughts about quitting subsided. When I learned Mike had already built his own house at age 25......I told him that was my goal too. He had some very good advice for me.

Over the next few months, Mike and I worked together a lot, mostly without the boss Jim around. My previous experience had been as a framing carpenter and I knew the routine pretty well, it was all about production and fast paced, but when it came to doing the finish work I was not so good. Mike explained to me that first of all "you've got to slow down!" Finish work takes a whole different mindset and tools. He picked up my hardly ever used block plane and asked "you ever sharpen this thing?" "I thought it was" I said. He laughed and said the blade needs to be sharpened on a regular basis and then showed me his technique for doing so...when he was done he shaved a patch of hair cleanly off his forearm with it, and also advised me to buy a low angle block plane, better for the kind of work we're doing he said. First of the many lessons I would learn from my new friend.

One morning.... boss man Jim tells me to get in his truck and we go to the outskirts of town where he has a 40 acre tract of land to be developed into house lots.
When we get there he points out the yellow ribbons on the trees that define where he intends to put a road in. He gets a large chainsaw out from the back of his truck... a couple cans of fuel...chain file and some bar oil....and asks me if I can handle a chainsaw. I figured ...how hard can it be...and said sure. He explains that I am to cut down all trees between the ribbons....cut logs into four foot lengths and load them on the flatbed truck he had out there....then take all the brush make a pile and burn it. He had a couple of old tires there and told me once on fire they would help the green brush burn better.
He stayed for about half an hour to get me started then left...important business he said...and that he would come back later and pick me up. It was a hot day already and I was glad to have a full jug of water. It was fun at first...dropping those first few big trees.

Looking back now it might be considered negligence...leaving a 19 year old, in the middle of the woods, with no phone or car...with a chainsaw and a couple cans of gas.....(but we rode our bikes with no helmets back then...if you can believe it!). I started to get the hang of getting the trees to fall where I needed them to...but then there were the ones that didn't. No buildings or wires around but I found out...it can be a real problem when they get hung up on another tree. I managed not to hurt myself, and after a very long day ...hauling logs and burning brush...I was totally exhausted...... waiting for my boss to come get me like he said he would. He didnt mention what time though.

my mum once sent me a newspaper article about a man with very arthritic hands
that was using WD40 as a solvent to clean up a real gunk covered carbuerator.
he didn't give it much thought any more than getting gasoline on his hands and
just washed them when he was done and left the parts to soak.
The very next day he was amazed to find he had recovered 80%
of his manual dexterity in his hands. i was mudding\sanding ceilings out in california
and could barely raise my cup of coffee my shoulder hurt so bad. then i said Fug -IT
sprayed wd on my left hand and massaged it into my right shoulder. Pain subsided!
it was warming like an epsom salts rub... i went back to work...

great story RMarsh

Thanks for the tip Raven....I've tried a lot of remedies....nothing has worked so far...cortisone injections, cbds, creams, ointments pain pills etc. Doctor says....good news is its not going to kill me....bad news... no known cure and it only gets worse with age. Too many years of use and abuse in construction trade.... the wear and tear... especially where thumb and wrists connect.... Lately it seems like every injury I ever had and recovered from is back to torment me. Happy to have good legs though:hihi:

I know what ya mean on injuries. I totally cringe when i see people miss-using and/or ABUSING THEIR ANKLES... like they are Bionic or have the terminator body where they simply auto regenerate. I have a 2 foot wide ramp that leads from the midsection connector room up to the main barn (40 ft) and i was pushing a wheel barrow up there to go get firewood. Being extremely cold i threw up my hood (bad idea) and it messed up my peripheral vision just enough that my right foot stepped out on into the air. This made me spin and flop down onto a big pile of slap wood (kindling) really fast Blam! tearing off my shoe, cutting my leg right thru my dungaree's and thermal underwear it hit me so hard. So Now i plan to rebuild the ramp 3 feet wide with 5/4 plywood plus adding proper safety rails.

keeping the hot fire going
using your hand repetitively takes a toll on the ole thumb muscle

so we almost daily use Arthritis penetrating heat rub
used to be just $1.00 dollar :doh: now your lucky to find it!

it's either that or a muscle rub /blue ice or Lido-caine patch from walmart :fury:

here's what it looks like:

You buried up there?

After a long day of cutting down trees, loading logs, and burning brush ....quitting time came and went....and still no Jim. When he does show up, I am relieved, i need him to give me a ride back to my car, so I can go home, and get cleaned up for a date with my girlfriend......but there was a problem. Jim tells me that we have to go deal with a concrete form that gave out right when they poured it....he sped back to town where the job was.....and as darkness came we were there shoveling concrete back into the refastened formwork.....with him cursing the whole time........now I was really exausted! Showed up late at my girls house and fell asleep on her couch.

Thanks for the tip Raven....I've tried a lot of remedies....nothing has worked so far...cortisone injections, cbds, creams, ointments pain pills etc. Doctor says....good news is its not going to kill me....bad news... no known cure and it only gets worse with age. Too many years of use and abuse in construction trade.... the wear and tear... especially where thumb and wrists connect.... Lately it seems like every injury I ever had and recovered from is back to torment me. Happy to have good legs though:hihi:

Hey you guys try this stuff : Voltaren

I have Ostio-Arthritis in both knees. I am "bone on bone in both with bones spurs in both. This stuff works for me. It is not cheap but it does work.

Hey you guys try this stuff : Voltaren

I have Ostio-Arthritis in both knees. I am "bone on bone in both with bones spurs in both. This stuff works for me. It is not cheap but it does work.

I've got a large tube of the Voltaren in the truck....apply it before work and at lunchtime. I dont think it gives me much pain relief though..hard to tell when I go right back to using my hands for my work...but it is expensive so I must not waste it.

When I was in high school I hung around with all the cool kids.....all we cared about was getting high and getting laid. But all the partying was turning some into alchoholics and hard drug users. I didnt want that for myself, I started to see them as losers that I needed to break away from if I was going to succeed.

They say you will become more like those who you associate with.
Now that I had graduated high school, I was working with two grown men who were both straight arrows...no drinking or drugs. Both had built their own homes. Working full time...learning to be a carpenter... gave me a sense of pride and independence. I read a couple of books that had a profound effect on my way of thinking.
I started planning my future, feeling like I had the power to make it happen.

[QUOTE=I started planning my future, feeling like I had the power to make it happen.[/QUOTE]


First thing... was to save as much money as I could. My new friend and co-worker, Mike, advised me that...."working just forty hours a week is never going to be enough to get ahead." You should figure on trying to match your weekly take home pay by doing side jobs for cash." and that he had a lot of side work and needed help with them on nights and weekends. So I started leaving my regular job at 4:30 after my eight hours...grabbing something to eat..then go work on his side hustle jobs until at least 8:30 pm.
He was right.....doing that and working saturdays as well...basically doubled my regular pay....and it "all" went into my savings account.
Watching my account balance grow was encouraging and I had a plan for what to do with that money.
It was when I proposed to my girlfriend, that I told her I would be building a house for us.

My original plan was to buy 20 acres up in New Hampshire and start a homestead......I new a guy from fall river who did it...built a small cabin......no electric or plumbing for the first year he and his wife were up there. Anyway my girl told me there was no way she would move that far away from her family.
So I started looking locally for a piece of land to build upon. My boss at the time was a developer/builder and he offered me a one acre lot in his subdivision for $5,500. But I knew about the high water table there and wet basements all to well......and that there wasnt going to be enough privacy for my liking......so I kept looking.

I informed her parents and mine...they were happy to hear the news....but understandably skeptical when I said I would be building our house by myself. I was 19 years old.

My search for the right place to build led me to a really beautiful acre and a half lot, "high and dry" as they use to say, and it abutted conservation land. It wasnt in a subdivision where everybody knows everybody elses business and that was a plus to me......i like my privacy.
So I made the decision to buy it from the private seller who was building a house next lot over. I had saved as much money as I could but it wasnt enough......so I would have to get a loan for the balance to make the purchase.
That proved to be tougher than expected. I went to the bank manager where I had a savings account with half of the money I needed and asked to borrow the rest, my passbook showed weekly deposits of whole paychecks. He turned me down..... saying "we dont like doing loans for vacant land. Went to another bank and they said I needed a co-signer. No way would I ask my parents to do that. I was determined to do this myself. I kept looking....my boss suggested trying with his bank and with his recommendation I was approved.

So it was in the fall of '75 I became the proud owner of a beautiful piece of land with giant pine trees and a clean running stream just beyond the back lot line in the state forest. I wasnt going to build on it just yet... our wedding date was set for summer of '77....so had to stay focused....get the loan payed off....apply for another loan to build and decide on what type and size house we could afford.
At my job we were building one house after another....they were different from each other but similar in so many ways....I was really catching on to the whole process and completely devoted to learning every aspect. After a while I felt well prepared to taking this project on.

After the land transaction was complete, the weekend came, and I went out there, pitched a tent and spent the night. Next would be some tree cutting and land clearing.... I had no money for a new chainsaw.....so I brought an old axe. That turned out to be less than ideal....the next weekend I rented a chainsaw.

Working an average of about sixty hours a week...I managed to pay off the land loan in exactly a year to the day.... took the day off and after the trip to the bank went out there....laid down in a sunny spot and fell asleep.

I came to the conclusion that a modest, small starter home would be the way to go. It would be a 26' x 36' Cape cod style home....I had already framed a bunch of these so I knew it would be easy. I designed it with one bedroom on the first floor...and a full dormer on the second.. left unfinished to be completed later on.

^^^^^^^^
I love your story! Hard work and a good head on your shoulders at an early age, sounds like you were raised well.

^^^^^^^^
I love your story! Hard work and a good head on your shoulders at an early age, sounds like you were raised well.

Thanks....I think about my deceased parents every day....how hard they struggled to raise eight of us....instilling values....and in the case of my dad....fear!....my mom would ask ..."what got into you?...when she saw what I was attempting to do.
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Yeah....my dad..I watched him take down each of my bigger brothers...on different occasions..so i never tried getting smart with him ..I got the "belt" a lot mostly for fighting with my just slightly older brother.
But my dad was there for us especially in tough times.
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Having a mentor...my co-worker and now friend..was a big advantage to reaching my goal. He was always there with advice and knowledge. When I got engaged...he said "dont blow a lot of money on an engagement ring." "You dont know how things will turn out."
I'm a little embarrassed to admit....but i took his advice on that too....and spent a grand total of $175.00. Wife and I laugh about it now....and of course she doesnt ever wear it. But she will admit now that our own new house as a wedding gift more than made up for it.

So, with our wedding date a year away, I had to get serious about getting things in order. I would be able to do all the carpentry required......but there was a lot more involved.
Excavating, foundation, plumbing and heating, electrical...septic system etc... fortunately I was familiar with all the subcontractors my boss contracted with, got quotes from all of them and put all the numbers together. Could all this really be done for under $25,000?
It better be, because that is all the bank would give me on my newly approved mortgage loan.

When I was in high school I hung around with all the cool kids.....all we cared about was getting high and getting laid. But all the partying was turning some into alchoholics and hard drug users. I didnt want that for myself, I started to see them as losers that I needed to break away from if I was going to succeed.

They say you will become more like those who you associate with.
Now that I had graduated high school, I was working with two grown men who were both straight arrows...no drinking or drugs. Both had built their own homes. Working full time...learning to be a carpenter... gave me a sense of pride and independence. I read a couple of books that had a profound effect on my way of thinking.
I started planning my future, feeling like I had the power to make it happen.

I was seeing a stark contrast between the group of people I hung out with as a teen....and these two successful working men who were part of my new situation. I was working a lot more and hanging out less with those" friends".

One hot day, that summer of '76, I was stripping a roof off of an old house in Rochester. When I came down for a break, sweating and filthy, I saw a familiar car coming down the road, that pulled over near my vehicle. It was two guys that I knew from our high school days of partying and hell raising. The exchange went something like this:

"WTF are you doing up on that roof?". they asked

"Working for a living now" I said.

"Well we got a case of beer, weed, and we're heading for the beach" "C'mon with us!"

"I cant" I said "I'll lose my job"

"Tell your boss to go f u c k himself" They scoffed.

"No, you guys go on ahead." was my reply.

Pretty sure that was the last I ever saw of them.

Around that same time in my life, I randomly picked up a book I saw kicking around that may have been my dad's or maybe belonged to another family member.
Curious title "Phsyco-Cybernetics"
After a chapter or two I was overwhelmed at the revelations in it about the power of positive thinking. The timing of finding this gem couldn't have been better. After I finished reading it, I started putting these theories into practice, amazing stuff.

There is so much more...but here it lays out seven principles...then it delves deeply into the self image stuff.

The first element is Sense of Direction, or having an objective to pursue. Direct yourself toward success every day by setting goals.
Next comes Understanding to know when your fear or desire is altering the truth. Anxiety, fear, and desire cause us to misunderstand events, which leads to failure.
Then we have Courage, which is taking calculated risks to make your goals happen. Don’t delay action until you are completely confident. Even Imperfect Courage is better than none.
Afterward comes Charity, which consists of putting the problems and needs of people first. Caring for others is a hallmark of outstanding individuals.
Esteem is next and is all about having a positive self-opinion. Tell yourself often that you can do whatever you think you can!
Self-confidence comes after esteem. You can improve this one by remembering your past successes. Learn to accept and love yourself for who you are, and forget your past failures.
And last we have self-acceptance, which is learning to live and be okay with yourself, weaknesses and strengths.

Methinking you should write a book...seriously.

Methinking you should write a book...seriously.

Thanks...mostly writing it to myself in the early morning hours...that foster reflecting on what has passed. Compelled to write it down the way i remember it.
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Thanks...mostly writing it to myself in the early morning hours...that foster reflecting on what has passed. Compelled to write it down the way i remember it.
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I love reading these posts.
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I love reading these posts.
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Thanks...i probably am coming across as boastful to some...thats okay. Comments are welcome....as well as anyone caring to share their positive outcomes. One of my rules to live by is to shun negative people.

There were some not so positive experiences in my past....nothing really bad and im not intending to be complaining here because as it turns out this all helped me grow up or "builds character" as they say....but as a kid I felt a lack of confidence, and an inferiority complex ....from growing up on the poor side of town...was easy to tell that all my clothes were hand me downs or from the second hand store. My peers noticed that stuff and it didn't feel great hearing the comments. Embarrassed whenever money was needed for anything.....all my paper route earnings went to my mother....that was established way before I took over the routes from my older brothers.
I wanted to be good at sports....and one day a friend suggested I try out for his baseball team....at the tryout I made some incredible catches in the field....the next day same friend told me I was invited to join the team...just be at the next practice. That's when it dawned on me that practice and games would be at the same time the papers had to be delivered....and that was that.
When I made the freshman football team in high school....I had to drop out due to having to walk/hitchhike the 10 miles home after every practice...was a kid on the team going in the same direction and he and his dad would drive right past me. I felt unworthy at times.
So I never got to play organized sports. We were a one car family and my dad had a long commute so not possible to chaufer me anywhere.
Not the worst problems to have I know.....but it caused me to want to succeed at something and break out of my inhibitions.
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All those insecurities vanished pretty quickly once I found my calling..... a job that would change me from a scrawny kid with no idea what to do to earn money....to a very fit young man with some marketable skills...a trade.......and now a girlfriend I could take on a date without worrying how to pay for things.

I had met a girl in eighth grade that I was smitten with, we were too young to be in any kind of exclusive relationship, and we both had growing up to do. We dated others while admiring each other from afar....It wasnt until senior year in high school that we got together again. She was planning to go college, paying her own way, with money she saved from a job she had at a nursing home since she was 15 years old. She said we should wait until she finished school before moving forward with our relationship.

"I got the girl I wanted".... It's something I've often said to my wife over our now 45 years of marriage. She was such a great catch.
Beautiful, smart, dignified, ...I still have her on a pedestal....she was also inspiration for me to succeed.

While she was busy working and studying to finish school, I was getting prepared to take on building a small home for us....and with our wedding day only months away I had to get moving on that. I told my boss that I would need to take a leave of absence.....to devote full time to my build. His only concern was that I would return afterwards.

It was in May on the 15th, that everything was in order to begin building. Permits, well, lumber lists, subcontractor proposals and mortgage loan all in hand. Foundation got poured and backfilled and now it was ready for me to start framing. I was so amped up the first few days I didnt sleep at night, planning on what I could accomplish the next day, at 21 years old, I had boundless energy. Good thing, because with the wedding set for August 12th, I had less than three months to get it done.....or at least to the point that we could move in.

My first misstep happened right away.....I called for my foundation inspection on the thursday it was completed...and was told that the building inspector was off and not coming back until monday.
Well...that wasnt going to work for me because all the lumber was on site and I wasnt about to waste a weekend waiting... so we backfilled and poured the basement floor on friday. On saturday and sunday I installed the main girder, floor joists and decking....ready for first floor walls.
Monday morning and Im there at sunup....ready and chomping on the bit to get started....thats when the BI shows up...and he's not happy!
I knew I was wrong...and stayed quiet as he walked around seeing what I had done.

Al Tolley was a large man....probably in his mid sixties...and he was scowling...so I braced myself for a scolding ...or worse.
He looked at me and said "You know...I can make you dig this up to show me you got footings under these concrete walls"
I nodded..... and sheepishly mumbled something about my situation.....basically asking for forgiveness.
Well he must have been in a generous mood...and my not being cocky with him might have helped
"Dont try pulling this #^&#^&#^&#^& again!" Was all he said as he got back in his truck and left.
I knew he was right, but I was on a mission, in my mind nothing was going to stop me.
I still believe in the axiom that says "better to beg forgiveness than ask permission....and I wasnt sorry that I hadn't waited for him....and wasted an entire weekend waiting for a foundation inspection.

By june 1 the daylight hours were getting long enough to get a good twelve hours of work in on the house....which I did alone. I hadnt made any arrangements for hired help and most friends and family that had previously offered to help never showed up. There was one guy Kenny....married to my girlfriends sister....who came everyday right from his job at the Morse Twist Drill to help....had no carpentry skills.... but I would save the heavy lifting stuff for when he got there. I got a big boost in morale from his daily visits....and he always brought some cold beer and we worked into the darkness. Getting the roof shingled was a milestone....which also meant I could call the bank to inspect and release mortgage money to pay for the excavating, foundation and framing materials. Even after working those long hours I had trouble sleeping......my mind always racing ahead to next days challenges.