First Job Search

[Rmarsh]

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.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Rmarsh]

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.

[Rmarsh]

"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.

[Rmarsh]

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.

[Rmarsh]

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.

[Rmarsh]

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.

[Rmarsh]

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.