earthman
Fascinated by rolling objects!
My first job out of high school was at a carwash with gas pumps. Working with ex cons and loose women. Welcome to the real world young man.
Pumping gas
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Old Iron
Well-known member
[ddd[dr
26Troadster
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growing up in the houston and new caney area at 16 i worked at a gulf station. i'd say in 77. working just north of houston (had to be 50 mile or more not to) during the summer we had to sell clean air fuel, now known as blended alcohol/gas, told yall it's been around for a long time. lol 
MercuryMac
Builder Junky!
I wasn't raised close enough to town to be attracted to gas station work, I guess. First, I ran farm machinery for Dad and then neighbours. When I was fifteen, a guy was brushing and breaking land on our place with a D7 Caterpillar and a two bottom breaking plow. I got working for him, during the summer holidays. The next summer I got back on with him and worked there way down into November. We'd had a foot of snow before there was much frost so the ground was not too frozen underneath, as long as we didn't disturb the snow too soon. I worked for him after school from September until the ground froze up too much.
That winter I got a job at a local sawmill and soon got running a lumber loader eventually graduating to a log loader. I finally got finished with school and kept on running loaders, [gravel and log]. While running a gravel loader feeding a crusher, I got watching all of the gravel trucks coming and going and thought, 'Boy, that might be the job to have, it'd be a lot less boring.' So I bought a gravel truck because I didn't think anyone would hire an untrained young guy. I now know why they wouldn't hire an untrained guy. There's a lot to learn. Whooo, boy. I also thought that the truck would help build up the farm. Anyhow for the next forty-five years I trucked and built the farm.
That winter I got a job at a local sawmill and soon got running a lumber loader eventually graduating to a log loader. I finally got finished with school and kept on running loaders, [gravel and log]. While running a gravel loader feeding a crusher, I got watching all of the gravel trucks coming and going and thought, 'Boy, that might be the job to have, it'd be a lot less boring.' So I bought a gravel truck because I didn't think anyone would hire an untrained young guy. I now know why they wouldn't hire an untrained guy. There's a lot to learn. Whooo, boy. I also thought that the truck would help build up the farm. Anyhow for the next forty-five years I trucked and built the farm.
Torchie
Well-known member
It's always interesting to hear about the paths that others took to get where they are now, mac
I've been pondering that a bit lately as I prepare to take another trip around the sun.
For some it's by design ( or so it seems) For others it's all chance (Or so it seems).
[dddTorchoe
It's always interesting to hear about the paths that others took to get where they are now, mac
I've been pondering that a bit lately as I prepare to take another trip around the sun.
For some it's by design ( or so it seems) For others it's all chance (Or so it seems).
Torchoe
I agree! I was a stock broker & government bond broker for years & I always asked my rich clients how they made their $$$. I heard some really crazy tales... some guys were really smart & some guys were really lucky!
BoB
nope not a gas station,, a bodyshop was my first after school job .. i was in charge of the broom .. a new town later and started as an apprentice .. and went downhill from there
Torchie
Well-known member
And some were both......
nope not a gas station,, a bodyshop was my first after school job .. i was in charge of the broom .. a new town later and started as an apprentice .. and went downhill from there
Working in a body shop was my first full time adult job. crate. I still smile when I smell bondo or fresh paint.
Torchie
I spent the Winter of 77 working at a full service car wash pumping gas and selling hot wax out front. The place is still there, it's called the Octopus car wash in Lakewood CO.
My first job around cars was @ Silvernails Phillips 66 on W. Colfax a little West of the Octopus. My 1st day on the job I pulled a drain plug and about a quart of oil ran down my sleeve. Man was I green, lol. I remember not fully understanding the principles of wheel weights. Anyway, we were the last station on W. Colfax that would work on snap ring semi tires. I use to break em' down with hand irons to patch the inner tubes. Damn that was hard work!
Later on I got a job in a May D&F Auto Center busting tires and changing oil. It was great! There was this old mechanic named Sammy Ortiz who used to pull me aside when tires and oil were slow. He had me doing clutches, ball joints, brakes etc. You name it, Sammy would just point and give me instructions on about three steps at a time. I learned so much from Sammy, I was lucky he was as lazy as he was and I was eager to learn.
From there I went on to apprentice in a big import dealer. There I worked on Subaru, Volvo, and used cars on the lot. Then I went on to another to work on Toyota and Volvo. At that one I took all the work no one else wanted. That entailed mostly the POS Puegot V6 Volvo's (think Delorean engine) and Land Cruisers. My goodness, a clutch in a Land Cruiser paid 12 hours. Once you learned them, they took about 4 hours on the clock. A cap rotor plugs and wires on a V6 Volvo paid 2.5. Once you knew the trick, it took 30 minutes tops. I became the king of crap jobs and did pretty good $$
I went on to work at a few independent shops and had one of my own too. Then around 1991 I retired from working on car as a means of support. Today I have an adequate little personal shop and mostly just work on fun stuff as a hobby in the small amount of spare time I have. However, about 6 times a year I'll help someone save a couple bucks doing a t-belt on a Subaru or something that's just too hard to pass up on because it's fun or it pays well.
Sorry for the long winded post. It's nice to look back once in a while.
My first job around cars was @ Silvernails Phillips 66 on W. Colfax a little West of the Octopus. My 1st day on the job I pulled a drain plug and about a quart of oil ran down my sleeve. Man was I green, lol. I remember not fully understanding the principles of wheel weights. Anyway, we were the last station on W. Colfax that would work on snap ring semi tires. I use to break em' down with hand irons to patch the inner tubes. Damn that was hard work!
Later on I got a job in a May D&F Auto Center busting tires and changing oil. It was great! There was this old mechanic named Sammy Ortiz who used to pull me aside when tires and oil were slow. He had me doing clutches, ball joints, brakes etc. You name it, Sammy would just point and give me instructions on about three steps at a time. I learned so much from Sammy, I was lucky he was as lazy as he was and I was eager to learn.
From there I went on to apprentice in a big import dealer. There I worked on Subaru, Volvo, and used cars on the lot. Then I went on to another to work on Toyota and Volvo. At that one I took all the work no one else wanted. That entailed mostly the POS Puegot V6 Volvo's (think Delorean engine) and Land Cruisers. My goodness, a clutch in a Land Cruiser paid 12 hours. Once you learned them, they took about 4 hours on the clock. A cap rotor plugs and wires on a V6 Volvo paid 2.5. Once you knew the trick, it took 30 minutes tops. I became the king of crap jobs and did pretty good $$
I went on to work at a few independent shops and had one of my own too. Then around 1991 I retired from working on car as a means of support. Today I have an adequate little personal shop and mostly just work on fun stuff as a hobby in the small amount of spare time I have. However, about 6 times a year I'll help someone save a couple bucks doing a t-belt on a Subaru or something that's just too hard to pass up on because it's fun or it pays well.
Sorry for the long winded post. It's nice to look back once in a while.
Bamamav
Well-known member
By the time I started working, the gas places had all went self service around here. I started out cutting grass, with a push mower. I remember I got $75 to cut a cemetery a few times, that was big money back then! Lots of work though, moving flowers and stuff. Got a job in a pants factory right across from my house, started out as a floor sweeper, by summer, I was a utility man, could run the pressers, the string trimmer, the seam iron, the cutting table. And loaded and unloaded all the trucks that came in, mostly by hand. Went from that to a grocery store as a stock clerk and take out boy, then went to work in a milk processing and bottling plant, turned me against milk for life!
After another short stint in another grocery store, I went into concrete construction for a few years, worked on the Tenn-Tom waterway. Then I got a job running a loader at a wood yard, eventually running the yard by myself. Guy I worked for was a crook, so I left and got into a semi truck, and been in one the last 34 years, 23 of those as a owner/operator. Nothing like not having a boss looking over your shoulder all day! [cl
All my mechanical knowledge has either came from reading books about it or hands on experience, no formal training. I've always been one to jump on a piece of equipment, play with it a few minutes, then be running it shortly thereafter. I've always loved fabbing stuff, too, in wood as well as steel.
Went from that to a grocery store as a stock clerk and take out boy, then went to work in a milk processing and bottling plant, turned me against milk for life! After another short stint in another grocery store, I went into concrete construction for a few years, worked on the Tenn-Tom waterway. Then I got a job running a loader at a wood yard, eventually running the yard by myself. Guy I worked for was a crook, so I left and got into a semi truck, and been in one the last 34 years, 23 of those as a owner/operator. Nothing like not having a boss looking over your shoulder all day! [cl
All my mechanical knowledge has either came from reading books about it or hands on experience, no formal training. I've always been one to jump on a piece of equipment, play with it a few minutes, then be running it shortly thereafter. I've always loved fabbing stuff, too, in wood as well as steel.
