CREW'S STORIES
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Parts Manager and ....
Tim Hogan's Story
I was discharged from the Navy a day or two after Tom Ganse; January, 1970. I drove back home to the Los Angeles area and got a job as a mechanic for an equipment company. That's just about how vague the ad was, too. Turned out to be pressure washers and steam cleaners, and my job was to drive one of the real mechanics around who had lost his license for DUI. He didn't show up the third day, so I had his job. When L.A. got to be too much, I loaded my gear and my dog and moved to Denver. I had lined up a job almost identical to the first one, but a thousand miles away.
Within a month of taking the job I bought a house, and called for and married my girlfriend. All three are still in place. The job is still a hoot, the wife is still my bride, although she doesn't blush much any more, and the house is almost paid for. We had two girls and have raised them through college and they are out in the world seeking their fortunes as we speak.
My job has taken some turns in that I no longer am a service man, but am now the parts manager. Excuse me; that's Parts Manager ! We have also undertaken the business of manufacturing trailers, a whole separate business, but the same smiling faces, and I am the Parts Manager of that part, too. It is a fairly small outfit, with about 20 people on the payroll I am also the purchasing agent, shipping clerk, counter sales person, phone sales person, parts shag, and all around computer whiz.
Yeah, I use a pocket protector; I can get you one, if you want.
I don't think the business will ever be a runaway success, but we manage to cover the payroll, and the stuff we sell is good quality material.
I live about seven miles from the shop, and used to get there on Interstate 70 until they opened the new airport (Denver International; DIA.) They opened up an old road that cut across the old airport that had to be closed when they started landing the jumbo jets there and needed more length on the runways. Using this back road makes all the difference in the world, because I don't have to mess with the freeway (and its road-rage types) but instead can drive some four miles along the edge of the new Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. This allows me to often see deer, geese, a fox or coyote now and then, and generally be at peace with the world when I get to work.
Weekends are precious, so Saturday is chores and stores, and Sunday is our day of rest. We go to the mountains when the season is right, and can be where we want to be in about an hour and a quarter. My wife usually sits at a picnic area in an aspen grove and reads the Sunday paper while I hike the hills, alone or with someone else. We frequent one State Park where I got my 150 mile hiking pin last August. You could say I like it there. When weather does not permit we watch a football game, or play on the computer, or (rapidly becoming popular) take a nap.
The outfit I work for just got two web pages on line starting Friday, the 13th of February. Take a look!
The pressure washer one is:
http://www.a-jsales.com
The trailer one is:
http://www.superiortrailer.com
Tim Hogan
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