When I first moved to Austin Texas in the early to mid 80s I got a job hanging gutters commercially. Rickety ladders on three floor apartments, drunk coworkers, terrified of the heights. Lasted four days.
"This Old House" Somebody else probably chimed in already...Had a house painting job like that one you described. One morning on the way into the work, I saw several really big guys walking into the shop, people I'd never seen before . Next thing I know they all explode out of the shop door with one of our guys collared. Someone tried to step in and they all flashed badges, FBI. They arrested the poor guy for counterfeiting! When someone told the boss what happened all he said was, "guess he won't be working today..."
I think everybody should have to do one year of construction after high school. It made me one tough son of a gun. From single digit morning temperatures in winter to humidity so thick my clothes were as wet as if I'd been swimming in the summer, it made me able to endure any hardship and also allowed me to appreciate and savor all pleasures and luxuries that came my way. Not to mention saving me tens of thousands of dollars over the years because of skills and knowledge I picked up on the job site.
I worked as a plumber's helper on a school renovation when I was in college...I took a year off to earn a little money. Of course they called me "College Boy", and the first week the foreman said, "All you need to know to be a plumber is $h!t runs downhill and you get paid on Friday." It was an education that I still find valuable today.
Newspaper boy, carwash, fastfood, dishwasher, department store, lumberyard, longshoreman, telephone operator, truckdriver, press operator and now a teacher.
I had to pick up those heavy ass buckets when we worked on top of the Harbor House in Galveston. I was the smartest guy on the crew because I introduced everyone to this stuff called rope , and I never had to climb that ladder carrying again
This Old House. I framed houses while attending college. We were putting plywood down on a two story house and the advice I was given is if the wind grabs hold of it - let go, and if you fall, fall into the house. Every now and then they would ask what I was doing there? Making money.
I was smiling through this entire story. I’m 63 and started carrying a mortar and brick hods in 1978 in Northern Va. I was 18 years old and I was back in the states after spending my entire junior high and high school years in Paris, Brussels, Beirut and Islamabad Pakistan. I had no job experience of any kind. Long story short I spent the next 45 years as a bricklayer. I’ve seen it all
I watered greens on a golf course for a few seasons. In the middle of a night, racing around on a Cushman with broken headlights, hauling 2” 100 psi hoses- cold, wet and alone. Man, was I happy to see the sun come up every day, grab a donut and hot coffee at the snack bar.
I did a roofing job in Indiana when I was like 11! We actually loved it. We bailed hay, mucked horse stalls, tore down barns, built barns, detassled corn. All kinds of little jobs. The money wasn’t much, lol, but we kinda partied at work half the time. You are talking about “This Old House” right?
Never lookin for work indeed I resemble that remark brother Otis..just tryna gettn bye..lol... great Sanford and son reference btw...as ever thanks brother Otis Stephen Jules Otis career Rubin
Myself and a guy from the neighborhood, both of us about eighteen or so... We worked for guy who hired us and trained us to do wood framing for upscale homes. Every day was like an episode of "This old house." °°° I have had jobs (plural) that I was one of the few that showed up every day on time and wasn't under the influence of something. Every day at those jobs was like being on an episode of "Fear Factor."
First Monday after my last class in high school, I went to a job site with an older friend to see if I could find work. Two guys didn't show up having not worn off the weekend. I did get picked up as a laborer and soon picked up some carpentry skills. One of the fellows had done prison time. He told me he got caught trying to haul a safe out of a store he worked at after closing and got caught as it was stuck in the door. On the night after he got out, he went to rob a drive in after closing. The alarm triggered, the sheriff roared up and he lit out. He had to swim the Great Miami River to escape. He said he went straight after that experience. I have fond memories of those summers between college and the fellows I worked with and learned from. These's a lesson in every experience.
3 weeks ago i accepted a job offer from the local metal recycling yard classifying brass and copper after 35 years of house painting.ive got way to many ladder/roof/scaffolding stories, but none involve me falling thank god. im so glad theres no more heights in my future
My first job was at an all night full service gas station. All by myself. We had a fifty dollar mandatory drop box safe in the floor. Second night I had fifty in my pocket and was about to go inside but the next customer stuck a gun in my face and took my fifty. I got fired and it was the only time in my life I was happy to get let go.
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Favorite lines: "It's time to open a new bucket of glue." "Well, the first time I fell off the roof. . ." "Ever since I was a kid I've been passionate about roofing. I've always wanted to know the ins and outs of rubber roofing." "Otis, you really don't fit in here." "Ronnie, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." Otis, you could have been a comedian as well as a musician. I love the way your mind works!
I think the show is Ask This Old House on PBS. I grew up lower working class, many jobs like that. Hard times, great lessons. If the bills are paid and 3 beers in the fridge I’m happy.
great story, otis...no crew of glue sniffers in my stories, but i've met some interesting characters from being a gas station attendant, a factory worker, a cab driver, a maintenance man, a painter, a bouncer, a tow truck driver amongst a bunch of other jobs. and, i have a college degree. one thing you learn from some of these jobs is what you don't want to spend most of your life doing.
I started hot tar roofing in 1975 for 2:10 an HR.Minimum wage went up to 2:15 boss said boy's I don't know how I'm going to pay you that kinda money.True story.
When I was 22 I was getting honorably discharged out of the Coast Guard. I had had dreams as a teenager of pursuing a musical career. Ended up married, then kids, several moves, and a few short years later, divorced. I still held on to the dream of making something in music. Here I am these days, about the same age as Otis, and I've worked in a variety warehousing jobs, and fir the last ~25 years, I've been an electrician. I've worked around plenty of the other trades, and have seen folks as Otis described them. As a musician, I've rarely fit in with the construction crowd. Not much into hunting, fishing, or camping. I'm capable, but I'd rather play music. Many thanks, Otis, for the story and reminding me kind of where I started. Happy Saturday Be good to you 🤍💛
I did a lot of construction, and I pretty much lucked out, working with people who knew their stuff and were worth learning from. I worked up from laborer to carpenter, and had great times with great people. We liked rotten jokes and foul language, but were respectful and sober for the most part. Beers after work might send you to work the next day with a hangover, but nobody worked drunk or stoned. A roofing contractor I knew always had problems with his crews. One thing he said that has always stuck with me was, “Roofers are an animalistic bunch.” Now, I’ve known plenty of roofers, including him, who don’t fit that description, but I think he pretty much nailed the syndrome you experienced, Otis.
I worked in my brother's music store, 52 hours a week, took one or two classes at Florida State per quarter and either played in a band or worked for free in my brother's recording studio. I was busy. Earned a degree. Built a house. Created award winning advertising and helped bring thousands of people to an education at a community college. Better things to do than Emmanuel labor ... But if that's all you got, do it.
this old house is the show. when i graduated from lawrence central h.s. in 77 moved to houston. first job was roofing in texas in the summer. never fell off a roof but whent home with a burnt butt every day sitting on those shingles. legs and thighs peeled like sunburn
Back in the mid 70s I was in college. There were no student loans or grants unless you had served in the military. To pay for school, I worked on an old school garbage truck riding on the back dumping cans for 2 summers. The last 2 year I worked on a Teamsters loading dock during the summer. Oh, the tales I have from those life experiences. When I graduated with a business degree, I got several job offers at the entry level for $5 an hour. I went back to the loading dock and was hired full time with benefits for $9 an hour. Even back then, unless you were a frat boy with connections you had no real options. Funny how things haven't changed after all these years. Except kids today owe thousands of dollars in student loans that they will be paying off for most of their lives.
It's crazy. I thought the guy that told me I'd be fired before I hit the ground just had a dark sense of humor. I guess that's pretty common in the construction field.
"This Old House"......... wasTV show. Worked at a Travelling through town Carnival for just one day---most vile, foul mouthed, nasty, people ever met in my life. Nearly all ex cons or were on the run from the law. They Loved pushing us around as they knew we were desperate enough to work a day job at a Carnival for some cash. Did my work, kept my mouth shut, got paid and went and got an Education after going in the Army first for the GI Bill. That Carnival Life Lesson did the trick thank you.
Been there done that, moved on to operator, running dragline and back ho, didn't like to travel, now I'm maintenance at a food processor plant 3 more years I'll be retired and rockin a chair on a porch with my guitar,.. Love the story's you tell Otis. Stay cool
worked on a hot tar crew on flat roofs-would mop boiling hot tar(instead of glue) on deck than apply the membrane-to this day(72) cannot stand smell of hot tar! Peace
In 1988-89 I was making the same wage but I was working at Mideval Times ! I was in the show as a squire to a Knight!! If you’ve seen Cable guy , I carried both of the knights they show in the movie out of the sand pit !! 😂 very fun gob!!!
19, Unloading 100 lb coffee bean bags with a partner. He was doing one-hitters every 10 minutes. I was in decent shape but couldn’t keep up. They let me go at lunch . Free coffee during morning shift though
Great story! Thank you! My pickle bucket story, 1989, took a job cleaning carpets. The machine was like a big trash can you filled with hot water and you mixed the water and chemicals on site in a 5-gallon pickle bucket, which the company said I could buy at any paint store. Day 1 I headed out to my first house remembering to stop to buy that bucket, tried 2 paint stores, neither had buckets, so I drove to a deli and stole a pickle bucket from behind the store. Got to the house, filled the machine and started cleaning, and in 10 seconds the whole house reeked of pickles! The lady asked me why and I came up with "Oh, that's just a light vinegar agent, it will dissipate in about 4 hours". Loved your story, thank you so much Otis.
Entertaining as always. Here’s my story: I was in similar situation as you Otis and needed some quick cash. I got hired to help a couple brothers who’d won the contract to dismantle a cement plant in California. Their plan was to salvage all the building materials. The plant had kilns and machinery inside a corrugated steel building the size of a football field and about six or seven stories high. Huge thing. They had another dumb kid like me up on the roof untying the tin and letting it fall to the ground for salvage. Meanwhile the brothers went to the corners of the building and cut into the massive steel columns with cutting torches with the intent of pulling the thing over with their trucks. The building had other ideas and it collapsed with the kid still up on the roof. Amazingly the entire thing came down like a big steel parachute and the kid wasn’t harmed. He did what the rest of us did though which was to get in his cars and leave. I don’t think the brothers were under the influence but sober and stupid is still stupid.
My friend that played keyboard in my band at the time (it was the 80's) got me a job with him doing drywall on this huge job. We would show up at 6am, I would take in the tools, stomp a couple boxes of mud and then go back out to the van and tell him that was done. We would then go inside and walk around drinking coffee and shooting the shit with the other trades until we saw the foreman show up on the job. We would start taping for about a 1/2 an hour until the foreman left to check on another job, put down our tools and drive across this huge parking lot to a little sandwich shop that opened at 7am. We would buy a couple beers and sit there and read the paper. After a few hours, and a few beers, he would send me back to the jobsite to see if the foreman was back and I would walk around the job to look. If he wasn't I would walk back to the sandwich shop and we would order a couple sandwiches and more beers. After "lunch" I would walk back to the job to check, and if the foreman was back I would run to the sandwich shop and we would drive back as fast as we could and run in to tape a few more seams until the foreman left again. Then back to the sandwich place, and more beers until it was time to go back and clean up and pack up our tools. That job lasted for almost 4 months like that...one of the best jobs I ever had. Peace.
After graduating high school, I worked on a bridge building crew with my buddy whose uncle owned the company. My wage was $7.74/hr in 1994 and I earned every dime of it. Now it's 30 years later and I'm working for my buddy who started his own bridge company. My hourly wage is 5X what it was in the 90's, and I hardly work at all.
Yeah all the old roofers had stories of falling. That's why I never stayed real long. I did help build a grain elevator once 180ft. up. Most of my 20s and 30s were one type of construction or another.
The sad truth is poverty makes alot of us do things we don't want to do. I've worked in roofing in the detroit area many years ago. Hard repetitive work
Roofing work is some on of the hardest back breaking and satisfying jobs I have ever experienced. Laying shingles is like playing beginner Tetris all day, however, there is a Zen quality to the process. Repeating the same pattern over and over, not really having to think about it, yet the results have an artistic quality once completed. Hot tar roofing on the other hand is unique. Not only does it get on your skin but it gets in your blood. It becomes a way of life. Start the fire, heat it up, spread it on thick, and repeat.
Most of my "construction " jobs consisted of cleaning up debris and burning trash. Sweeping, de-nailing concrete forms, etc. One time my brother and I had to tar a roof in the hot Arkansas summer. We had the brilliant idea of a big fish & chips combo for lunch that day. Don't eat a big plate of deep fried food, then get back on a hot roof to finish tarring it. Just don't.
THIS OLD HOUSE! At about 21-22 yrs old, had a job as a laborer for maybe two weeks. I was THE new guy. It was a small, fairly tight nit crew, and he owner of the company. A day came when it was time to poor a basement floor in a smallish 2 story office building. Everyone else had yellow knee high boots, provided by the boss. I had my personal 6-inch work boots. They may have been Timerlands or Survivors? The floor was poured at about 6 inches deep. Ankle deep, raking concrete for a good three hours. By midday my ankles were raw and bloody from the concrete (sand and gravel) that had seeped into my boots. After lunch I hosed off and hosed out my boots. I told the boss I wouldn't be back and I'd pick up my check on Friday. I wondered how many fools like me that guy went through. Unequipped, at his fly by night job sights. Those boots looked okay once they dried. But they were concrete impregnated, and stayed kinda' stiff feeling, and abrasive inside. Worst work experience ever.
Otis, my man! Let’s talk about the recent Rock Hall nomination for Warren Zevon!…or forget the Hall and just talk Warren Zevon! Thanks for the great videos. Hell of a time to stop sniffing glue!
Hah ! I used to be one of those guys. But that was a long time ago. I have a million stories like that. I started roofing houses when I was fifteen years old. For my buddies uncle. The day would start off with breakfast at a greasy spoon down on east tenth street. Then we would blaze up on the way to the house we were working on that day. I was afraid of heights back then and the weed didn't help at all. Lol one day we were on a roof and some friends came by. Big tall house big steep roof. My buddy climbed the ladder and attempted to step off onto the roof. He was afraid of heights too And just froze. The old guy I was working for told him he would finish in a couple minutes and that he was coming down that ladder. Big Jimmy kept yelling and crying for the fire department. Lol Uncle Gene walked over there and very gently placed his roofing hatchet on Jimmies nose and told him to start moving or he was going to knock him off that ladder. Uncle Gene was a really tough old guy. And we all believed him including Big Jimmy who started backing down the ladder. Lol there's more to that story but that's the short and skinny of it. Lol those were good ole days, but I'm sure glad they are gone. Thanks for the memories, Otis rock on!
I swung a hammer for 5 or 6 years before I realized I was a carpenter. I stuck with it even though I didn't plan on being a carpenter it's just a thing that happened.
got a job after 6.5 years in the military as a jet mechanic, working in camper trailer factory. Worse job ever. But my co-workers were those types you described. It was like working in a circus and very clanish and disturbing. I think I lasted maybe a month, finished the day out and quit. Buck
" that's one of the nicest things anybody has ever said to me"🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
“I’m never looking for work…” 😂 me too brah! 🏆
"This Old House"
Coffee and a little cloud in front of me!
😉💯
And … I think a bunch of those guys have college degrees (following up on the observation that these are jobs you get without a college degree.
Scaffolders and roofers...health and safety nightmares!
That's every roofing crew, ever. 🤣
You only need diplomacy to swing a hammer 🔨😄.Great Story Otis. yeah done a few jobs like this. Non quite as hair raising.
I just love your Videos. Thank You.
thanks for doing what you do brother
Ha! Nice- I once was one of those guys with the ankle monitor- and... I did roofing on Wal Mart warehouses in Phoenix! It sucked...
When I first moved to Austin Texas in the early to mid 80s I got a job hanging gutters commercially. Rickety ladders on three floor apartments, drunk coworkers, terrified of the heights. Lasted four days.
Laughing out loud brother ...I have had so many of those experience's... I completely relate !! Great Title bye the way !
Thanks Otis
"This Old House" Somebody else probably chimed in already...Had a house painting job like that one you described. One morning on the way into the work, I saw several really big guys walking into the shop, people I'd never seen before . Next thing I know they all explode out of the shop door with one of our guys collared. Someone tried to step in and they all flashed badges, FBI. They arrested the poor guy for counterfeiting! When someone told the boss what happened all he said was, "guess he won't be working today..."
Ha i just quoted airplane before watching this ..guess i picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue
Ha, great story Otis. Would love to hear more Fountain Square memories if you wish to share any. 🎵
Hahaha yep. I like your philosophy on collecting stories. I do tile and stone to support my rambling. Find all kinds of critters out there
Framers Lives Matter!
The Lone Framer
I think everybody should have to do one year of construction after high school. It made me one tough son of a gun. From single digit morning temperatures in winter to humidity so thick my clothes were as wet as if I'd been swimming in the summer, it made me able to endure any hardship and also allowed me to appreciate and savor all pleasures and luxuries that came my way. Not to mention saving me tens of thousands of dollars over the years because of skills and knowledge I picked up on the job site.
Fountain Square was rough back in the day!
This story is all to relatable.
This old house, with Bob Villa and friends PBS. Great show fixing up old houses. Don't recall itinerant workers on that show!
I worked as a plumber's helper on a school renovation when I was in college...I took a year off to earn a little money. Of course they called me "College Boy", and the first week the foreman said, "All you need to know to be a plumber is $h!t runs downhill and you get paid on Friday." It was an education that I still find valuable today.
"I am trying to wait until the afternoon until i get into the glue" Oh my you crack me up
Newspaper boy, carwash, fastfood, dishwasher, department store, lumberyard, longshoreman, telephone operator, truckdriver, press operator and now a teacher.
Good Morning Otis 😊
Great story Otis, I have many, but I have to get back to work.
You are real and thank you for that .
that cross over from ladder to roof doesn't turn me on , I grab for the sewer pipe 🙂
I took a roofing job one time….hauling bundles of asbestos shingles two stories up a ladder….worst “half a workday” of my life!
Once again, well said
I had to pick up those heavy ass buckets when we worked on top of the Harbor House in Galveston. I was the smartest guy on the crew because I introduced everyone to this stuff called rope , and I never had to climb that ladder carrying again
This Old House. I framed houses while attending college. We were putting plywood down on a two story house and the advice I was given is if the wind grabs hold of it - let go, and if you fall, fall into the house. Every now and then they would ask what I was doing there? Making money.
Are you talking about "This Old House" with the redheaded mustacheous woodworking guy?
I was smiling through this entire story. I’m 63 and started carrying a mortar and brick hods in 1978 in Northern Va. I was 18 years old and I was back in the states after spending my entire junior high and high school years in Paris, Brussels, Beirut and Islamabad Pakistan. I had no job experience of any kind. Long story short I spent the next 45 years as a bricklayer. I’ve seen it all
I watered greens on a golf course for a few seasons. In the middle of a night, racing around on a Cushman with broken headlights, hauling 2” 100 psi hoses- cold, wet and alone. Man, was I happy to see the sun come up every day, grab a donut and hot coffee at the snack bar.
I did a roofing job in Indiana when I was like 11! We actually loved it. We bailed hay, mucked horse stalls, tore down barns, built barns, detassled corn. All kinds of little jobs. The money wasn’t much, lol, but we kinda partied at work half the time. You are talking about “This Old House” right?
Never lookin for work indeed I resemble that remark brother Otis..just tryna gettn bye..lol... great Sanford and son reference btw...as ever thanks brother Otis Stephen Jules Otis career Rubin
"This Old House"
Great story Otis!
As for me been there done that.
This Old House. Great show.
I laughed WAY tooo hard …
Nice one, Otis
Myself and a guy from the neighborhood, both of us about eighteen or so...
We worked for guy who hired us and trained us to do wood framing
for upscale homes.
Every day was like an episode of "This old house."
°°°
I have had jobs (plural) that I was one of the few that showed up every day on time and wasn't under the influence of something.
Every day at those jobs was like being on an episode of "Fear Factor."
First Monday after my last class in high school, I went to a job site with an older friend to see if I could find work. Two guys didn't show up having not worn off the weekend. I did get picked up as a laborer and soon picked up some carpentry skills. One of the fellows had done prison time. He told me he got caught trying to haul a safe out of a store he worked at after closing and got caught as it was stuck in the door. On the night after he got out, he went to rob a drive in after closing. The alarm triggered, the sheriff roared up and he lit out. He had to swim the Great Miami River to escape. He said he went straight after that experience. I have fond memories of those summers between college and the fellows I worked with and learned from. These's a lesson in every experience.
3 weeks ago i accepted a job offer from the local metal recycling yard classifying brass and copper after 35 years of house painting.ive got way to many ladder/roof/scaffolding stories, but none involve me falling thank god. im so glad theres no more heights in my future
My first job was at an all night full service gas station. All by myself. We had a fifty dollar mandatory drop box safe in the floor. Second night I had fifty in my pocket and was about to go inside but the next customer stuck a gun in my face and took my fifty. I got fired and it was the only time in my life I was happy to get let go.
Sounds like the story of my life in England…..And my wife’s!
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Masterpiece Theater.
Norm Abrams from the Yankee workshop!!
Favorite lines:
"It's time to open a new bucket of glue."
"Well, the first time I fell off the roof. . ."
"Ever since I was a kid I've been passionate about roofing. I've always wanted to know the ins and outs of rubber roofing."
"Otis, you really don't fit in here." "Ronnie, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."
Otis, you could have been a comedian as well as a musician. I love the way your mind works!
I think the show is Ask This Old House on PBS. I grew up lower working class, many jobs like that. Hard times, great lessons. If the bills are paid and 3 beers in the fridge I’m happy.
great story, otis...no crew of glue sniffers in my stories, but i've met some interesting characters from being a gas station attendant, a factory worker, a cab driver, a maintenance man, a painter, a bouncer, a tow truck driver amongst a bunch of other jobs. and, i have a college degree. one thing you learn from some of these jobs is what you don't want to spend most of your life doing.
Cool story Otis!
I started hot tar roofing in 1975 for 2:10 an HR.Minimum wage went up to 2:15 boss said boy's I don't know how I'm going to pay you that kinda money.True story.
" This Old House " was the show Otis was thinking about.
When I was 22 I was getting honorably discharged out of the Coast Guard. I had had dreams as a teenager of pursuing a musical career. Ended up married, then kids, several moves, and a few short years later, divorced. I still held on to the dream of making something in music.
Here I am these days, about the same age as Otis, and I've worked in a variety warehousing jobs, and fir the last ~25 years, I've been an electrician.
I've worked around plenty of the other trades, and have seen folks as Otis described them.
As a musician, I've rarely fit in with the construction crowd. Not much into hunting, fishing, or camping. I'm capable, but I'd rather play music.
Many thanks, Otis, for the story and reminding me kind of where I started.
Happy Saturday
Be good to you 🤍💛
I feel that, Otis!!! My entry level construction gig was sheetrock.
This Old House!!!!
The show name is "This old House" ... My favorite part, "That's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me." ... K from AZ🌵
I did a lot of construction, and I pretty much lucked out, working with people who knew their stuff and were worth learning from. I worked up from laborer to carpenter, and had great times with great people. We liked rotten jokes and foul language, but were respectful and sober for the most part. Beers after work might send you to work the next day with a hangover, but nobody worked drunk or stoned.
A roofing contractor I knew always had problems with his crews. One thing he said that has always stuck with me was, “Roofers are an animalistic bunch.”
Now, I’ve known plenty of roofers, including him, who don’t fit that description, but I think he pretty much nailed the syndrome you experienced, Otis.
I've been independently poor for sixty some years, and yes I have similar stories.
I worked in my brother's music store, 52 hours a week, took one or two classes at Florida State per quarter and either played in a band or worked for free in my brother's recording studio. I was busy. Earned a degree. Built a house. Created award winning advertising and helped bring thousands of people to an education at a community college. Better things to do than Emmanuel labor ... But if that's all you got, do it.
As a former commercial roofer I can confirm the accuracy of the this environment 100%.
this old house is the show. when i graduated from lawrence central h.s. in 77 moved to houston. first job was roofing in texas in the summer. never fell off a roof but whent home with a burnt butt every day sitting on those shingles. legs and thighs peeled like sunburn
It's noon somewhere.
Back in the mid 70s I was in college. There were no student loans or grants unless you had served in the military. To pay for school, I worked on an old school garbage truck riding on the back dumping cans for 2 summers. The last 2 year I worked on a Teamsters loading dock during the summer. Oh, the tales I have from those life experiences. When I graduated with a business degree, I got several job offers at the entry level for $5 an hour. I went back to the loading dock and was hired full time with benefits for $9 an hour. Even back then, unless you were a frat boy with connections you had no real options. Funny how things haven't changed after all these years. Except kids today owe thousands of dollars in student loans that they will be paying off for most of their lives.
It's crazy. I thought the guy that told me I'd be fired before I hit the ground just had a dark sense of humor. I guess that's pretty common in the construction field.
Great car acoustics. I'd watch an episode of "This Old House" with everybody huffing and hopped up on adhesive fumes.
"This Old House"......... wasTV show. Worked at a Travelling through town Carnival for just one day---most vile, foul mouthed, nasty, people ever met in my life. Nearly all ex cons or were on the run from the law. They Loved pushing us around as they knew we were desperate enough to work a day job at a Carnival for some cash. Did my work, kept my mouth shut, got paid and went and got an Education after going in the Army first for the GI Bill. That Carnival Life Lesson did the trick thank you.
I think Otis lives in the same town where they make that tv show 2 chicks and a hammer.
'This Old House' is the show i think your talking about
Been there done that, moved on to operator, running dragline and back ho, didn't like to travel, now I'm maintenance at a food processor plant 3 more years I'll be retired and rockin a chair on a porch with my guitar,.. Love the story's you tell Otis. Stay cool
worked on a hot tar crew on flat roofs-would mop boiling hot tar(instead of glue) on deck than apply the membrane-to this day(72) cannot stand smell of hot tar! Peace
3.25 was minimum wage back then , if I remember correctly from washing dishes in a “ Ranch house” restaurant .
This old house!!!
In 1988-89 I was making the same wage but I was working at Mideval Times ! I was in the show as a squire to a Knight!! If you’ve seen Cable guy , I carried both of the knights they show in the movie out of the sand pit !! 😂 very fun gob!!!
19, Unloading 100 lb coffee bean bags with a partner. He was doing one-hitters every 10 minutes. I was in decent shape but couldn’t keep up. They let me go at lunch . Free coffee during morning shift though
Great story! Thank you! My pickle bucket story, 1989, took a job cleaning carpets. The machine was like a big trash can you filled with hot water and you mixed the water and chemicals on site in a 5-gallon pickle bucket, which the company said I could buy at any paint store. Day 1 I headed out to my first house remembering to stop to buy that bucket, tried 2 paint stores, neither had buckets, so I drove to a deli and stole a pickle bucket from behind the store. Got to the house, filled the machine and started cleaning, and in 10 seconds the whole house reeked of pickles! The lady asked me why and I came up with "Oh, that's just a light vinegar agent, it will dissipate in about 4 hours". Loved your story, thank you so much Otis.
Entertaining as always. Here’s my story: I was in similar situation as you Otis and needed some quick cash. I got hired to help a couple brothers who’d won the contract to dismantle a cement plant in California. Their plan was to salvage all the building materials. The plant had kilns and machinery inside a corrugated steel building the size of a football field and about six or seven stories high. Huge thing. They had another dumb kid like me up on the roof untying the tin and letting it fall to the ground for salvage. Meanwhile the brothers went to the corners of the building and cut into the massive steel columns with cutting torches with the intent of pulling the thing over with their trucks. The building had other ideas and it collapsed with the kid still up on the roof. Amazingly the entire thing came down like a big steel parachute and the kid wasn’t harmed. He did what the rest of us did though which was to get in his cars and leave. I don’t think the brothers were under the influence but sober and stupid is still stupid.
My mantra was seeking employment not necessarily work. Having someone scim the cream off the top spoiled me on working.
This Old House.
I believe you're referring to the show This Old House
Dis ol house !
My friend that played keyboard in my band at the time (it was the 80's) got me a job with him doing drywall on this huge job. We would show up at 6am, I would take in the tools, stomp a couple boxes of mud and then go back out to the van and tell him that was done. We would then go inside and walk around drinking coffee and shooting the shit with the other trades until we saw the foreman show up on the job. We would start taping for about a 1/2 an hour until the foreman left to check on another job, put down our tools and drive across this huge parking lot to a little sandwich shop that opened at 7am. We would buy a couple beers and sit there and read the paper. After a few hours, and a few beers, he would send me back to the jobsite to see if the foreman was back and I would walk around the job to look. If he wasn't I would walk back to the sandwich shop and we would order a couple sandwiches and more beers. After "lunch" I would walk back to the job to check, and if the foreman was back I would run to the sandwich shop and we would drive back as fast as we could and run in to tape a few more seams until the foreman left again. Then back to the sandwich place, and more beers until it was time to go back and clean up and pack up our tools. That job lasted for almost 4 months like that...one of the best jobs I ever had. Peace.
After graduating high school, I worked on a bridge building crew with my buddy whose uncle owned the company. My wage was $7.74/hr in 1994 and I earned every dime of it. Now it's 30 years later and I'm working for my buddy who started his own bridge company. My hourly wage is 5X what it was in the 90's, and I hardly work at all.
Yeah all the old roofers had stories of falling. That's why I never stayed real long. I did help build a grain elevator once 180ft. up. Most of my 20s and 30s were one type of construction or another.
The sad truth is poverty makes alot of us do things we don't want to do. I've worked in roofing in the detroit area many years ago. Hard repetitive work
I been a roofer they are damn tuff ole boys and we started drinking at 10:00 in the morning break time.
This old House. And trust me, when the cameras are off they don't talk to the bottom rung help like that.
Awe man i have had to do those type of jobs ..the people were just terrible ..
Roofing work is some on of the hardest back breaking and satisfying jobs I have ever experienced. Laying shingles is like playing beginner Tetris all day, however, there is a Zen quality to the process. Repeating the same pattern over and over, not really having to think about it, yet the results have an artistic quality once completed. Hot tar roofing on the other hand is unique. Not only does it get on your skin but it gets in your blood. It becomes a way of life. Start the fire, heat it up, spread it on thick, and repeat.
Most of my "construction " jobs consisted of cleaning up debris and burning trash. Sweeping, de-nailing concrete forms, etc. One time my brother and I had to tar a roof in the hot Arkansas summer. We had the brilliant idea of a big fish & chips combo for lunch that day. Don't eat a big plate of deep fried food, then get back on a hot roof to finish tarring it. Just don't.
I worked in construction. Nevertheless I loved when Fred Sanford would call Lamont a Big Dummy.
THIS OLD HOUSE!
At about 21-22 yrs old, had a job as a laborer for maybe two weeks.
I was THE new guy. It was a small, fairly tight nit crew, and he owner of the company. A day came when it was time to poor a basement floor in a smallish 2 story office building. Everyone else had yellow knee high boots, provided by the boss.
I had my personal 6-inch work boots. They may have been Timerlands or Survivors?
The floor was poured at about 6 inches deep.
Ankle deep, raking concrete for a good three hours. By midday my ankles were raw and bloody from the concrete (sand and gravel) that had seeped into my boots.
After lunch I hosed off and hosed out my boots. I told the boss I wouldn't be back and I'd pick up my check on Friday.
I wondered how many fools like me that guy went through. Unequipped, at his fly by night job sights.
Those boots looked okay once they dried. But they were concrete impregnated, and stayed kinda' stiff feeling, and abrasive inside.
Worst work experience ever.
The New Yankee Workshop with Norm Abrams?
Otis, my man! Let’s talk about the recent Rock Hall nomination for Warren Zevon!…or forget the Hall and just talk Warren Zevon!
Thanks for the great videos.
Hell of a time to stop sniffing glue!
Hah ! I used to be one of those guys. But that was a long time ago. I have a million stories like that. I started roofing houses when I was fifteen years old. For my buddies uncle. The day would start off with breakfast at a greasy spoon down on east tenth street. Then we would blaze up on the way to the house we were working on that day. I was afraid of heights back then and the weed didn't help at all. Lol one day we were on a roof and some friends came by. Big tall house big steep roof. My buddy climbed the ladder and attempted to step off onto the roof. He was afraid of heights too And just froze. The old guy I was working for told him he would finish in a couple minutes and that he was coming down that ladder. Big Jimmy kept yelling and crying for the fire department. Lol Uncle Gene walked over there and very gently placed his roofing hatchet on Jimmies nose and told him to start moving or he was going to knock him off that ladder. Uncle Gene was a really tough old guy. And we all believed him including Big Jimmy who started backing down the ladder. Lol there's more to that story but that's the short and skinny of it. Lol those were good ole days, but I'm sure glad they are gone. Thanks for the memories, Otis rock on!
I swung a hammer for 5 or 6 years before I realized I was a carpenter. I stuck with it even though I didn't plan on being a carpenter it's just a thing that happened.
worked for Jesus!
My brother was the same way. He kind of fell in love with it unexpectedly (hard on the body)
It still amazes me what can be accomplished with a pile of lumber, saw, square, tape measure, hammer and a box of nails.
Got my coffee and I’m settled in. Cheers, brother Otis. Today’s my birthday!
Happy Birthday, another trip round the sun. Cheers
@@buckodonnghaile4309 much obliged, friend! 😄
Happy birthday.
A big Happy Birthday from Maine. 🎊 🎉
Happy Birthday, Andy!
got a job after 6.5 years in the military as a jet mechanic, working in camper trailer factory. Worse job ever. But my co-workers were those types you described. It was like working in a circus and very clanish and disturbing. I think I lasted maybe a month, finished the day out and quit. Buck