In 1981 my dad and Farm Bureau insurance had a brouhaha about workers comp, we owned a number of farm related business, and our Cal’s Body Shop business fleet, facilities, and liabilities all were insured with the Farm Bureau and had been for years. Workers’ comp was included. We weren’t the only non-farm related industry/ body shop insured but a recent claim involving a painter in a body shop set our world on fire. Farm Bureau was going to pull all the body shop workers comp insurance. They sent me to a specialist, a painful adventure, the Dr extracted lung tissue samples with a long needle between each rib, two samples on both sides, my lungs had acrylic-based paint contaminants in all four samples. I was told to stop painting that day, Farm Bureau and Dad both agreed to shut the body shop down. This was late February, we agreed to shut the doors June 30th, finish all projects close out accounts, and shut the doors on the body shop. I had been the fulltime painter since 1976, really good, to walk away was tough, July 1st I had my second lung tissue test the Dr pretty much declared a miracle that the tests had no acrylic in the tissue system, but I was advised not to push the envelope. By then I was playing with a sawmill, buying /selling wrecks, running the chicken farm, building utility buildings, but the EX wanted the security of a real job. A buddy called me one day and said Ryder Truck Lines was hiring casual labor so it seemed to enhance the budget so I scampered that way, we will leave this here more about Teamsters later. The Ryder job, second shift, Thursday- Monday off Tuesday/Wednesday. killed my racing involvement, but furthered my leadership, business, and team building experience. The best part of this chapter was my daughter Shayla became a lifelong partner in crime. By the time she could walk she was part of the adventure. The evening shift meant I was there when Shayla woke up and there until 5 o’clock every day, as the ex and I drifted apart, Shayla and I strengthen our bond. Years earlier General Electric had refinishing issues they contracted me to trouble shoot their refinishing line after a few days I discovered a newly installed air tool oiler was contaminating their paint department airlines. This project led to a GE Fab shop job opportunity. The Ryder deal was good, but the winter was tough, (open dock) union and management relations were strained, 1980 trucking deregulation allowed carriers married to unions to sell contracts to nonunion companies they owned. GE offered I jumped at the chance, this move challenged the EX’s side project, and she soon moved out. After I had been employed for about 6 months, GE was fighting the recovery from the Carter economy, sales for multi-tenant electric panels were challenged but as most of my life paths it wasn’t about GE it was about me learning to manufacture, job cost and distribute product lines. I was hired to be a fabricator, after training the job was challenged by seniority, I was about to learn a lesson about big business, discrimination, efficiency and patience. I was well known in our town as a better than average fabricator, the job paired me with a number of serious machine operators, base salary $15. An elderly lady with no fabrication experience, never welded, no assembly experience, decided to challenge me for the position. Growing up in family business, and professional sports, it was all about making money and getting the job done. I sat in the plant manager’s office and was told you must take her production line job, $12 per hour popping rivets for 8 hours a day. 2 days into her new job she melted down over a standard procedure for a new part, the fab instructions included a multiple process precision part, 150 production parts needed. Dan the GE shop foreman an ole army sergeant stated I hired you to do this, I told him irony is GE is paying her to do it. After about 2 weeks I was moved to the fab shop, she was moved to the production line and for 90 days she made $15 per hour for popping 2 rivets per panel. End of summer was here, Thanksgiving was coming, issues within the supply chain was popping up, the team on the production floor were all locals, the fab shop had raw material, prints, and equipment to produce parts but had a stand down order from Houston GE. In the middle of supply issue, the Macclenny GE parts dept mostly made up of Ex Union folks from New Jersey, lobbied the IBEW to force a union vote for the plant. Macclenny locals felt like they were attacked by a pack of dogs, Florida is a right to work state and after the Teamster fiasco at Ryder I knew this was not good. The Labor Day Plant Day at Kingsley Lake turned into a crazy deal 80% against, 15% for, someone called the New Jersey crowd carpet baggers, they in return challenged the “crackers” and their close relationship to family. I told the plant manager the day we voted that even though the “crackers” were going to win the vote, the plant was done. GE announced that by Christmas of 1984 workers would be moved to more productive plants. I was offered Salisbury, NC or Daytona, FL. That day I walked into the Athletic Alley, my mom’s sports store and Don Roberts had stopped in, Dave Roberts, Don’s dad was a legend fabricator, an infamous winning race car owner, and was working in Kannapolis, NC for Robert Harrington facilitating the start of Baker-Schiff racing. I told Don I would love the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of Buddy Bakers new team. He told me he was going to see his folks over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was welcome to come. That trip led to an interview, Robert Harrington asked “do you shoot Dupont Lucite?”, I told him of course, he said I have a car ready to paint if you paint it where it can be buffed, you got the job, I told him to I hated color sanding. Painted the car, slicker than glass, got the job, worked contract labor for Osterlund Racing for December, after a quick custody battle, a 4-year-old Shayla and myself moved to Kannapolis for the next chapter of this adventure.
