William Nelson
Just reading your recollections of jobs as gas station attendants. I didn't get into that business until I was a few years older. After I got out of the Army in '68, I went back to work at Globe-Union's Centralab Div. I wound up with a promotion from what I'd been doing before getting drafted, but only took a year or two to decide I wanted to use my GI Bill and get an Associate's Degree from MSOE. I had a couple of kids to feed and was dating Mary by that time, so money was very tight and I needed to finish school in 18-months.
Dan & Janet Farchione (Class of June, '61) decided to make a career change at about the same time. Dan & I worked together at CRL before I was drafted, but he moved to a competitor while I was in the service. They decided to move their operations, but Jan still had most of a year left to get her degree. He leased a Texaco Station on 27th and Edgerton. He hired me to be his first employee (not counting Jan). I told him I didn't consider myself a trained mechanic, but he said that would be OK. He'd just be happy not to worry about me stealing from him. It didn't pay a lot, but helped me cover expenses. Most of the time, I worked only on weekends, but he tailored my hours to work with my hours at school. We also tried to give good service and did windows, oil level checks, etc. One regular customer came in with a school bus one day. We broke out the step ladder and washed every window on the bus!
We really had a good time during that period. When he took time off, he left me in charge and I remember well doing the books, sticking the tanks, and inventorying the merchandise. He wound up getting a job as a 3rd shift mechanic for the City and then moving up to the county level. For a couple of years, he was in charge of mechanics for all Milwaukee County, but he hated the job and wound up as an engineering mechanic for Harley Davidson. He loved that job and still rides Harleys regularly, has a hot rod, a dragster, and a few other assorted vehicles.
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