[Yadkin]

We were expected to work around the house, had a unwritten list of chores. I remember getting paid 25 cents/ week, doing the math and realizing how long it would take to afford the latest slot car. So I hot-rodded the old ones.

Starting at about age 12 I worked a lot for my grandfather. He had a second home- truly a cabin, and a large vegetable garden. He taught me how to raise a settled portion of the house, roofing, sweat copper pipe, fell trees. After a weekend of work he'd give my five bucks. Real hard jobs I'd get ten.

As soon as I got my driver's license a friend's mom set us up with a moving business. She paid for the truck, gas, advertised and arranged the schedule. I drove the '66 C10, three-on-the tree, painted with a brush and latex house paint. We worked all over Boston moving folks in-out of apartments. We made $27/ hour and split it three ways. That was about three times the minimum wage back then. A lot of that money went into buying tools and parts to keep my old car running.

My summer after HS I finally got the job working in a hospital kitchen that I had applied for a year earlier. I learned two important lessons. First, I hated being around sick people so should never work in the health care field. Second was how to clean stuff, and the importance of kitchen sanitation.

After my second semester of college I entered a co-op program, working every other semester. I put my drafting skills (junior high, high school, then college level courses) to work. As my engineering knowledge increased, I was employed designing. After four semesters of school I ran out of money so went to work full time for 18 months.

When I went back to college, first semester I trained for a bus driving job. Zero pay for the whole semester. But the investment paid off- the next five semesters of driving was very good pay. Every summer, winter and week vacation I worked my drafting/ design gig.