[RKDinOKC]

Had IBS episode today and spent the day sleeping to calm the guts back down. So, awake and long winded tonight.

When a teen Dad did after hours electrical. Made me do all the attic crawling. Hire it done now because of it. Can't stand that itchy stuff. Also made me hold up the ceiling fan while he wired it. Image my surprise when I found you can hang it, then wire it! Never got paid a dime for helping Dad doing electrical. The experience was great for when I got a driver's license and started doing custom home/business entertainment/stereo/pa installs for $25/hr. Did so well with those a local Architect/Designer that was referring work to me had me hire his son to help. The Architect graciously let me fire his son after the 3rd ceiling his son stepped through.

Dad and the next door neighbor got all the stuff and started a detail business. Basically a really nice orbital buffer and LOTs of rags. After about a year the neighbor was done with it. After another six months I was in the detailing business. Dad would pick up and deliver 2 to 4 cars on a Saturday it wasn't raining or we didn't go fishing. He gave me all the profits after taking out the cost of supplies used. It only took me about an hour to do a car inside and out back then. Now it takes me a couple of days. Also did several boats.

Mowed yards starting when I was 8. Some of the yards the bermuda was so thick in the back yard I couldn't push the mower through it. Dad would mow the back yard in exchange for me mowing our yard. We had 1.5 acres and a riding lawn tractor/mower. The next year was able to mow everything myself. When I was 10 started taking care of the lawn at Kimray where I work today. Took me an hour and made $45. So have actually been working for Kimray since I was 10. Too bad it wasn't considered full time so I can't claim 45 years of service. Kept doing the lawn care until I went to college, then worked part time until out of college and went to full time in 81. Two more years till I get the gold watch if they are still giving a gold watch for 35 years by then.

After about the 3rd time mowing Kimray I had to buy a new push mower, edger, and one of them new fangled green machine string trimmers. From then on ALL the lawn equipment at our house was purchase owned, maintained, and REPAIRED by me. I customized the new Toro push mower to be all business and as light as possible. It wasn't self propelled, too slow. Removed everything that didn't have to do with it mowing, all the plastic and metal covers, ect. Put plastic wheels on the front and steel wheels with greasible bearings on the back, the first plastic rear wheels quickly wore out. Wasn't pretty, but I could knock out a lawn in less than 20 minutes. Couple of years later surprised Dad by selling his lawn tractor and getting a new one with a single 39" blade instead of one like our old one that had a 48" 3 blade deck. With the single blade I could mow as fast as it would go and it still cut better than going much slower with the 3 blade mower. Cut the at home 1.5 acre mowing time down to just 45 minutes.

Though Dad never told me, think he was proud of my mowing business. Found out he secretly came to watch me on the first lawn job I got myself that used the riding mower. Later decided lawns that big took too much time for what people were willing to pay. Could make a lot more doing more smaller yards. Even though there were several other large lawns I stopped mowing, Dad took over just that first one and continued to mow it until he passed away. Guess that's kinda like the 4x4 truck I had. Dad never showed much interest, but after taking him off road once 4x4 and Off-Road magazines started showing up at the house.

We also had a huge garden and was given about half of it to raise a cash crop (since I did most of the work in it anyway). i grew Okra and sold it fresh picked at the local grocery store. They would buy all I could grow for $1.00 /lb. Got a bushel of fresh tender 6in long okra every other day. Did make enough on my first summer's okra crop to buy a very nice light weight 10 speed race/touring bike. Think I remember it costing just over $200 back in 1973. That was a lot of itchy okra picking.