My Work History: 1973 through 2013

JOB NUMBER: 1

1973 - Crescent Manor Nursing Home – Grafton Center

$1.35/hr - Janitor

I was the janitor for the nursing home. I did all the cleaning and I really liked this job. After a few months, I started working in the kitchen setting up plates with meals according to dietary notes. The plates were covered and placed onto tall multiple level metal service carts. I’d deliver trays to the patients in the dining room or to their individual rooms. I especially liked the large 18-wheeler food service truck deliveries. I would unload the truck storing everything in its assigned place.

JOB NUMBER: 2

1973 – Imco - S. Grafton, MA (housed in the original Tupperware Plastics factory building)

$1.35/hr - Materials handler

Here, I was a materials handler. I brought materials (hence the name) to machine operators. The factory produced all sorts of molded plastic items. I remember Brim instant coffee lids and Avon figurine bottle toppers. One day, I took some THC and I got way wasted. I punched out and drove (not smart) to Wilkinsonville, where I had arranged for my cousin Linda to flag me down when I got there. I don’t know what happened after that, and I never returned to that job.

JOB NUMBER: 3

1973 Felter’s - Millbury, MA

$1.35/hr –  factory worker

I started work as a machine operator that compressed cork and other materials into shapes that would become the bottom of high heel shoes. After 2 or 3 hours of doing this work, I started having trouble breathing and had to be taken to the emergency room.

JOB NUMBER: 4

1973 - Hickey Leather - Millbury, MA

$ 1.60/hr – factory worker

This job consisted of several different chores such as cutting leather into different shapes using a huge machine press that could cut through several layers of leather at the same time. These shapes would later be sewn into gun holsters.

JOB NUMBER: 5

1973 - Chevalier Furniture - Worcester, MA

$2.10/hr – furniture delivery

I delivered furniture with my cousin, Glen.  For more about that job, read: The Life of a Story in Progress 011: A mover and a shaker on Wall St.

JOB NUMBER: 6

1973 - Sparkle Car Wash - Shrewsbury, MA

Car Wiper-Offer

I had the very complex job of wiping the excess water off of cars after going through the automatic washing apparatus. I’d be surprised if the job actually paid real money.

JOB NUMBER: 7

1973 - Youngblood Laminates - Sutton/Millbury Line

$2.00/hr - factory worker

2^nd shift (4 p.m. to 2 a.m.)

I was one of only 2 people in the factory during the second shift. My job was to unroll layers of different types of fiberglass and other materials in precise measurements, lying one sheet over another along a very long table. Sometimes the sheets would be 15-20 feet long. The next step was to die cut the fiberglass “sandwiches,” some of which were between 6 and 8 inches thick. These die cut sections were later used to make bullet-proof vests.

I brought a small cassette player with me to work and played it as loud as I wanted. I remember listening to T-Rex, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Three Dog Night and Uriah Heep.

JOB NUMBER: 8

1974 - Lewcott Chemical - Sutton/Millbury town line, MA

Behind Youngblood’s was another building with the name “Lewcott Chemical” on it. Both companies must have been owned by the same company because one day I worked at Youngblood’s and the next I was working at Lewcott Chemical.

Working at Lewcott’s was one of least favorite jobs ever. My job consisted of placing alternate sheets of green plastic and metal, one on top of the other. These were to become circuit boards. The plastic and metal stacks were placed into a machine that compressed them with tremendous pressure.  After this compression, the circuit board material was taken out of the press. The compression process caused the circuit board material to take on a very strong static electricity charge. When the boards were touched, they released this energy with an intense shock. I wore overly thick rubber gloves that provided some protection from the shock, but every time I touched a board, I got zapped. It actually hurt.

JOB NUMBER: 9

1974 - Texaco Globe Gas Station – Whitinsville, MA

$1.60/hr

I pumped gas and back then, you checked the oil when asked.

JOB NUMBER: 10

1974 - Poly Vinyl Films - Wilkinsonville, MA

$1.60/hr

I was the janitor for this factory.  I swept, did general cleaning tasks, arranged, stacked and supplied the machine workers with skids of raw materials. The place had a very distinct smell of a mixture of chemicals. I learnt to find the end of a roll of plastic wrap that had adhered to the roll.  There was an area with a huge amount of new flat unused boxes stacked up about 20 feet or more. It was like walking through a maze. I sometimes made a dead end in the maze and napped. The company also ran a trucking company out of this site

JOB NUMBER: 11

1974 – Westboro State Hospital – Lyman Street, Westboro, MA

$4.75/hr - Mental Health Worker –III, a state position

3^rd shift, Hennessey Building

Initially, I had a 2-month orientation period that was based in the Hadley building. This building housed patients with medical issues and the hospital’s aging population. It was pretty much like a very large nursing home. The patients there were, for the most part, not ambulatory and there were never any psychiatric emergencies.

During this time, I received all sorts of basic instruction in things like making beds (without having to remove the patient), taking vital sig ns and writing using nursing notes. (There’s a lot of medical shorthand involved)

After training, I was assigned to the Hennessey building. I worked third shift and there was absolutely nothing to do all night except watch TV. But occasionally, I’d leave the ward to visit people on other wards. I’d let myself out with my key and walk through dark halls (it was night) or empty wards (a little creepy). At the time, a friend of mine named Cathy would meet me in an empty ward and we’d smoke pot. I often felt some underlying sexual tension, but nothing ever came of it. My keys fit every lock in the building but I doubt I was ever in even half of the rooms in the building.

This was my first job with health benefits.

Sometimes there would be overtime available, but overtime consisted of working another entire shift. I worked double shifts almost every time they were available. It was at double-pay (if you worked enough hours in that week, otherwise it was time and a half), which was great. These extra shifts were usually done working in the Daniels Building, where the most acute cases were housed. Psychiatric pharmacology was less sophisticated in the early 70’s than it is today, and the patients in the Daniels Building were known for being actively psychotic, unpredictable and occasionally violent. Thorozine seemed to be a very popular medication.

In the course of a night, it wasn’t unusual for a PA announcement to be made that ordered “all male personnel” to go to a ward to subdue an out of control patient.  Many times, the first responders were me and the other guy that I worked with. I think this was because we were among the youngest and fastest. I’ve “tackled” patients to the floor and held them there until more orderlies arrived. 

The most bizarre thing I ever witnessed while at the hospital was a time when a patient asked to come into the nursing office, but patients weren’t allowed to be in the nurses’ station, so he was told that he couldn’t come in. He asked several more times over the next hour or so, each time being refused entry. The next thing I saw was him running down the hall towards the nurses’ station. He then literally jumped and flew head-first through the window of the door.  He didn’t get a scratch on him and as soon as he stood up, he just walked back out through the door and went to his room.

JOB NUMBER: 12

1976 - General Automotive - Kelly Square - Worcester, MA

$2.30/hr

I stacked muffler/tailpipes onto racks hanging from the ceiling. There would be a big spaghetti twisted pile of muffler/tailpipes and I was supposed to hang them on the right hooks as per the car model. I have no idea how I was supposed to do that. It seemed like I was supposed to know the kind of muffler to fit any particular car. I hung stuff up wherever I felt like it. I got fired after a few days.

JOB NUMBER: 13

1976 - San Clemente Inn - San Clemente, CA

$2.65/hr

I was employed as a “linen boy” even though I was at least 21 at the time. I took fresh linens from the laundry and delivered them to linen closets throughout the hotel. I remember wearing sneakers and someone told me to get a pair of flip-flops. Apparently, that was the appropriate footwear for a linen boy.

JOB NUMBER: 14

1976 - Almazetta’s Barnyard – San Clemente, CA

Salaried position – I don’t remember the pay.

The hours/days fluctuated at the owner’s whim.

This was an interesting job. I threw clay onto a potter’s wheel and made plates, bowls, jars, lids and lots of other stuff. Almazetta Casey was the artist and she had worked for Disney at some time in the past. The shop was called Almazetta’s Barnyard, and it was decorated in a farm-like manner. The clay merchandise was displayed on bales of hay, etc. Besides thrown clay pieces, I was also responsible for glazing statues and other items that Almazetta hand crafted out of clay. The kiln was HUGE. The table had several shelves and it rolled into the kiln on railroad tracks. It was at least 20 feet long. It held a tremendous amount of green ware to be fired. Once, I fired a completely loaded table (which took 2 days to cool after the gas jets were turned off) and when Almazetta saw the finished work, she freaked out and said I used the wrong glaze and that the entire batch was ruined. She said stuff like that all the time. It was never true. Her son used to come in and take money out of the register. I don’t think she knew that he did. Near the end of my time there, she stopped paying me and I had to take her to the labor court (or whatever it was called). In the end, I got paid.

JOB NUMBER: 15

1976 - Halfway House Diner - San Clemente, CA

3^rd shift

$2.65

I washed dishes throughout the night.

JOB NUMBER: 16

1977 – Basketville - Northboro, MA

$2.90/hr

I worked in a wood-working shop. I made a lot of different items all of which were made out of pine. I took raw wood and put it through planers, sanding machines, drill presses and jigsaws. I made all sorts of country-craft type items that were sold as craft projects (to be painted, etc). I learnt pretty much everything there is to know about wood working at this job. The boss was young and he was like a tyrant. He would yell and scream at people and say “no” if they asked to go to the bathroom. After a while, I got to the point where I ignored him. He didn’t know how to handle that so he left me alone. I also used to laugh at him and he didn’t like that very much.

JOB NUMBER: 17

1977 - Butcher’s Wax - Northboro, MA

$3.10/hr

I stacked 5 gallon pails of different types of waxes and cleaners onto a pallet after they emerged from being filled by a machine. The machine operator was a friend of mine named Nick. We also filled 30 and 55 gallon drums of these waxes and other solutions. When an order for barrels came in, we went outside to get the barrels from storage behind the building.  We always looked forward to barrel orders because once outside, we could smoke a joint. This annoyed the supervisor and she always gave us looks of discontent. Another job I had was to stack the pallets up onto huge metal shelves, the kind you see at B.J’s, only higher. No-one showed me how to use the forklift (which turned out to be very easy to drive) or how to stack the pallets on the higher shelves. You had to use a little guesswork to fit the pallet into the opening in the shelving. It was a scary thought to imagine a pallet falling down, but that never happened. The supervisor of the storage area didn’t like me but I don’t know why.

JOB NUMBER: 18

1978 - Mammoth Mart - Marlboro, MA

$3.35/hr

This was another interesting job. I worked overnight from 10:00 p.m. until 9:00 a.m., when the store re-opened.  As soon as everyone left, I would get a beanbag chair from the furniture department and bring to the electronics department where I would turn on all the TV’s and watch Charlie’s Angels. After that, I’d take a nap for a few hours. When I got up, I’d wander around the store looking at stuff. Sometimes I’d find something interesting to read or listen to. Around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., I would take the floor washing machine out and ride it all throughout the store. I had some sweeping to do in a few places and did other routine cleaning tasks. I used to get a tape I liked and play it through the store’s internal music speakers, which included the parking lot speakers. I always thought that was funny. Before leaving the store in the morning, the manager would frisk me. I’m sure that it was illegal, even back then.

JOB NUMBER: 19

1978 - Bolton Hall Nursing Home - Bolton, MA

$4.20/hr

I was one of three janitors. One time, I was using the buffing machine on the floor and one of the other janitors asked me if I was wasted. Apparently, I was using the machine too slowly. After a while, I got to know the other guys and the three of us would go out for lunch together to a nearby bar. We would have 2 or 3 beers and smoke a joint on the way back to the nursing home.  Having had nothing to eat, the beers would really hit me and I’d return to work pretty much drunk and stoned. The nurses and other staff ignored the janitors, so we never had any problems after coming back after “lunch.”

JOB NUMBER: 20

1978 - Robert L’s Formal Attire/Valtone Cleaners - N. Grafton, MA

$4.75/hr

Here, I worked in the retail department of the formal wear shop fitting men into their tuxedos for weddings, and I think maybe funerals. But my main job was working in the wholesale department. Retail formal wear shops from all over the region would send in orders for wedding parties they’d sold formal wear rentals to and we’d assemble the outfits into huge boxes. Usually it took more than one box to fill the order. There were many styles of tuxes and colors of shirts, cummerbunds and ties.  We also did shoes.  There was a busy season; it ran from late May to early July. Most people like to get married in June; at least they did at that time. During busy season, it wasn’t unusual to work 12-14 hour days.

I also got free dry cleaning.

JOB NUMBER: 21

1980 - Carrie’s Corner Restaurant – Wilkinsonville, MA

$4.10/hr

I started this job as a dishwasher. Eventually I became a short order cook. I really liked being a cook. I learnt to prepare an order and have everything in the order be ready at the same time. There could be many orders in process with a list that grew as the waitresses came in and wrote the orders down on a clipboard.  I was very good at this job, although the owners played down my abilities so that I wouldn’t expect a raise. I did ask for a raise several times in the course of my time there but only got one. Eventually, I decided to go to college and I quit the job after being refused another request for a raise in pay.

I worked hanging wallpaper while in college as well as working part-time at Robert L’s Formal Wear, when they needed the extra help.

JOB NUMBER: 22

1983 - Grey Lines, Inc. - Worcester, MA

$3.75/hr

I was a ticket agent. There were only a couple of routes out of Worcester to sell. The main bus was from Worcester to South Station in Boston. I’d say 90% of the ticket sales were to South Station. Once, a crazy guy came in and started punching the vending machines. He broke the glass on a couple of them. As soon as he started punching the machines, all of the people sitting waiting for a bus got up and walked out, leaving me there alone with Mr. Punch-Happy.  Having worked at the state hospital, he wasn’t all that scary to me and I called the police and ignored him until they came and took him away. I got several umbrellas while working at the bus station.  People left a lot of umbrellas behind and after a month had passed, you could take one (or more) home. Not to long after I started working there, the safe was robbed at night. The manager believed it was the last employee to work there who had broken in. She said she’d forgotten to change the combination on the safe after he left. She wanted me to go to a bar with her after hours to “discuss” the robbery. I didn’t go.

JOB NUMBER: 23

1983 - Toke Products - S. Grafton, MA

$3.35/hr

This was another exciting factory job. I worked 10 hours a day and had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off.  This was job that required me to stand on my feet for 10 hours putting green rubber plugs into a machine that would form them into caps to fit over some sort of small engine part. There was a little metal ring on one end of the cap and the other end was open so as to fit over the part it would protect. I worked alone and didn’t have the diversion of a radio or someone to talk to. My only respite was watching the clock. Occasionally, I would be put on a different job that entailed pouring a bag of little metal rings into a tumbler with some grit. The machine would softly polish the rigs to a very smooth state. I have no idea what the rings were used for.

JOB NUMBER: 24

1983 - Crawfish Wholesale - Worcester, MA

I sold seafood, but I don’t think I ever sold any crawfish.

JOB NUMBER: 25

1985 - St. Camillus Hospital - Whitinsville, MA

Field Placement (unpaid position)

This was a required field placement job for the occupational therapy program at Quinsigamond Community College. I worked with the people who needed OT services. I learnt to make hand and arm splints, taught cognitive skill exercises, applied physical exercises, provided education, supplied and/or created adaptive equipment, and developed activities of daily living plans as well as recreational activities.

JOB NUMBER: 26

1985 - Vending Machine Route - regional

$4.20/hr

I drove a big truck and filled vending machines in a large regional territory. It was really boring.

JOB NUMBER: 27

1985 – Open Road Eatery - Shrewsbury, MA

$3.35/hr

I washed dishes.

JOB NUMBER: 28

1985 – Northbridge Nursing Home - Northbridge, MA

$5.25/hr

I worked as a C.O.T.A. /L (Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant/Licensed) for the general population.  My job was to carry out programs and procedures developed by the in-house Registered Occupational Therapist. Duties included ADL’s (activities of daily living), applying adaptive equipment and engaging patients in recreational activities. I also removed the improper devices the nurses used to help prevent contractures (they’d put rolled-up face cloths into patient’s hands). Soft surfaces encourage flexion while hard surfaced illicit extension. The correct appliance was a cone-shaped one that had a hard surface. The nurses thought this was “hard” and therefore uncomfortable for the patients, so they’d remove them and out the face cloths back in. And the dance continued…

JOB NUMBER: 29

1985 - Valley Adult Counseling - Milford, MA

$6.50/hr

Day Activities Program:

I worked as a C.O.T.A. /L and ran group therapy sessions including men’s group, smoking cessation, budgeting, shopping skills and recreational activities.

Day Treatment Program:

I worked as a C.O.T.A. /L and ran group therapy sessions including those that dealt with stress reduction, meditation, interpersonal skills, color therapy, assertiveness, medication management and others.

Social Club Model:

I worked as a staff member (which was the equivalent of being a club member just the same as a person with chronic mental illness) in a Clubhouse Model of treatment for the chronically ill psychiatric patient. I participated in two clubhouse programs, and co-founded the second one that was named Tradewinds Social Club in Southbridge, MA. The model focused on the individual’s strengths rather than their illness. I worked in the maintenance department. We were responsible for cleaning the clubhouse and maintaining the grounds. I worked alongside members and taught them to use power tools and cleaning equipment. I liked the job but did not like the supervisor. She was whacked.

JOB NUMBER: 30

1990 - Kennedy-Donovan Center - Milford, MA

$8.57/hr

I became an L.S.W.A. (Licensed Social Work Associate) while working there to allow my services to be “third party billable,” which was a mechanism by which the agency could bill the state for some portion of its services. When I began this job, I was a Placement Specialist and by the time I left, the job had been renamed Home Care Supervisor, or something close to that. I had a caseload of about 12 people who all had developmental disabilities. The program found homes and families that wanted to care for someone with a disability and be responsible for their health and wellbeing. The providers were responsible for arranging doctor and therapy appointments, transportation to day programs (if there was one) and carrying out the treatment goals of the person’s treatment team. In short, the family took a client in as a member of the family. My job was to identify and train potential providers and give them ongoing support and training. I also inspected their homes for safety and appropriateness for placement. I would occasionally fill-in to provide transportation to a client’s appointments if the provider couldn’t do it for some reason. I ran in-service training sessions. The providers were required to accumulate a certain number of hours of such trainings each year to remain certified. I maintained the paperwork required by the state to record the person’s progress towards goals, state of health and effectiveness of placements. 

There was an emergency beeper system in place for after hours and weekend emergencies. Homecare providers, state workers and other KDC personnel would call the beeper number and wait for a response. Signing up for the beeper over a weekend paid $75.00. Sometime after my 6^th or 7^th year at the agency, they decided to make carrying the beeper mandatory on a rotating basis. This was a bad idea because many people felt it was an unwarranted imposition. Consequently they were lax in response time and sometimes didn’t respond at all.

I also ran Blackstone Valley Respite Program. This program gave the homecare providers “time off” from their responsibilities. They were given a certain amount of respite per month. I would find the temporary placements for the clients when needed. The respite time could be used for a number of hours, an overnight, a weekend or even a week.

JOB NUMBER: 31

2000 - Innovative Incentives, Inc. – Barre, Worcester, Wheelwright

$32.50/hr – president

Responsible for accounting, budgeting, office procedure/protocols, banking, payroll and payroll taxes, corporate structure and business, secure health and dental care insurance, affiliations and memberships in professional organizations, investments, limited client contact, human resources, graphic  arts, web design, IT, office machines and phone systems

Note: during years that list several jobs, I may have worked more than one job at the same time. Also, it is possible that I’ve forgotten a job or two…