To The OWS Mob... I am the 1%....

Let me preface this by saying I am not the greatest wordsmith and 
my brain races along much faster than my hands can type.. that being said ....



I started working when I was 13 years old when I got a paper route.


I also had a neighbor take me under his wing and teach me machining and
mechanical work. Bridgeport , Lathe, Grinding, Welding, Engine work
and how to spin a wrench.


I also cut lawns and raked and shoveled driveways.


When I was 15 I got a job doing small engine repair and maintenace on
lawnmowers and snowblowers.


That year was 1978, I talked my father into buying a brand new Ariens snowblower
from the place I worked at.
It was delivered 2 weeks before the blizzard of 1978. LUCK!
Boston got 27 plus inches of snow.
I remember the roads being closed and everyone out walking on the narrow streets.
Lots of people were shoveling as there weren't alot of snowblowers.
After clearing our driveway I spent the next 2 weeks, all day, walking around with
that snowblower. I made over $600.00 back then.


 


My next job was sheet metal and duct work install and maintenance. After I learned the
tricks of that trade I did installs on the side with a friend.


I worked part time doing maintenance at a local hotel


All the while I still hung around doing the hobby machining and car work on the weekends.


I was lucky enough to go to Northeastern University to get my Mechanical Engineering Degree.


After College I went full time into business at my friends machine shop that I spoke about
earlier. It took off and was doing really well, unfortunatly we had a falling out and in 1991
I started my own business with a loan from my father.


I rented space from a friend of mine and rapidly grew out of that. In 1994 I moved to a larger
facility and kept growing. At the end of the '90s the business had grow to over 4.5 million in sales
and up to 49 employees. Y2K came and that caused a huge hit to the industry as a whole. The semiconductor and telecommunications industries dried up. We limped along until 9/11, that was the nail in the coffin.
My business was closed in Nov of 2011 and auctioned off. It was very difficult to see all your
dreams vanish.


I stuck my head in the sand for a few months. I lost everything but the house.


When I finally got over the minor depression I went thru I picked my self up and dusted myself off
and got a job. 


It had been along time that I worked for someone and the job sucked. I was the Operations Manager of a large machine shop and had to stick it out for a year and a half to pay the bills.


I moved on to a General Managers position that I only lasted a month at. ( It was worse than the previous job)


The machine distrubutor that supplied my equipment in the '90's hired me as an applications engineer. This was in 2003-2004. The manufacturing industry was still slow and I only lasted 3 months there. He and I had known each other for a long time so he offered to rent me a CNC Vertical Machining Center so I could
get started back in business. That was the LAST thing I wanted but it was all I knew. I also didn't like working for someone as I had been pretty much self employed for most of my career in the real adult world.


I started my current business in 2004 and so far, knock on wood, it has been successful. I have 2 employees and have paid off all loans and leases I took.


I have to wonder how many thousands and thousands of tax dollars I have contributed throughout my business career?  All the payroll, unemployment insurance, profits tax, business tax, interest, FICA, health insurance, benefit packeages....  I get sick now that I think about it....


So to the people that are "occupying wall street" demanding that someone GIVES you a job.....
All I have to say is: