Lynn and I had moved to Phoenix AZ. from Longview Washington to accept a job as an insulator in August. This job was insulating commercial and residential structures. The job is paid by the number of pieces of insulation installed, and piece work. The largest job I worked on was downtown Phoenix on a 29-story building. This place had no walls yet and only cables around the perimeter for safety. The floors were in place as well as the skeletal structure. We sprayed insulation on all the beams for fire protection. To get to each floor, we rode an elevator on the outside of the structure. I was a little apprehensive at first, riding in a cage. All I did was “talk” to the mechanics of the elevator hoping that nothing failed. It was itchy work, but the money was good for a while. The economy started to tank and so did the work. My last paycheck was only $12. I told Lynn that I was leaving the car home, and I was going to look for another job. Off I went, down Thomas Road. In less than an hour I came back into our apartment. Lynn was puzzled and asked why I was home so soon. I told her that I got a job delivering flowers. I remember that I got minimum wage. It would be steady work and a guaranteed paycheck.
I was introduced to a bunch of ladies working and putting arrangements together in the back room and then instructed on how the operation of delivery worked. They asked if I was going to wear my cowboy hat and I said that if you are okay with it, then I will. I did and this caused some people not to want to answer their door. I had to load the flowers that were sitting on the outgoing table so that they would be delivered. The truck I was to drive was a van without seats and later I used a small truck with a fiberglass shell. This was refrigerated to keep the flowers fresh. I was given a Phoenix and surrounding area book of all the streets. On my first run, I went with another driver to show me the ropes. Then I went solo.
Before I left, I’d look at the list of addresses they gave me and refer to the map book to figure out my first stop. This was repeated until all were delivered and then headed back to the flower company for another load. For the fun of it, I’d keep track of my miles driven and it was usually around 200 miles a day in the big city. Valentine's Day was upward of around 375 miles.