Phil had been hired at Inland Kenworth as an apprentice heavy duty mechanic and called me in to meet his boss at the large shop in Burnaby.
Unfortunately they weren't in a position to take on any more staff and I continued my search.
Ken had another lead at Consolidated Equipment on East Hastings where they needed someone to work in the store and shop.
I went in for an interview and was very discouraged to learn the wage was around $3.00 an hour after me just finishing my last job at twice that amount.
I decided it might be good experience as I'd be working with chainsaws and a variety of other equipment along with a very energetic fellow who manned the busy shop alone.
I spent a few days there doing inventory of the small parts and was told I had to work every other Saturday as well as the full week.
I quit and on a tip from Blackie McCallum went down to Wee Tote Courier Service that worked out of a basement in a house in East Vancouver.
(On researching the marine industry it seemed as though most of the work was seasonal , even in the lower mainland and the pay was quite low. I shelved that plan and soldiered on.)
They were a growing little business and were very hopeful I would join them with a large van as they only had small cars thus far.
It had very low mileage and ran like new.
It was well suited to courier work and could carry enormous loads.
I started work at about nine each morning by radioing the dispatch as I left Richmond where they weren't licensed to operate and finished around six.
The jobs were quite slow in coming so it was a relaxed pace through most of the day.
I had many breaks to park by the ocean near Stanley Park and await work.
Some notable jobs were picking up at UBC for Dr. David Suzuki, although he was never present at his office when I was there.
I ended each day by picking up advertising at The Bay to take to Pacific Press for insertion in the next days' newspaper.
After two months I found I was working for peanuts as the large shipments never materialized, so I accepted a trial at my friend, Barry McCallum's used furniture business on Commercial Drive.
Barry and I had been friends ever since my family had moved to B.C.
Our Dad's were in the air force together and the best of friends, spending many Friday or Saturday evenings over at one another's homes with wives in tow who were also very close.
Barry's "Alpine Used Furniture" shop was housed in an old commercial building with upstairs apartments on the corner of 3'rd & Commercial Drive.
I spent a pleasant, if unprofitable couple of months there refinishing the neat old wardrobes, sideboards and dressers we picked up at the weekly auction we attended, as well as delivering the sold pieces.
It was like being in a situation comedy with the characters who visited, especially the building's on-site "super", George Baker.
George popped in several times each day to gripe about the tenants and the owner who he hated with a passion.
We would egg him on by encouraging more stories from him and took great pleasure in his discourses
that seemed without end.
The experiment to see if the business would grow to pay for my extra involvement was not panning out and with Barry's encouragement I looked for other employment while still working at the shop.
A son of one of my Mum's best friends had mentioned to her that the C.N. Express warehouse where he worked was very busy and hiring regularly.
In September I went down to the big railway station at the corner of Main Street and Terminal Avenue where C.N. had its offices including an employment office larger than most Canada Employment facilities I'd been to.
I filled out an application form and handed it to the lady manning a desk who glanced over it and told me I should be a shoe-in with my Class 3 license and mechanical experience.
I left with a good feeling and hoped to join this massive operation with the many opportunities I could imagine and returned to work with Barry.
The country was experiencing the beginning of a boom in many areas and the railroads were struggling to keep up with the amount of freight needing movement.
About a month later on October 6th 1978 I was called to attend an interview and testing for placement within the railway.
On arrival I noted the number of fellows lined up or sitting at desks within the employment office as I was greeted by the same pretty lady I had talked to on my initial visit.
She put me into a small office and had me write some aptitude tests after which she went over the results and asked how I would like to work in the Express freight warehouse located a few blocks over on Industrial Avenue.
It sounded good to me and I was then sent up to their own medical office for hearing, eye and routine physical exams and finally to the C.N. Police office for finger printing and background checks due to the warehouse being federally bonded by Canada Customs.
I went home late that morning and was phoned soon after getting home to be told to return to the employment office that afternoon, pick up my papers and report to the Express warehouse to the
operations manager, Bob Bayne.
A bit overwhelmed at the experience of being gobbled up by the huge C.N. "Machine" I arrived at thecity block long warehouse, entered the front door and went upstairs where I found the right office.
I was immediately put at ease on entering to see a slim, smiling middle-aged gentleman with wispy greying blond hair,wearing an open baby blue cardigan sweater reaching his hand across the desk to enquire "You must be Johnny sent over from the office!" Bob read my dossier with enthusiasm and remarked that he had a good man finally after the many dead beats he had sifted through lately. He then sent me to the timekeeper's office where another friendly fellow welcomed me to the team and explained the punch card I was given along with my SRB (employment number) that identified me as 818750.
Bob came in and told me to report on Sunday for the 2 to 10 p.m. shift.
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