Rogers Retreat

On Wednesday Lee once again went into Sparta looking for work. This time he checked back with a couple of places where the owner or manager had been gone before then hit two farm implement dealers also. On his way back into town from an implement dealer just outside of Sparta Lee saw a sign for Tinkers' Salvage. On a whim he drove into the lane and wound his way onto the property. He drove past several old wrecked cars until he came to a rough looking but sturdy building with an office sign on it.

Lee got out of his truck and was met at the door to the office by a weathered skinny old man. The man looked at Lee then spit tobacco juice onto the ground. He said, "Hep ya, son?"

"Yes, Sir. I sure hope so. I just got out of the Marines and come home. I'm lookin for work. I was a mechanic before I went into the Corps and that's what I done all four years I was in. I was just wonderin' if ya might have need of a good mechanic. I can also fabricate some parts and I'm passable good on simple body work."

Spit. "Well now, son, I don't rightly know if I need help or not. I mostly just let folks wander around and pull their own parts. That seems to work ok for me."

"Yessir, I guess it would but how do ya know they aren't taking more than they're paying for? If you had a puller you might not lose as much to crooks."

"Yeah, I recon, but I don't hardly make enough to be a paying a young feller to sit around and wait on someone to come huntin a part here. Some days I don't sell three or four things."

"Who drives your wrecker there, Sir? Do you drive it or do ya have help? If you drive it, how many sales do ya lose if you're out on a call?"

"Well now, you might have something there son. I don't get more than a couple or three calls a week but when I do it might take me two or three hours round trip."

"I'm licensed for everything up to and including semi trucks. I have a CDL and HazMat endorsement. I could drive the wrecker or I could keep the store open while ya were gone if you wanted to do it."

"Well, Son, I don't know. I just couldn't pay ya much. This's just a one man operation I got here."

"How about this? I'll keep looking for work but I'll come here every day and be available to drive or pull parts if you need me to. I'll work for a percentage of the gross take and while I'm just sitting around I'll pull some of the more commonly needed parts for you to store in the building there. I'll label them with the pertinent information and I'll have them already pulled if you need them. Then, if I'm gone and you need something I've pulled already it will be a fast and easy sale. Most of the larger salvage yards do that now. Some of them even pull engines and undamaged body parts to store inside for a quick sale. Almost all the big salvage yards have an internet site and sell parts that way too. Do you have one?"

Old Burt laughed and said, "You kids and the internet. Look around, Son. I don't even have one of them computers here. I wouldn't know how to use it if I did. You sound just like my granddaughter. She's always on me to get a computer and use the internet. Hell, Son, I'm too old to learn those new things, I do just fine like I am."

Lee and Burt Paulus sat and discussed his work proposal among other things for over two hours. At the end of the discussion they had hammered out a deal. Lee would work five and a half days a week but he would continue looking for full time work. Lee would be paid 20% of the gross sale on parts and 20% of each towing bill if he drove the wrecker. No benefits. Each of the men was happy with the deal.

Lee was happy because he had work even if it might not pay much and it was in his favorite industry. He got to work with engines and vehicles. Besides, he didn't need much income as his expenses were very low. He continued to live on the island through the summer so his only expense was a little food and beer and the fuel to get to and from work. He was happy with the situation and so was Mr. Tinker. Lee ended up working much more than a 40 hour week. Many days he got to work early, about 7 a.m., and sat around drinking coffee with Burt. Many other days he just sat around after normal business hours visiting or sometimes finishing up a job he was working on before quitting time.

After Lee had been working for almost three weeks he heard a vehicle drive into the lot. He looked out the open door of the office and saw a small beaten up Honda Accord stop in front of the door. A young woman was driving. He watched her get out of the car and stared at her. He knew he should know her. When she came in he could see she was dressed in a white waitress uniform with a name tag on her left breast. The name tag said Ramona.

Lee smiled and said, "Hello, Ramona. How are you?"

She looked at him and frowned, then said, "OK. How do you know my name? And where's Grandpa? Mr. Tinker."

"He's out back somewhere with the loader. He'll be back soon or you can go find him if ya want. You really don't remember me do you? I'm..."

Ramona grinned real big as she broke into his sentence. She yelled, "You're Lee Rogers. When did you get back from the army? And what are you doing sitting here? Is grandpa pulling a part for you or something?"

"Marines, Ramona. I was in the Marines, and I got back about six weeks ago or so. Bert's not pulling a part for me. He wanted to move a few old cars and it was a nice day so he took off. I work here now. So how are you? What're you doing now? I heard you got fired over at the Chevy dealer. I'm sorry. I heard Sandy and Andy dumped on ya to get it done."

"Yeah, and no one would believe me when I explained I hadn't done it. Hell, you could even see where the books were altered, but Sandy's dad bought their line of crap. At least he didn't try to put me in jail. I'm still not sure momma's marriage will last. Now Sandy and Andy are working on getting rid of her I think."

Lee and Ramona sat and visited for almost 45 minutes before Bert came driving up in his loader. They brought each other up to date and exchanged stories about their lives and their favorite assholes, Andy and Sandy.

When Bert came into the office Ramona jumped from her chair and ran to her grandfather. She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek then returned to her seat. Bert poured a cup of coffee and sat in his ratty, broken down old chair with his feet on his desk. He listened to the youngsters talk for a moment then said, "It sounds like you two know each other. Am I right?"

Lee and Ramona both said, "Yeah," at nearly the same time. Ramona went on to explain how they knew each other and then began visiting with her grandfather. Lee moved off to do some more work. He had already pulled more parts than he had room to store efficiently. Now he was trying to clean out the large building and put in shelves and storage systems. He patterned his storage after the military. He was using paper records but still hoped he could talk Burt into setting up a computer system in the future. As time passed, Lee was also making an inventory of cars on the lot and their location in case someone needed something not already pulled. That way they could locate a specific vehicle and part faster. He needed to have a list of available parts to pull on each vehicle too. It was a mind boggling task. He was in awe of Burt's memory about the items on the lot, their location, and the parts remaining, but knew the computerized inventory would work much better. Many times Burt's memory was wrong about a location or part remaining and made for a longer than necessary foray into the lot.

As he worked around the salvage yard Lee was becoming more and more excited about the possibilities. In addition to many vehicles made in the last few years there was a large number of the old muscle and classic cars. Some of them were in pretty good shape, all considered. Of course, being stored outside caused them to rot and rust away to varying degrees but many of them were restorable. He wanted to identify all of them and make a special list of available parts and nearly complete vehicles so they could sell them to collectors.

As the weather cooled Lee found himself doing more work inside. To his surprise he found a good mechanics bay and an area he could work on auto bodies in the back corner of the building. Most of the tools he would need were there still also. He moved everything except the tools outside and used old metal and lumber to continue making shelves and bins for parts already pulled. He even had radio's and stereos pulled and in the main office on display. He pushed Bert and harangued him until he bought some air time to advertise his Salvage Yard on a couple of radio stations and put written advertisements in the local papers. Business picked up and became a steady stream. Many of their customers said they hadn't known the Salvage yard was there and normally went to one almost fifty miles away. Some of those that knew the salvage yard was there thought it was closed until they saw the advertisements. They also began receiving more calls to pick up old vehicles. Many times they were just given the vehicles for hauling them away, other times they were paid to take the vehicles. They always tried to get enough from the vehicle owner to pay for the trip, then the parts pulled were pure gravy.

After business picked up Lee next pushed Bert to go to some of the auctions held by insurance companies to get rid of their salvaged, totaled, or recovered stolen vehicles. Now they began to have more modern parts for sale. One day, when Ramona was visiting, Lee mentioned he wanted to get a computer system set up and find someone to build a website for the business. She was excited about that and volunteered to help. She said, "Oh, I think that would be a great idea. I have a degree in Accounting and a second one in Computer Information Systems. I could set up the books on the computer and even build a web page if gramps wanted me to."

Burt looked back and forth between Lee and Ramona and gruffly said, "Ok damn it. If I let you two get a computer will you shut your mouths? I'm tired of listening to you yammer on and on about those damn computers. Go ahead and get one but leave me alone would ya?"

Ramona grinned and quickly hugged her grandfather then said, "You won't be sorry, Grandpa. It will help your business a lot. I promise."

After she hugged Burt, Lee asked, "With those degrees why are you waiting tables at the diner?"

"Because those assholes ruined me. No one wants to hire someone to keep their books or work in their IT department if they've been accused of embezzlement. It doesn't matter I can prove I didn't do it. It doesn't matter I was never arrested or tried for any crime. Just the fact I was fired for embezzlement is enough. I'm pretty sure the assholes Sandy and Andy are still putting out bad words about me, too, but I can't prove it. Even if I could prove they were blackballing me I don't have the money to do anything about it. I can't find better work around here than the diner and I don't want to move away even if I could outrun my reputation."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lee sat and looked at Ramona for a moment then he grinned and continued, "You know, we really need someone to help out here and keep our - CRAP, I mean your grandfather needs someone to keep the books and help with the paperwork. Neither one of us is very good at that kind of thing. I only have a two year degree in business management and I did that so I could run my own garage sometime. I think it would be a great idea if you set up the systems and helped us. Why don't you ask him if he could use your help? I think we're probably making enough now he could even afford to pay you something."

As soon as Bert came into the room again Ramona asked him about letting her help in the office. She told him she knew where they could get a good used computer and printer scanner combination already loaded with the software they would need. It would be cheaper than a new one and she knew how to use it already.

Lee looked at Ramona and asked, "How do you know that? Won't it be expensive?"

Ramona grinned and said, "Well, it could have been but I have a customer that eats almost every lunch at the diner. He owns a computer and office machine company. I overheard him complaining that he just got the contract to replace Blessant Chevy's server and workstations. When I overheard him he was complaining about having trouble with Andrew and Sandy. If I can get to him before he deletes the software on the machines I might be able to talk him into selling the machines to us and 'forgetting' the software is on them. It's worth a try anyway. At the least we will get good machines for a reasonable price. I know they replace their machines every two years and most of them aren't used much. If we have to we can buy cheaper software or I can make do with spreadsheets and databases."

Two weeks later Bert, Ramona, and Lee stood in the now cleaner and more modern appearing office looking at their new server and two new workstations. They were smiling and Ramona was bouncing in excitement. Ramona worked the 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM shift at the restaurant. As soon as she got off work she drove out to the Salvage yard and began working on the books and computer system. The software wasn't exactly what they needed since it was originally set up for a new car dealership but they made it do. Lee was especially pleased with the program used for the parts inventory in the dealership. It was easily converted to use at the salvage yard. The program set up for new car inventory worked for the wrecks. Where the equipment was to be listed they instead entered the equipment still available on the wreck.

Instead of leaving at 5:00 PM when he normally did, Lee found himself staying until eight or later in the evening when Ramona quit. She was putting in twelve to fourteen hour days when the restaurant and Salvage Yard hours were added together. She was exhausted and happier than she had been in years. Not only that, she was actually making enough money to pay her current bills and to pay down her debts, too.

As the winter progressed, Ramona and Lee became friendlier. They looked for each other and spent all the time they could together. One day, Ramona didn't show up at the salvage yard when she usually did. After she was an hour late Lee began phoning her cell phone. When she didn't answer or return his calls he phoned her work. They told him she received a call about 10:00 AM and took off for a family emergency. Now Lee was really worried. He asked Bert if he knew what was going on. Bert had no idea either and began to worry along with Lee.

Finally, at almost 5:00 PM, Ramona phoned Lee to return his calls. When Lee saw it was Ramona calling he excitedly said, "Ramona, are you all right? Where are you? Do you need any help?"

Ramona finally managed to break into Lee's questioning and said, "LEE. YES, I'm ok. I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. I was just so upset and worried I forgot. That Blessant asshole finally kicked mom out and she called me to come get her. He wouldn't even let her take her SUV. He said it belonged to the dealership. I have her at my apartment now and we're moving her in. I'll come to work tomorrow like I usually do and let you and gramps know everything. I'm sorry I worried you."

The next day Ramona and her mother, Sylvia, both showed up at the salvage yard. Sylvia came mostly to visit with her father, Bert, but before the evening was over she was helping all three do their jobs. She even seemed happier when they all closed and went home. After that day, Sylvia came with Ramona two or three days a week. She was looking for work but hadn't any success yet. Finally, Bert offered her a job much as he gave Ramona. He made Sylvia the warehouse manager. It was her responsibility to keep records of the inventory, store it, and make sure the correct inventory was in the computer.

With Sylvia's employment Lee found he had more free time. He wandered around the lot for a few days verifying his memory of the vehicles still there and the parts still on them so Ramona could enter them in the computer. One day he stopped in an area containing a lot of empty shells, the good parts already gone from them. He turned and went looking for Bert. When he found him he said, "Hey, Bert. I've been looking over the lot and have an idea. We have several old wrecks that almost all the good parts are off of. I think it's time for us to take some of the scrap to the recycling lot. If we sell some of the picked over chassis we'll free up some space and I can begin to put the same make and model vehicles together to make salvage easier. I would eventually like to have one section for cars, one for SUV's, and one for trucks, then each section divided by make and model. It would be easier to find parts that way."

"Hell, Boy, I don't care, just go for it. Crap, I'm making more money here since you came than I ever have. I'm good with pretty much whatever ya want to do here."

The next morning Lee drove Bert's old truck to a central point and began loading the stripped cars onto it. High quality scrap steel was selling for over $150 a ton and they made a killing before Lee felt he had the lot stripped of the less useful chassis.

After the lot clean up Lee was once again restless. He went to Bert and asked if he cared if he tried to rebuild some of the least damaged wrecks. He would have to get a salvage title for any vehicle he repaired if it had been considered totaled, but he was sure there would be a market for the vehicles. He could sell the rebuilt vehicle for considerably less than a comparable undamaged one and done right you could not tell a rebuilt salvage vehicle from an original. Once again Bert told Lee to do whatever he wanted.

While Lee was working on the vehicle he was rebuilding he became upset. He found many parts he needed that they did not have in their stock of wrecks. They were just on the edge of town, but it was still nearly a twenty minute drive each way to the parts store. Lee convinced Bert to open a parts store in the lot. For the immediate future Sylvia would work the parts counter as would Bert and Lee. If business picked up they would have to hire a counter clerk and perhaps even a delivery driver.

Lee graveled the front lot and placed some of the least damaged wrecks on it. As he completed a rebuild, that vehicle was also placed on the lot. Crap, now they needed a part time salesman. They hired a young woman named Betsy (Elizabeth) to do the sales job and work part time behind the parts counter. As word got around about the parts and cheap rebuilt cars, business once again picked up. Lee had to hire another mechanic to keep up with the increased business. Now they were even taking on some repairs. That started when some of the customers wanted to know if they could install the parts they purchased. Profits went up once again.

Everyone was so busy and so happy they didn't even notice when Sylvia's divorce became final. Since she signed a pre-nuptial agreement when she married Blessant she got a very small settlement. She only got her personal possessions and $10,000 per year for each year they were married. She offered that money to her father for operating capital if he needed it. He refused.

Instead of advertising the most popular classic and muscle cars for sale, Lee reserved them. He intended to restore them in his rare spare time. The less popular ones they put on the internet for sale. They actually managed to sell part of them for well over what they could have received had they gone for scrap. Once again all were happy. Lee's first completed restoration was a numbers matching 1967 Chevelle SS 396. They only had $15,000 in parts in the vehicle and it sold for $81,250.

Lee's second classic restoration was a 1969 Mustang Fastback, once again numbers matching. The happy group had great hopes for that job, also.