1981-1986 Part I: Pre-Secondary and Secondary School

I started my life in work at about 12 years old when I became a Jotter paper route carrier. I then got to be a newspaper carrier for the Janesville Gazette at 14 years old, on August 25,1982, because the Jotter was only delivered once a week, on Wednesday and the Gazette was from Monday to Saturday. I had the Janesville Gazette route until January 5,1985. I became the “Newspaper Carrier of the Month” at one time. I briefly worked at the KarmelKorn Shoppe as a clerk at the Janesville Mall for a couple of months from September 29,1984 to November 9,1984. I then got a job at Kmart on 1900 Center Av. in Janesville, Wisconsin as a stockman from November 10,1984 to May 1,1986.

I have been interested and an avid reader about cars most of my life from an early age. I decided to get into the auto industry in my junior year in High School when I spent a three day workshop during the summer between my junior and senior year at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) when I was attending Parker Senior High School in Janesville, Wisconsin. MIAD was located on Water St. at the time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I decided I wanted to become an ID (Industrial Designer), concentrating on Automotive Designing, and go to MIAD after I graduated from High School. I decided earlier that I wanted to become an ID after working many hours on a computer program for career choices. I got help by going to the career counselor, Mr. David Soderberg and talking to him.

I was told by my Mother at a early age is if I got good grades in school, I could go to college.

When I was graduating from H.S. I received three scholarships to go to any school I wanted, but they didn’t amount to no more than a few hundred dollars. After I graduated, I was told by my Mother that we couldn’t afford it and that I would have to work at two jobs for a couple of years to go to MIAD. I was not able to go to MIAD the following semester.

Part II: The Summer of 1986 

I started working at the Dominoes Pizza for four days from June 16, 1986 to June 20, 1986 being a coupon deliverer before being laid-off during the summer after I quit working at Kmart on the south side which I worked for about a year and a half.

I then worked at the Longbranch Restaurant on the south side, full-time, from July 6,1986 to July 18,1986 as a busboy and dishwasher. I didn’t like the job and I got a full-time job at Krawf-Ko off of Kennedy Rd. on the north side off of Milton Av. from July 21,1986 to September 28,1986. I worked in the art department as a Graphic Artist for a few weeks at first before I then worked on the factory floor as an assembler. I tried to get another job that was part-time to save enough money for MIAD.

I heard that the Air Force was giving money for college. I got the idea that I could go to MIAD after I went into the Air Force. I went to the recruiter downtown to talk to him about what they offered. I wanted to become a pilot , but I needed a Bachelor’s degree to become one. When I was waiting outside the office one time for the Air Force recruiter, an Army recruiter got talking to me about how much money they gave for college. I found out that they gave more and I would only be in the U.S. Army for two years instead of four. Their program was called the College Fund and they gave $18,000 for a two year active enlistment and six years for inactive reinforce reserve. After I took the test for the Army, I got a good enough score to be able to take whatever MOS (Military Occupational Service) I wanted. I switched Army recruiters because my first one was going to be stationed somewhere else and I got a new recruiter. He was real cool and told me that I could make more money in Field Artillery so that is what I wanted to do. I watched a few videos and I picked the MOS of MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System crewmember). I was asked how soon that I wanted to go to Basic Training and I said as soon as possible. It was determined that I would be shipped and start December 3,1986.

I began training on my own before I went into the Army by going to the Janesville Athletic Club and doing weight training. I was also running about four miles a few times a week. I did the training during the Autumn after I quit working during the summer at Krawf-Ko and concentrated on getting fit.

Part III: The U.S. Army (Basic Training)

When my shipping date came, I went down to my recruiter’s office and he drove me out to the MEPS station in Milwaukee. (I don’t remember what MEPS stood for). We, the new recruits, went through a physical and were sworn in.

I was flown from Milwaukee to Texas and then to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the place where I did basic training and AIT(Advance Initial Training). It was a late night when we arrived and got to bed. We were greeted early the next morning with a drill sergeant yelling to wake us up. I decided to go on sick call because I had a cold. I was sent to the doctor and I spent a couple of nights at the hospital. (Sometime before this we had our heads shaven to prevent lice being transmitted from one person to the next). I heard, from other recruits at the hospital, that they shipped the newbies by cattle trucks and the drill sergeants would yell at you when you were getting off and falling into formation. I wanted to avoid that, but I was sent like everyone else with a group of recruits to the barracks and the drill sergeants did what I was told earlier of yelling at you as you were getting off of the cattle truck trailer and making you do pushups in formation.

I remembered we had our gear (general issue) by now or that was before we were settled in at the barracks we were to be residing at.

I won’t go into all the details about basic training, but I did well in the last test for physical fitness. I did 54 pushups and 66 situps in two minutes each respectively. I also was able to run two miles in 11 minutes and 20 seconds it was recorded once. Basic Training lasted about eight weeks.

When we were about to graduate from basic training, I was awarded commendations for being a squad leader and getting 100% for the CTT (Common Task Training) test.

I was able to become a squad leader about the last two weeks of basic training because one of the drill sergeants found a squad leader sleeping in bed when we were to be awake during the day. I was awarded the new position after being the House Mouse for a few weeks-where I was in charge of soldiers who broke rule/s and had to clean the drill sergeants’ office.

Part IV: The U.S. Army (Advance Initial Training)

When I went to AIT for my MOS I was taught how to drive a SPLL (Self-Propelled Launcher/Loader). The SPLL is the track vehicle that is loaded and launches the twelve-12 ft. rockets downrange. There was also how to operate the FCP (Fire Control Panel). The FCP is a computer that receives coordinates from HQ (Headquarters) and controls the launcher which rotates the turrent and elevates to position it in the direction that the rocket/s are going to be fired at.

I also got training as a S-8 (Sierra-eight) mechanic to repair and maintain the electronic equipment on the Launcher/Loader. It helped to know this knowledge because you got promoted faster.

Part V: The U.S. Army (Permanent Station)

I was transferred from Fort Sill, Oklahoma to Fort Stewart, Georgia after AIT. I was to be stationed permanently with A-Btry (Alpha-Battery), 13th FA (Field Artillery). When I was there I learned how to operate a HEMTT (Heavy-Expandable Mobility Tactical Truck) too which carried the rocket pods (six packs) from one location to the next so the SPLLs can pick up and drop off the rocket pods. You use a small crane, in the back of the HEMTT, to lift the six packs and put them down. You steer the rocket pods with the strap when it is in the air. I was a HEMTT driver after I was in the 3rd Fire Platoon as a SPLL driver for about a year. I was promoted from PV2 (Private 2nd Class) to PFC (Private 1st Class) when I was a SPLL driver. I was later transferred to the HEMTT platoon as a crew chief of one of the HEMTTs. I was promoted to SPC (Specialist) when I was a crew chief.

I was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service and received a letter of commendation from the Battery Commander (Captain).

Part VI: After the U.S. Army

My ETS (Estimated Time of Service) was November 30, 1988 and I left at midnight to go back home to Wisconsin. It took a couple of days, but I was elated that my military active duty was over with so I could go to college.

When I was home at my parents house I applied for jobs in Janesville and got hired by Monterey Mills full-time. I worked there for seven months and then moved to Milwaukee in July to go to MIAD.

Part VII: The move to Milwaukee (Going to college)

I applied at a local Sentry when I first moved to Milwaukee and was hired to work there part-time for only a couple weeks from July 17,1989 to July 29,1989 as a produce person.

I then got hired at Performance Printing as a bindery person, at first, part-time. I was attending MIAD at this point and was going to the Milwaukee Mission (also called the Dianetics Mission) in Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee. I found about Dianetics when I was in the Army. I was trying to solve some personal problems while I was attending MIAD. I didn’t know before, but I had to pay for art supplies each week besides what I bought at the beginning of the year for the courses. It cost anywhere from $20 to about $30+ for art supplies each time and I couldn’t afford it when I was using the College Fund that I received each month to pay for my rent and food. I paid for my tuition for the first year by selling my car that I had in the Army and when I was living in Janesville before I moved to Milwaukee. I tried to ask help from my Mom, but she said for me to give up Dianetics and work more hours. I quit MIAD after three weeks and withdrew.

I asked to work full-time at Performance Printing and the owner allowed me to, doing delivering of orders to customers besides the bindery work. I waited the following semester to attend UWM (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) part-time to major in Product Design which I found by checking out the school to see what they offered for courses.

I worked at Performance Printing from August 18,1989 to January 8,1990 before quitting to work at Edwardo’s Natural Pizza as a cook/dishwasher for a couple of weeks from January 22,1990 to February 11,1990 before I landed a job at the Golda Meir Library at UWM. I was a Shelver and worked in the AV (Audio-Video) services part-time for the semester. I worked there from February 9,1990 to May 3,1990. I had previous experience work with AV at Edison Junior High in Janesville.

After that semester I was dismissed and I got a part-time job at MG Investments as a janitor in an office building where I knew the owners who were Scientologists. One of them was the ED (Executive Director) of the Milwaukee Mission at the time and the other was the wife who was a chiropractor and owner of her own company. I liked the job because I could, within limits, make my own hours.

I attended UWM for about two and a half years part-time until I withdrew because they cancelled the major since the Product Design teacher wouldn’t show up for his classes or would be late. I didn’t care because I tried to pass the English test I think twice, because it was a requirement to graduate, and I failed both times. I also flunked the speech class that was required which I didn’t show up for the last few classes for.

(In about 1992 I bought my first computer because my Mom gave each one of my siblings and me $5,000 to use towards school or whatever we wanted. I used the rest towards school. She saved the money she made from her job she had as an Assistant Accountant at Kennedy Associates Inc., an insurance company.  She obtained the Diploma after going to Blackhawk Tech in Janesville for a year.)

I have a learning disability I found out and that is why I wanted to go to MIAD because it concentrated on art classes and not on academic courses like are required for at an university.

I got another job when I was at UWM working at Postal Products part-time, and I was a pick up/delivery person and worked in the warehouse. I was there until right before I quit UWM from June 7,1991 to November 31,1992.

The office building I was working in as a janitor was going through a receivership the last year I was working there and the owner asked me if I wanted to be contracted out, in essence, have my own business. I agreed and signed a one year contract.

I learned about business as I went along and I found out that it is better to work for yourself, even though it is more responsibility, than it is to work for the next person.

I attended a Charles J. Givens seminar and became a member. I learned by them that it was okay to have more than one credit card which later caused me much problems. They believed that it was best to have as much credit available as possible.

After quitting UWM in December of 1992, I signed up for Mechanical Design the following semester in January of 1993 at MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College). I was there for one year full-time and was on my third semester.

In the second semester I flunked Statics, which is the study of forces on non-moving objects. Around the end of the summer I quitted the janitorial business which I worked from May 14,1990 to August 31,1993.

The third semester at MATC I had another abstract course called Descriptive Geometry and then Strength of Materials which I had to ask help every week when I was there because when the teacher would give the class assignments, there were no examples of how to solve the problems in the books and he didn’t show us either how to do them unless you went to see him after class hours.  

In my third semester I was also taking an AutoCAD class in the evenings because we were being taught Personal Designer as a CAD (Computer Aided-Drafting) class and the majority of the industry used AutoCAD so we were learning an obsolete computer program. The teacher I found out that was in charge of the major didn’t want to learn the latest CAD program that dominated the field so we were set up for a loss if and when we went into the real world unless we learned AutoCAD on our own.

I was working in the MATC (CIM Dept.)-(Computer Integrated Manufacturing Department) part-time as a Work-Study Student the second and third semester I was there, operating  a cutoff-saw that was something like a CNC (Computer Numerical-Controlled) machine, but instead of metal being cut with a lathe or milling method, it would cut certain lengths of long bars of metal to be used in the shop classes. I worked there from September 7,1993 to May 20,1994.

During the summer between second and third semester I went to Cornwell Temporary Agency in West Allis and got hired to work at Rexnord Corporation-Stearns Division full-time as a Press Operator during the summer vacation. I worked from June 3,1994 to August 6,1994. I had bought a car around this time and had one for my last semester at MATC.

When I was having problems with school again I withdrew from MATC, the third time I did so from an educational institution. I quitted attending MATC in October of 1994.

I was working in my spare time at the Mecca in Milwaukee as a Special Service Worker such as ticket taker and usher the last and next to the last full-time semester I was at MATC. It was a seasonal job during the winter primarily and the hours were cut during the summer. I worked there from January 15,1994 to October 26,1994.

The third and last semester, that was in autumn I was at MATC, I got a job at Frito-Lay Inc., way on the north side near the city of Brown Deer. I only worked there for about a month and a half until I decided to quit college all together as well as the Mecca to work full-time and get away from school. I worked there from September 7,1994 to October 25,1994. 

Part VIII: After College (Miscellaneous Jobs)

I went back to Cornwell Temporary Agency to have them help me get a full-time job and I tried a couple until I got an opening at Everbrite in New Berlin, a suburb southwest of Milwaukee.

I was buying business packages, about three of them, from attending some of Charles J. Givens seminars and I got myself into some trouble with credit card debt. I was unable to make the payments with just a full-time job so I started applying for part-time jobs also at temp agencies such as Prostaff, where I got a part-time evening job at the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel as a telemarketer. I only lasted about two months from January 23,1995 to March 5,1995 so I went with the temp agency, TAD and got another telemarketer job in the evening at Chemlawn. I was there from March 24,1995 to April 7,1995.

By this time I was in debt of $12,000 to $15,000 with credit cards . The business package that was called, “The Mortgage Reduction System” that I was going to use for my business I found out that the administration company doesn’t operate in Wisconsin, the only state it doesn’t work in the United States because of a law that says you can’t withdraw money from a person’s check/savings account to pay off a mortgage for a home.

I was working with another lady when I was in the CJG (Charles J. Givens) organization and she sold me a similar mortgage business product for about $300 and some dollars after I couldn’t use “The Mortgage Reduction System” from CJG. It didn’t use Windows as an OS (Operating System) which was the latest at the time, but used the archaic MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk -Operating System). I couldn’t use that business product either.

Part IX: Scientology

Ever since I’ve moved to Milwaukee, I’ve been in Scientology. I first found out about it when I was in the U.S. Army.

I would work/take courses in the evenings and weekends. After being a volunteer for a couple of years at the Milwaukee Mission (It is sometimes called a Dianetics Mission), I became an official staff member of a contract of two and a half years. When I became official staff member I took a treatment called the Purification Rundown in Milwaukee that lasted about two weeks.

Then I took TRs and Objs. (Training Routines and Objectives) and started the KTL (Key To Life) at the Chicago Org.- COS (Church of Scientology). I had a severe reaction on the KTL and was taken off of the course.

An ethics officer told me that I needed auditing, a type of processing, and I was to be taken offline at the Chicago Org. and the Milwaukee Mission. I needed $25,000 of auditing and I couldn’t afford it so I left the Milwaukee Mission, before my contract was up.

I left the Chicago COS in 1994 and the Milwaukee Mission shortly after.

I went from going full-time to MATC to working full-time at Everbrite after leaving Scientology.

I was relying on the KTL to crack my case in education and I couldn’t complete it so I gave up on college for the time being.

When I was working full-time at Everbrite and a part-time temporary job to pay off my credit card bills I was being antagonized and provoked by a member of the Chicago Org.. I tried to get back by writing to AOLA (Advance Org. Los Angeles), ASHO (American Saint Hill Org.), IJC (International Justice Center) FLAG (Land Base Headquarters) and the Chicago Org. to tell them what this person was doing to me.

Part X: Arrested and  Incarcerated

I was contacted by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in a live interview to stop writing letters to the COS. I kept writing letters afterwards and accidently wrote, “ three threatening communications through the mail.”

I didn’t know it was a federal law and I was arrested 5:30am in the morning on my way to my car to go to work on April 7,1995. I think it was on a Tuesday or Wednesday that it happened.

The Milwaukee police surrounded my car with about three or four cars and a van. They told me to get out and put my hands up, I’m under arrest. I was cuffed and put in the van to be taken downtown.

I was interviewed by a FBI agent and other officials. I was to later have a hearing without a lawyer to see if I could post bail of $5,000 and I was unable to and my parents couldn’t, so I was sent to the WCJ (Waukesha County Jail) until I had my next hearing.

I was there for a couple of months until I was sent to Rochester FMC (Federal Medical Center) in Minnesota to be mentally evaluated. I was at the FMC for another two to three months until I was sent back to WCJ to be held until I had my competency hearing.

I was evaluated not only by a psychologist at the FMC, but also a psychiatrist at the WCJ. They had a hearing and found me not competent due to mental disorder or defect, but felt I needed treatment.

They dropped the charges in Cook County, Illinois for vandalism and trespassing. That was for me spray-painting the person’s car and being on the COS property. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia paranoia.

So they sent me back to Rochester FMC to be treated with medication. At first I resisted, but they told me if I do, they will tackle and restrain me, to inject me with medication.

I was at the Rochester FMC for around three years this time because the medication didn’t work and the psychiatrist would raise or change the medication until I said it worked. I was on my last type of medication and I said that it was helping me. I would still be there if I didn’t agree with him because psychiatrists think that medication, for my supposedly mental illness, will solve my problems and will keep on trying until they find the answer. They can’t figure out that the medication is not the answer at all in the first place.

The last year or year and a half, I was working in UNICOR at Rochester FMC. It’s a prison factory and I was an assembler for tank and  aircraft cables. I worked in the laundry room in another building before that as well as clean bathrooms in the Mental Health building where I resided also.

When they found that I was stable enough to have my next hearing, they sent me back to WCJ to have my final hearing.

My lawyer said I was lucky because they could of kept me longer at Rochester FMC because I contacted the Minnesota COS by calling and writing to them. I was not to have no communication with any Church of Scientology.

They said at the hearing that I was to be on probation “indefinitely.” It was five years at first and then the prosecutor recommended “indefinitely” to the judge. My lawyer didn’t object so to this day I’m still on probation.

I was at the WCJ for about a month and then I was sent back to Rochester FMC to get my belongings to be shipped to the MCMHC (Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex). I was at the MCMHC for two to three months and was asked if I wanted to go live with my parents. I didn’t want to go back to live with them so they said that I’m going to go live at a group home. I didn’t want to live with my parents because they have too many rules. I found out that the group home had its share also. 

Part XI: The Group Home, College and Work

I went from the MCMHC to the Group Home. We had to do something with our time so I had tried to go back to school by going to MATC again to take up Visual Communication to learn HTML (HyperText Markup Language) to do web-page designing, but that only lasted a semester because I had problems once more trying to learn HTML.

I contacted the Milwaukee Mission around this time and I was reprimanded by my P.O. (Probation Officer) because I’m not to have any contact with any COS, like I said earlier.

I then got a job at Walgreens three blocks away as a Stocker/Lot attendant. I was nominated as “Employee of the Month” in November 2001. I was given like $20 and I had to spend it on work because the Manager wanted the stockers wearing white shirts with a tie. I worked there from June 9, 2001 to December 29, 2001.

Part XII: The Apartment and Work

I was at the group home for about three years before I was allowed to move to a two-person apartment. When I lived there I got a job at Blockbuster Video up the street from where I lived. I bought a car again that I could afford to have and be able to drive somewhere without having to wait for a bus, especially in the cold or rain, at anytime of the day.

I later wanted to move back closer to my family so after about two years I moved from Milwaukee to Madison.

Part XIII: Moving to Madison

I now live in HUD housing in an apartment building that only charges 30% of my income towards rent.

I have been on Social Security since I’ve moved to the group home, but I wasn’t allowed to have the money personally until I moved to the two-person apartment and to my own apartment here in Madison.

I was only allowed to have a weekly allowance when I lived in the group home of about $20. The rest of the Social Security check went towards rent at the group home, for food, and for the employees that ran the place.

I’ve been at this apartment for about four and a half years now and consider myself quite lucky because this is the best place I’ve been since going through all I’ve been through and the places I’ve been.

Part XIV: Volunteering my Time 

The last three years I’ve been volunteering at the Farmers Market for the Family Farm Defenders on the Eastside during the summer. I was reading books on entrepreneurship, especially by Robert T. Kiyosaki, of RichDad PoorDad, about a year and a half to two years ago. I learned that the best thing I could do to start becoming wealthy was to begin a part-time business. Presently I’ve read eight books by him and find them simple and very practical.

Part XV: Business Ventures

I was going to start an Applied Scholastics business, but I showed my Mom and Dad my booklet I bought from Bridge Publications that had to do with the business. My Mom said that Applied Scholatics is associated with the COS and I’m not to be communicating with them. She came to that conclusion because the Word Scientology was in the booklet. She turned me in to my P.O. and he reported me to the court. I was not to communicate directly or indirectly with the Church of Scientology and the court extended my probation. My psychiatrist put me back on my Haldol shot that I was on before (since I’ve been at the MCMHC and was off of briefly for a month). I tried to justify that Applied Scholastics says they are secular so it was alright to start my business with them, but I was wrong. 

I next tried investing in stocks by taking a course from Investools, an online organization that you use their proprietary software, after learning how to use it, and pick stocks. I was losing money and I found out that I needed the next course that taught call and put options so you can make money on stocks that were in a down trend. I negotiated to quit paying for the course and the membership because they didn’t tell me that you needed to take the next course in order to make money in the present stock market and I couldn’t afford it to take the next step. I felt that they withheld valuable information from me. I was in that for about three months, from November 2007 to February 2008.

I then joined the IEC/IMC (Internet Entrepreneur Club/Internet Marketing Center). I bought their, “Insider secrets to marketing your business on the internet.” What I didn’t know is they gave me a free 60-day trial of their revolutionary, fully automated Internet business creation software – BeBiz for paying in full that day when I purchased it. I was only on the BeBiz program for about five months, from February 2008 to July 2008. I quit because it was taking too long to do research for my website using the software. You had to pay for a monthly membership also.

I started in the John Beck Free & Clear, an online real estate business, a few months before I quit BeBiz. I joined the Success Team Program because I would be mentored on how to buy tax-foreclosed property. I started in May 2008 for the six week coaching and finished it, but never bought a piece of property because I feared that I would go over my head if I did. I had a membership to the Property Vault at this time and I quit that in August 2008.

My last business venture has been in the Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. I learned that you need to work with your strengths, and what you are passionate about and interested in. Also find something that is profitable so you can make a living at it. If it isn’t profitable, find a way you can make it that way.  I’ve been in the program since October 2008 and the course is for a lifetime, it never expires if you pay for it all up front and there is no membership fees.

I found that starting a blog on Blogger.com has no barrier to entry because it’s free to start and easy to learn. I learned that when I started my first blog with that platform, I got the basics on how a blog is run. My first blog is located at: http://ferrarienthusiasts.blogspot.com .

I learned my lesson with real estate because even though the majority of millionaires are in it, doesn’t mean I should. You have to test some things to get to know how some things are though.

I got into blogging because it met three of my criteria for a business that I wanted. One was it had to be home-based, second it had to do with the Internet and third it had to do with cars. The auto blog met all three and I finally feel that I’m on to something that truly makes me happy and that I enjoy doing.

The End