A Bumpy Ride to the Top: A Memoir of a Journey from the Late 40’S Through the 80’S

Contents

Acknowledgement

Preface

Prologue

How It Began

Unemployed

Moving On

Patience

September 25, 1950

thru June 2, 1952

Senior Class Project

Graduation

Music

And The Beat Goes On

The Beat Gets A Little Stronger

Rosemary

Do We Need A Car?

Parents

Unemployed

Utica Drop Forge

And Tool Corporation

It’s Challenging

Radio Corporation

Of America

Living Conditions

Are We Adjusting?

Friends

Entertainment

Easing The Pain

Can You Believe It?

Are We Ready For An Addition To Our Family?

Holidays

Is It My Turn?

Univac

Anyone For Golf?

Employment Ethic’s

It’s Basic

We Are On The Move Again

Our First Puppy

Avco Corporation

Wake-Up Call

The Search

Relocation Number 4

Olin Mathieson

Chemical Corporation Winchester-Western Division

Manager Production And Inventory Control

Brown-Nose

What Type Of Manager

Are You?

The Winchester Club

Continuing Education

Decisions

Vacation

Strike

Manager New Haven Ammunition Plant

Cheshire Connecticut

The Challenge

The Green Beetle

Strike

Back To Work

Vacation

Ramset

Unemployed

Who Is Elvio?

Del Monte’s Management Practices

Timex Corporation

Relocation

Little Rock

Perks

Parking

Emergency

Walking Around

Speaker Phone

Regional Operations Manager

Corporate Staff

Abilene

Executive Conference

Backup

Little Rock Training Department

Is It Happening?

Promotional Thoughts

Taylor’s Gone

Director Of North America

Relocation

Helicopter

Budget Review

Mexico

Toluca

The Apartment

Subtractor

Don’t Come Back Until

The Problem Is Resolved

Mexico City

Breakfast

Incident At The Shrine

Vice Presidents

Corporate Director Of Materials Management

What Is His Problem?

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Assignment Marketing

& Sales

Retirement Package

Timex Epilogue

Data Switch Corporation

Data Switch Annual Reports

Acquisition

Consolidation

The Manual

Promotion

A Mini-MBA

Moving Along

Consultant

Acknowledgement

My temperament was created initially by my Italian heritage instilled during my early years by my father and mother, followed by the experience attained during the time I spent in the service of my country. There have been numerous men and women I met during my journey as superiors, peers, and subordinates who in some way contributed to the personality you will meet as you read the memoir.

I want to thank my daughter Denise for her constant prodding during the draft and initial writing of the memoir. Her efforts created the force I needed to complete the memoir. Her enthusiasm during the initial reading, the countless hours she devoted to revisions, and offering suggestions I am forever grateful.

The major contributor during this journey was my wife Rosemary. She was able to withstand my ranting at home many evenings and sometimes the weekends. She was always able to talk me back to a calmness noting that after a good nights sleep I would be back to my fighting stance.

Preface

The following memoir begins after my honorable discharge from the United States Army, 10th Mountain Division, 10th Mountain Medical Battalion and returning home to Utica, New York.

It began with a journey of floundering around, taking one day at a time. There was no pressure or element of time defined to focus my life. I attended various schools of learning, pursued a musical career while attempting to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I finally decided to complete my education and enter the business community.

I discuss my employment experiences as they involve conditions, people and structures of where I pursued my career objectives and earned my living. There is no intention to include a history or the culture of the various corporations. This memoir relates specifically to me because it’s all about me.

As I begin the ageing process of my life cycle, I realize that one of my strongest assets is my memory. What follows are my memories. They belong to me, however, I would like to share them with you. Without sounding egotistical my memorable experiences in some way may fuel the burning desire for success within you.

Prologue

Perhaps my personality was truly developing while growing up in an Italian environment, an atmosphere where our culture and heritage was stressed. The experiences during my first six or seven years on earth were the profound determining factors. Everything that happened after that period was an enhancement.

Receiving my draft notice was a welcome event. I was excited and looked forward to the future even though l had no idea of what lay ahead of me. So here I was, thirty-three months later, beginning a phase in my life cycle which appeared to be a period of adjustment. And that is what it was. I had no idea how long it was going to last. This adjustment period was influenced to some degree by a patient father. Many years ago he had served in the Italian Army, honorably discharged, and I imagine faced a similar experience. However, based on what I know of his culture, I do not think he floundered. He did not push me but seemed to know when to prod.

I was gone a short time, two years, eight months and thirty-one days or a total of thirty-three months. (My mom probably thought it was a long time because it was during World War II, which made the timing seem like forever. I do not know if I ever thought it was a long time, being in the service.) I graduated high school and was beginning a time in my life where I had no idea of where I was going or what I wanted to do. I do not know if I thought about attending college or a trade school. Money was a major concern. This was not an exciting or eventful period in my life because of my feelings of uncertainty. I really did not know what I wanted to do. It was overwhelming.

I did not have any skills or trade. I had a high school diploma plus U.S. Army experience. The training and traveling, both domestically and overseas and the actual combat experiences contributed to my personality. So many incidents happen to you from the time you are born, that it is difficult to identify or determine what influence they had on your personality or identify who are you.

How It Began

There was a great concern for returning World War II veterans. Congress did not want a repeat of the problems following World War I. The return of veterans from World War II gave Congress a chance to do the right thing. Something had to be done to help veterans adapt to civilian life.

The G.I. Bill was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944. It became known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. The official title was the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act. He signed it before the war ended in August 1945.

I took advantage of the provision that provided unemployment allowance each week for up to one year. The unemployment allowance was twenty dollars up to a maximum of one year. We reported to the employment office to collect our weekly allowance and it became known as the 52-20 club. There was another provision that assisted servicemen and women concerning their education or technical training after discharge that covered tuition, books and a monthly living allowance.

During this period my father and I had discussions regarding my future. The question always was, what do you want to be when you grow up? There are men and women who know what they want to be when they grown up, whether it be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, dentist or a craftsmen, plumber, electrician, mechanic, etc. I really could not answer his question because I had no idea of what I wanted to be or where my current path would lead. I knew I was not interested in any of the trade careers because I did not like working with my hands and I was interested in management.

During one of my nights on the town I heard that Oneida Community Plate was hiring. They were located in Oneida, New York approximately thirty miles from Utica, New York. They manufactured and produced sterling silver and silver plated cutlery and silverware. The next morning I took a ride to Oneida and went to the employment office to fill out an application. To my surprise, they hired me to work on the second shift in the Red Buff Department. I commented that I had no experience, in fact I did not even know what red buff was. I was advised not to worry I would be trained. My supervisor would be Mr. Gaiser. The second shift hours were 3:30 p.m. until 12:00 a.m.

I reported for work and met Mr. Gaiser. In this department, red buff involved polishing silverware. The red compound was round, about two inches in diameter, approximately six inches long. A cloth buffing wheel was utilized to polish the silverware. You coated the cloth wheel by holding the compound to the wheel. Each piece of silverware was polished utilizing a specific motion technique and had specific motions to be followed. For example, the teaspoon had twelve specific motions. The objective was to polish the silverware without removing the silver plate or burning the piece. The specific motions were established by the Industrial Engineering Department which took into account the cost aspects of the function.

The buffing wheel spun pretty fast if you were not paying attention, you would miss the wheel with the silver and hit the front and back of your hand. I had a lot of burns on my hands.

The pay in this department was incentive based. I found out pretty quickly that it meant that your pay was based upon the number of pieces you buffed that were accepted by the Quality Control Inspectors. As each operator completed a tray, he would complete an identification traveler which he put in the tray and moved the tray to Quality Control Inspection. Rejected trays were returned to their respective red buff operators. Returned work was reworked at a day rate. My return rate was pretty high. I found it hard to concentrate on what I was doing because I really did not like this job.

There was a tavern across the street of the plant. We would meet there after work and have a few drinks. One night I met this girl at the bar. We would meet there every night and we became quite friendly. I found out she was a Quality Control Inspector. When I told her my identification number she laughed and commented regarding my work. I asked her what she was going to do about it. I said to her, You know, can you help me. In a day or two my return rate dropped to almost zero. It pays to have friends in the right place.

I really did not like what I was doing. I could not see myself doing this type of work for the rest of my life so I quit. Dad was a little upset. He could not understand why I would quit a good job. I was working nights, so he thought I could have looked for a different job during the day and then quit.

In some way the preceding experience may have helped me to take a closer look at myself, my attitude, and to seriously think about my future.

Unemployed

My childhood friend Dominic Duke Aiello was discharged from the U. S. Marines and came home. We reestablished our friendship. We tried to pick up where we left off before going into the service. We talked about a lot of things, however, we never talked about the war or our experiences. He was in better financial shape than I was. He purchased a two door green Chevrolet. We now had wheels which made it easier to get around.

We did not have much money so we were limited as to what we could do for entertainment. We hung around most of the day and in the evening we went bar hopping trying to pick up girls. Duke was a typical Marine, tall, good shape, and girls liked the way he looked. I always had a problem, short and a little overweight. I had to depend on my charm. Most girls who we met at bars did not travel alone, they always had a girlfriend. I never knew how the selection was made but I always ended up with the one who lost the flip of the coin. I did not care, as it was a night out and we were looking for a good time.

Duke had some buddies he wanted to visit. They lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. He asked me if I would take a car trip with him to visit some of his Marine buddies. I told my Mom and Dad where we were going and we were off.

We did not have much money, perhaps enough for food and gasoline. If we did not visit anyone we slept in the car. The last phase of the trip was in Connecticut. Duke had a buddy who lived in East Haven. We stayed there for a couple of days. We went to New Haven to visit my uncle, dad’s younger brother Ray. We rented a room in the Hotel Taft for two nights. My uncle was not too accommodating in fact it seemed like we were an imposition. We checked out of the hotel and returned to Utica. We were gone three weeks. It was good to get home.

I knew that I could not continue with this style of living and that eventually I had to make up my mind and think about the future. My dad was being patient and did not push too hard. However, numerous times the subject came up, What do you want to do when you grow up? The problem was, I did not know.

During my time in the service it seemed like the educated and experienced service men were recognized, either as non-commissioned officers (NCO) or as commissioned officers. Most of the officers I met were recent college graduates, who had attended a ninety day Officer Candidate School (OCS) and were made officers. My interaction with many of these officers convinced me that they were, ninety day wonders. This was an important element in my thought process to determine what I wanted to do with my life. I accepted the fact that education was the prerequisite for initiating a career. I had been unemployed four months, June through September 1946.

Moving On

The Federal Government initiated a veteran education assistance program. It was an aspect of the GI Bill. The assistance covered college tuition plus a text book allowance. Consequently there was a tremendous influx of college students. The existing institutions could not handle the increase. This resulted in satellite colleges being established.

The Associated Colleges of Upper New York State established Mohawk College in Utica, New York. It was a two year associate degree program. The campus was located on Burrstone Road in what was a hospital and a rehabilitation center during World War II.

I decided to attend Mohawk College. I spent many hours attempting to determine what field of study I wanted to enter. While reviewing newspaper employment sections it looked like there was a shortage of accountants. Having taken bookkeeping in high school I thought accounting might be good for me.

I registered and was accepted for the GI Bill and by the college. I began my studies during October 1946. I was assigned an advisor and we discussed my course of study. After discussing the subject we decided that I should major in accounting. My advisor suggested a minor in economics.

It is strange how you remember certain people and names. My accounting professor Ms. Salami was an experienced accountant who had practiced public accounting before entering the academic field. She was excellent because we were exposed to the theory and perhaps more significantly the practical aspects of accounting.

Mr. Budin was my economics professor. Initially economics was not an exciting course of study. However, I enjoyed studying economics and their various theories. Most importantly Mr. Budin made it exciting. He was a real pinky. In today’s terms he would be considered an extreme liberal.

I completed the two year program in June, 1948. I do not recall where I ranked in the class. However, I know I was not an honor student, so I guess you could classify me as an average student. I should have been ready to begin looking for a job. But for some reason I just could not get started. My dad was starting to get a little impatient.

I began to evaluate my education and concluded I had not received any business machine, cost accounting or business writing. I decided to attend a business school to develop these skills. I applied and was accepted in the Excelsior School of Business, September 30, 1949. It was a nine month program. I applied and received approval for funding through the GI Bill. I completed this program on June 30, 1949. I finally made up my mind to pull my act together and start to look for a job.

Patience

With all of this education I felt I was ready to look for a job. I drafted a one page resume. It was brief even though I had an education, my work experience was limited. The big question was deciding what type of job I should pursue. There really were not that many jobs or positions appearing in the employment ads. Four months passed rather quickly and I was still unemployed. Patience was not one of my strongest virtues.

My dad thought it was funny because it took me years to make up my mind and now I was getting impatient because I could not find a job after several weeks of searching. He said it takes patience since most companies are not hiring.

I saw an ad in the Utica Observer Dispatch for an office secretary. I thought about it and finally decided to answer the ad. A few days later I received a telephone call and scheduled an interview. The position was with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District #157. The office was located in downtown Utica in the Myro Building. Two men utilized this office, Anthony L. Giglio and Raymond H. Stuber who were Business Representatives. I met both men and got the impression that Anthony Giglio was the most senior responsible for the district office.

I was interviewed by Anthony. They were looking for a male office secretary. Because the union activity was primarily a male function and he thought the office activities including interfacing with the various members, would best be handled by a male. The district office supported the machinist’s unions affiliated with the IAM located in the corporations in the Utica area: Bosserts, Brunner, Cheney Hammer, Chicago Pneumatic Tool, General Electric, H.P. Snyder, J.A. Firsching & Son, Mohawk Valley Knitting Machine, Munson Mill, Rome Cable, Rome Strip Steel, Union Fork & Hoe, and Utica Drop Forge & Tool.

I got the feeling that their ad response was minimal. The interview proceeded as if I was what they were looking for and I