HOM: It wasn't PC

I was one of the rats that deserted the sinking ship at Glacier Concrete. I put in for a job at the plywood plant in Evergreen. Now it's PC (Plum Creek), but in those days it was called C&C Plywood and was owned by Clay Thomason. C&C offered me a 50% pay raise and better side benefits, and going to work for them seemed like a good career choice. Clay became my new employer. The old GC crew I worked with dispersed. Wayne was already gone. Dave McCoy left GC, moved across the street into an old building on the site where the liquor store is now, and started his own auto repair business. Warren, who worked out back on the septic tanks, started a lawn care business. Jim Melick went to work at Flathead Concrete, Jon Swinehart went into the electronic repair business, and Arnold retired. I'm not sure what Doug did. Les Truman suffered through a couple of heart attacks but recovered, then suffered a fatal accident on his own doorstep. He stepped out to get the mail, slipped on the ice, and struck the back of his head on a concrete step. he died a few days later in the hospital. Les was a good guy and a good boss. We made some special order pipe for a customer and Les marked it "SR" for "Special Reinforcement." I, um, accidentally, added a "US" to the lettering. The next day Les called me aside and said the customer has been pretty upset about the "Communist" markings - USSR! I guess he told the customer it stood for "Unstressed Steel Special Reinforcing," but he told me such accidental lettering best not happen again. I told him if I saw anyone doing it, I'd tell them not to. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)