PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

So, Home Depot is still on the table, but that Ken's Krew program didn't work out. They denied my application because, among other things, they thing I talk too much and the program can't provide me enough support; I was understandably quite angry, and my assigned job coach actually apologized for the impersonal email I got. Needless to say, I am 100% done with any program the claims to help people with autism or intellectual disabilities join the workforce, because they are used to dealing with subservient lower-functioning people, and the way they treat people like me is downright insulting. Pardon my language, but the special ed department in public schools treated me like a retard. The only decent special ed teacher I ever had was @Gwyns04, and we're friends for life...

Anyway, I applied at J-Dog Junk Removal a couple weeks ago, and I finally went to one of their offices to fill out the paperwork yesterday afternoon. J-Dog is a nationwide franchise, and you must be a veteran to own a franchise. Veterans and family members of veterans are preferred, but it is not required to get a job with them. It also started maybe a month ago when the owner of the franchises in this year happened to be behind me in line at the scrapyard in his distinctive wrapped truck; I got out of my truck, walked up to his truck, asked for a job, and left with his business card. Shifts are handed out based on seniority, but a typical work week is 7:30am-4pm Tuesday through Saturday.

I will still be scrapping HVAC equipment and occasionally driving for DoorDash and Uber as side hustles, but if all works out this will be my primary source of income; I may still get a part-time job at Home Depot, outside of Ken's Krew, for extra income. I also still have my 401(k) at NAVMAR, the company I was laid off from in October 2023, and there's a chance I could get that job back; Amanda also got a new full-time job at a nursing home and is paying for routine maintenance on my truck like oil changes in exchange for being driven around.

 

So, about @Gwyns04...

I had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) from first grade all the way through high school. However, while I received a little extra support, I for the most part was a normal kid. I was never in the dedicated special education classes, thankfully. I graduated from high school in 2007 at the age of 18, but I stayed in the system until 2010, when I was 21. That's how I met Gwyn.

I was initially with another special ed teacher who was a total asshole in 2008, but my parents pulled me out of his class in October 2008 for reasons I will explain later, and I ended up with Gwyn. Gwyn's class was in the basement of a nursing home, and as per an agreement with the nursing home's owners, the students did work around the place to learn skills. I had no desire to work in a nursing home, at least not doing the traditional jobs one might expect to do in a nursing home. However, the nursing home had an in-house maintenance guy named Patrick, who among other things did HVAC work. He took a liking to me and let me follow him around. Gwyn, being the awesome woman that she was still is, totally disregarded her own curriculum and decided that it was more beneficial for me to shadow Patrick. I followed him around and helped him work on air-conditioners; @Stitchgirl90 came to Gwyn's class in September 2009, and I had a crush on her but was too chickenshit to admit it. While Amanda was stuck doing boring nursing home stuff that she hated, I was helping Patrick service air-conditioners. I also learned how to sand and varnish a wood railing, and one of my favorite jobs without a doubt was to operate the trash compactor out back...

Gwyn treated me like a person instead of a diagnosis. Unfortunately, Ken's Krew is more like the bureaucratic pricks I dealt with prior to Gwyn, in 2005-2008...

 

@ColoradoTJ

So, the first special ed teacher I was with after high school was a pompous ass, for lack of better term. He was 26 years old, and he was nice until you crossed him. I entered his class in April 2008 and stayed through June, then came back in September 2008 and was there until October when my parents pulled me out. What did he do? There were a bunch of things that led up to this, but the straw that broke the camel's back came in October when he said the following...

"When you go home tonight, I want you to ask your parents why it is common in military families for kids to address their parents as Sir and Ma'm" or something along those lines; I didn't realize how insulting this was until I went home and repeated it to my mom. He was basically calling into question the way my parents raised me, when in actuality, I was rebelling against the guy because he was a prick; I had been complaining about him for months and my parents didn't take me seriously until that incident. Needless to say, my parents abruptly pulled me out of his class and put me with Gwyn. I was originally supposed to go to Gwyn's class at the nursing home, but for some reason I didn't. Gwyn initially thought I was a bit of an asshole because she overheard something I said that she was not supposed to hear; I said something along the lines of "This is a dumping ground for special ed kids, and I don't want to be here." There were some higher-functioning students, like myself and Amanda, but for the most part it was lower-functioning students.

 

Do they haul junk, or trash?
I ask because you probably won't like hauling a way trash.
Hoarder houses are a nightmare.

I see they also haul off yard waste. Do you have to "cut it" too?

Just trying to look out for you buddy.

I was "hired help" for a weekend. A friend of a friend owned a "junk be gone" type business.
My friend, was the owners friend. I don't care to say it. I quit less than 1 hour in.
Trash, cat shit, gnats, and the smell of cat piss was too much for me.
Just wasn't the job for me.

 

Can’t believe we or I should say you are going to hit 200,000 miles

 

I also had an IEP most of my life

 

They deal with hoarder situations, but it's basically removing furniture and stuff. J-Dog also does carpet cleaning franchises, but this franchise owner only does the junk removal; I would rather clear out houses than work some soul-crushing retail job, and I certainly will not detail cars at a dealership ever again! Also, you have me beat; I took a job at a deli in November 2013 and lasted like three hours. The deli was owned by a husband and wife, and went out of business a year or so after I worked there. The husband was very nice for the first two hours or so, and then he turned into an asshole. He started screaming at employees for doing the simplest thing wrong, and I asked one of my soon-to-be former coworkers if he was always like this. He told me yes, and gave me examples of what a hardass the guy was. One such example was that if he found one smudge on the glass sneeze guards, he would make you do it all over again...

I ended up on dish duty; I did okay at first, but up until that point, my idea of "washing dishes" had been putting them in the dishwasher and pressing a button or washing them in the sink one dish at a time on an as-needed basis. I also screamed at by the owner for leaving the sink running for a few minutes. The other employees kept bringing dishes in and putting them in the sink, and I froze up. At that point the owner came in, said that it wasn't going to work out, and told me to leave; I went to my truck and kicked up a nice cloud of dust as I peeled out of the gravel parking lot.

I would find out from the owner's now-ex-wife years later that he was in the early stages of a stroke on the night I worked there; I still think he's just an asshole, and the funny thing is that he's now the manager of a restaurant less than a mile from where I lived now.

 

Yeah, I can understand that.
As for me, I wouldn't have volunteered to help if I knew what I was getting into.

When I say volunteer, I mean the guy was looking for "help on the side" as he was down a few workers and needed to catch up on some jobs.
It wasn't a formal job. Just help for a day and done. Like I say, My friend was helping his friend (guy that owned the business) and I was "helping" my friend.
My buddy understood where I was coming from, he didn't even know what we were getting into. So np hard feelings there.
The woman's son ended up helping out. So the job got done.

But I couldn't do it. I don't care to get dirty. But I can't work in filth.
And the smell made my eyes burn.....It was "bad".

 

I would never, EVER, work for some fly-by-night "junk be gone" business. I only take scrap metal and thankfully nobody has tried to get me to take their garbage; I have had people try to offload wood and plastic on me, but I only take metal. I have rented a UHAUL trailer twice, but as a general rule, I will not take anything that doesn't fit in my truck; I do not mind making multiple trips if the stuff is located within a 5-10 mile radius of my house.

If I could be picky, I would only take air-conditioners and HVAC equipment. Unfortunately, Facebook is flooded with morons who think that a pre-2010 air-conditioner or heat pump is actually worth several hundred dollars just because it (A) works and (B) uses R-22 Freon. There is a 1992 Bryant air-conditioner in Warminster for $350 on Facebook Marketplace for a couple months that nobody wants; I messaged the seller offering fifty bucks, and they read my message, but I haven't heard back.

If I could get my hands on five to ten complete central air-conditioners per week, I wouldn't need to have a "real" job! Unfortunately, getting one's hands on a central air-conditioner is very hard. Getting one for free is virtually impossible, and when somebody lists a central air-conditioner for free, everybody is all over it. I had to drive about an hour from my house to get a free air-conditioner the last time I got one...

 

Good stuff Charlie plus you have a few irons in the fire such as the possibility of NAVMAR.

I don't know much about them myself but sadly it seems like some of those things like Ken's Krew which should be good things are usually virtue signaling by the company, let's just say. Nice that at least the coach took an interest in you and gave a shit.

I know you mentioned seniority but any guess what you'd minimally get for scheduling per week?

 

Not yet. Been super busy with work and life.

Moving later this year, location TBD (still SoCal). Thinking better to purchase once I’m a bit more settled.

 

CO is firmly a place I never want to move. Only place I would ever consider is the Springs.

SoCal is ok. There are worse places to be. The nicer locations are perfectly fine and safe. Just very pricey.

 

your choices arent very convincing there jersey guy

 

Yeah… there’s always a chance, but my interest in CO is very low. Your experiences do not help.

If you get it, you get it

 

Are Spongebob and Patrick supposed to be in North or South Jersey?

 

Definitely fleeing the North for the pine barrens. Maybe Patrick stole some chocolate