This morning I thought I beat my boss and everybody else to work. When everybody else showwed up, within seconds of each other, the news was our boss, Jim, died this morning at around 4:30 am of heart failure.
We all sat around in shock, tears where shed, anger was vented, jokes where made and stories where told. 3 of us couldnt cope to actualy work today, 3 of us did work for part of the day. Everybody understood that his son stayed home with his mom rather then come in and attempt to work.
Jim is a man who's bark was WAY worse then his bite and even at 60 years old was highly intimidating if you didnt know him the way we, his long term employees, knew him. There is only 2 people who can get Jim to back down when he gets mad or excited, his wife Theresa, and Jess Hall, our biggest account and builder. I know some of you think I can be harsh and abrasive online and I can be. Im also harsh and abrasive in real life, but nothing on par with the way Jim is. To Jim Harsh and Abrasive is an art form, something I hope not to achieve. You wouldnt know it just meeting him, but Jim is a good man and is a big part of our community.
Jim is a USMC veteran with 2 voluntary tours in Viet Nam, he has said from the day I met him he is living on borrowed time.
Time and time again, Jim has gone out of his way to help or assist us when we where short on cash and needed a draw, needed time off, or other. He allways looked out for us when it came to builders or other subs being d!cks or them just trying to give us a hard time doing our job. It was his job to ride our a$$es and give us a hard time.
Im still in denial over his death, Jim is the toughest old bastard Ive ever been lucky enough to know and work for.
We have the tools, lisences, and the will in place to keep the company running, and not just for our benifit. We want to make sure mama Theresa is still taken care of the way Jim took care of her, its her company now.
