Where was I? Oh Yes..I just got fired.

I went in the next morning, went through my files, and indexed them so that the next user would be up to speed. I figured out my own severance pay, and had accounting issue a check. I called Paul Greene to come in and sign it, Paul came to my office, signed it and didn't say a word. I only asked for wages and expenses to date and one week's vacation ( before this I had only taken one vacation, the one to Wales) in 4-1/2 years. Bill Becker had suddenly left with his wife and gone on a trip, so I didn't see him.

I'm going to back up a little here and write about Bill and Paul (both of whom were in their mid 40's at the time).

Bill Becker was a local family, living in the best part of Santa Barbara (Hope Ranch), and had some money. Bill served during W.W. II aboard an aircraft carrier - enlisted Navy. After his service, he became a painting contractor and was very successful. His biggest job was a government job painting all the Mare Island Buildings and the Government Housing at Vallejo, Ca. This was a good sized city in itself. Bill was a good, down-to-earth man. His biggest fault was that he was easy going and afraid of Paul.

Paul Green on the other hand (I don't believe he was from a long time local family) was a Stanford Grad. He was an 'up-grade' home designer and builder. He was married and lived in the upscale Montecito (THE area to live) with a home on the beach. Rumor had it that Paul was building this home for a couple with three children. Paul himself had three children with his wife. Paul and the woman who was having the home built developed a strong attachment and the outcome was that they not only ended up divorcing their spouses and marrying, but also had custody of all six children and got the beach house to boot! Paul and this wife hired a nanny and were very proud of the fact that they would take all six children with them on trips. The couple would drive in their Lincoln Continental and the nanny would follow in a Ford Stationwagon with the six kids. They would brag about being good parents - every night they would set aside one hour (10 minutes per child) and the nanny would bring the children in and they would have their one-on-one time with them - their 'bonding' time.

Paul and Bill wanted to go into the motel business, but didn't agree on the approach. Bill wanted the Motel 6 concept. Paul wanted an upscale chain. They were both working out of Paul's office and they started Motel 6 with the two locations in Santa Barbara, at the same time Paul started his chain with the Green Gable Inn, (which never went past the one motel). Paul ran everything and Bill flew his plane and did site work and promotion. Bill was always the 'outsider' fitting into Paul's organization.

Margaret was very unhappy over the way I was dealt with. I was unhappy with Paul. Bill was nice, but he had let Paul do the dirty work for so long that he was obligated to him. I can remember one time when Paul jumped all over a sub-contractor who had not been paid in eight months, for daring to ask for payment.

Later we found out that Paul was blocking our future job hopes by inferring that I had not done a good job and I may have stolen from them. Presumable Bill sat by and said nothing.

To counter Margaret's feeling, I always took the position that in fact they had done me a favor. I could not have learned the business in any school, nor could I have bought the knowledge gained by being there and doing it.

But the new problem was 'how to make what little money we had ($1,200 + or -) and $35/week unemployment and at the same time pay out $250 in child support. We had to get busy and find a position. Armed with a professional resume and the right mailing list, we mailed out 60 plus feelers. We got answers on about 20 or 30, some were filed for future reference. Several set up interviews. The three most interested were (1) the Wax Museum and Drive-Thru Zoo in the LA area. General Manager of total operation, including three restaurants and lounges. Salary was $30,000 plus % of profits. This was double what I was making. After the interview, I was basically told that I had the position - they just wanted to check the references.
(2) Denny's Restaurants - as co-ordinator between construction and operations. It came with a title of Vice President and a salary of $35,000 - great interview, - they just had to check references. (3) General Manager of Fed-Mart discount stores - again strong interest on their part subject to checking references.

At that time we didn't know the role that Paul was playing in killing our deals - we only know that three times we were told we most likely had the position subject to references, only to have the door closed. The situation was getting desperate - we were almost broke and still not a job in sight.