<Begin Segment 28>

SG: So what happened after you graduated from college?

BO: College, what? Where's the college?

SG: From mechanic school.

BO: Well, I just kept on going one after another. The carburetor was the most interesting one because you get to a full barrel carburetor or you get to a carburetor, you got to [inaudible] you know. You got all kinds of carburetors coming out. Then you got your manufacturer. Some people would change it to a Smithy mufflers and all that or change the air cleaner. It really throws everything off. Then you got to ask, where you drive, a hot or cold highway? The heat from the road heat up the line from the gas tank to the carburetor. It's boiling. It's boiling, but you stretch it. It makes it boil more, so you got, what do you call that? Engine just stops on you because you cannot burn, air going into a carburetor don't, won't work. It has to get fuel. I was just sitting back, just listen to the story. I tried to give them the answer. What kind of car you got? You got this and you got that. Yeah. Like the distributor machine, you put a distributor machine, it says 60-degree drum. That's fine. But if you borrow a protractor, it's says 60-degree oil, but one says 60 and a half or 59 and a half. It's all different. The timing on each spark plug is different, so you have to straighten the shaft in the right place. And when you spin it, it's got to be exactly same place. And then when you look at the meter, meter just stays still; otherwise, it goes plus, minus. It keeps jumping back and forth. That's the reason, a crooked shaft. So you take a hammer, straighten a little bit and make it work perfect. It purrs right along. Yeah. The Cadillac, once we go in there, it's a whole new Cadillac, says that this is a good one, Everest Brother. He says, "How come you know all these stuff that you did when the book is being published, it comes out now?" That's the question he threw at me. I don't know. What did you do? So he just listened and watched that book. I did this. I increase the main line pressure. It's all according to the book. Now we take it out to the road by the airport on 33rd or something, 92 miles an hour from third and boom, go to number four overdrive, and that's what that guy want,s and he's a cripple. He and I used to win all the trophies every place he goes because of that. He don't have enough money, so he was giving up his [inaudible] and all that to pay for his job. And I asked him, "Where did all this gauges and guides that they're supposed to have here in [inaudible]. Oh, it's up there. You mean you've been playing with hydro guide and stuff like that where the gauge is still up there, the car's moving? Yeah. Get them now. When they got it done, the owner's here. And this is where he tries to tell me that this is where it's supposed to be going. That's exactly what we tried to tell you to do, and then you won't have all this problem, and this is supposed to be the best transmission shop.

SG: So this was all happening in Minnesota?

BO: This part is Portland.

SG: Before you came out to Portland, what was it, what was living in Minnesota or Minneapolis like?

BO: Cold, plenty cold and mosquito, and kids are going there, you know. You feel sorry for them, and they told us not to come home. There's no job, too many people, too many people, so we didn't come home until Grandma passed away. By then, Grandma, I promised her that I'm going to bring her back here because she lived here the longest. I put her up in one of those glass deal where you don't have to worry about weather or anything, and she was in tears. But she passed away in '54. Then we cremated her, and then we brought her urn back and have a memorial service. And then we stayed in the country a little bit about a year. Meantime, we were looking for a house. We found a house, and we bought and paid for it in '55, a new house, unfinished. Then from there, we hired Jim Onchi or Joe Ikada to finish up, finish up that. Then the wife passed away and kids all graduated from college, so we finally sold it last year.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 2004 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.