Living in Miami, AZ and Making Extra Income

I worked for Ana, a Filipino lady at the Miami Recycling Center for a few years (until she sold out to someone else).  I had previously been a buyer at San Carlos Indian Reservation while working for Ana and I had learned a lot about the business so I decided to start my own little business.  Little did I know that it would keep me busy for several years and provide an extra income for me and the people close to me.  A usual routine was that I would go to San Carlos on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week with my Toyota pick up and a trailer. The loads that we bought were always transported to my home in Miami for safekeeping overnight.  Also, we bought a lot of scrap that had to be "cleaned" so that it was salable at the best price.  I almost always had a hired Indian helper at San Carlos, usually the same person all of the time.  The helpers, over time, learned to pack and tie down the loads plus other things necessary to get the job done.  It was a two man job, so we always worked together.  Most of the time we would buy enough in one day to warrant hauling the load the next day to Tucson to sell.  I generally hauled to Tucson on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  And since on Saturday, the recycling closed at 1 p.m., I had to get down there early.  Some of the tools that we had and made use of in my yard in Miami:  Air compressor with accessories, air chisel, several weighing scales of various types, bench grinder with a wire brush wheel, chop saw, electric drills, electric screwdrivers, a big vise, a hand truck (dolly), etc.  The chop saw was really a time saver and I became very proficient with it.  It is amazing to me that I was never seriously hurt while working in the yard over the years.  The good Lord was watching over me..(to be continued)

Below is a picture of my two story apartment on Kent Street in Miami, AZ.  You cannot see the bottom apartment because of the fence.  All of the processing (cleaning, which generally means getting any foreign materials such as wood, iron, nails, screws separated from the non-ferrous metals, also stripping insulation from copper wire) was done in this enclosure between the fence and the apartment structure. It was pretty noisy at times, especially the chop saw, but we never had any complaints from the neighbors.

The two pictures below will give you some idea of the size of the yard I or we (sometimes I had help) had to work in

I probably have over 1,000 pictures of can and scrap loads that I have hauled over the years.  Below are just a few.

 In the photo below, you can see some of the variety of non-ferrous metals that I worked with. On the tongue of the trailer, in the tub, you can see heavy copper wire, the tub itself would be MLC grade aluminum, also painted aluminum and some stainless steel items. On top  is a lot of painted aluminum, some extrusion, aluminum rims,  two plastic barrels full of aluminum or copper.  Then, covered up inside the trailer may be more copper, cast aluminum, etc.

 Below is a nice Van that I had for a short time. I ruined it by letting it overheat when the thermostat stuck shut right after I bought it.

 Below is one of my smaller loads..."I'm just so proud to be here!!"

Below: I think this was one of the loads that I hauled in from San Carlos while still working for Miami Recycling before I learned to use ratchet tie downs!!

Delving back in Time....way back

I left Glasgow, Montana in March of 1961 headed for Torrejon Air Base, close to Madrid, Spain.  (Courtesy of The United States Air Force)  I did not have enough rank to get travel for my new wife so I had to leave her behind with 3 small children (one of them mine).  I was not very long in Spain before I received a letter stating that she had petitioned for a divorce.  She only asked for $35 a month for child support.  I had already been testing the waters in Madrid for female companionship and it was there that I found Carmen Martos (my third wife to be).  We had to leave Spain to get married as she was not allowed to marry a non-catholic person in Spain.  Gibraltar was the alternative.  So we were married in the city of Gibraltar (Rock of Gibraltar) on 22 November 1963.  Our first child, Maria Teresa was born April 14, 1964 at the base hospital (Torrejon Air Base) just outside of Madrid, Spain.  I had to take an elementary course in Spanish (Air Force requirement) shortly after arrival in Spain and I subsequently learned the language fairly rapidly through necessity.  After being in Spain for almost four years, the Air Force decided to send me to Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, New Mexico.  Our second child (Antonio Ramon Ricardo) was born at the base hospital at Walker AFB in Roswell, New Mexico on 11 March 1966.  (I always heard that you were supposed to keep your wife barefoot and pregnant!) One year later (March 67), I received orders to go to Vietnam and I wound up at an Air Base just outside of Saigon. (Tan Son Knut).  I used to know how to spell the name, now after so many years, I am not sure.  I had an interesting experience during the so called Tet Offensive.  The enemy landed (I think it was called a 100 millimeter) a couple of rockets very close to where I had parked my bicycle about 30 minutes previously.  One detonated and the other one did not.  We slept in two story Quonset Huts and we had some protection of sandbags around the outside area.  My bunk was on a lower floor and I was on the bottom bunk of a double bunk setup.  One guy in a Quonset Hut next to ours (second floor level) was killed by the blast.  Another day there was rifle and or pistol fire in an area where I was trying to return to my sleeping quarters and that was a bit exciting.  One night when I got off work (12 hour shifts the whole year) they would not let us leave the building where we worked because of infiltrators on the base.  I climbed the outside stairwell of the building and watched a helicopter gunship firing tracer bullets down towards a compound area where the infiltrators were.  They were flying around in circles and firing a long time.  It was a beautiful sight from a distance but I would not want to have been on the ground under that barrage!
I left Vietnam in March of 68, reassigned to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ.  Carmen and the children had stayed at Roswell, New Mexico during my years absence.  We rented an apartment close to the base in Tucson and stayed there for two years.  They then sent me (us) to MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida.  (the military paid for moving my family from Spain and throughout the rest of my 20 years)  After approximately 2 years at Tampa (I drove taxi as a part time job for one year in Tampa) we were reassigned to Sondrestrom Air Base, close to Kaiserslaughtern, Germany.  From Germany, we were able to spend some vacations in Spain during our four year stay there.  Leaving Germany I was assigned to Luke AFB, Arizona for retirement processing.  We tried finding work at Bagdad Copper Mines (over close to Prescott) and stayed there for a few weeks.  Giving up on job hunting there, we moved to Tucson where we bought a home.  Our household goods from Germany arrived a few weeks later and I caught a military plane going out of Davis-Monthan AFB to (I think it was Travis AFB, CA) and from there I hitched a ride in a military vehicle going to San Francisco where I had to go to pick up our car...  After jump starting the car (the battery on the vehicles does not stay charged on the long boat trip from Germany), I drove it back to Tucson.  I had previously worked part time for the NCO Clubs in Germany (dishwasher, barback, and bartender) and Base Bowling Alley (night-weekend manager) so I found a job at the bowling alley on Davis Monthan.  I finally gave that up and started working as an attendant at self serve gas stations.  I finally got hired on by Kaman Bearing and Supply Corporation and was with them for 7 years until the mines started slowing down and they did not need me any more.  Carmen divorced me right after I lost that job.  Our former home was sold and I packed up and moved to the Rock House Trailer park on Salt River on the Globe-Young highway.  My Dad was living there at the time.  A short time after moving up there, I met Martha Fesler who offered to share her mobile home with me if I would move it from Globe to the Rock House Trailer Park.  Since I was renting, I thought it would be a good idea since I was renting a trailer and the only thing I had for company was a black cat that I had brought from Tucson.  We finally got married and I spent a couple of years there until my Dad died in 1990.  Shortly after that I found a job with Miami Recycling in Miami, AZ and I contracted to buy a home in Miami.  (to be continued) Have a good day, Virgil Baker (the can man)

Birthday of My First Child by My First Marriage

Edward Gene (Baker) Peterson at age 14 & Virgil-Eddie on June 3, 2007

  Eddie was born on December 6, 1957 in Globe, Arizona while I was stationed at Sondrestrom Air Base in Greenland.  His Mom, Linda (Witty)(Baker) Peterson was only 15 years old when we were married in Florence, AZ (I think it was July 2, 1956).  I was 19 years old and had been in the Air Force about 1 and 1/2 years.  Linda's parents signed a consent form stating that she was 16 and of legal age (in Arizona) to get married with parents consent.  Linda filed for divorce (I believe in 1959) while I was stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana.  Before leaving Montana in 1961, I met and married Loretta Red Elk who had two previous children (Marlon and Kim Lynette).  My daughter Carmen Jean was born in Montana in 1960.  She lives in Georgia now with her husband and three children. Loretta filed for divorce shortly after I was reassigned to Torrejon Air Base at Madrid, Spain in 1961. Loretta passed away a few years ago.  In Madrid, I met and married Carmen Martos who had a six month old girl (Maria Rosalinda). Maria Rosalinda passed away at 46 years old in Miami, Arizona.

Carmen Jean and Husband J.R.

Carmen Jean Baker

Maria Teresa was born at the Air Base in Spain in April 1964.  We left Spain that same year going to Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, New Mexico.  Antonio Ramon Ricardo (Richard) was born at the base at Roswell on 11 March, 1966.  And that is the history of all of my children (that I know about!).  Carmen divorced me in or around 1982 and a couple of years later I married Martha (Resner) Fesler.  No children from that marriage.  I lived with her for a couple of years and then moved out on my own.  I supported Martha until her death some years back.

Have a good day! Virgil Baker (the can man)

Maria Teresa (Baker) Creighton and Virgil Baker

Maria Rosalinda (Baker) Martos, her son Tony and Virgil Baker

Antonio Ramon Ricardo (Richard) Baker

If we make it through December.............

We have had an awful lot (probably not good grammar) of family activities in the past few days.  On Saturday, Dec 1st, I, Maria , Greg Horton, Stefan James and Emmett Van all attended a friends (Michael-11) birthday party at MAMA'S PIZZA located near Kolb and 22nd Street in Tucson.  On Wednesday, the 28th of November, Emmett Van had his 11th birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse and later on Sunday, 2 Dec he had an official birthday party at our home on East Mary Drive in Tucson.  I think everyone had a great time.  They played several different games that were set up in the back yard and there were sandwiches and frozen icees from Eegees plus birthday cake and all kinds of other soft drinks.  I took lots of pictures but when it came time to video everyone singing happy birthday to Emmett Van, I totally screwed up.  I forgot to push the record button!!  What a bummer.  Michael got to attend Emmetts party also.  Then there was one other birthday child in attendance.  His name was Ken Horton who was 81 years old.  He is one of Emmett Van's Grandfathers.  Have a good day. Virgil Baker (the can man)