1966 - Moving to Raleigh
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
1966 After six years in Janesville we realized that in order to become more than a CE, I would have to move to another area. I was given several interviews in the Chicago area as a field manager. After these interviews I knew that I would need more experience if I were to succeed. The last branch manager told me that I should look at a plant job. This would give me a better understanding of IBM. In early 1966 I was asked to go to Raleigh for an interview as a "Service Planning Rep". It sounded like a great opportunity and I accepted the position for the large sum of $12,000 per year. I was to start in Raleigh in early March. We did not want to take the kids out of school, so Mom stayed in Janesville while I started doing some house-hunting. IBM was just starting to build up in Raleigh and the realtors were very busy. There was a big push to build or buy in Cary. I looked at a number of houses and talked to several builders but could not find anything that I felt would meet our needs. On Easter Sunday I went to Grace Lutheran. At that time it was a very small congregation. I met the Johnson family who had recently moved from Endicott and were living in North Raleigh. They invited me to dinner. After the dinner I took a drive north on Six Forks. Near the corner of Six Forks and Millbrook I found a realtor's office that was open. I went in and the realtor told me that he had a lot available just around the corner. Another man had bought the lot but couldn't get the financing so he cancelled the sale. We drove to the lot and I was so impressed with the many trees and the location. The lot price was good but I was not sure that we could find a builder who would meet our needs. I was told by Mr. Peebles, the realtor, that he knew a builder who could do the job. I was introduced to Dan
Alman. He told me that he was building several houses in that development as well as one for himself. I did not want to start anything without the OK with Joan. She came down for a quick trip and we went out to the lot. She was impressed. Dan the builder told us to mark the trees that we wanted to save, and we marked many trees that we thought would be great. The next day he contacted me to make sure of our selection. I told him that we were satisfied. He did not tell me that the selection was mostly Sweet Gums. We learned the following winter why he asked. It was decided at work that I should go to Rochester for 4 weeks of school beginning in the middle of May. This was great because at the end of school I would be able to return to Janesville and we would start the move activities. While I was in school Mom put the house up for sale and she sold it in 4 days. Now we started the move process. Uncle Henry said that he would like to do another moving project for us. We readily accepted and we all went to work. We got all of our belongings in the truck including the VW Van. Uncle Henry started and the family flew. This was the first flight the children had ever done. There was a challenge between the girls about whether the airplane window blind should be up or down. We spent one or two nights in the Holiday Inn and when the truck arrived we moved into an apartment until the house would be finished. This was a challenge because there were only two bedrooms. One for Karen and Lynn, and one for Sam and David. Mom and I slept in the living room on the hide-a-bed. It was challenging because the two girls were not very happy being together. When I had left Raleigh, I was told that they would be starting on the house during my school period. However, we were very disappointed to find that nothing had been done in my absence. In a way it was a good thing because I was able to keep a close eye on all of the construction. I would stop at the house site on the way to work and again on my way home. The foreman and I developed a good working relationship and we were able to correct any differences before they became problems. During the summer we joined the Lakemont Swim Club. This was great for the kids and many hours were spent swimming and in swim team activity. Because we did not have much money to spend on the house, we decided that we would have the upstairs (two bedrooms, two baths, living room and a combined kitchen/dining/family room) completed by the builder and I would build two more bedrooms, a bath, a large family room, laundry, and a shop on the lower level. Because the lower level was not complete when we moved in, the bedroom sharing problems were still there. Mom was very anxious for me to get the lower-level bedrooms completed, so we would have more peace in our new home.
