Tim Geagley Quotations

Some of (my former co-workers) lost their houses and their cars. Some were in a lot worse financial shape than I was. Fortunately, I had help from my family and my spouse and her family, so I was able to manage.

I was married at the time, and my ex-wife's father was a contractor here in Sevier County. I went to work for him doing odd jobs and drew unemployment for as long as I could and went to class. As far as going without a paycheck, my wife worked and we had some income, but it was a hard time.

You can lose your job in any field you go into. I enjoyed the experience and got to know a lot of good people. I wish they hadn't closed the shop - if it were still open, I would probably still be there.

They offered the employees training, and I took the opportunity to do that. They put me in touch with the Tennessee Community Workforce Development Center in Gatlinburg, took a couple of tests and they told me what my options were as far as programs I can get into. I chose the EMT. I had thought about going into the medical field, and that was just an opportunity for me to do so.

There were 70 employees. It was like a little family. A lot of people worked there 20 to 30 years. It was a real close-knit plant there. I miss the people. We worked so often together.

I really liked it, but due to the scheduling at Arnold we never knew when we had to work overtime. Since our days off were never the same, it was really hard to go to the classes. I had a real good paying job and didn't want to leave that. I decided to take them up on the training and try to better myself.