My new job was wonderful except the money. I went from making $700 a week to $250 a week. They gave me a company car to drive to and from home and to catch service calls. My service calls took me to every bar in Greenwood and the surrounding counties. More than once I would be offered a beer or two. By the end of the day the service calls would be caught up and we kept a refrigerator full of cold beer. Everyone would sit around drinking until 6pm when we ended the workday. This was a great job. I realized though that it had no future so I went to the local college to see if I could get educational assistance to attend. I was able to get a Pell grant and started a degree program in electronics engineering. My wife Tiffany also signed up for a program in drafting.
In may 1990 I left this small company to work for a major manufacturer, Capsugel, as an electronics technician. Capsugel is a manufacturer of the soft empty gelatin capsules used in the pharmaceutical industry for medicine. I was employed as an Electronic Instrument Technician. In this position I began with troubleshooting and installation of sophisticated computer controlled process equipment. I developed new control systems for our machines that print information on the capsules. I designed an instrument to calibrate special sorting devices used in quality control equipment. I graduated with a degree of Electronics Engineering in 1991. I enjoyed the work and the pay was great. Some weeks I would bring home more than $1,000 after tax. Tiffany got a job working as a gelatin preparation operator. She ended up working a different schedule than me so we did not see each other much.