Andy's HVAC

HVAC LIFE

Back in 1992 my friend Craig Marquez begged me to take the College of the Sequoias HVAC course with him, so I did what good friends do, I dropped my general Ed classes and joined my buddy! Our instructor was Mr Hurtado, he owned his own HVAC business an taught the course at the same time. Many successful technicians were trained under Hurtado and for good reason... he’s the best. Quite a few of us from that class are still in the HVAC industry and most are still here in Visalia. Lifelong friendships were made in that class with Chris Baldwin of Baldwin’s AC, Joe Garcia with Joe’s AC and Steve Clinton who became a refrigeration technician and now works at the AGTAC center.

Once I passed the program, I decided to go right into the field and start getting my hands dirty. I moved to Spokane Washington to be with family and landed a job with a company doing Electrical, Plumbing and of course HVAC! What a great way to break-in to the field, I learned about the different trades that all tie into HVAC. Next thing you know... I got laid off from my first job in the trade. During a visit back home to see my parents in Visalia, I met my future wife. She is the reason that I eventually moved back to Visalia but that’s a story for another time.

Well I’m laid off and looking for work so what do I do? I’ll tell you what I did, I called my buddy Craig and he landed me a job at the firm he was working for in Lebanon, Oregon. Now that was the life, working with my buddy in the trade and living in a single wide trailer down by the river with my nephew Jeremy who is only one year younger than me. Only problem was that I volunteered for any work available and I never got to fish and hunt while I lived there! The river that I lived by was the Santiam and known for it’s Steelhead and Salmon! During my time in Oregon with all it’s rain and greenery, I was on the phone non-stop with my future wife. Deep down I knew she was the one and eventually had to move back to Visalia, California in the San Joaquin Valley.

Visalia was a tough area to get on at a shop as a technician with little experience. Most of my prior training was in installations, electrical and plumbing, the perfect storm for an HVAC installer. I didn't mind doing install work, the only problem was my heart was set on being an HVAC technician. My first job in Visalia was with Al Foster at Foster’s Air Conditioning. I got the job because I went to high school with Al’s son Dan at Mt Whitney. Al was old school and if you messed up... well lets just say he let you know about it! That was the Summer of 95 and it was a killer. We broke some records if I remember correctly with over 30 plus days in the triple digits. I worked for Al from April to August of 1995. I gained a plethora of knowledge and experience that Summer. Due to this experience and the demand of qualified technicians I was now a valuable commodity and that’s when Grant’s AC came into the picture. I had tried to get on with Grant’s before Foster’s but it just didn’t work out, even though my Dad was good friends with Donna, Darryl Grant’s wife. I think it was a blessing because I did some bonehead things at Foster’s as I was learning to be a technician. This way Darryl got to see the best in me, well for the most part!

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