Meet Justin King, recent graduate of UNC Greensboro and mechanic at Jamestown Park Golf Course in Jamestown, North Carolina. After finding out the labor to install a lift kit for his Jeep was more than the kit itself, Justin decided to figure it out himself. From his entry to the professional world as a lube guy and flare-rate auto shop mechanic to working on a landscape crew at a local municipality, Justin found himself with an opportunity to learn at a municipal course with a more experienced technician willing to teach. Cautious by nature, Justin has learned from experience to dive in and learn what we don’t know. With a quick three years in the industry under his belt, Justin has found a role he loves as a golf course technician. Hear from Justin on tips for fabricating a retrofitted water cart with an electric hose reel and remember to put on that PPE and take good care of yourself. Justin takes care of himself as an avid hiker, kayak fisherman and runner in his free time.
Transcript
Trent Manning:
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we’ll learn tips and tricks. I’m your host, Trent. Manning let’s have some Welcome to the real turf text. Podcast episode 42. Today, we’re talking to Justin King mechanic at Jamestown park golf course. In Jamestown, North Carolina. Jamestown is an 18 home municipal course, Justin, as the sole mechanic in a shop and manages a fleet of mostly Jacobson equipment with some Toro mixed in. Let’s talk to Justin. Welcome Justin to the real turf text podcast. How you doing today?
Justin King:
Pretty good, Trent, how are you?
Trent Manning:
I’m doing great. Thank you so much for, for coming on. were talking a little bit before we got started here, all the crazy stuff going on in the WhatsApp group around real theory. And we got Mike Rollins all fired. to see somebody else, high level of energy.
Justin King:
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Trent Manning:
we’ll get straight to it. Tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Justin King:
You know, I just kind of got into all this about a month ago, but I really enjoy listening to how get into the industry. Everyone has a unique path so, I guess mine starts I don’t really have a formal background, I guess. I had a Jeep back in my senior year of high school I just kind of started working on that myself. What really started it I got a cheap lift kit for it called up a local shop one of them. How much it would be to get it installed. he came back with the price. He said, that it was going to end up being more than what I paid for the lift. And I said, well, I’ll figure it out myself. so that’s kinda where it started, you know, words were spoken that weekend, but that’s what kinda started at all. That was up in Michigan. So we moved down to North Carolina after I graduated high school. So my mom got relocated so I just, I was set to go to college up there, but just decided it was a good opportunity to get away from the snow. And so I was just working in. Uh, Restaurants really? I started college and so I was just working at restaurants I was actually working at an Applebee’s and right across the street, there was a tire shop I was in there one day and the guy asked if I was looking for a job and I said, I’ll go for it. Why not? So I applied and like every week I was in there, like, Hey, you know what, what’s going on? If you have any openings. it was like a year of me bugging them and they finally made me an interview and brought me in just as a, like the lube guy, you know, I did inventory and stocking and an old change here and there sweeping the floors. And eventually they started sending me to some classes. I went the NC state inspection school. So I became a state inspector or they send me to alignment school. so eventually again, I started bugging them about moving me up to flat rate and I don’t want to, I’ve been doing it for maybe a year. And that was a big mistake. absolutely not ready for flat rate. so. I went through that for a while. And eventually I just, I wasn’t, wasn’t making that good of money and, you know, no one to blame, but myself, I should have known better. so then I was like, I gotta find something else. So I kinda, I just left. I got a job a local municipality I just a landscaping crew. And so I started there. I was cutting grass, moved around a little bit, like within the department and they moved me to the ball field crew. So I guess that’s where the turf comes I was working on ball fields and painting lines and doing stuff like that. So I got a little. Operating time in there doing that. And then I think I was there for two years doing that landscaping kind of stuff and a job opened up. A golf course within the same municipality. And, so I kept thinking about it and thinking about it. And I think it was like the day or two before the job close. My wife. At the time we were just dating. But she kept pushing me to go for it. Like, you know, just try for it, try for it. And then there was a guy at work too, and he said, just go for it. I mean, why not? What do you have to lose? So I went for it I think it was a couple of weeks later. I got an email from the superintendent saying that he wanted to give me an interview and a. I was freaking out. I was like, I’m not ready for this. I haven’t, I haven’t turned a wrench in a long time. And especially, you know, I read a little bit about golf course mechanics and I just knew that reels were huge. I didn’t know anything about them, but I knew that they were big. And so I got the interview all set up and I went home and downloaded. The Toro. It was a big thick packet, like Toro real eerie. And I read that front to back within like a week. And I was going over it like the night before the interview, I had a whole suit picked out everything and it gave me a chance. I went through the interview and I was honest with them, you know, I told them. Here’s what I don’t know. I don’t know a whole lot about small engines about diesel, about real. So I said, but you know, here’s what I do know, and I think it can transfer. So he took a chance on me and that was great. So I started in the shop there and right about the same time, I think it was a couple of weeks later. So that municipality had two golf courses both were hiring. So the mechanic to the other course got hired a couple of weeks later and he had some experience. And so once he started. Kind of just spend a little more time with His shop is where the grinders were. So I had to take all of our reels over to his shop to grind which ended up being about the best thing. Cause he was almost always there anytime I had a question and he, for the, for the three years that I was at that shop, he, I don’t know where my career would be now with, if it weren’t for him. Yeah. And he’s just a wealth of information and knowledge. so kind of the same thing, the course I’m at now Jamestown Another municipal course. The job opened up and same thing. I was like, I’ve only been doing this for three years now. I don’t have any business trying to move. It was like deja, you know, my wife and, and coworkers and friends and family, they all kept telling me why not? You know, what do you have? So I went for that. And long story short then got the job there and I’ve been at this course now for eight or nine months,
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Justin King:
so
Trent Manning:
So looking back on those three years, or you’re really green, how much did you learn? He learned a lot that.
Justin King:
yeah yeah, a lot, a lot. Just between within the group where I was talking about just dive right and that’s not really, it’s becoming me, but it never was, you know, I was always really cautious about diving in and I would always try to get as much information on something as possible before I, I got into it. But I’m starting to find now, Just getting right into it kind of is the best way, especially in this industry when you’re not flat rate, you know, you, a lot of times you’ve got more time to dig into things and kind of figure it out for yourself. Whereas, you know, a flat rate, if you don’t know how to do it, it’s going to the next guy.
Trent Manning:
Right. Right. And that’s one thing I’ve always enjoyed about this industry. And that’s what I’ve told. A lot of people is I get paid to learn, you know, I might not know how this works or operates or whatever, but I’m going to tear it all apart hopefully I can put it back together. but like what you were talking about, it’s not always bad to do a little research sometimes I have got myself into trouble there and some burdens, like he
Justin King:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
that, this thing going back together.
Justin King:
Yeah. There’s definitely a balance, I guess. Or.
Trent Manning:
Rad.
Justin King:
There was once I almost tore into the, the rear end of a Toro 4,500. That would have been a big mistake. It ended up being, I think what it was was in one of the hydraulic manifold boxes, all it was was just a plastic washer piece broke off and it wouldn’t go into reverse. And here I am automatically thinking it’s the rear end that, and, The luckily another great resource I learned a lot from STI, you know, the mobile service guys. They’re great. As our most of the distributors, you know, they’ve, they’ve got a pretty solid backing.
Trent Manning:
Well, that was one thing. When I did work for a distributor, the amount of training we got, you know, and I worked for a Torah distributor to like STI, but the training we got from Torah was good. And most of the, of all of it was online at the time. And this was 12 years ago. And you could learn as much as you want to learn, know, just how much time you wanted to spend in front of the computer learning stuff. And I mean, I learned more there than I did of the golf course. For the most part,
Justin King:
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning:
kind of walk us through your daily shot routine.
Justin King:
yeah, I mean I’m getting there, I guess even after eight or nine months it feels like it’s not like I’m settled in, but. It just still, hasn’t been enough time to get that daily routine down. I mean, normally I just kind of come in and you know, all kind of meet, just figure out what’s going on for the day. Guys, go off. I make sure all the rails or whatever’s going out, you know, just make sure that it’s good to go. And then just kind of see what the superintendents got going on and what I’ve got going on. Then I think like everyone talks about, you know, from there anything could happen.
Trent Manning:
right, right. Yup. Yeah, 95% of our day usually comes to us
Justin King:
Yeah,
Trent Manning:
you know, five minutes after start time.
Justin King:
Yeah, I mean it’s every day I’m trying to. Kind of get to that point where I have a solid routine and, you know, I think things are always changing a little bit. Like I could start doing this, I can start doing that, but I feel like this next year is when I really kind of plant my feet in the ground and have a, more of a solid plan.
Trent Manning:
organized when you got there.
Justin King:
I changed a lot,
Trent Manning:
Yeah, yeah,
Justin King:
which was really nice kind of make it my own, I mean, I moved a lot of stuff around just to kind of make it it’s kind of a small shop. And so I reorganize it to where I could kind of maximize my space.
Trent Manning:
Well, and that’s something to be said, no matter who was there before, we just do things different with wanting to organize different. for the superintendents listening, we want that freedom be able to set this up the way it needs to be set up, to make us most efficient.
Justin King:
exactly. You could have two guys and. Both of them work really efficiently. They get the job done in the same amount of time, but the way they get there is completely different. So
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Well, and I made a short story. So Howard horn, he’s going to my friends and one of the great technicians that I know, and somebody was telling me, I don’t remember, it was a superintendent too says, oh, Howard does this. And I said, I’m not as good as Howard. I don’t do that. And, you know, and I went and bashed it on Howard, I don’t, and it was something like the All this single cylinder. He pulls them apart, decarbonized as the head, every winter or something. And I’m like, no, I’m not as good a mechanic outward. I got better things to do than that. But I mean, it’s awesome that he’s doing that, but that’s, you know, it’s not something I put at top priority, you know, if it needed to be done, it needed to be done, but vindictive wise, and obviously it ain’t going to hurt me to, to do something like that. But I’d rather spend my time doing something else.
Justin King:
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that’s, I think that’s touched on a lot too, that you know, there’s a lot of stuff that all of us wish we could do, every. Some kind of constraint and, you know, there’s something that can’t do that somebody else. can, but vice versa. So,
Trent Manning:
Right. Neither relief grant.
Justin King:
I do not, I just don’t have the means to right the more I learned, the more I want especially now I just got done well, those, the, the pictures I sent in the WhatsApp group today, 3 22 reels. I can already see the difference that, you know, come in brand new. They have the relief in it and grinding those in, I mean, it was quick, I was in feeding, you know, a lot faster than I was on the rails without a relief, so I can definitely see the benefit. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to get there.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Tell us how many fabricated lately.
Justin King:
Nothing too crazy. I’m not the, I’m not the best welder. But I think the most recent thing, I think I put it on my Twitter was I retrofitted that water cart? It was in frame. I didn’t really do much with the frame except repaint it, but I put a piece Plywood on top and put on an electric hose rail.
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Justin King:
So that was kind of fun. Just figuring out how to run the wires on that just kind of make it work, turn it from a manual hose reel to an electric one. That was kind of fun. I went to academy and they’ve got this I guess it’s like a Marine battery case you know, you hooked. Put the battery inside and hook it up that way. And then it’s got posts on the outside. So charging it is a breeze. You just hook up the alligator clips to those posts and charge it daily,
Trent Manning:
Awesome.
Justin King:
So that was kind of fun. I made Rear rural or scrapers for 3 22 cutting units. And that was, I mean, that’s simple. That was, I think it was just a one eighth inch bar stock cut down the length drill the holes out and then file it out a little bit to make some adjustment room. And those turned out pretty good. A lot cheaper to.
Trent Manning:
Well that’s. I mean, if you look at it, the amount of money we can save the golf club with just simple little fabrication projects like that. I mean, we pay for ourselves pretty quick,
Justin King:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
it, it, it doesn’t take too many of those projects and they add up and not just the project, but, you know, the labor savings on the guy, not having to manually wind his hose back up every time, you know, and all that. So the ROI is pretty good. Hold on. All that stuff. What’s your favorite tool and why?
Justin King:
Well, man, thought about this for a long time. I keep coming back to, I don’t know if anyone else’s has said this one or not, but my box you know, you always hear about, especially over in automotive or the box, doesn’t make you money, the tools do, and My box is my hub. You know, I walk into the shower in the mornings and that’s, that’s my office. Really? My, you know, I go to my box. That’s where my computer’s at. That’s where all my notes are at. That’s where my files are. Everything is in my box and I’m pretty meticulous. I, I pride myself in how organized my boxes and I can, there’s a lot to say for just walking up. No one exactly where everything’s at instead of having to fumble around or, you know, where’s my 10 millimeter. Where’s, where’s this, where’s that? I mean, it’s you open the drawer and everything’s right there and it’s just efficient. I mean, it, I think that’s the biggest time-saver is having organized tools.
Trent Manning:
Oh, yes, huge. And like with my operation. So I got my own box just cause I’m kinda like you, I like having my stuff or whatever. And we got a shot box and the guys used the shot box and none of them. But every time I needed to, I’m going to my box. I don’t go to the shop box. Now there’s occasionally there might be a couple of things in the shop box that I don’t have. You know, my toolbox and I’ll use it, but if I’m grabbing a wrench or a socket or something like that, I’m going to my box. Cause I know exactly where it is and I know nobody took it and didn’t put it back unless it was me
Justin King:
Yeah. So,
Trent Manning:
being guilty. I’ve done that before, but.
Justin King:
oh yeah. Yeah, I have to, but it’s easier to retrace your steps. Like if you’re the one that lost it, you can. Okay. Well, where was I at?
Trent Manning:
Right. Exactly.
Justin King:
else lost it. You might never find it.
Trent Manning:
I like that one. Yep. That one has not been said as far as I can remember, I think that’s a good one.
Justin King:
I guess if I had to, if I had to pick a, a tool tool I don’t use it a lot, but when I do need it, man, it comes in handy you know, the snap on PWC pliers, I think Bako makes but they’re, I don’t even know what you classified as kind of like a, maybe just a big pipe branch, but there has not been one thing that, that rent. Yeah.
Trent Manning:
Is it like an adjustable.
Justin King:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
We’re gonna pause the, I got to see this. Yes, I got, I got up here.
Justin King:
I mean they’re, they’re invaluable.
Trent Manning:
So PW Z Snap-on pliers, and they’re kind of like a pop ranch,
Justin King:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
a lot different.
Justin King:
They are. Yeah, because it’s like, what? So, so you do have one
Trent Manning:
yeah, yeah. yeah. Yep. I got, I got a big one then a smile.
Justin King:
oh, okay. I’ve just got the one I’ve got the PWC too. But that, you know, that bottom handle I don’t know what it is, the way it flexes. I mean, it just it’s like, it doesn’t work for you. You don’t really have to grip it hard at all. And that thing just great.
Trent Manning:
yeah. And it seemed like the harder you push on it, better it grips.
Justin King:
Yup. Yup. They’re great for alignment stuck iRODS Smith.
Trent Manning:
yeah, no, that’s a good tool. I like that one. That was always good. All right. What do you do to relax or find your balance?
Justin King:
Really anything outdoors. I love to hike. I’ve actually got a group of guys that hike with it. I’m supposed to be monthly, but you know how life is. It’s about every other five months we go. But my wife and I hike sometimes and my mom rarely, my whole, most of my family loves to be outside and hike and do stuff like a recently. Back into running. That’s a big stress reliever for me. More can now I sold it at the beginning of this tier cause I just never had time to take it out, but I used to have a fishing kayak that I loved to take out,
Trent Manning:
Yup.
Justin King:
but living in an apartment, you know, it’s just, there’s nowhere to put it. And so think. What was the housing market kind of stabilizes? Maybe my wife and I can get a house and I can buy another kayak.
Trent Manning:
there you go. That’d be good. You prefer a river fishing like fishing.
Justin King:
I’ve never, never took it to a river. I’ve only ever been in lakes and honestly, I’ve never. I’ve never really had any luck catching any fish on their kayak. It’s kind of like a, what’s the saying, you know, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Even if catch it. You just being out there. Sometimes I just set the anchor and float, so,
Trent Manning:
nothing wrong with that. And you’re right. Much rather be on the water any day of the week.
Justin King:
yeah.
Trent Manning:
The shop, what’s the strangest thing you’ve seen at work.
Justin King:
I’ve thought a long time about this one, one too. And I just keep coming back to one thing. And so I don’t know, it’s not exactly golf course related. But it happened when I was working at the last golf course. So at the last course, the other mechanic and I, and then another mechanic from a different department, kind of tagged, teamed up on a. Some other like specialty equipment that the, the municipality had. so that was anything from, you know, we worked on boats to like rides. tennis court equipment and campground equipment, all kinds of stuff, but there was, a train. That they had at one of the, one of the other parks and it was just a big chance. Manufacturing makes it, they do a lot of carnival rides and stuff like that. So big people move her steam engine with a Kubota gas engine. they called us over there one day, cause it was making a funny noise. so we got over there looking at it, trying to figure it out and we, and we. Got underneath of it on the tracks. the solid, I mean, this is the frame on these train trucks are like two inches thick. And what happened was it was driving around and the bolt snapped that held up. It was like a support that held Part of the, I’d have to look back at the pictures and see exactly how it was. But long story short, the drive shaft came down and it was just grinding through that frame. And it only had about an eighth of an inch left break. We were like, how, how did it get this far along? And nobody noticed it. Like, I mean, I wouldn’t think that the drive shaft could just burn through a frame like that in any short amount of time
Trent Manning:
Without making any sounds.
Justin King:
Yeah. That’s the real head scratcher there. But, that was probably the craziest thing I’ve seen.
Trent Manning:
What is one of your pet peeves around stop?
Justin King:
I’ll preface this by saying this it’s a pet peeve. I think a lot of guys will probably agree. But it’s no one’s fault. It just kind of happens. It always seems like. You know, you’ve got this one thing that, you know, you need to get done and, you know, you get all your ducks in a row everything’s taken care of and everything’s working fine. like, all right, I’ve got this, this day dedicated to this. half an hour later, somebody walks in and says, I need you to come look at this and it ends up being something that just ruins the entire day.
Trent Manning:
Mm.
Justin King:
And again, you know, it’s nobody’s fault. It’s a part of the industry and it always will be, but man, it’s still annoying.
Trent Manning:
the Murphy’s fault. We’ll blame that whole Murphy.
Justin King:
Exactly.
Trent Manning:
What would be your dream job or opportunity?
Justin King:
Well, I mean, I know it’s a common answer. This I unexpectedly just kind of fell in love with the industry, you know, it never planned on it going that way, but it did. And I can’t see myself really ever leave I guess in an unrealistic dream job, I’d always kind of wanted to be a forest ranger, just go. The belt in the woods and doing whatever I always saw kind of cool, but I looked into it, you know, years ago and that’s, that’s a tough job. I mean, you really have to give a block to do something like that. so I gave up on that, but in a perfect world where I could have everything, that’d be perfectly cool.
Trent Manning:
Yup. Okay. What do you know now? You wish you’d known on day one.
Justin King:
Resources you know, going back to my first three years, I learned a lot, a lot. I mean, like I said, I don’t know without the mechanic that I worked to, I don’t know where I’d be now. But the resources and, you know, that’s, that’s partly my I’m pretty stubborn. I don’t like reaching out too much but just since I’ve found, you know, the realtor protects podcast and the WhatsApp group, and, and just going down to the show, last month it really opened up my eyes to, to kinda break through my own head, I guess, that, you know, I’ve, I’ve been holding myself back by not seeking out these resources So, you know, I wonder, I wonder now where I’d be, know, with everything I learned then, but also letting go of a little bit of my pride and seeking some of that other stuff out.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, I think that makes great sense. And I think going to. The Carolina show and meeting other people and getting a little bit of a relationship going or a little rapport. It just makes it easier to make a phone call or, you know, to talk to somebody else. And I was thinking about my days working for the Toro distributor, you know, I would have guys calling me all the time, you know, asked me about this or that or whatever. And if I didn’t know the answer or couldn’t help them, I might know somebody that. So those are next are really thrown guys. Whether they know the answer or not, know, you know, Billy Bob down the road, he’s got this same machine and he’s been struggling with it and he got it figured out well, McCall. And then, then you have that connection to you. So you call Billy Bob and the guy at STI told me to call you and asked you about this. And. Everybody I’ve met in this industry is willing to help.
Justin King:
Absolutely.
Trent Manning:
thing that I love about it. And honestly, I can’t really think of anybody I’ve ever met that looks down on somebody for asking a question just you know, the old saying there’s no dumb questions except the one that you didn’t. I asked.
Justin King:
Right. Exactly. No I completely agree. And also. I guess being in situations where maybe you don’t even plan on like, okay, go into the show. I guess it was only my second time and not knowing too many people at the show. You know, I went there knowing I was going to learn, I was going to take these classes. I was going do one of the certifications but it’s like every night, you know, You put yourself in the, in the crowds of people and it’s amazing how things happen. And, I kept meeting people down there at the show. And then the turning point was when, on the last day on Wednesday, when you got up there and spoke, and I don’t even remember what it was. I was just like, yeah, no, this is it. And you know, within 30 minutes after you talked, I joined Twitter. You know, I went back to the show and I was on it then. I guess that was kind of what opened my eyes there. Really to know everything That’s out there now. All I want to do is green. I feel like, but just want. Do more. I want to get to the point where I can help people. I want to be, you know, that guy.
Trent Manning:
That’s awesome. That is so good to hear. And I promise Justin is not getting paid to say any of this. You’re getting the same check. All the other listeners got.
Justin King:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
All the other guests got no, thank you for saying that though. And that does mean a lot. I mean, honestly, when I’m standing up there talking, I’m thinking these guys, their answers are glazed over and they’re ready to take a nap, I’m just going to keep talking. But it gets to one person it’s worth the talk,
Justin King:
Exactly. Yeah,
Trent Manning:
I did my job. What are some of the latest tips and tricks? You want to share something you’ve found, do use or.
Justin King:
Well again, I guess going back to being kind of green, I feel like I don’t have any, you know, crazy tips that people are going to go nuts over. But recently I was back to when I was retrofit in that water cart. I ran the wires underneath the board and I was trying to figure out a way to you know, kind of tidy it up. So they weren’t just hanging down there, but being, it was just a metal frame and a board. I had nowhere to kind of Fasten them too. So I was walking around the shop, going through a little bit and seeing if I could find anything. And finally, I thought, why not take wire ring terminals and just. Kind of use some existing bolts from the frame, put those up there. then at that point, you know, I could put all the wiring up, flush to the bottom of the board and keep it tucked out of the way. And it’s been holding up. Great. So a little unconventional use of a wiring terminal,
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s cool. You share that on Twitter, right?
Justin King:
Yeah,
Trent Manning:
no. Yeah. And I hadn’t seen it before. That’s awesome.
Justin King:
I think it’s kind of limited, but I mean, it might help somebody someday.
Trent Manning:
There again, if it helps one person at one time and their career, it was worth it.
Justin King:
yeah. Yeah. That’s true.
Trent Manning:
So we, we keep the bar real low around here, real turf decks, low as we can.
Justin King:
I guess beyond that kind of getting away from just the mechanics of it I’m a firm believer that you got to take care of yourself And that, you know, obviously in all aspects mentally, physically I don’t know. I know, I know I’ve heard, you know, a lot of guys, like I’m not wearing a mask, I’m not wearing gloves. I’m not. I just think that, you know, pardon me personally, and like grinding reels, for example you know, that dust gets in it. And this actually I picked up from the mechanics. I learned pretty much everything from, at my last job. know, he would always wear a dust mask grinding. And so I just started wearing one. They can, well, you know, I’ll keep some of that stuff out and now I’m, I mean, I’m big on it. And you know, I’ve noticed that wearing the right mask, you know, you don’t get that black stuff up your nose and whatever gets up your nose gets in your lungs. And I want to be doing this for a long time. So anything I can do to, to keep my health up, I’m going to try to do So, yeah, I mean, I think just taking care of yourself, that’s a, that’s a big one then. I say this, I need to take my own advice a lot too, but you know, there’s there’s days that you can’t, even, my hands are just covered in oil and grease and and
Trent Manning:
now, we’ve all been there, but we know what we need to be doing, and that is important We just need to do it and stop making the excuse. For whatever. Yeah. Whatever the reason is, but exactly right. Easier said than done. And the old adage of you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, you know, you just get in the habit of doing things certain way and you do it that way for so long, but we might need to check our pride at the door and put our gloves and her mask on and, and do all that fun stuff.
Justin King:
That being said too, it seems like bowel, not just everyone, no matter how long you’ve been in the industry, it seems like, you know, they’re ready to learn. Have you been in it for 30 years? It’s like you know, teach me something new everyone’s.
Trent Manning:
for sure. And definitely the WhatsApp group, everybody in there is still on the learn and nobody’s got it all figured. And we don’t want to have it all figured out,
Justin King:
No, because then be,
Trent Manning:
right. We’re going to be boring then other than doing something else that they’re ever figured it all out and I never will. Well didn’t you recently your, was it a bachelor’s?
Justin King:
Yeah, just earlier this month, I graduated from UNC Greensboro with a degree in environmental studies and you know, that that’s kind of going back to the whole forest ranger thing. You know, when I first started college, I wanted to do something outdoors. I didn’t know what Something. And so, you know, like I said, I was just kind of working, going from job to job. But eventually the road took me to, you know, the golf course. And I was about halfway through my degree. It took me awhile. It took me eight years. Because I was
Trent Manning:
kudos to you though for sticking it out and getting it done.
Justin King:
well. Yeah. I
Trent Manning:
You can look at it both ways. Oh, it took me eight years, but you got it done. Okay. been out of high school. I’ve been out of high school for what? Almost 30 years. ain’t got it done.
Justin King:
I owe a lot of it to my family and my wife. There many times where, you know, I thought, especially. Once I was at the golf course, so that’s when I kind of started having the thoughts, like, well, what if I don’t need a college degree? What if I just stop? What if I just, you know, stop that’d be even worse because then the money you have spent, then it’s just gone. So, you know, everyone kind of kept encouraging me to do it and. And I guess I came to terms with the fact that I probably won’t ever use my degree. But there’s nothing wrong with that because it’d be worse if, if you know, I got out of the industry that I love to go do something else, just because. So, what I’ve come to realize is that after all that, you know, and that it’s easy to say now because I’m done. I don’t have any more homework. I don’t have to do anything, I did learn lot of cool stuff, know throughout college, there’s a lot of classes that I couldn’t tell you anything about too. But, I did learn a lot and that’s, all you can do is, take the experiences that you have ended up with one way or the other. And there’s always something you can take from it. And you know, a lot, especially I’m finding too in this industry, no matter what job you have on the golf course lot of things intersect, you know what I mean? Golf course golf courses. Out there in the environment. I know, I know the superintendents, not a lot. I know exactly about what superintendents do. I know their job is really tough, but you know, there’s a lot of things that they’ve got to do and keep up with to make sure they’re compliant with all the environmental laws and everything. So I’m a firm believer now that, no matter where you’re at things cross, you’re never just going to. One job and stick to that. And so, and I’m not saying, you know, obviously college that’s not the path, you know, you can get there doing anything, listening to podcasts, for example, I mean, there’s some great podcasts out there and any subject you can think of books and there’s listening to people talk and anything. So, so finally after all that time, now I realize that. Any education is good education.
Trent Manning:
There you go. Yeah, a great point. And there’s a lot we were talking about. We’re trying to learn all the time. So even if it’s a YouTube video or reading a book, Or doing the EMCP through GCF, you know, anything that just our skill level and a lot of the skills we have or perishable, and we need to, know, stay up to date with those. I’ve seen. Older guys the industry managers that has been doing it 40 years and they didn’t really keep up with the times. And so they’re not the top guy anymore because I didn’t stay on top of it. So I think that’s what a lot of us are trying to do is I don’t want to get left behind. I don’t mind everybody knowing more than. But I don’t want to be too far behind.
Justin King:
right. Yeah. exactly. I mean, especially now it seems like in any industry, I mean things are just progressing exponentially in technology and it’s crazy how fast things are changing.
Trent Manning:
yeah, I want to be the second guy working on the laser mower that comes. I want to be the first guy, but I don’t mind being the second guy.
Justin King:
That’ll hurt a little bit worse. And then getting your finger caught in between a real and a bed knife.
Trent Manning:
All right. We’ll tell the listers how they get ahold of you.
Justin King:
I’m on Twitter. My handle is Justin King 1 1 3, and I’m probably most active on that. That’s probably the best way to find me.
Trent Manning:
All right. Well, if you want to get ahold of Justin, Justin King, 1, 3.
Justin King:
That’s it.
Trent Manning:
All right. Well, thank you so much, Justin, for coming on. I really enjoyed this and I love here in the perspective from. A younger person in the industry too. Back when I had a wide on, he was like, why would you to have me on, I’ve only been doing this nine months. And it’s about a lot of person that I said that I love that dude. So a little bit, but I mean, it’s just so good to hear different perspectives, you know, and I don’t think all the listeners want to hear from people that’s been doing it 30. So I like the variety. I like changing it up and we get different ideas.
Justin King:
Yeah. I appreciate it. I kind of had similar thoughts. I’m like, well, what can I contribute? But Yeah. I mean, I listened to why it’s podcast and it was great. So, I guess we can contribute something, you know, we might not have the depth, but I mean, I’d definitely love to get some younger guys into it. I don’t know how, but
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s the million dollar question, but we’re trying, and we’re not going to give up, keep We’re going to get some kids coming up through the industry, and girls bringing out and we’re going to do anything we can to help them be successful.
Justin King:
Absolutely.
Trent Manning:
Well, thank you, sir. And we will talk to you in the WhatsApp group for sure.
Justin King:
Yep. I’ll send a Jeff over that way.
Trent Manning:
There you go.
Justin King:
Thanks again, Trent.
Trent Manning:
Hope you enjoyed hearing from Justin. I always like talking to somebody, uh, newer to the industry. And how rewarding it is. To help these guys grow and learn. And it’s very impressive that Justin finished his degree. It might’ve took him a while, but that was some serious dedication. To finish it out. And he mainly done it. Just because he likes to learn. So who can’t respect that? I hope you all are learnings. Um, new each day. That’s definitely something I will challenge you with. As long as you’re listening to this podcast. We gotta be learning all the time. Until next time. So the nearby thank you so much for listening to the real turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don’t forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you’d like to discuss, or you’d like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at real turf techs.