Carrboro News Janitor Hits it BIG in Real Estate...Twice!

The Carrboro News janitor started his career early in life. While attending the State University of New York at New Paltz in the mid/late 70's he applied for a job through a tuition assistance program. Looking forward to job with a lot of status attached to it(like a lab assistant, chef's aid, or medical assistant), he was a little disappointed when he was offered the position as an assistant janitor.

But his disappointment turned to elation when he realized that they gave him about twenty-five minutes of work and 4 hours to do it. He developed a little method where he would work for fifteen minutes and then park himself by the elevator with his broom in one hand and book in the other. He would read until he saw the little light on the elevator blink and hear the whirr of the motor. This gave him plenty of time stick the book in his bag and then begin sweeping the floor. If the supervisor was coming to his floor, he was ready! If the supervisor got off the elevator at a lower floor, he would go back to his position, which he held until ten minutes before the end of his shift at which time he would finish his work, clock out and go home.

"I couldn't believe I was getting paid for this!", he told one of our reporters. "Getting that paycheck as a janitor was just as amazing as taking a film class- getting a grade and credit for watching movies- if only I'd discovered those courses my freshman year".

Real Estate Deal #1

Upon completing his education he went to work for The Carrboro News, with duties far easier to fulfill than in his college days. He bought a trailer on an acre of land in a little development full of other trailers and modular homes. The road was unpaved. The trailer was nothing to write home about, but the mirrors on the ceiling of the living room were a great conversation piece. There was a crack dealer at the end of the street and some of the trailers had junk cars parked in the side lots while others had ten working cars parked in the driveway. It was not the most desirable neighborhood, but he took great pride in his land, building an office/studio, work shop and a little two tiered pond system with fish.

After four years, he decided to move into town so that his daughter wouldn't have to walk 3 miles to school. He bought a house on James Street and started his new life in town.

Occasionally, he went back to the old homestead to see how it was doing and was surprised to see that the road, which had once been dirt, was now paved. "That will increase the land value!", he thought to himself(but told us).

But that was nothing, compared to the next little nudge his little property was given.

Who would have though that the last almost next Vice-President of the United States of America would buy 100 acres 3 blocks down the road. Well, he did! "When I first invested in the property six years ago, I didn't really take into consideration that John Edwards, the Vice-Presidential nominee would buy land around the corner from me. But at that time, how could I have known, he was off fighting the tobacco companies and other evil corporations. I suppose in hind sight and seeing how he has taking to helping the poor, that it would only be natural for him to build his estate in the middle of a trailer park. I'm not sure but I think he does a lot of his research in my neighborhood".

Another reason he may have bought the roperty is that he is right across the street from Monty Johnson, a strong Bush/Cheney supporter who makes his position known through his multiple "Bush/Cheney 2004" bumper stickers and banners posted throughout his 50 acres.

It's The Carrboro News belief that the Vice-Presidential Candidate chose this location to motivate him for the next election. Every morning as he drives out his driveway on the way to work the reminder of the failed(The Carrboro News believes it wasn't failed and that they actually did win Ohio, but the failed in that they didn't challenge the vote count and instead conceded) bid for the Vice-Presidency.