STILL ROCK'N AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Hard Rock'n Joe

In 1990, our friends asked us to join a bowling league. It was called the lousy bowlers' league. That should tell you something about the level of our bowling skills. One night one of the girls on the league asked me how long Joe and I had been married. I answered that we had been married for nine years today. Joe overheard and he rushed around the bowling alley trying to see if he could find some flowers. Instead our friends invited us into the lounge to have a drink. They said the entertainer in there was going to sing to us. The host called us up on stage and handed us both a microphone. The song "I got you babe" started playing. Joe looked around and then started singing; (I of course did not). After the song we sat down and Joe said, "hey I can do this", so every Wednesday night after bowling you know what we did KARAOKE!

That was the start of the karaoke bug. At that time Karaoke was new and you had to read the words out of a little book. Joe enjoyed going every where to karaoke. Joe entered contests and we met a lot of wonderful people. It was so much fun.

I met Joe about 25 or so years ago and it was love at first sight for Joe. It took me a little longer, but before long I knew he was the man I would spend the rest of my life with. Joe at this time still worked for his dad's construction company. Joe worked long hours and any free time he got he enjoyed working on his hot rods. Joe had a 1968 Dodge Charger, a 1966 Pontiac GTO, a 1965 GTO and a 1969 Plymouth GTX. We got married and had two wonderful daughters. With the two babies, a night out to us was cruising Valley Parkway in Escondido.

Hard Rock'n Joe a.k.a. Joe P. Gallegos is a local boy. He was born and raised in Vista, Ca., along with his six brothers and sisters. Joe inherited his love of singing and great smile from his amazing mother, Emma. Joe went to school in Vista and like his mother and many Aunts, Uncles and cousins graduated from Vista High School. In school he played football, and ran track. He held the ninth grade record in the mile at Lincoln Jr. High for many years.

In 1971, Joe's father started a construction company. Joe along with his brothers worked with his father everyday after school. He learned to use a shovel quite well and quickly learned how to run the tractors and trucks. It was never a question what he would do when he grew up.

In February 1988, Joe started his own backhoe and grading company. With no money to purchase a backhoe he rented one everyday. He worked hard and 6 months later he purchased his first Caterpillar backhoe from the Hawthorne Machinery Co. in Rancho Bernardo. At first he did not have a truck or trailer to move the backhoe from job to job so at night he would drive it to the next job and I would follow behind him in the pickup and bring him home. A year later he bought a used dump truck and a new equipment trailer. That sure made things a lot easier. Due to great results and customer satisfaction, Joe became so busy I had to quit my full time job to help him.

Joe's business is doing great. In 1991, he purchased a Peterbilt dump truck and in 2000 he added a skid steer (the caterpillar version of a bobcat) to his fleet. This year he added a new equipment trailer and is on his fourth caterpillar backhoe. He seems to always work six days a week sometimes seven. He works for general contractors, concrete contractors, plumbing contractors, soil engineers, building contractors and homeowners. He digs holes, trenches, and footings for walls and foundations. He does grading, hauling and has even dug a couple of graves. Joe's customers call him the singing backhoe operator because he sings while he operates the tractor.

About four years ago we decided to buy some property. We found some acreage that was big enough for us and Joe's equipment. The acreage was planted with avocado trees. We planned on pulling out all the trees, until the person selling us the property mentioned that since Joe was self-employed it would be a great tax advantage for us. We decided to add an avocado grove to our list of things to do so much for any free time. There is always something that needs to be done: watering, picking, fertilizing, and cutting trees. Just trying to keep insects and diseases under control is quite a chore. The six-acre grove is a lot of work, but the avocados taste wonderful and the tax deduction
is terrific.

Joe and I have raised a wonderful family. We are so proud of all of our children. One day as we were standing in the grove watching our children, Joe told me he was the luckiest man on earth.

Our twenty four-year-old daughter, Aunjelique is married to a great guy, Chad. They live in Washington and we miss them so much. Like her father, Aunjelique loves to sing. She recorded a CD in Pete Pattynama's studio that included a duet with her dad. It sounds great. Aunjelique and Chad have given us one of the greatest joys in life, our grandchild Kevin Michael Andersen. It's so wonderful being grandparents and Kevin just adores Grandpa Joe. We can't go longer than two months without flying them out to see us.

info: johnny@sandiegoscene.com
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