He crisscrosses the county, visiting job sites to make sure Warner's foremen have what they need. The second shift starts when Baker walks into his rented house in Bennett Valley. Baker, who is a single dad, works until 8 p.m. in the evening cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. Baker relaxes by gardening and cooking healthy foods. He makes his own tortillas from scratch, and loves to barbecue fish, vegetables and even fruit on his charcoal grill.
Pineapple slices with ginger on top are delicious.
Baker started working in construction in 1972 in San Jose, interrupting his career for a two-year hitch in the Marines. Business was good until the recession hit in 1990, and Baker moved to Utah in 1994 when the Bay Area construction industry did not rebound quickly. My business was dead. We were just about to starve in the San Jose area. At first, things were booming in St. George, at Utah's southwestern corner, and Baker worked 80 hours a week.