Comments:
Just after the summer of graduation I got a job in a plastics factory. I worked there for 2 years until I got sick of it. In the fall of 1972 I decided to move to Tampa FL were I had recently visited. For the first year I was there I did what ever I pleased living of the money I had saved and working temp jobs until the bills were caught up. At one point I work as a stevedore loading ships that where carrying goods to the various island in the Caribbean. After about 2 years I got a regular job driving a truck for an independent grocery warehouse. I stayed at that job for 3 years. After having my heart broken by a gorgeous tall woman with black hair and green eyes that worked for the same company I knew it was time to head back up north. Almost immediately I got a third shift job in a different plastics factory and a day job at Shakeys on Nappanee St.
I worked 2 jobs for 2 years and bought and paid for a mobile home. In the spring of 1980 I was riding my bicycle home from the third shift job and was struck by a drunk driver. Put me in a cast for 6 weeks. While being off for six weeks I did not look forward to returning to the factory. In the meantime I hired a lawyer and settled out of court with the drivers insurance company. Big chunk-o-change. That was when I decided to go back to school and study electronics. While in school i met a divorcee with two boys. We dated and married in 1982 about the time I got a job as a Tech for Highland Appliance. We had two children. Less than four years after we were married she died of cancer in 1986. I spent the next 18 years or so raising our son and daughter as a single parent. In 1993 Highland went bankrupt and I was told by Work Force Development that I qualified for retraining. I enrolled in Purdue University in South Bend and in 2 years had a second associates degree. This one was in robotics and manufacturing. After Purdue I quickly got a job with a company subcontracted by Crown Audio to build their remote mixing console. About the time my daughter finished her freshman year in college in 2004 I married my second wife. During our marriage I was hired by Crown proper. In January of 2009 my wife decided that our personalities were to different to stay together. I filed for divorce in Oct. 2009 and it was final the first week of December 2009. I am currently living alone here in Elkhart. My son is planning to relocate back to Elkhart this summer and will be living with me.
This past May my daughter gave me a healthy grandson. My first grandchild.
I have a Honda VTX1800 motorcycle big enough to ride 2 comfortably and ride as much as the weather allows. I love a tree lined country road that goes on forever. When I have to use four wheels I drive a van.
I have a great job at Crown aiding in the development of new products and working bugs out of the manufacturing process. I plan to stay at Crown until I retire. However I like my job to the point I may never retire. We have recently introduced a 1200 watt per channel amp that weighs 10 lbs. All the amps we make now can be controlled from one computer no matter how many amps are ganged.
From time to time I do DJ gigs. Mostly great rock from the '70s. My external hard drive has over 30,000 songs now and run the gamete of genres from Jazz to Blues, Country, Synth a little Hip Hop and even some Big Bands.Oh yea I have three versions of the Chicken Dance.lol But nothing beats the guitar power from the "70s. I like nothing better than to do an outdoor gig and really crank things up, what a rush! Although at times the cops show up and put a damper on things.
All in all life is good although 8 years ago I did have a quadruple bypass. Talk about your wake up call. I changed my diet and have become more active. You don't get a lot of exercise with your nose stuck in a circuit board all day.
Hey dontcha hate it when you tell someone you went to Elkhart High School and they ask you which one? I show 'em the ring and say "that one".
