In the begining...
Too young to be a boomer, too old to be one of their children, I'm a product of the early 60s.
Raised in a military family, it was pack and move all over the place.
Never spent more than 2 years in any school, a bit rough but the traveling was wonderful experience.
I thank my parents for the visits to places in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Netherlands, Quebec, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
We lived in Manitoba, Ontario, Mississippi, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and spent my teen years in Belgium.
Summers in Den Hague, weekends in Paris, skiing in Austria; THAT was a good life.
My hobbies at that time were aviation, history and militaria.

Back in Canada as I finished my schooling I joined the Army Reserve (we call it Militia up here but I hear that has negative connotations in some places). I still believe strongly in the citizen soldier concept.
A certain girl, shooting, and vehicles became my hobbies.

Where I live:
Cambridge, Nova Scotia (New Scotland in Latin). A quiet little main highway sort of community.
We can walk to church or school and have sidewalks and streetlights but still pay county taxes.
My father's folks have lived in this region for over 200 years, helping build and settle Halifax.

Did I mention the kids like off-road vehicles as well (but not cold...)

Cars and stuff...
   My first car was a 1972 fuel injected, air cooled VW Station Wagon belonging to my father.
My Dad dropped an exhaust valve in it (driver's front of course) and told me if I put a motor in it I could drive it.
I put five motors into it!
I learned far more about automotive mechanics with that car than I ever really wanted to.
Many people swore by those old air cooled Volkswagens, I swore at that one...
but thanks Dad, it was a great start.

As a teenager I was experimenting with water injection, polishing and porting, and headers on my vehicles. Always experimenting to get more power or better fuel mileage. I remember spending a bundle of my hard earned cash for a stopwatch so I could quantify my experiments. I took tech school automotive and welding courses to learn about things mechanical (and to keep that darned VW running!).

Had a 1967 Honda Dream, some Ford and Dodge trucks, cars and vans, dirtbikes, snowmobiles,
a 1972 and then a 1962 Comet, had a pile of Mavericks and Comets, including one with a 351 Cleveland 4v shoehorned in, and a 12' Springbok boat, almost as old as I am. I still venture out into the Atlantic with it.
Our Crown Victoria sedan and 4 wheel drive Ford van are my current drives now.

The girl?
I married Ruth Goucher, she seemed like a good catch too. She put up with me for a lot of years, and we had 5 kids together.
We usually planted a garden and spent out summers exploring islands and backwoods trails,
camping and lots of travelling.
Well some things have changed since this was written over 10 years ago. If you want to read all the gruesome details, you will find them here.

Our youngest daughter still did not like dogs...

Work
I work for Michelin, you know, the company that makes the best tires in the world. No kidding!
They don't make me say it, I really believe it!
I watch the tires being made and I use them on my vehicles.
My vehicles have always come with other brand tires so I have tried out the competition.

Work:

This is work. I work somewhere in the center of that building and live close enough
that my house is actually in the picture.

I work as an industrial technician, maintaining the machines (keeping them up and running) in a big tire factory. Basically a mechanic, electrician, electronics and program troubleshooter all wrapped up in one guy. I have interprovincial machinist and millwright certifications and as well as a bunch of electrical, electronic and PLC program training to do the job.
Imagine, they pay me good money to tear stuff apart and put it back together when I do it all the time as a hobby! If you work in manufacturing of any kind, drop a line to sbest@glinx.com and lets talk shop.