AMA #20: Egbert OT

I had my first mid-life crisis the week before my senior year of High School (1981). To deal with it I did 2 things; I promised myself I would not let myself get bored and I wrote what would be known almost 2 decades later as a "Bucket List". It was really reaching stuff that would require lots of effort. The last time I knew the location of that list, it was sinking to the bottom of Tokyo Bay due to a ship collision. It was an exciting evening.

Prior to the collision, I went to college as a Computer Science major and a Philosophy Minor. Picked the wrong school. Great Phil dept, horrible Comp Sci dept. Got bored, lost motivation, joined the Navy.

Bought my first motorcycle. Couple of years later, I bought my first car. 1959 Chevy Apache pickup. I was a gearhead. Tore down engines and carbs and built street racers out of 60's muscle cars.

Loved the Navy and the life. I was a sonar tech as a specialist in Soviet Submarines, the tactics they use and the noises they make. I got wore down by the bureaucracy and honorably discharged after 6 years. ( I had extended my 4 year enlistment while in boot camp). By this point I had about 1/3 of the items on my bucket list checked off.

I was about to enter Notre Dame as a History major but was declined at the last minute by a admissions officer that told me she was vetoing my admission because she hated veterans. Rudderless at this point, I hung out in CA until the Rodney King riots.

Moved back to the east coast without a job. Wasn't sure where I was going to land. Had to sell the truck before I left. Bought another 4 wheels a couple years later after advice to do so by a VA state cop.

Eventually got married to my first wife. Got 2 daughters in H.S.

I never graduated college but attended lots of them. I love VT. Butt I considir mei selph edmakated. I did teach myself to learn on my own by books, correspondence and online classes.

Ok, interests (not necessarily in this order) and I know I'm going to miss a few. Brewing beer, coffee. Reading. Cooking. Video Games. Motorcycles. History.

Instruments I played decently. Classical Violin, percussion, mandolin.
Sports I played well, soccer, rugby, lacrosse. Sports I played poorly, baseball, basketball.

If cornered, I would describe myself as a contrarian and skeptic, it has served me very well in professional and personal life. Influenced by my early reading across broad topics and advanced by my Phil professor at my first college.

Seems I have to keep having to live life in stages. Interruptions I don't expect, such as something I've alluded to here, a tumor in my spine when I was 35. Initially we thought it was lung cancer due to x-rays because I had a cough I couldn't shake and didn't respond to anti-biotics. 4 months later I was under a knife to remove a fast growing tumor. I got lucky. Expectations was that I might be paralyzed from the chest down. Ended up with 1 more surgery. At that point, all sports ended. I'd been a non-competing body builder or a couple years. This was very life changing. I still have to sleep sitting up.

Got another diagnosis recently that's not immediate life threatening but requires a completely new change in lifestyle.

Places I've lived for any period in no particular order. South Philly, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tokyo region, Tidewater, VA, Richmond, North of Baltimore, Roanoke.

Types of Jobs I had - Retail store, nuclear power plant, Navy, brewer, benchtop computer repair, field service repair and manager, Chief troubleshooter for Dept of Navy computer network. Shift supervisor, company creation and startup.

If you can't tell, my writing style is to write as if it is spoken word.

Thanks to Frosty's Dad for the nomination and to the guys that created and manage this AMA thread, it's been great.

I think that fed the machine enough.