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@monogodo avatar
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Molto Verboso
2017 Piaggio BV350
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Molto Verboso
@monogodo avatar
2017 Piaggio BV350
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Location: Irving, TX
UTC quote
(I've been meaning to start this thread for a couple years now, and finally decided to do it today.)

Half my life ago...
I had just transferred to a different Kinko's in the area doing the same job as I had been doing at the previous Kinko's (Shift Leader).
I'd been working at Kinko's for 2 years. I started there as a Key-Op (makin' copies), and had worked my way up to Shift Leader. My previous job was as a bicycle mechanic.
I regularly rode bicycles. At that time I had four: a mid-to-late-80s Colnago Super with various Campagnolo parts, a mid-to-late-80s Vitus Futural with Shimano 600 Ultegra, a 1989 Eddy Merckx Team 7-Eleven (built for Tommy Matush), with a mixture of Shimano 600 Ultegra and Shimano Dura Ace, and a 1990 Bianchi Super Grizzly with SunTour XC Pro. I didn't race, I just liked to ride.
I was living in Mesquite, Texas, and working in Irving, Texas.
I drove a 1987 Isuzu P'up, in robin's egg blue. It didn't have air conditioning. I'd realized I'd become acclimated to Texas heat when driving home from work one night, I had the windows rolled down and thought, "hmm, it's a nice, cool evening tonight," then I drove past a bank clock that had the current temperature, and it read "95°F". At 1am.
I had 3 cats: Velcro, Lance, & Lorenzo.
I was attending Dallas County Community College (Now Dallas College) at their Richland campus. I was majoring in Mechanical Design Technology. I was taking AutoCAD classes.
I was still living paycheck to paycheck, making just over $7/hour. I was able to live on that because my truck was paid for, and I was paying less than $500/month in rent/utilities combined.
I was learning how to use desktop publishing software, specifically Aldus PageMaker. I'm pretty much completely self-taught, although I got my start with help from a designer at Kinko's, and from Google. I now mainly use InDesign.
My customer service skills left quite a bit to be desired. I mainly looked at issue resolution from the mindset of "how much will this cost me to fix this now?" When I should have been looking at them with the mindset of "how much will this cost me in the long run if I piss off this customer?" It was a hard lesson to learn, but I'm glad I learned it.
I had only lost one grandparent at this point, my dad's father, who had passed away in 1986 from lung cancer. I was about to lose my other grandfather due to old age.
Neither of my brothers had been married, nor had I, at that point. When my dad was the age I was at that time, he was married to his first wife (my mother), and they had three children (my brothers and myself). He'd go on to be married 4 times, while my brothers and myself all got married later in life - my older brother at the age of 31/32, myself at 34, and my younger brother at the age of 45.
I'd lived in Texas for 5 years at that point, and loved it. I hate cold and snow, and the heat didn't bother me.

So, how was your life, half your life ago?
@iniezione avatar
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Member
300 GTS Super
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Location: NorCal
 
Member
@iniezione avatar
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Nice story, monogodo.

40 years ago, I was living in AZ and working for a small commuter airline. Now retired, it's time to enjoy life at a more relaxed pace.
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@steve avatar
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'06 Vespa LX150, '07 Suzuki Burgman 400, '05 Honda Metropolitan
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@steve avatar
'06 Vespa LX150, '07 Suzuki Burgman 400, '05 Honda Metropolitan
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Cool idea!

Half my life ago...

I was 34 years old (rounding up a couple of months) and living in a small community west of Fredricksburg, Virginia. I was a product designer at The Ridge Tool Company (RIDGID), designing plumbing and pipe working equipment. This year would be my last year on a drawing board after 15 years of full-time drafting. Made the move to 3D CAD the next year when I was transferred to the company HQ in Elyria, Ohio (from where I retired 22 years later.)

We were renting a house on a 500 acre lake, and amongst my friends, I was the only waterfront house. So ours was the place to party, with our Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2 sailboat, and friend's canoe and Hobie Cat parked on our beach. Deb and I raced that Whaler all over Virginia and North Carolina. Last spring, a tornado ripped down the lake, snapping my mast, and putting the Hobie part way up a tree!

All four of our parents are still around, and three of the eight grandparents. They, along with my two younger brothers and their wives, still all lived in Logan County, Ohio, about an hour west of Columbus. That's where where lived until we got married in 1980. Never going back to Ohio!! (famous last words...)

No kids for us, yet. We were still enjoying ourselves. We even went to the World's Fair a couple of years ago, in Knoxville Tennessee.

Deb's cat, Inky, and I hate each other. Damned cat peed in my new Sperry Topsider America's Cup shoes, and on my sleeping bag!

I was driving a 1980 Dodge Colt Twin-Stick with the larger 1500cc engine (a rebadged Mitsubishi Mirage) and Deb was in our first new car, a 1983 Honda Accord. No powered two-wheelers at the time. Those were my brothers' back in Ohio. I have a buddy with one of those newfangled Honda 4-cylinder motorcycles I'd ride now and then, and I'm considering one of those Vespa scooters like Dad had back in the '50s, but I have a 27 mile commute on the highway, and they're probably too small. Gasoline is up to an average $1.12/gallon, but I'm getting 40+ MPG in the Colt, so, I'll stick with that, and maybe get a Honda 750 when they come out.

After a dozen years working in optometrists office, Deb decided to go back to school to get her optician's degree and license. Getting the license in Virginia, one of the two hardest states in the country to get accredited, would allow her to easily get her license anywhere.

No consumer digital cameras yet, so all I have a boxes of slides from my Minolta X700, my favorite Minolta yet! Not going with one of those newfangled auto-focus Minolta Maxxum cameras released earlier this year, because they don't use any of the lenses I already have.

Too bad there's no photos available, because I'm lookin' mighty fine in my currently in fashion Ocean Pacific corduroy short shorts!
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Hooked
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Half my life ago, I was living in a converted 1971 Dodge Schoolbus, (named Emily), on my friend Paige's land in the foothills of the mountains. I was still working at the backpacking store I worked in for most of college, and I was finishing up a program in classics of East Asian literature. (It was a pilot program that became a Master's Program, so I later wrote the essays I needed to to get my MA). I believe I had my Honda Nighthawk 650 at that point. I won an award for poetry around that time too.

It wasn't a particularly easy time - I was 27.5, pretty much done with college, saddled with debt, pondering whether to go into further debt to work on a Ph.D. in classical Chinese, but basically unsure of my direction. At 55, I may still be unsure of my direction, (and I never did pursue a Ph.D.), but I have a beautiful family, a home, and a Vespa. My kids grew up to be great adults as well, (they're now 19 and 21). I can't complain, though there is still a lot in life that I want to accomplish - There just doesn't seem to be enough time in one lifetime sometimes.
@touchton avatar
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In a few weeks my daughter will be the exact age I was the day she was born. She will be half my age and her birth will have been exactly half my life ago. It's going to be an interesting and fun milestone. She and I will spend the day together and visit a lot of the places around town that are special.
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UTC quote
Great idea!

Just a few months shy of 60 so....at 30 my life had a few ups and downs. I had/have 2 beautiful daughters, was still with my first husband, lost my mom to a long battle with cancer, and was working on my Masters degree. The second half was way more fun. Met and married the love of my life, my best friend. Acquired super nice in-laws and wonderful step kids. Lots of fun travels, and meeting a great group of female friends who I still travel with. Retirement is a blast. Lost my father to cancer. In the words of a dear friend: live until you die. I've been doing my best to make it a great one.
OP
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Molto Verboso
2017 Piaggio BV350
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Location: Irving, TX
 
Molto Verboso
@monogodo avatar
2017 Piaggio BV350
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Posts: 1171
Location: Irving, TX
UTC quote
touchton wrote:
In a few weeks my daughter will be the exact age I was the day she was born. She will be half my age and her birth will have been exactly half my life ago. It's going to be an interesting and fun milestone. She and I will spend the day together and visit a lot of the places around town that are special.
That's another "story of my past" thread topic I've used on other forums: "When my dad/mom was my age, s/he was doing..." or "When my dad/mom was my age, I was doing..." The second of those two isn't usually as fun, because for some younger people, they either weren't alive yet, or were only small children.

My dad & mother are both 25 years older than I am (their birthdays are 10 days apart), so I'd have been 28 when my dad was 53. Not much was different between then and half my life ago. I was still working at Kinko's, but was back at the location in Dallas that I'd started at, and was once again, a Key-Op. I was still taking classes at Richland College, but was now majoring in English instead of Mechanical Design Technology. I'd moved to Richardson, and was living in a rent house with my former girlfriend. Still had Lance & Lorenzo, but also had a girl kitty, Laurel, who peed inappropriately. I was driving a 1995 Subaru Impreza Outback wagon. My pay rate was much higher, because the partner who ran the Irving location gave better raises than the partner who ran the Dallas locations. I still had the same bicycles, and I still was riding regularly. I'd taken up homebrewing by then, and had brewed some pretty good beers (if I do say so myself).
@attila avatar
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
In garage: Yamaha Tricity 155 Urban 2019 - MV Agusta 125 RS 1956
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@attila avatar
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In the middle of my age now, I was lying in a bed in the intensive care unit of a pancreatic cancer hospital, in a coma and intubated with oxygen.
I stayed like that for four months and they gave me up for dead ...
They were about to unplug the machines that kept me alive when I woke up one night and took off the respirator myself!
Many nurses came, awakened by the alarms that sounded and some voices said it was a miracle ... Crying or Very sad emoticon
An hour later, beyond the separating glass, my father and mother were looking at me and crying with joy ...
There was still a long way to go but over time I would have gotten out of it, not definitively but it was still another thirty years of life and I can consider myself lucky or ... miraculous.
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Half my life ago my wife and I were a year into a new home in a bad market - early 80's Denver area. Couldn't sell the house so we leased it and left for a bad idea in central Arizona. Couple years later we're back in the Denver area house in an improving market. My wife found a good job, I found work selling ceramic tile. Couple more years later my wife got snowed in at work and she'd had enough. We sold the house in a good market and moved to the Phoenix metro a couple months later.
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
2020 Honda NC750DCT
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
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Half my life ago I was between my two kids' births, pretending I know what it meant to be a father but not having a clue what I was doing or what came next. According to Father's day yesterday I guess I did OK.
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I sat down to enter my addition to this post and realized how depressing half a life ago was. Crying or Very sad emoticon

Let's just say we didn't have our kids, dog, Vespas, scooter club, or MV. Life is much better now.
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In 1993 I was a young father, just returned to Ft. Benning GA after 3 1/2 years overseas with the Army. I was living in Atlanta, in Oakhurst, WAY before gentrification. I was driving a 1982 Honda Civic Wagon, and working for Motorola, repairing & installing two- way radios in cop cars, firetrucks etc. I had a wife, three cats and zero debt. I made the princely sum of $28k/ yr. My son is now going on 30, my daughter is 19. They both learned how to ride a shifty Vespa in their early teens, on my trusty 1980 P125X. I think I saw The Specials at the Masquerade that year too.
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Half my life ago I was a junior engineer at a company that doesn't really exist anymore: Apple Computer, Inc. My job was writing software to push printers to their absolute limit, part of the reliability department in the Imaging division, which also does not exist anymore. I had only moved to California a few years prior, packing all of my belongings into my car and driving all the way from Milwaukee, WI. I was still getting acclimated to life in California, and Silicon Valley, in particular.

I'm still here in Silicon Valley, and though I haven't actually changed jobs, the company I work for now is 20 steps removed from the company I worked for half my life ago.
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Half my life ago I was just starting to see the light at the end of the mortgage tunnel, finally had a little money to spend, hadn't broken any important bones yet, was working out and in good shape (2 miles in 12 minutes) and was still immortal. That changed a few years later when a serious dirt-biking crash ended that activity. And pushed me over into more street-riding.
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Half my life ago I was 30, mortgaged to the eyeballs for a townhouse and working in engineering for a company that made building and vehicle sealing systems. I had a Suzuki GT185, a Jawa 350 with a sidecar, a Honda 70, a Jawa cafe racer and a 1953 ex-army Triumph on the road and eight more bikes in the garage and basement. Our first child was on the way. My job took me to Detroit and different assembly plants trouble shooting quality issues and left me stressed enough to ruin my health later on. My wife drove our giant Ford LTD sedan while I tore up the town in my drop dead uber ugly Dacia... that car cost me 1500 bucks on the road with only 25000 miles on the clock, so why not.

I retired last month... from an automotive lighting systems engineering job and, since Frau Fritz is still working, spend my days cleaning house tending the lawn and polishing the cafe racer and the scoot.
@wleuthold avatar
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
2006 Vespa GT (Rocket): 2007 Vespa GT (Vanessa): 2009 Yamaha Zuma 125: 2018 Yamaha Xmax (Big Ugly), 2023 Vespa GTS300 (Ghost)
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2006 Vespa GT (Rocket): 2007 Vespa GT (Vanessa): 2009 Yamaha Zuma 125: 2018 Yamaha Xmax (Big Ugly), 2023 Vespa GTS300 (Ghost)
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A half life ago, if my math is correct, would have been September, 1988.

Sarah was 6 months pregnant with Sam.

I was near the end of an ill advised two year partnership in an architectural practice, one that ended the day after Sam was born.

That office had grown, against my wishes, to around ten employees, with an interior designer and two landscape architects. We had taken on a Duval County school project among other jobs, but it was not working for me. We did have a great office, in an old house on the river, and I had a drawing board by the window. Everything was drawn by hand in those days. Thank goodness that I learned AutoCad at my next stop in Bermuda two years later.

No scooters yet, so life was sort of terrible.

Sarah and I lived in a great house in the same neighborhood we live in today. It was a very old house that preceded the establishment of the now 100 year old development. It was a gardener's cottage, probably for the big house that sold out to create the area. It had been added onto several times, but suited us well. We were busy preparing it for our new arrival by adding baby stuff to what would be Sam's room while adding a handrail to the previously open stair.

And it was great to be young.

Bill
@seamus26 avatar
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jess wrote:
Half my life ago I was a junior engineer at a company that doesn't really exist anymore: Apple Computer, Inc. My job was writing software to push printers to their absolute limit, part of the reliability department in the Imaging division, which also does not exist anymore. I had only moved to California a few years prior, packing all of my belongings into my car and driving all the way from Milwaukee, WI. I was still getting acclimated to life in California, and Silicon Valley, in particular.

I'm still here in Silicon Valley, and though I haven't actually changed jobs, the company I work for now is 20 steps removed from the company I worked for half my life ago.
That is every bit what I suspected. Thank you for confirming my fears. And I make this promise to you, despite Gil Amelio, I will not give up on my Performa 638CD. You know ... the one with the super cool TV card. Used to be being a Mac guy you were an outsider, a rebel. Now it's just ... I dunno. Almost shameful. Don't get me wrong, the stuff still works ... it's just not the same. One of my least favorite places on the planet are Apple Stores. I avoid 'em like the plague. But I digress. This isn't what this thread is about.

Half my life ago I was at the tail end of a bad relationship. It was before we found out that we were going to be parents. Twins at that. Born 13 weeks early. One with Down Syndrome. Yeah, life throws you some curve balls, that's for sure.

In 1995 my band was just starting to look for local bands to open for. We had a few covers - Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam - and at least seven originals. We had some four track recordings down. I was driving my 1991 Jetta. My '72 VW Bus was sitting idle at the time. I was into rollerblading, Karate, music ... more hobbies than I can count. My parents were living in Seoul, South Korea at the time, so I was keeping an eye on my younger brother while he took care of my parents' house. I was four years into my CMM programming career, which I still do. Really, the future was so bright (insert lyric here).

Then with the aforementioned kids arriving life took an off ramp and things changed dramatically. It wasn't what I had planned, but my son just graduated from the Transition Center and goes in for job training next year to work at the hospital. My daughter has had issues, but she started work (again) just yesterday. I met my wife who has been an incredible stepmom as well as my best friend. We've been married 17 years and paid our house off last fall. We've boat lost an older brother and our mothers, but my Dad is still kicking. I have a great family, a comfortable life and four scooters. Who could ask for more?

So many details and so little time. But life is good.
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MV Santa
GTS250, 1975 VBC, 1980 P200E cutdown
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@vintage_red_matthew avatar
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Half my life ago would be August of 1991. I owned a barber shop in my hometown. It was a struggle because the town had too many barber shops for it's size. Also the strip mall that I was in was failing with one store after another closing.

I stuck it out for 25 years until I got a chance to work in a very busy shop in a relatively bigger city. It changed my life. Finally I am not living hand to mouth, I have no debt and even have a respectable nest egg. Added bonus: I like everyone that works at the new shop.

Grandparents and parents are all gone. I have two sisters, one on Hawaii and one near by. No other close relatives.

I was married but not for very long. I would like to find someone again but it is hard at my age (59).

I don't mean to sound depressing because, as I said things are much better for me now than then.

Edited for clarity.
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UTC quote
seamus26 wrote:
That is every bit what I suspected. Thank you for confirming my fears. And I make this promise to you, despite Gil Amelio, I will not give up on my Performa 638CD. You know ... the one with the super cool TV card. Used to be being a Mac guy you were an outsider, a rebel. Now it's just ... I dunno. Almost shameful. Don't get me wrong, the stuff still works ... it's just not the same. One of my least favorite places on the planet are Apple Stores. I avoid 'em like the plague.
It's an entirely different company, but it's not necessarily better or worse. Just different. Many things, in fact, are markedly better now.
@seamus26 avatar
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1979 P200E (sold) / ZNEN Amore 150 (sold) / Genuine Buddy 170i / Genuine Stella 4T /Aprilia Sportcity One 50
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@seamus26 avatar
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UTC quote
jess wrote:
It's an entirely different company, but it's not necessarily better or worse. Just different. Many things, in fact, are markedly better now.
But no more of this?

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seamus26 wrote:
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That's still a reality for many. Except the "loving it" part.
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18' GTS 300 - 18' Sprint 150 - 17' Smax 155
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UTC quote
Half a life ago for me would have been Apr. of 1999 and I was living (temporarily) in South Ogden Utah, serving a two year proselyting mission for my Church. At this time I was one year removed from quitting a restaurant job, totaling my VW Scirocco (on the way home from quitting said job) and my girlfriend dumped me soon after that. So, I did a 180 and found an escape for two years in the Western United States, mainly Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Growing up in Florida and moving to the west was like going to another country. Flat land to soaring mountain landscapes, humidity to dry air, rain, rain, rain to snow, snow snow! My wanderlust for new places started here.

My mom was 3 years removed from breast cancer, parents recently divorced and brother had overdosed twice which ended well as he is still with us today, happily married with children. My sister was preparing to marry for the first time and Dad was soaking up Bachelor life again.

For the two years I was away there were no visits home for weddings, graduations, funerals, nothing. I wrote letters home! every week! Called home on Mothers Day and Christmas. Now, that all seems kinda weird to say, but at the time I enjoyed the safe distance from home and that I was having a life experience my parents and family had not. We walked or rode bikes when we were not in "car" areas (scooters would have been awesome). We had a weeks worth of clothes, two pairs of shoes, many, many ties and each other. In those two years I moved 7 times (Bear Lake Id, Layton UT, Bountiful UT, South Ogden UT, West Weber UT, Green river WY, and finally North Ogden UT) had lived/worked with 18 missionary companions and gained 25 lbs!

I attend church occasionally now but those two years gave me a life time of experiences in a very condensed time frame. I live out west, my wife is from the west, we have had children both in Florida and out west. I love riding in the foothills/mountains and finding a new overlook to just sit and reflect.
bear lake ID
bear lake ID
Bear lake Utah (side)
Bear lake Utah (side)
SNOW!!!!grew to tolerate it.
SNOW!!!!grew to tolerate it.
Lots of mile logged on a bike in two years
Lots of mile logged on a bike in two years
Florida in Wyoming...crazy as it was, a family had their garage transformed into a reptile room including alligators!!
Florida in Wyoming...crazy as it was, a family had their garage transformed into a reptile room including alligators!!
Currency...ties were the only article of clothing that made us unique from one another, we begged, borrowed and bartered for the best ones.
Currency...ties were the only article of clothing that made us unique from one another, we begged, borrowed and bartered for the best ones.
There were days when this was all I wanted to say.
There were days when this was all I wanted to say.
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Half a life ago....

I was climbing that ladder like it would never end.

Now I know better.

Just hanging on tight now and enjoying every minute of whatever rung I'm on at the moment.

And not looking down..
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2007 LX150 2015 GTS (running like a charm!) 2017 BV 350
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Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
UTC quote
jess wrote:
driving all the way from Milwaukee, WI. I was still getting acclimated to life in California, and Silicon Valley, in particular.
You're not an ex-pat cheesehead by any chance? Nerd emoticon

So, as for me, half my life ago, I was still single, living a quiet life in my fixer-upper farmhouse on the edge of town. My career was going well, busy and profitable at work, doing a lot of outdoor activities with our local Audubon group (not a lot of birders but definitely was the go-to social group for activities). Had my adorable chocolate lab by my side (Best. Dog. Ever.) and life was good. Needed a scooter, but didn't know it.

Both my parents were still alive, and their farm was still functioning, so I could bump back into life as I knew it as a kid anytime I wanted.

Just before stuff hit the fan....bad marriage, dad died unexpectedly, dog died. I was about to go through some stuff.... Nerd emoticon Fortunately life got back to better fairly quickly.
@steve avatar
UTC

Ossessionato
'06 Vespa LX150, '07 Suzuki Burgman 400, '05 Honda Metropolitan
Joined: UTC
Posts: 3150
Location: Avon, Ohio (25 miles west of Cleveland)
 
Ossessionato
@steve avatar
'06 Vespa LX150, '07 Suzuki Burgman 400, '05 Honda Metropolitan
Joined: UTC
Posts: 3150
Location: Avon, Ohio (25 miles west of Cleveland)
UTC quote
jess wrote:
I'm still here in Silicon Valley, and though I haven't actually changed jobs, the company I work for now is 20 steps removed from the company I worked for half my life ago.
And I sincerely thank you and your brethren! Half of that stock I bought in the '90s at a split adjusted cost of $0.177 just bought me a new Land Cruiser! (Which, according to Deb, is the last vehicle I'll ever be buying.)
⚠️ Last edited by Steve on UTC; edited 1 time
@jess avatar
UTC

Petty Tyrant
0:7 And counting
Joined: UTC
Posts: 37845
Location: Bay Area, California
 
Petty Tyrant
@jess avatar
0:7 And counting
Joined: UTC
Posts: 37845
Location: Bay Area, California
UTC quote
fledermaus wrote:
You're not an ex-pat cheesehead by any chance? Nerd emoticon
I'm not originally from WI. I lived in Milwaukee for about 3 years.

I did what the "Escape Wisconsin" bumper sticker told me to do.
@fledermaus avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2007 LX150 2015 GTS (running like a charm!) 2017 BV 350
Joined: UTC
Posts: 12255
Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@fledermaus avatar
2007 LX150 2015 GTS (running like a charm!) 2017 BV 350
Joined: UTC
Posts: 12255
Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
UTC quote
jess wrote:
I'm not originally from WI. I lived in Milwaukee for about 3 years.

I did what the "Escape Wisconsin" bumper sticker told me to do.
I remember that! Laughing emoticon

You got out in time!
@attila avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
In garage: Yamaha Tricity 155 Urban 2019 - MV Agusta 125 RS 1956
Joined: UTC
Posts: 8291
Location: Latina (Italy)
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@attila avatar
In garage: Yamaha Tricity 155 Urban 2019 - MV Agusta 125 RS 1956
Joined: UTC
Posts: 8291
Location: Latina (Italy)
UTC quote
jess wrote:
That's still a reality for many. Except the "loving it" part.
"Steve Jobs campaign carried out during the development period of the Macintosh, when employees worked 90 hours a week".
I didn't know this thing ... it's interesting to know that Jess (and others) is a pioneer in computer science.
@wmak avatar
UTC

Moto Giro Titan
2009 GTS 250 Super Lucrezia Borgia, 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada, Little Big Red,2020 Zero SR/S, Zeus, Electric Dragon
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2658
Location: Carrollton, Kentucky
 
Moto Giro Titan
@wmak avatar
2009 GTS 250 Super Lucrezia Borgia, 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada, Little Big Red,2020 Zero SR/S, Zeus, Electric Dragon
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2658
Location: Carrollton, Kentucky
UTC quote
Half my life ago, I was 33, a couple of years into my longest held job, two kids, no scooters, same wife as now. Both my parents were still living, we had just bought our first house and were paying on two cars. We had emotional support from both sets of parents, and the kids had all four grandparents. I'll have to admit that I couldn't have asked for a better second half, both kids graduated from HS and college, got well paid jobs and became independent adults. Although I lost my parents at an early age, my in-laws filled in with with their roles as grandparents. I took up scoots at 53, retired at 57, and have become part of a phenomenal community, thanks in part to MV. I am grateful and appreciative for all I have met on the journey, and hope to keep going a while longer!
@fudmucker avatar
UTC

Ossessionato
2021 GTS 300 HPE +2013 GTS 294 Polini
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2104
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
 
Ossessionato
@fudmucker avatar
2021 GTS 300 HPE +2013 GTS 294 Polini
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2104
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
UTC quote
Half my life ago I was at a T-junction in my professional life.
I inherited an architectural practice from my late father and after running it for four years, the work dried up when the economy crashed following the disinvestment decisions of Chase-Manhattan and other institutions in opposition to the Apartneid regime of the time. I had earned enough fee income to settle all practice debt but not enough to live off as well. I had enough lines of credit to survive for six months, but if more work did not materialise, I would have had to declare backruptcy in my personal capacity.

My largest client had been the Provincial Government Department of Works. I went to see if there was any chance of forthcomng commissions and told the sad news. They offered me a position as a public servant instead. The salary was half of what I had been earning in my practice, but it was secure emloyment, with structured pension benefits, a medical plan and a housing subsidy. Being a sole provider with a wife, three children and a mortgage, I became a public servant and mothballed the practice, hping for a turnaround within 5 years.

As it turned out, there was no turnaround and I stayed on as a career public servant, being promoted up the ranks until I successfully applied for a position as the Head of Infrastructure Planning Unit at the National Department of Health. I retired in that position and enjoy a retirement with a modest pension, ongoing medical plan and zero personal debt.

My wife also retired in December last year. Life is good.
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