A little about me……

Born in Cleveland, Ohio but moved to California (with my parents) a few years later. My Mom and Dad were both from Brewster, a small town about 60 miles south of Cleveland. One of Brewster’s primary businesses was the railroad, for which both of my Granddad’s worked. I was lucky in that both Grandparents lived in the same small town so when visiting Ohio, they were both right there. Many other members of the family also remained in that area. Fishing, hunting, gardening, and the outdoors in general were favorite pastimes for my granddads and both were active with other community organizations as well. When we would visit, I was encouraged to participate in many of those activities right along with everyone else, that included fishing. I think all of these ideals played a part in the directions my life has taken.

Growing up with two brothers, we were always encouraged to do our best at what we did and to use our imaginations. I can remember many times when we would use what was available such as boxes, furniture, blankets, or rooms of our house (such as a long hallway) to use for activities. We had a blast. As I got older, my parents never discouraged me from taking things apart to see how they worked as long as I put them back together. Both Mom and Dad were good examples for us of persons with strong work ethics.  Again much of that upbringing plays a big part in who I am today and I will always be grateful to my parents for helping me prepare my life’s ideals. Also gratitude must be given to my brothers for not ganging up on me and beating the pulp out of me for pranks pulled over the years as we were growing up.

Today, when sitting around discussing things with friends, some express disbelief in some of my life stories. They find it hard to believe that anyone has experienced the multitude of things that I have. For instance, I have visited and become familiar enough with many places to carry on discussions about those areas, both in our country and other countries of the world. I have worked at such things as a paper boy when younger to ranch hand and substitute manager on a chicken ranch or even boat patrolman / lifeguard for a State Park while going to school. I have worked as a fireman and locomotive engineer on the railroad, a deckhand on sports fishing boats, also a machinist and tool and die maker in manufacturing settings. Those manufacturing skills have been carried on over the years into such functions as tooling designer, project manager, and design manager. Over the years I have spent literally thousands of hours in the outdoors where I learned many skills that then carried over into use as volunteer Wilderness Ranger for the US Forest Service and a member of San Gorgonio Mountain Search and Rescue Team for San Bernardino County, California. During this time I was also the member of a few different volunteer fire departments. Oh, and lets not forget endeavors such as marathons and triathlons.  There is so much more that I am skimming over but as I write this I realized just how blessed I am to have had all of these experiences and how they have had such a huge influence on who I am.
 

Life is one amazing experience, isn’t it? And it is still going on………..

Well, enough of this….let’s go see what today will bring.

Roger   -   2007