About Me...
I live in a small town in north central Missouri and have lived here all my life except for my time in the Air Force and about 6 months in Wisconsin. I'm currently 45 years old (man it doesn't really sink in until you say it out loud ) and when I'm not working I like to occupy my time enjoying my hobbies. As a kid I remember helping my Dad build things, mainly furniture, and so I grew up with a love of woodworking. It wasn't until I got into high school that I learned about and became fascinated with metal working. I took a course in machine tool technology while in high school and I can say that it was one of the best experiences. After high school I joined the Air Force and became an aircraft structural maintenance tech, working on the F-111, F-16 and A-10. I also got to spend two years in England at RAF Upper Heyford while in the Air Force and it was a great experience, I met some great people and got to be exposed to an entire history that I had only read about before then.
As long as I can remember I've been most happy when off by myself tinkering with something, I don't know why but I've always enjoyed that time by myself. It's not that I don't like people or don't want to be around people, it's just that given a choice I'd rather be off doing something that allows me to be creative in some way. Of course now days the only thing that will pull me away from my hobbies is spending time with my niece and nephew, who are the most important of all things to me. It's actually kind of cool because as they grow up I hope to be able to pass on to them the things that were passed on to me by the many great people that I've been fortunate to know. There are so many fascinating things in this world that you can't help but want to share those experiences and knowledge with others.
For a career I make custom harmonicas and combs, and lightweight reproduction microphones. I also make the Hands Free Chromatic harmonica which was designed and developed by Vern Smith. I used to work for an internet based company called Home Movie Depot until they decided my position was no longer needed. They transfer 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm films to video and dvd. They also transfer video to dvd for people as well. It was a pretty cool place to work, I really liked the laid back environment and there back when I first started but things changed and the company started moving in new directions. Before that I worked for a company called Semco Inc. as a design drafter doing cad for a living. I have to say that the two years I spent at Semco were great in that I met some really great people, but I guess I never did really care for the job, and setting behind a desk all day just isn't what I was built for. hahaha At Home Movie Depot I did electronics repair and tried to keep all the transfer equipment up and running, which includes the projectors.
I've had a good variety of jobs, some good, some bad, some I wasn't there long enough to know one way or the other. hahaha My first job ever was working as a dishwasher at a local restaurant, which is probably why I hate doing dishes to this day. I've worked in retail stores, warehouses, factories, grocery stores, I've been in the military, worked on civilian aircraft, worked for a kitplane company, and even spent some time working on a helicopter kit for a local resident. I spent 6 months in Wisconsin working for an aircraft company that took old Douglas DC-3's and totally rebuilt them. They would lengthen the fuselage, reinforce the wings, replace the old engines with new turboprop engines, completely re-wire the entire airplane, and replace every piece of bad metal on the thing. It was a pretty cool job but I'm a Missouri boy and this is where I wanted to be, unfortunately I had to move to another state to figure that out, which is funny because when I was away in the military I wanted to be back home then to. hahahaha Well I never said I was a fast learner.
I have a lot of hobbies, but I think music was my first, and for a long time it was a real passion. I still enjoy music but it seems to have taken a back seat to my other hobbies. I also love motorcycles, cars, boats, and pretty much anything else with a motor. You know I don't know why we don't have more street legal go-karts, I mean they are a blast to drive and they get great gas mileage. That's probably something I'll never outgrow, go-karts, I mean they are just a blast to drive. hahaha I guess I'm still a kid at heart. I also enjoy remote control planes and helicopters, though I haven't flown either for some time now. There for a while I was having fun taking old weedeater engines and converting them to run on model airplanes, which was also another excuse to enjoy my metalworking hobby.
Well I hope this has given you a bit of ensight into who I am and what I do, enjoy the rest of my site.
Chris
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