[Porch Dweller]

I worked summers on my aunt and uncle's farm from ages 13-15. Nothing like walking beans and shovelling $hit in the heat of a Midwest summer for $2.50/hour. But hey, it bought me my first guitar.

When I turned 16 and could "legally" work I got myself two jobs. One in a local video rental store and the other in the bait and tackle shop that was right next to it. They were good jobs working for good bosses, so I didn't mind sometimes when schedules coincided and I'd be in the tackle shop on a Sunday from 5:00am to 3:00pm, then head next door to work until 8:00pm.

I graduated and two months later at the age of 17 I headed off to USAF Basic Training. I spent almost 24.5 years in, the first ten as an air traffic control radar maintenance technician, the rest as an electromagnetic spectrum manager. I chose electronics because I planned on doing four years then getting out and I wanted marketable skills for post-military employment. But I enjoyed what I was doing so much that I re-enlisted without a second thought. I saved and invested heavily, so that when I retired two months after I turned 42 I wouldn't need to work if I chose not to.