Hello Everybody!

Hello Everybody!

I am sure that many, if not most, of you know me from my comments and occasional articles around here. So I got that going for me, which is nice. But as I am now a member (most junior) of the OT, I guess I should let you all know a bit, or a lot, more about me.
Aside from being born in Pullman WA, I am for all practical purposes a fourth generation Californian. I was raised in the college town of San Luis Obispo and schooled there as well. I was your average underachiever until the most fortuitous thing happened. I got a job in a used bookstore and found my calling. I quickly dropped out of college and basked in a near unlimited ability to read. To read anything I wanted and to fully learn the world of books. And not too long after that, to fully learn the world of fatherhood.

My son was born when I was 24 and freshly married to a woman that I barely knew. In the years since I have had a few careers, bouncing back and forth between highly skilled labor and low level management. That worked well for me, until 2008 hit and I, like many others, was quickly out of a job. So after a long period of fruitless looking, I decided to consolidate many of my odder talents and went to trade school. One of the best decisions I ever made. I am now a highly skilled tradesman and due to a work injury and contemplating finishing my bachelor’s in Engineering. I would never have considered ME growing up as I was a reader first and foremost.
I have since remarried and my son is now a junior in college. My marriage has never been better and I eagerly await my 10 anniversary. I still read everything that comes within sight of me, while keeping my hand in the book world in some small ways. I love fiction, mainly prewar British, but have a fondness for central Asian travel and vintage industrial texts.

So, that is about it. I will probably do a few book posts here and there, along with my favorite topic, freedom of speech. I don’t consider any political idea as important as that and am willing to put up with quite a bit in order to preserve that ideal. At one time I was a Democrat, as I believed that FOS was important to liberalism. The last 6 years have shown me that the powers that be do not agree. I have since moved to the party that best represents my ideals, the Libertarians.