It seems my life has taken quite the upturn as follows...
Sept./Oct. of last year saw our hometown being ground zero for not one but two major hurricanes...my family and I evacuated to the mountains of north carolina for Hurricane Frances only to return home 11 days later to pick up the pieces only to get hit with Hurricane Jeanne a mere two weeks later..and saw my job at Piper Aircraft go from "Temporarily Unemployed" too "Permanantly Unemployed" over the 3 months that followed as 2/3rds of my job site got demolished with the one-two punch.
I've been a Tool & Die Machinist and Sheet Metal Fabricator for 20+ years now and between lay-offs, re-organizational downsizing and ever growing out-sourcing my resume reads like a skilled craftsmens worst nightmare with many long term bouts of being unemployed.
My wife and I had a little tucked away and between that and tuning bikes on occassion we've managed to get by but...I myself have been in "Career Limbo"..knowing that manufacturing in this part of the country has hit an all time low and that here in my mid-40's it was time for me to roll away the tool chest and seek out a more stabil career field.
Meanwhile?...I staged a very sucessful interview a couple months back for a company that supplies space shuttle main engine turbo-pumps to N.A.S.A...and it was a company I had worked for twice in the past...and I left the interview being told that by qualification and experience that I was a shoe-in...but it would take a few weeks to process me in..and having grown bored of my FZ1 I decided to celebrate the new job by selling the FZ1 and rejuvinating my love for riding with the mighty rush of power that can only be derived from a Hayabusa....then found a showroom floor clean '03 with a scant 1,600 miles on the odo and bought it...then came here...then went to the Busa Bash and was welcome with open arms...then came home to find out that I had indeed been bested out of the job I thought I had by the friend of a son of some inside big wig...and that's when I KNEW it was time to change career fields.
Enter "BRONC3"....he brought me over a friend of his with a FZR1000 that needs some tuning attention...and in speaking Bronc he told me to drop an application off at his place...a building materials company...one of the largest in the freeworld...15 minutes from home with great healthcare benefits for my family of 5...my wife and I with 3 growing daughters.
But back on the farm?..wifey knew two things...
1. That after the NASA job opportunity fell through that I would be scrambling trying to figure out my next new career field after 20+ years as a Fabricator/Machinist and...
2. That whatever new career/job I managed to get that I wouldn't have much if any time off during our daughters summer vacation.
So she reserved some seats for us at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, GA..to see our familys favorite band on memorial day weekend..."Big & Rich"!!!
And one week of interview sessions, paperwork, physicals, drug screening and one great concert later?...I got to attend that concert knowing that when I got back home that I HAD A JOB TO COME HOME TO and get to start work this coming thursday...with much thanks to Bronc3.
And now I wanna share some of those captured moments with the members here...
Rachel (my 7 year old) and the huge cherry shaved ice we all shared...
Big & Rich is an awesome band...they call their special flavor of what sounds like a mixture of Hot Southern/Country/Rockabilly with subtle hints of Bluegrass tossed in for good measure "Modern Day Folk Music"..here's Big Kenny making his entrance onto the stage with his guitar that alternatly flahes the words "Love EveryBody" in green neon lights...claiming..."Country Music Without Predjudice"..
Then all the Big Boys came out...Big Kenny, John Rich...
and even..COWBOY TROY!!!...and MAN did They Tear It Up!!!
Can ya tell Rachel was Excited?...
Sorry for the BIG post but my gratitude to Bronc3 for helping me to find and secure a decent job and start a new career is even larger.
L8R, Bill.
<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1117598529 -->
Sept./Oct. of last year saw our hometown being ground zero for not one but two major hurricanes...my family and I evacuated to the mountains of north carolina for Hurricane Frances only to return home 11 days later to pick up the pieces only to get hit with Hurricane Jeanne a mere two weeks later..and saw my job at Piper Aircraft go from "Temporarily Unemployed" too "Permanantly Unemployed" over the 3 months that followed as 2/3rds of my job site got demolished with the one-two punch.
I've been a Tool & Die Machinist and Sheet Metal Fabricator for 20+ years now and between lay-offs, re-organizational downsizing and ever growing out-sourcing my resume reads like a skilled craftsmens worst nightmare with many long term bouts of being unemployed.
My wife and I had a little tucked away and between that and tuning bikes on occassion we've managed to get by but...I myself have been in "Career Limbo"..knowing that manufacturing in this part of the country has hit an all time low and that here in my mid-40's it was time for me to roll away the tool chest and seek out a more stabil career field.
Meanwhile?...I staged a very sucessful interview a couple months back for a company that supplies space shuttle main engine turbo-pumps to N.A.S.A...and it was a company I had worked for twice in the past...and I left the interview being told that by qualification and experience that I was a shoe-in...but it would take a few weeks to process me in..and having grown bored of my FZ1 I decided to celebrate the new job by selling the FZ1 and rejuvinating my love for riding with the mighty rush of power that can only be derived from a Hayabusa....then found a showroom floor clean '03 with a scant 1,600 miles on the odo and bought it...then came here...then went to the Busa Bash and was welcome with open arms...then came home to find out that I had indeed been bested out of the job I thought I had by the friend of a son of some inside big wig...and that's when I KNEW it was time to change career fields.
Enter "BRONC3"....he brought me over a friend of his with a FZR1000 that needs some tuning attention...and in speaking Bronc he told me to drop an application off at his place...a building materials company...one of the largest in the freeworld...15 minutes from home with great healthcare benefits for my family of 5...my wife and I with 3 growing daughters.
But back on the farm?..wifey knew two things...
1. That after the NASA job opportunity fell through that I would be scrambling trying to figure out my next new career field after 20+ years as a Fabricator/Machinist and...
2. That whatever new career/job I managed to get that I wouldn't have much if any time off during our daughters summer vacation.
So she reserved some seats for us at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, GA..to see our familys favorite band on memorial day weekend..."Big & Rich"!!!
And one week of interview sessions, paperwork, physicals, drug screening and one great concert later?...I got to attend that concert knowing that when I got back home that I HAD A JOB TO COME HOME TO and get to start work this coming thursday...with much thanks to Bronc3.
And now I wanna share some of those captured moments with the members here...
Rachel (my 7 year old) and the huge cherry shaved ice we all shared...
Big & Rich is an awesome band...they call their special flavor of what sounds like a mixture of Hot Southern/Country/Rockabilly with subtle hints of Bluegrass tossed in for good measure "Modern Day Folk Music"..here's Big Kenny making his entrance onto the stage with his guitar that alternatly flahes the words "Love EveryBody" in green neon lights...claiming..."Country Music Without Predjudice"..
Then all the Big Boys came out...Big Kenny, John Rich...
and even..COWBOY TROY!!!...and MAN did They Tear It Up!!!
Can ya tell Rachel was Excited?...
Sorry for the BIG post but my gratitude to Bronc3 for helping me to find and secure a decent job and start a new career is even larger.
L8R, Bill.
<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1117598529 -->
