Life Story

[68 Ford Stepside]

Thought some of you may be interested in telling your life story. Keeping it concise would be a plus. I'll start mine off & we'll see how it goes. Have A Great Ford Day! W.Ott

In 1964 I left high school & joined the Navy. My first duty station was shore duty in Danang,Viet Nam. After spending three years & two months in the service I was discharged under honorable conditions & started my life as a civilian.

I started work in construction in the millwright trade until 1975 when I accepted a job with AT&T as a plant equipment mechanic. I worked fourteen years for AT&T until they closed the plant. I then worked many part time jobs while doing automotive repair at home.In 1995 I went to work for a local power plant full time as a maintenace mechanic for twelve years.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with intestine & liver cancer stage 4. I have been on pill chemo since that time & it certainly hasn't been much fun. I have many bad days & a few okay days, but none of the sickness has caused me to waver away from my love of old trucks & cars. Have A Great Ford Day! W.Ott

[Mancar1]

Went through the big C twice with my late wife. She was always happy, (no matter what), but yes good and bad days. Kick butt on it, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
I joined the Navy in 72 with a wife and three kids. I was in my mid twentys and had to fight to get in. I kept getting told I was draft excempt. Retireed in 96, and now manage a cemetery. Worked farm labor as a kid then at 17 fibbed about my age and worked in a local lumber mill untill entering the USN. ( that is the short version) My story and I'm sticking with it.

[69timemachine]

I was born and raised in a small town in the country outside of Houston. Grew up on the farm driving tractors, cotton pickers, and working hereford cattle for grandma. I graduated high school and went to work for 10 years for a nearby tractor salvage yard, tearing tractors down and putting the good parts in the computer system for easier sale online. Having a kidney stone forced me to find a job with health insurance. A friend of mine, the same friend who sold me the bump, convinced me to apply with the county drainage district where he worked, so I was able to get on over there. I've been running a tractor there for 4 years now, mowing and maintaining the county's creeks. When we got a new secretary at work, casual chitchat turned into talking, then dating, then engagement. Our wedding is coming up in the next month! That's pretty much it!

[sargentrs]

Born in South Louisiana (no, I'm not a "Cajun") but moved to Texas shortly after. Father was a roughneck/crane operator on overseas, offshore drilling rigs. Went overseas to Egypt in 1968-1970, Central Louisiana in 1970, Canary Islands in 1970-1971, Malta also in '71, back to La in '71, Texas in '72, La. in '73, Tehran, Iran in '74-'76, back to La. in '77 where I graduated high school and went to Vo-Tech for structural steel drafting. Worked in a fabrication/welding company building dump trailers as costing, shipping/receiving, quality control until I went to work as a roughneck on an offshore drilling rig, in the Gulf, from '81-'83. Rig stacked in '83 and I went back to the trailer company until 1990 when I moved to Georgia. Been here ever since and with my current employer for 15 yrs at Materials Manager, still in fabrication/assembly. Got my bump in 2004 and started rebuilding her in 2011. I'm on my 3rd wife and together we have 5 kids and 11 grandkids. God is in control in my life and it's GREAT!

[68 Ford Stepside]

Something to add to my previous post. Back in 1962 I was a DJ at WHHL Radio in Holly Hill, S.C. I played rock & roll for four hours each day after school. That was my first real job with a paycheck. I made $2.50 an hour. Even today when I am able I DJ parties. I have a 5000 watt amp, a mixer, speakers & laptop to handle the sounds. I specialize in old rock or old country music. Sorry guys, I don't play any style of modern music. The old music is in my blood & I enjoy playing it as much as the listeners enjoy it. Have A Great Ford Day!

[Kurt Combs]

Born in 1948 in Petaluma California, the Egg Basket of the World, to two chick sexors. Graduated 1966 and worked in a "service station" before Mare Island Naval Shipyard, both of them are gone now. Did my apprenticeship in Santa Rosa and became a welder, spent 12 years in the trades before going to college in 1981, right after a divorce, with money in my pocket and no kids. About ten years later I married my second wife and finished my master's degree in Psychology (I don't psycho analyse anyone), the degree allowed my to become a community college counselor, which is a job that only exists in Cali. I love my job, I get to tell people where to go all day and get paid for it (okay, I tell them which school to go to). Currently I am an articulation officer, counselor, and I teach public speaking one night a week. We have two daughters, one just finishing college at a state university and one who is currently in a Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica; if you don't speak Spanish in Cali you don't get a job these days. The kid in Costa Rica is 18 years old and not sure what she wants to do; seems I have heard that story before! We currently live in Lake County, California where the population is around 65,000 total and the town we call home doesn't have any stop lights. I love the small town of Lakeport, but almost all of the teens can't wait to leave and go to the bright lights of a bigger city.

[68 Ford Stepside]

Thanks for posting Kurt. Many years ago I lived in Lakewood, California & Bellflower, California for a short while. Also went to boot camp in San Diego. Never did like the crowds or traffic out there even back then. Have A Great Ford Day!

[Multiford]

Looks like I'm the young one of the bunch. Graduated hs and joined the Navy in 83 at 17 years old. Spent 6 years working on aircraft electronics. My first duty station was NAS Cubi Point, Phillipines, then NAS Lemoore, CA., and finally, the USS Constellation. Then got out to make my own life. Spent 7 years bouncing around without direction. The only steady thing I had going for me was the National Guard which my grandpa tricked me into joining. I was a heavy equipment operator with the Guard and on the civilian side, after working in construction (labor), on farms (more labor), factories (anybody own a La-Z-Boy chair or a BBQ grill?), and driving 18-wheelers, I somehow managed to become a mechanic by default, eventually landing a job with a Case ag dealer, then later, a Cat dealer. Had a hard time settling down. Spent all my money on old Ford trucks, booze, and women. I quit drinking after I wrecked one of my trucks one night. The roll-over wreck was out in the woods on a dirt road and me and my two friends walked away from it, and I towed the truck in the next morning. I looked at that as a gift from God and I put the booze away. Life took another bad turn for me in 96. I sold all my old Fords except for my two favorites, a 72 F-350 and a 72 F-100 4X4. Then I bought a 86 F-150 4X4 because I needed a truck that was actually working and driveable. Went back in the Navy and joined the Seabees as a Construction Mechanic. Did another 4-1/2 years. Ok, let's do the math. My time in the National Guard gave me another 2 years worth of active duty. 6 + 4.5 + 2 = 12.5 years. Only 7-1/2 more years and I could retire with 20. But no, I'm still thinking that I can do better on my own. So I get out again, this time dragging a wife and 2 kids with me. I had it made in the Navy, just didn't realize it. We almost got divorced BECAUSE I got out! I got a job at a Case dealer and also went back in the National Guard. Less than 2 years later, I'm in Iraq. Spent 14 months over there. Came home and decided that things just weren't working out at Case, so I went to work full time for the Guard as a civilian technician. It's a very good job, but I still kick myself in the rear every morning for getting out of the Navy. Some decisions are just hard to reconcile with.

[68 Ford Stepside]

I've always said I'd like to go back in time & change some decisions I made back then, but if I could I would want to know what I know now.LOL! Have A Great Ford Day!