THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Some thing asides truck problems, politics, natural disaster and the general decline of civilization.

The first part of my member name is pretty obvious, the second part, for some, may not be. For 11 years I had what I considered to be the best job in the world, a military Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech. I left that career behind in 1988, but never found that sort of excitement or camaraderie again in future jobs.

About a month ago, amidst a honeydew project, I made several trips to Lowes HIW. On the last trip, when I finally got the right stuff to finish the job, I came out to the parking lot and found a guy eyeballing the Pinz. It turned out that I knew him, we had never met, but he was well known in the EOD community back when I was part of it. Anyway, to make a long story short, he is now a program manager for a civilian contract outfit working for the military, doing EOD work. His human resources guy, Tim, is my best friend from those days gone by. Turns out, Tim has lived less than 2 miles from me here in Vegas for the last 4 years. I called him up, he and his wife came over, beer, BBQ, etc, etc. Oh wait, I said short...

Tomorrow is my first day.

Congrates on the new job.

Miles

I feel you. Jim T and I started Ramona Motors because we wanted to start our own business that had something to do with Pinzgauers. Congratulations on the new job, sometimes all the pieces do fall into place!

Congrat's on being lucky enough to find a job doing something that you really love. After the events of 9/11 I was watching a news broadcast about thoses who were lost. Most of these people were young and up and coming in their jobs. Most had spent much of their short lives either in school to get a good job or working their way up to acheive career goals. I would have expected most to have been just doing what they needed to do to support their family and not doing what they really loved. Their lives were cut short before they had a chance to really reach the job that they had worked so hard to get.

I looked at my 12 year career and all of the things that I had sacrificed by being on the road away from my family and decided that I needed to find a job that did more for me than just a paycheck. I went back to something that I truely loved when younger. I went back and became an artist. Growing up I was told that there simply was no money in that business and that I needed to find a real job to support my family.

Looking back now I can not believe that for 12 years I just did what I had to do, never really enjoying my efforts. The last 5 years have had the typical highs and lows (just ask my wife) but I have loved every day of my new career. When you do what you really love and are passionate about, it does not feel like "work". I wish that I had done this years ago and I am sure that you will feel the same way when you return to your new (old) career.

Good luck with the new job. Remember that being happy at work is just as important (if not more) as the pay check on Friday.

It is particularly satisfying when a hobby of yours--especially if it is an obscure one--leads to a connection or friendship that in some way enhances your professional life. I too have benefited from meeting people who take notice of my Haflinger and from my other pursuits such as fly fishing. In fact the CEO of a billion dollar company pulled up in his Aston Martin recently to inquire about my Haflinger.

pulled up in his Aston Martin recently to inquire about my Haflinger.

Did you offer to swap?

I wish I had. It was a v12 Aston Martin Vanquish--I believe those go for somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000. As much as I would miss my Haflinger, I think I could stomach such a trade.

HafWit wrote:I wish I had. It was a v12 Aston Martin Vanquish--I believe those go for somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000. As much as I would miss my Haflinger, I think I could stomach such a trade.

I had someone offer to trade their one year old STS Cadillac for my Pinz... I just couldn't see taking it through a couple of feet of mud.