@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ In early 2020 I became president of the local radio club, Ole Virginia Hams. I d
The second half of 2022 saw me not very active in the hobby due to illness. Yes, I got Covid; and I’ve had some lingering issues from it. But most of it was the fact I lost complete trust in my employer after forcing it upon me through lies, deception, and general disrespect. It had been a very long time coming, far too long by some standards. But it put me in a situation where I had to sell all of my station to get by. The good news is, a couple of wonderful OM from the local club got a HF rig into my hands over the holidays; and a Yaesu FT-1000MP MKV at that.
The second half of 2022 saw me not very active in the hobby due to illness. Yes, I got Covid; and I’ve had some lingering issues from it. But most of it was the fact I lost complete trust in my employer after forcing it upon me through lies, deception, and general disrespect. It had been a very long time coming, far too long by some standards. But it put me in a situation where I had to sell all of my station to get by. The good news is, a couple of wonderful OM from the local club got a HF rig into my hands over the holidays; and a Yaesu FT-1000MP MKV at that.
###Outside Of Radio
###Outside Of Radio
For close to 20 years I spent my working life as a coin-op technician; fixing pinball machines, video arcade games, jukeboxes, slot machines, and anything in general that took a coin. I enjoyed the job, just not who I was doing it for at times. It physically destroyed my body, resulting in a L4-L5 spinal herniation that will be a problem for the rest of my life; pain, lack of flexibility, and nerve damage. I did return to it for a few years after recovering; but post-pandemic things quickly began to fall apart. Between the issues with the employer at the time and my physical injuries; I knew I couldn’t continue doing it for any length of time. I had already dealt with six months of major back issues after the pandemic due to being overworked. My employer was getting angry at me for being injured…when it was the same conditions that lead to the injury 7 years prior. I did however find “stable-enough” income as an IT support freelancer.
For close to 20 years I spent my working life as a coin-op technician; fixing pinball machines, video arcade games, jukeboxes, slot machines, and anything in general that took a coin. I enjoyed the job, just not who I was doing it for at times. It physically destroyed my body, resulting in a L4-L5 spinal herniation that will be a problem for the rest of my life; pain, lack of flexibility, and nerve damage. I did return to it for a few years after recovering; but post-pandemic things quickly began to fall apart. Between the issues with the employer at the time and my physical injuries; I knew I couldn’t continue doing it for any length of time. I had already dealt with six months of major back issues after the pandemic due to being overworked. My employer was getting angry at me for being injured…when it was the same conditions that lead to the injury 7 years prior. I did however find “stable-enough” income as an IT support freelancer.
The other issue with my prior career was it made me enjoy a few hobbies much less. For years I loved playing with electronic circuits; but after spending numerous hours doing electronics stuff at work, I had no desire to come home and do the same. This moderately affected my love of hi-fi gear, as I wasn’t interested in fixing the things anymore. It did however push me in to doing other things; like homelabbing and coding. This paid off in a way; as I was able to parlay some of that into a replacement job.
The other issue with my prior career was it made me enjoy a few hobbies much less. For years I loved playing with electronic circuits; but after spending numerous hours doing electronics stuff at work, I had no desire to come home and do the same. This moderately affected my love of hi-fi gear, as I wasn’t interested in fixing the things anymore. It did however push me in to doing other things; like homelabbing and coding. This paid off in a way; as I was able to parlay some of that into a replacement job.