The Texas BBQ Forum

Job list is kinda short on my end. Jan. 23, 1983 walked in the doors of UPS. After a double 360* fusion (L4-L5-S1), toe surgery on both feet (at the same time), right wrist fused and 18 dogs bites I walked out the door Aug. 28, 2013. Now they and the Teamsters pay me to do what ever I want and nothing I don't.
Bide my time between friends, family, college basketball, college baseball and NHRA. Of course never miss an opportunity to build a fire and throw a hunk of animal flesh in the dry sauna for a long low smoke bath.

Wastewater Superintendent for a municipality in East Texas.

Sous chef, The Beehive, hot springs village.

Before I retired 15 years ago I was in the computer support business keeping corporations chunking with very large data warehousing systems.
I had responsibility for the western US and many other countries. Makes retirement all that much more blissful.

So now for 15 years I have not carried a cell phone or a pager and rarely answer the home phone, life is good......

Been doing auto body repair my entire life. My dad started me early, like 8 years old.
This is where I hang my hat.



Getting close to retirement. I kinda go to work when I'm needed and that ain't a lot any more.

I do have a project I work on at the shop just cause my flat rate techs don't want to.
I'm building a cabinet for a entertainment center for a good customer that will hang on his wall



Bill

I have an update as far as employment goes, and also the reason I'm not on here as much as usual. I have had to suspend operations of my brokerage and seek employment that can provide me good health insurance. As a small business owner I just couldn't get a PPO plan that my specialists would take, so now at 60 yrs old, I am driving a truck for FedEx ground working 5 12 hr days. Drastic change for me, but I'm losing weight and feeling better.

Great stories! :)

I'm a registered nurse (RN) by training - worked in NICU ~14 years in Beaumont and Houston, attended ~3k deliveries during that time. I went back to school in the evenings and got an MBA in '99. Out of healthcare for a few years back working at my dad's company ( http://www.ayresinc.com ), in 2003 I answered an ad for a company wanting an administrator for a local branch of a national hospice. I've been running a hospice since 2003, got married in 2004, my wife and I began our company ( http://www.compassionhospice.org ) in 2007 and have had 4 beautiful children that are now 3, 5, 9 and 11. I worked as a photographer full-time 2008-2013 as a second job to support the family and company during the startup years. Still photograph the occasional wedding ( http://www.bellafotografica.com )

I've always liked to cook (lived single until I married at 41 :) ), began BBQ competing this year to both improve my technique and advertise the company a bit. Plus it gets me out of the house I love to mud with my Rzr and travel with the family when not working 24/7.

Civil Engineer by education. Worked construction all my career initially in the Marine Pipeline Construction, Inshore and near Offshore Dredging, Offshore Platform Fabrication, Steel and Pipe Fabrication, and Boiler Manufacturing. Worked 31 years for the same company in South Louisiana, Scotland, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi. A total of 7 years for two other companies in the Offshore Platform Fabrication business in Texas. Retired 5 years from 2004 to 2009 and again in 2013.

Retired now, spent most of my time turning crude oil into useful stuff, and getting products on-spec where they needed to go. Chemical Engineer by degree, I worked for Diamond Shamrock (now Valero), a short stint at Dow Chemical, and Marathon Petroleum Corporation (was Marathon Ashland when I joined them). Worked my way through school doing independent custody transfer inspection with marine transport; I worked in & out of refineries, chemical plants, and storage terminals along the USGC from Brownsville, TX to Taft & Norco, LA. My wife is still working, currently at Andeavor (formerly Tesoro). I had my share of minimum wage dead end jpbs prior to that starting at Wendy's in high school.

I grew up in Corpus Christi, TX but I've moved around a lot, happy with where we're at in San Antonio currently. I've always enjoyed cooking, especially outdoor cooking.

I have spent the last 45 years working on Two Way radios, phones fixed and mobile, pagers and computers. The last 22 years are with the State of Texas currently with the Texas Department of Public Safety. I have traveled all over Texas to perform maintenance on equipment and have evicted numerous critters from the warm places they find during the cool winter months, from snakes to ring tale cats....
my normal abode is below.

For the past 2.5 years I've been on the Cameron LNG Project in Hackberry, LA. I'm a Safety Coordinator for McDermott International.

After being an entrepreneur for 13 years, running a couple of businesses in the Guitar gear industry, I decided to get a "normal" job. It pays pretty well, and I'm thankful to have the job, but I can't wait to get back to being my own boss eventually. Hopefully doing something with meat and smoke the next time around. :)

What's the Name and Location of your Axe Gear Bizzes ?

I originally owned a Store/Webstore called Tone Factor. It's now defunct, but there are a ton of our old product demo videos up on Youtube if you want to see what we were all about. I sold it to a Japanese owner around 2011. It lasted about 6 years or so without me but they closed up shop last year. Around 2007 I founded a guitar pedal company called Mojo Hand Fx, which is still alive and well and can be found here: https://mojohandfx.com/ I sold it a few years ago and I miss it terribly.

thanks, nice electronics been a while but what model Gibson is that demonstrator playing ?

OldUsedParts wrote:thanks, nice electronics been a while but what model Gibson is that demonstrator playing ?

I’d have to see which video you’re referencing. We made a couple hundred over the years.