1996: Just started high school. Lots and lots of skateboarding, BMX, mountain biking and playing drums. Got my first bass guitar that year as well. Delivered newspapers for the 4th and final year. Grew my hair long because "it was cool". Sold my go-kart and minibike (really wish I kept those) because my parents bought me the neighbor's dead 1985 Honda Civic Wagovan for $50 to tinker with instead. Played a lot of video games, but that was nothing new.
I had my life uprooted several times, moving from south Florida to Trinidad right as they had a coup attempt. We had a difficult cultural fit and moved twice while there then came back to the US three or four months into what was to be a two year stay. We had sold our house, vehicles, everything for the move, so when we came back we went from a hotel in south Florida to church provided housing in Atlanta, to staying at my grandmother's house in Ohio. I sold my computer (one of my few lifelines to stability) to a friend in Trinidad that somehow came up with $600 or $700 in US cash, and bought a nicer one once we were settled a bit in Ohio. I was home schooled in Ohio so made all my friends through the computer. I ended up hanging out with a bunch of older computer geeks and made a lot of good friends that way. That was 1990-1991 so "making friends online" was not a thing normal kids did. We moved from grandma's house into a rental in suburban Columbus, then into a weirdo apartment set up in an office building downtown.
I think that (coupled with a few other long distance moves as a kid) cemented my resolve to have roots somewhere. I bought my first house at 22. I had no interest in moving all over the world. I wanted a home. Columbus was as good as anywhere, so I made it Columbus.
I did do some programming and started my own small business at about 16, reselling electronics I bought from auctions.
All that to say: at 14, I was not making blind spot cameras, but I also wasn't smoking weed behind the gym with the misfits. I probably could have benefited from the weed smoking misfits.
1988RedT2 said:I miss safe cars you could actually see out of, like the Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon.
SO MUCH THIS. It's a real hobby horse of mine.
Working around the farm, with my gentleman farmer Dad. Rebuilt the engine in our 1952ish Farmall C tractor, upgrading to Farmall Super C pistons and sleeves (jugs). Convinced my Dad to try socket wrenches.
Made grand plans to resurrect the '40 Buick parked in the "south 40".
Apparently moved on from reading Archie comic books to CARtoons magazine.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_RHUGrO4ZoTLWRJSThnNW9RYVk?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_RHUGrO4ZoTemlZVUNTVGQzb1E?usp=sharing
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