Well, How did I get here..................

Thinking back to the formative days of my youth, the '60's the world was being turned upside down.  America was embroiled in a war that many had any idea why it started or how it would end.  All that was certain is a lot of young men were dying or returning how maimed.  My mother was terrified that I would end up with them.  A ground swell of counter culture had landed itself in the main stream of life that the 'establishment' did not understand.  Drugs, peace symbols, sit-in's, long hair, a completely new genre of music had landed in full force.  In '68, I was 10 years old wondering what this was all about.  I must admit I was definitely on-board with 'ban the bra' .  I was much more fascinated with the Apollo program and going to the moon.  I guess there was some kind of bliss in my ignorance.

By 1972, I started having an understanding of world politics and a little more insight to the issues at hand.  My father, who served 21 years in the Navy was at odds with himself.  He had served in World War II, Korea and almost went to South Vietnam as an adviser.  He was dealing with a personal turmoil with his stance toward the war.  As a military man, he believed that it was each American's duty to report when called.  On the other hand, what they were reporting for didn't make any sense.  I think this typified the attitude of many veterans.  I did make a personal choice if I was drafted, I would go.  My father told me he would support me either way.  My father often drove me to hard decisions without any help.  The draft ended in '72 and

that choice never had to be made.  My choice instead was to join the Marines in '76.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I grew up, became part of something very special and made friends that I still have today.  At that time, the possibility of the world being vaporized in a nuclear cloud was very real.  Tensions with the Soviets was very high.  There were other hot spots in the world, mostly from the two world powers fighting each other by proxy.  So much was happening unbeknownst to the public.  Probably a good thing.

I received some very good training from the military and was able to use it as a bedrock of a career.  I was riding high on the excess of the '80's.  At the time, I servicing home and professional audio equipment; and there was a lot of work to be had!  I was making very good money for someone my age and pretty full of myself.  Gratitude and humility were not words in my vocabulary.  Where I was in California, the Bay Area, was the epicentre of integrated circuit design.  Small start-up companies were exploding all looking for technical talent.  Many died off, but some grew to be today's giants.  By the late '80's, my skills opened the doors to engineering groups.  Now I was working along side engineers, prototyping and debugging their ideas and coming up with a few of my own. My attitude and competence placed me in positions normally reserved for degreed engineers.  One of my original plans was to use my G.I. bill for school and get an degree in electrical engineering.  My ego an mind set poo poo'd that.  I had made it!

Along came the '90's.  The industry slowed down, but it was far from dead.  Companies had started to use contractor's to fill manpower voids.  I would get hired on for a set time frame; 3mos. to a year and then I would be cut loose. For the most part, I was still walking from job to job without much difficulty.  The economy was in good shape, but things were changing overseas, especially China.  Many companies, to stay competitive were sending designs overseas to be built by the Chinese for 1/10 the cost.  Consumers were getting what they want: all the toys for dirt cheap.  What that meant for me is a highly competitive job market.  The days of showing up and getting hired turned into multiple level interviews with competition.  Contracts were shorter and I was starting to have to accept lower rates of pay.  The gravy days were over.

In 2002, I landed a job with a local company that build hearing assistance devices.  I was the engineering tech, supporting 3 engineers.  The company was small which allowed many of my ideas to be heard and I was an integral part of team.  I liked it.  My group was intelligent, friendly and great to be around.  This company, after 6 months, hired me direct and I really felt like, for once in my carrier, I had found a home an I would work another 20 years and retire.  I got married, bought a house and was just going to enjoy life.  Fate is not without a perverse sense of humor.

I had been diagnosed with Hepatitus C in the late '90's.  It was dormant at the time and nothing to worry about.  The only place I could think of getting from was the service.  They were using those pneumatic inoculation guns at that time and the one used on me got a quick wipe with a piece of gauze before I got my shot.  Well, my HCV went active in 2006 and I had to undergo the treatment.  The gory details I will leave for another day.  I had long term health insurance from the company I was at but it only lasted 3 months and it was quite obvious I was going to be off work for a long time.  I had to go on SSDI.  The other side of all the meds I had to deal with left me with some serious problems.  I have cognitive difficulties, my long and short term memory was compromised.  I had serious mental stamina problems.  I acquired diabetes.  I had be come bi-polar and clinically depressed.  For the most part, I really wasn't aware of what was going on with me.  During this time period, the economy 'adjusted'.  This was 2008.  During this time frame, I got behind on my mortgage, was upside down on the house, didn't have any good job prospects.  Walking in to an interview with a huge 2 year hole in your resume doesn't give the interviewer a warm fuzzy feeling.  I did do some day labor stuff, but taking into account gas, milage, etc. it didn't really pay off.

I finally got an opportunity that was back in engineering again.  Had a great boss, good coworks and exciting product.  That lasted a year until I got in an argument with the department manager and he fired me.  Finally got on some meds to deal with my bipolar/depression and that seems to under control.  I have had a couple jobs since, do to numerous factors, the just don't seem to last.  The pill I am having to swallow is that my body is pretty warn down.  I am far from that robust go/do anything person of 15 years ago.  As a Marine, this is really hard to absorb.

How do I make money in this new economy?  I have a couple of MLM groups that I work with are producing some cash.  Like for many, the MLM/Affiliate concept is a idea that I am working my head around.  I think for many of us, for whatever reason can't do the 'go to' job, these work from home opportunities are going to be what we're left with.

If you would like to see what I am doing now, click this link.  Elite Drop Shippers Let me know if you have any interest.  Believe me there's more to it than you might think.