Since life is composed by and large of work, I will give a brief description of myself in the context of my professions. I think this in itself would give you the best index of what kind of person I am.
I left home and went to work on ships at the age of 15.
I lived at sea for five straight years so by the time I was 20 years old I didn't have a divers license but I was trained and qualified as a helmsman, new everything there was to know about signals, use a radar, perform ship bosun duties, use a fathometer, tie crazy knots and much more. I lived life at a fast pace. At sea, you either pull your weight or you don't make it.
I also became a member of the damage control and rescue party and learned fire fighting, emergency first-aid and countless other things in regards to ship emergencies.
I could easily write an entire book about the experiences I had during those five years, the people I met, languages I started learning and the unique things I learned about both the top and bottom of life. I have seen poverty in third world countries the likes of which I couldn't before even imagine. While less than a one day sail away were places literally called "Paradise Island".
I have personally been to every island between Florida and Venezuela (except Cuba). This includes the Bahama and Carribean islands. Aside from learning how to sail I learned things about life that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I've been zip linning in Dominica, surfing in Barbados and rock climbing in Aruba. However, what I value more than anything is what I learned about living out on my own at an early age. And while this fact alone nearly got me killed more than once (quite literally) I wouldn't trade what I learned for anything. There is nothing that will make you grow up faster than getting hanging off the side of a ship in a hurricane with nothing below you but the open sea or running for your life from local natives and somehow living through it all tell the tale. It was an adventure I will never forget.
The years I spent there I wouldn't trade for anything.
At the age of 20 I was back on land in San Jose
If you remember in 2007 was the huge real estate crash. Well, I happened to get hired as a receptionist at a real estate office at that time. I was getting between 3-5 calls a day...
Needless to say, I was bored stiff. With all of that spare time on my hands I decided to make a new organizational pattern that as far as I know hasn't been ever done before. I interviewed each of our employees, mapped out a internal organizational structure, worked out the exact flow lines through the office and drew this up into a proposal for the Broker. After a two hour meeting, my Broker gave me the go ahead and a nice bonus for my efforts.
I shortly thereafter moved to an in-charge of one of the three divisions of the company responsible for all property management, marketing and company finances. This wasn't part of the proposal but I wasn't complaining.
In just two short years during what was called the worst time of real estate, I was able to help our company move from having an average of 30 listings on the market to 325. The number of properties we had for sale was increasing and so were our sales. The last month I was there before leaving the company we sold over 40 properties in that month alone.
We were the most successful and affluent real estate company in the entire Santa Clara Bay Area with only 15 employees.
Feeling that I had made a significant contribution to the company, with my two year agreement at an end, I decided it was time for me to move on to another field.
The money was great and for me the work couldn't have been any easier. But I find that happiness doesn't come from living the easy life doing a job that you're doing only for the money. The value of a life well lived I don't believe is measured in dollars. It's measured in accomplishment, spending time doing what you love, helping others and if you can, making the world a better place to live for all of us. Because at the end of this life, the money you leave behind isn't going to be what matters.
Besides, who could compare the thrill of jumping off a waterfall in Saint Vincent to selling real estate in San Jose?
No, the desk job at this stage of my life wasn't for me.
You may not think about it much, but there's a lot of printed stuff sitting around on this planet.
I moved to Los Angeles and got a position working at a print shop.
I helped with the formitive stages and since I had a background in logistics from my job in Real Estate, I was placed in charge of all purchasing connected with building a 180,000 square foot print facility. So for the next four months I worked long hours driving around LA getting everything that needed to be gotten in order to do all the electical, HVAC, drywall, plumbing, lighting and whatever else was needed. 200 gallons of paint and over half a million staples later, we had a print shop.
I was originally brought on to load paper into a machine that binds magazines. But thanks to my hard work during the renovations and my high aptitude, within two months of starting production I had moved up to take over the entire bindery. This included the applications unit as well as the screen printing division.
Long story short, I did that for eight years. I started out knowing absolutely nothing about the print industry and now know everything there is to know from lamination to printing t-shirts. I can personally perform any of those operations now and have had a lot of fun over the years.
Many have asked me over the years to write a book about the life I've lived so far.
I doubt I ever will. Sure, I've lived a cool life so far, but I don't think it's so far stretched as to compare with the fiction or war heros that are on stands today. Besides, if you've read through to here, you'll see that writing isn't my cup of tea.
When asked by associates or friends how it is I learned all that I did, I usually just smile and shrug. That's mainly because I don't have a good answer for them.
I have many other hobbies such as playing music, photography, drawing, programming, gaming and sports of all kind. A life is as unique as there are numbers of people. I don't think the point of life is to show off but rather to live it how you see fit. Otherwise, what's the point?
This has been my short story up till now and we'll see what the future holds. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments.