My professional background is lame, which is probably why I stopped doing it.
I started working in a movie store in the mall, where for less than $6 an hour I got to take it easy all day. After deciding my free time was worth more than $6 an hour, I moved on to work for Blizzard as a World of Warcraft game-master. That was a ton of fun, and a bit better money. Unfortunately, at some point there was a pretty hefty turnover in the management team, and the focus shifted from epic customer satisfaction to epic hurry the !#@% up and close more tickets. I don't react well to being told to hurry (read: I don't do it. I won't cause a panic in myself and stress out over someone else's demands) but I especially don't react well to being told to produce poor quality work. So after a while of me continuing to do the best job I could at whatever pace happy customers allowed they sent me packing. Enter my next position as Tier 1 over-the-phone Tech Support for Electronic Arts. I really learned a lot there, that has influenced much of the course of my life since. I learned that I will never again set foot in a call center, I learned that I will never again work as a wage-slave for an Indian-based company. I learned the benefits of standing up for yourself in the workplace, I learned how liberating it can be to walk out of a terrible job. Above all, I learned what is and isn't necessary to be happy. I could go on for paragraphs on that last point, but that belongs in a different thread/forum.
The point is, after that I quit altogether, and have shifted my focus to efficiency and self-reliance, rather than finding a better paycheck.
As far as education, I've been formally trained a while in both automotive, and computer systems. Both are a hobby of mine, but neither have become a profession. I got my A+ license (entirely on accident) just about the time that it became an entirely irrellevant certification, and decided I didn't want to put in for a proper education just to fight an increasingly saturated job market. I had an absolute blast spending a summer learning 12 volt installations, audio theory, a bit of basic fiberglassing, and some custom fabrication at a vocational school.
My hobbies, probably in order, are anything with wheels and a motor, tools, computers, video games, zombies, unreasonably loud stereos, alternative housing, woodwork, and stuff that flies.
I like to take old and busted and make it into something useful again. The results don't always look like new, but if it works like something new... I sometimes call myself the Maharajah of Hillbillistan, given the "custom" appearance of my... mobile living quarters.
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