Well where to begin? I am sure that most people don't have a lot of memories of me since I was only a part of the Catty experience my junior and senior year but here is a little info on what I have been up to since then.After graduation I moved to New Jersey to live with my dad. Tried the whole work thing working on cars and wasn't feeling all that fulfilled, that took about 2 years. I decided to move back to Kansas City to get an education. I ended up going to Northwest Missouri State University and graced them with my presence for 5 years and getting my BS in Industrial Technology. Upon Graduation I got a job with Butler Manufacturing in their Customs Engineering Department, specifically their international side of the business. Little did I know that I would be given multiple opportunities to travel. I became what is called an Expatriot, US citizen living and working in other countries for extended periods of time. I helped my company with start-up operations in other countries. Training the Engineering teams on product and process and helping develop the products specific to that region for our plants to manufacture. By the way we design, Engineer and manufacture steel framed building. Most of my time was spent in China. I lived in China for almost 2 years, coming home for vacation once or twice a year. I did the same in Brazil and Mexico. Of course I got married before my first long term assignment and you imagine from there how that marriage went. Divorced after 3 years. I have since given up the long term traveling and now I am in charge of an Engineering team and still with the same company after 15 years. I do have a daughter, Hayli who is 5, you are right, if you do the math you will realize I did not have her with my ex-wife. She is from a relationship I had years after that and unfortunately that relationship didn't work out but we are very good friends and our daughter is very happy and spoiled.
I have recently picked up on a new hobby. I got hooked on American Chopper and thought I would try and build my own chopper. I figure if those guys could build one surely I can. Well after about 4 months of trial and error I finished the bike you see my sitting on in the picture to the left. Pretty happy with it and looking forward to trying it again. Probably a lot more info here then anyone wanted to hear but that is the very abbreviated version of my life after Catty. This whole blog thing is new to me so hopefully I did this correctly. Hope to see everyone at the reunion.
Ray
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Where I have been!
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23 comments:
I love that bike. Guys, let's all say it at once, "I WANT ONE".
Good to hear from you, Ray. Long time.
Welcome aboard. I will not let my fiance see this blog and he'll be building his own bike!!
welcome Ray, good to hear about your life. sweet ride.
Welcome Ray, from one expat to another!
Ray- Great to hear from you! Will you be riding the chopper to the reunion?
Wow, didn't think I would get this kind of response so fast. Thanks to everyone chimming in. Rob, I would love to ride the bike to the reunion but that is a long haul on this type of bike. I am taking it to Sturgis this year so we will see how hard of a ride that is.
Ray, you look great! I'd love to hear about the time you spent in other countries.
I'm a fan of both of Jessie James' shows so I've gotta tell ya, that's a sweet bike!
Thanks Donna, appreciate the compliments.....I actually have a couple of Jessie's parts on this bike along with Billy Lane.
Ray - I had to break out the year book to verify that you did go to Catty. Man you changed. I was reading the bio and was thinking "who is this"? Great bio! Glad to hear that you are doing well.
Ray, sounds like you have been quite busy! The bike is cool! I'll have to show the pic to my neighbor, he is a huge harley guy. But, he too built a bike or halfway/something like that! Sounds like life has given you lots to try! Good for you!!! It will be nice to see you at the reunion! And your little girl is so adorable! (congrats)
See Randy, that is the kind of response I was expecting from everyone. Anyway thanks and I hope all is well with you. Thanks Andrea for the compliment and it will be nice to see everyone as well.
Ray - I guess we didn't have too much interaction in high school. Oh well, that was a long time ago and it sure is great to see that things are going great for you. The bike looks great.
Ray,
Great to hear from you. I think you had more to say on the blog than you did in 2 years of baseball we played together (of course I'm being funny here...but it is GREAT to hear from you). It looks like life has been treating you well...Looks like you could still bring that fastball - Do you still play any sports?
I had a chance to be an ex-pat in Canada and Australia, but I opted to just do some "Short-term" training and make my way home (Didn't go to Australia - Webex!!). I also went to Denmark and the UK - Great experiences...
Looks like you have a "Daddy's girl" to me -great picture!
Jeff
Hey Jeff, great to hear from you. There were several times I wanted to give the expat thing up but just couldn't turn down the chance to see these other countries. China was deffiniately the hardest. I still stay pretty active, I play a lot of softball in the summer...I was playing in a semi-pro baseball league for awhile but gave it up due to lack of time. They traveled quite a bit and I just couldn't do it. I have been swinging the golf clubs lately and if I could find a way to take my practice swing to the tee box with me, all would be good. Until then I will just continue to yell FOUR after every swing. Some day I will find that straight ball flight.
And yes she is deffiniately a daddy's girl!
Ray - did you say golf????? Looks like we have another for our little golf outing at the reunion. Another one tagged and bagged. Ray we are golfing at Willow Brook the morning of the reunion. Let me know if you are interested in playing.
I also hope you attend the reunion. I broke down and showed my fiance your bio and he's dying to talk to you.
How is Sturgis? We watched a show about it and it seems crazy to me. My fiance is excited to do "Rolling Thunder" this weekend in DC. He's a vet so it means alot to him.
Hope to hear from you again soon. Please try to come to the reunion.
You bet Randy, I would be interested in playing.
Well Sonya I haven't made it to Sturgis yet. This year will be my first trek up there. Should be interesting to say the least. I will be at the reunion barring any emergencies. Look forward to bike talk with your fiance.
Ray- your girl is too cute! I'm glad to see you're well. How's your Mom and brother?
Hey Terri! Great to hear from you and thanks for the comment on my daughter. My mom is doing very well, she lives here in Kansas City. I haven't talked to my brother in quite some time, as you know, the two of us were never that close. My mom talks to him regularly and keeps me informed and it sounds like he doing well considering all the problems he has had with his life.
How have you been? Are you going to make it to the reunion?
First of all you look great and your daughter is way cute. And as much as I hate agreeing with 'personal foul' Perdick, I was thinking the same thing he was while reading your bio.
Sounds like you've had a long, strange trip so far, but imho that's what's it's all about (rumor has it that life is a participation sport).
Anyway, I'd love to hear more about your time in China when you have the time and/or the inclination. And it bears repeating that your ride is sweet.
Hey Tod, great to hear from you as well. I have to say that my life has been one unique journey to say the least.
China was a trip to say the least. Arriving in China is always the best part. 22 hours of flight time plus 4 to 5 hours of layover in Japan. Arrive in China in the greatest of moods only to be greeted by a mob of people who don't shower or speak English...Just kidding.....So lets start with the common misconceptions. They don't all speak English, they aren't all short. They do all ride bikes and I am convinced that there is not an AUTHENTIC Chinese restaurant outside of China. I don't think the FDA would approve of a lot of what goes on over there in the restaurant buisness. Sanitation is not a high priority. Of course nothing goes to waste. Just when you think to yourself that they couldn't possibly eat that part of an animal, here is comes on a plate in a spice garlic sauce. Oh yeah, good times, good times. I can't believe the things I eat but it was all surprisingly good. Let me know what you would like to know about China, I would be more then happy to fill you in. If anything they will make for good drinking stories at the reunion.
Hi again! Sorry I took so long to respond. I'm not really sure about going to the reunion. So much has happened in the past year. I really should post a bio...when I figure out how to do that!
I'm glad your mom is well and I'm not surprised about your brother...he was never really the chatty type. ;) Hope your dad is well, too.
Hey Terri, Glad to hear from you! I hope everything is going well for you, you said a lot has happened in the last year, I hope it was all good. I hope you can make it to the reunion, it would be great to see you again. How is your mom and dad? My dad is doing pretty good, unfortuniately I don't talk to him very often either. He has never really made any attempt to be a part of my life or Hayli's so I really only talk to him on holidays and birthdays. I got a call from Steve Smith several months ago, he is living in Ohio now but we got cut off and I didn't get any of his contact information. So I hope he calls again. Anyway write back when you get a chance or you can e-mail me.
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