About
I’m a small town kid that has some big city past. I love to be outdoors as much as possible even in the middle of the beautiful winters here in Minnesota. I have a passion for hunting, fishing, and health.
Paul with Ontario Pike
Since I was a young boy I’ve always been crazy about fishing. I would sit on the end of the dock in the warm sunshine all day just content to take home a catch of panfish. Mom and Dad would help me eat them and they were fresh and delicious. Growing up in Baxter Minnesota near Brainerd, there was a plentiful supply of lakes and fish.
In the winter, I’ve always loved to sit out on the silent ice in the ice fishing shack with a warm wood stove crackling with life. I love when the northern pike appear and run with the bait. Now that was exciting.
I have fond memories of fishing in Ontario Canada and catching endless pike on a vacation with the uncles and cousins as well.
As I grew older, my curious mind always encouraged me to take things apart to see how they worked. They would seldom work as they had once I had completed dissecting the gadgets, but I learned as I tinkered. This led eventually to me creating small but fun homemade electronic and mechanical toys.
One of my early ways of making a few bucks was trapping. I used to run trap lines with my Dad for muskrat, beaver, and mink. We trapped a good quantity of muskrats and beavers. Back in those days, a muskrat fur brought a nice price. It was a great way for a kid to make a few bucks and enjoy the outdoors.
2008 Buck
I would always hunt for deer and ruffed grouse with my Dad in the fall seasons. Ruffed grouse is still one of my favorite birds for table fare, and it’s hard to beat spicy venison jerky!
My last job before leaving home was a few summers working for Potlatch Paper. I did quite a few things for Potlatch including working on the railroad track crew, working on the yard crew, and hustling broke paper with a forklift. It was great pay and put me through my associate’s degree in college.
My first career after leaving home was as a candy cook. Cooking candy in a factory was like a real world Willie Wonka land. It included the need to taste the candy to assure the quality. This processed cured me of a sweet tooth for life.
After time as a cook, I decided to head back to school and get a degree in Electronics and Computer Systems. I graduated from NEI College of Technology and was nominated as an honor grad. At my honor grad review, I was asked where I saw myself in the next five years. I responded, “Going back to school.” This did not go over well with the faculty resulting in them not granting the full honor grad status. I went on to work for over 8 years as an electronics technician, and was a warranty repair tech for Sony, Canon, Hitachi, Panasonic, and other manufacturers. It was interesting and fun. A day of troubleshooting component level electronics was like solving puzzles.
Paul with Les Paul
I’ve played in several music groups ranging in styles from psych/dream-pop and ambient electronica to music with a western twang. Some of the groups are the Defective Infants, Shapeshifter, Ousia, and Di Dollari, and the current group Euphonograph.
Home studio recording has been a passion of mine as well for a long time. I started out young working with 4 track reel to reel machines such as a dokorder reel to reel. I worked with cassette 4 tracks as well. Since then I’ve upgraded to a decent home studio incorporating a Soundcraft Ghost 24 channel recording console paired up with a Tascam HD 24 digital deck.
To be discussed further:
- Software Engineer Career
- Family, Children.