We all play bass, but often that's all we know about each other.

What else do you do? Day job? School? Hobbies?

I retired in 1999 from the Automobile (Porsche) restoration business. My 1st interest, playing steel guitar, 1948 thru 1964. 2nd interst, boat racing 1952 thru 1960. 3rd interst, Drag racing 1955 thru 1964. 4th interest, Playing bass guitar 1964 to present. 5th interst, Flying, (owned a Cessna 182 Skylane) 1969 thru 1975. 6th interest,collection and restoration of WW II weapons (M-1 Garands & Carbines)1975 thru 1995. Also during most of these years I was heavy into photography, hunting, fishing and skeet shooting. There were a few more but I don't want to bore anyone.
Rocky

I am in my 20th year teaching orchestra (4-5th and 9-12th grade) in town. Robin and I have been married for 5 years. She works for a bank as Customer Service Supervisor. Grace and Evan (see Family Pics thread) are the best thing to happen to us. We have a nice little house, fence, but no dog.

I spend as much time as I can with my family - which includes turning down gigs. I play in a cover band, church, jazz quartet and horn band.

More later as Grace is calling....

I spend all my time surfing the internet for pointless arguments.

I can't tell you anymore otherwise I'd have to kill you.

No. This year I've just got into running and completed my first half marathon today. I like to walk in what we call "mountains" in the UK, some of which can be quite serious in Winter, usually when I go.
Married with kids.
I work in Canary Wharf in London.

That should be imprecise enough for no one to steal my identity.

I'm retired & playing bass & guitar are now my major interests.

Previously I was a lecturer in Computing at Glasgow College of Commerce.

Other interests include photography and food!

G.

Day gig, International Representative for the American Federation of Musicians. My job is to help and assist 45 AFM local unions. My territory extends as far east as Minnesota & Iowa and also includes Alaska & Hawaii. Although I have had other interest in the past most of my time these days goes into my job and playing bass. Not a lot of time for much else.

Wally

Teacheer/Inclusion Manager at a Primary/Elementary School where I also coach football (soccer).

Hobbies and Interests: eating, restaurants, great coffee, geeky computer stuff, philology (not kidding) , languages, anglo-saxon history, human rights issues, global news etc

Used to be a civil engineer in local government, then switched to looking after computers when PCs came around. (not my best career decision, but a good life decision) I'm now a computer technician in a posh private school for mostly polite and well behaved girls, where I look after about 600 laptops and assorted desktop machines for students and staff. It's a pleasant, gentle working life. I am thinking about retiring in the middle of next year, when I will be 66 and a half years old.

My two children are grown up and have left home (the boy is in IT, the girl in astrophysics). I live happily with my wife of nearly 37 years in the house we bought 34 years ago in the leafy green eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

I daydream about travelling, go to the gym (so I'll look buffed in a sleeveless top when gigging), travel a bit in Oz practising to be a grey nomad, read a bit - particularly sci-fi (love Richard Morgan at the mo), and write long-winded posts in internet forums. I practice holding my bass and making low frequency noises.

I'm a senior designer at a company that builds special machines primarily for the automotive industry. Besides bass and guitar my other interests are computers and computer gaming, carpentry, arts and crafting. Just about anything that involves working with your hands I've probably dabbled in. I'm also a fan of movies and music.

besides playing and writing i am a goal keeper for a rec league soccer team. work as a banker and i am a pretty good weekend wrench. looking to get a 1964 lincolon.

I work as a community development project manager for a small charity. I manage a pre school, homework club, adult education classes, health promotion projects, advocacy work for local disadvantaged people.

I am finishing a Msc in Rural Community Development. I'm currently building a new home on the family homeplace - we've been there about 200 years. I'm also getting to grips with being a Dad to my 1yr old Daughter and learning that the apple does not fall far from the tree, this scares me a little.

I like reading bio's, thrillers, legal, sci fi, music & cook books. I like to cycle when I get the chance. I love drinking also good wine, real ales(google that) and good whisky however the hangover plus above responsibility prevent that happening too much now.

I am a Reliability Technologist for a heavy truck component supplier- whichc means I spend a great deal of time identifying failure modes and root causes for warranty issues. I'm involved in Reliablity, Warranty, a bit of Supply Chain, a bit ore of Engineering, it's quite diverse- most of the time.

Before that I was an automotive/ diesel technician for +- 12 years or so before I took this current job. I've had my hands in everything from high end Lincolns and Peterbilts to loaded garbage trucks and municipal sewage spreaders- I've got some good stories... The best thing about the whole experience is tha tI gained respect for a lot of things and a humbleness that I'm not above any job.

At home, I've been married for 6 years with 2 step kids and 2 of my own ages 11 to 3, all boys. I'm active in my church (is where I spend most of my bass time) and in stuff with the family.

Environmental Microbiologist for local Gov't; this includes Public Health (Drinking Water) and Environmental (Everglades, Intracoastal Waterway quality, etc.); 18 years.

The Internal Politics drives me crazy; the fact that I'm doing something good for a great number of people (and the environment) makes me stay.

US Navy, Retired. Currently employed as a Radiological Controls Supervisor at the CERCLA (that's an acronym for the big hole in the ground your tax dollars are being thrown into) site in Hanford, Wa. I need a bushel basket to catch all the stimulus money that's being thrown at me (yes, I feel for those doing without because they aren't at the government teet.) I'm too low a level to get involved in the daily politics that one sees at a government run, low bid independant contractor operated facility.

I play bass, putter around my house and cook out on the grills alot. I spend time spoiling my dogs. I visit a lot of the local wineries in Western Washington and my wife and I are kinda tight with some of the wine makers and owners. We have quite a diverse cellar full of local varieties.

Snore ...

Sounds like the opening of Fight Club.

I'm interested in pretty much anything I can get involved in. I love making things whether it's built with my hands or on a computer. I love to travel but I hardly ever get the chance at this point in my life (read: I'm broke and have been for some time now). I used to cycle quite a bit but I got rid of my bike when I moved to Boston and I haven't gotten another since.

In my short professional life I've done clerical work for an attorney for several years, managed a shoe store, worked in a fancy seafood restaurant, did call center credit card customer service, worked as a bank teller and most recently worked in recruiting for the same bank. Now I'm a bum almost weened from unemployment on gig money and I'm going back to school online to get my BS in accounting. I've already spent 5 years in 4 majors at 3 different colleges trying to figure out what would hold my interest long enough for me to graduate. I feel like I love to learn about new subjects but I'd rather get a healthy general understanding and move on. Jack of all trades, master of none. People seem surprised to find that I can fix their ceiling fan, install a new sink and fix their computer while talking about some obscure subject or cracking crude and tasteless jokes. I think it's pretty normal.

I've also developed a great appreciation for craft beers in last year or two. There are a good number of places around here that are practically like libraries of the beer world...it's a beautiful thing.

I'm starting to bore even myself so I guess that's all.

Bank employee by day, vigilante crime fighter by night I kid: I'm not a bank employee

No, seriously, I work for BNY Mellon's Brussels branch and have done so for 4 consecutive years now. Slowly looking at different options and hoping to get into HR (selection & recruitment) at some point, but not really working towards that as much as I should be.

As far as hobbies go, I have recently revived my love of comic books (Make Mine Marvel !) and have started collecting most of the hardcover editions of Marvel's Ultimate Universe. That collection is slowly nearing completion and I'm quite happy with it.

Other than that, I take an evening course in Italian, along with my girlfriend. Being half Italian I somewhat speak the lingo but not enough to my liking. I also periodically try to learn Norwegian, but somehow always manage to find other things to do (like the dreadfully boring Facebook or this here forum.)

I tried to learn Norwegian once. Not a good decision. Even for someone in the oil business. Oh yeah that's what I do. I'm in the oil business, trying to find new and better ways to exploit the worlds natural resources. I'm Abu Dhabi right now enjoying the heat.

Other than that I like cryptic crosswords, women and song. Oh yeah and I love comedy.

Davo

Hey Davo-L, why was it not a good decision ? I'm fine with reading and (to an extent) writing as long as it's fairly simple (and short) texts, but pronunciation is a killer. Wonder if I'll ever get that down. Provided I actually get back on track with my studies

I forgot to mention I :heart: beer. Long live Belgium for that !

I'm a public relations manager for a large IT company.

But nobody knows what that is, so I normally just tell people I'm a welder.

My turn here. After abandoning Psychology studies at the University (Once I finally discovered it was not the career for me) and playing clubs and parties since I was 14, I worked teaching music for several years at a school who was sponsored by Roland Musical instruments here in Caracas. Then I went as a full-fledged playing musician with some well known artists here in my country, for some years more. After that, in the middle 90s, I tried to move to Spain, where I have half my family, with hopes of making a music career in there. It didn't worked, and when I came back, spent a couple years more playing clubs and parties, trying to live solely on making music, but man was it a bad time around here for doing that. If it were not for my parents, I would have probably starved back then.

On 1996 I started teaching music at a school for mentally handicapped people that my mother founded in 1982 (She died on 2002), and eventually it also led me to work with them using computers as a learning/training aid. I finally stopped working at the school on 2005, after my mother died, when my dad and me resolved to give the school into the hands of my aunt and her daughter, who is also a Psycho-Pedagogyst, and who studied for that, unlike us -dad is retired, currently farm-working former architect-. On 1997 started working as a trainer in the wee early days of the Internet, at a local service provider. I eventually got promoted as System Operator (SysOp) of the company's system, which was formerly a BBS(*), and the company was sold to a multinational, of which I remain as Sysop/Webmaster/Tech op. It's not what I like the most, but 12 years after, is a job I can do easily. Now if I could only get enough willingness to get here on time (I know, it's psychological rejection). Since 2007 I also work as a news translator for the web page of a public radio station where I also have a radio show on Sundays (Which, by the way, is on a well-deserved temporary vacation after 4 hard years of uninterrupted work).

So, make it IT-field worker/Translator/Musician (although on my mind the order is exactly the inverse). Currently I am gigging a lot, but am scared enough of what I've been through as to return to Music playing as my main course. The IT job does not pay much, but my schedule, although crazy for some, allows me some flexibility for doing all these things I do. I can still dream, I guess.

Other interests: Cinema (But NOT going to the movies. I prefer to watch classic movies comfortably sitting at home, although I cannot properly associate the actor's faces and names). Food! (No wonder I'm a little overweight AND diabetic now). I love anything sea/water related, (but have so little free time and live somewhat far from the shore, that I have to watch my aquarium tanks and photos to remind me. Some day I hope I can move nearer to the sea I also love cats (right now as I write this, my beloved Alan is being neutered, mind you... no, mind him) and art in general, I guess. I used to read mch more than I do now, maybe if I win the Lottery (Which will happen anyday soon.. if I happen to buy a ticket!) I will have a nice house of my own, with a nice studio to make music on, and enough money left to assure me some spare time to do all those things again.

Whew... that was long -and probably boring- even for my standard writing. So enough of it already.

I am the director of a large clinical laboratory. I specialize in molecular diagnostics. I majored in horticulture for a while until I realized that there would be little money in that. I still love to work in the garden. I married an interesting gal, so I still really like spending time with her. We spend a lot of time talking about what motivates people to do what they do. (She is a psycology major). I also like to study and refine leadership skills. If I read, that is what I like to read about.

I do remote hardware support for IBM servers as my day job. My 2 main interests are bass and computers in general. I tend to focus mainly on Unix variants as far as OS goes, and I do some freelance work in system administration, system/network design, web development, and the like. I also do a little programming. My latest project is to write a hurricane simulation system for the free, open source, flight simulator project called FlightGear. http://www.flightgear.org.

If any of you enjoy flight simulators, check it out. My code isn't in there yet as I've just begun work on the module.

Thanks for all the great replies.
Since I started the thread, I should answer the question.

Bass playing and bass teaching has been my job all my life, but there are other things I do.

I've taught computers to children (ages 3-13) and I've edited textbooks and other teaching material used to teach about the common computer programs.

Competitive swimming is a major passion of mine. I swam as a child, in high school and in college (Division I). I am on an adult team (and have been for 30 years) and swim almost every day. I compete at the national level and even went to the World Championships once. (This is the sport of masters swimming which is age-group swimming for adults.) I'm on the board of directors of the team and serve as the secretary and newsletter editor, putting out a team newsletter once a month.

I'm happily married and we have 29 year old son who is on a Windows development team at Microsoft in Seattle. We love hiking in the mountains.

work: OEM audio system design (automotive); previously MI power amplifier design

out of work: running, sports, volunteering

robb.

29 years as an IT professional, most of it in the financial industry. Happily married for 24 years. Father of three, 2 girls and a boy.

Most of my spare time (on weekends at least) is taken up by youth sports, particularly girls fastpitch softball. I used to coach until Katie got so good that I needed to find better coaching than I could provide. Now I happily sit on the sidelines and cheer. I've followed her all around the country watching her play.

I'm also an amateur astronomer although I've barely touched my scope in quite awhile.

I r an editor fur a livin becuz I wryt and spel real gud.

When I am not handling wurdz, I am a husband and dad.

The rest of the time, I rule the wastelands with an iron fist.

Well if we're throwing in family info as well, I'm married (5 years) to a beautiful redhead who is 8 years my junior, and we have 2 kids, my step son who is about to turn 12, and a daughter who is 3.5 years old and whom demands very sternly to hear "daddy's song" every time we get in the truck.

Well yeah if we are tossing in family. Been lucky enough to marry a great woman who was been willing to put up with me for 24 years so far and I have a 28 year old step daughter.

My wife and I raise sheep and chickens, and Susanna is completing her nursing degree this year. Been doing this for a few years now once I realized that working in an office makes me psychotic.

In the 70's I got into auto mechanics for a few years, which gave me enough knowledge to work on my own vehicles and has saved me money many times.
I was married late in life (1987) to my lovely wife Karon and from '91 to '93 I helped her run a small restaurant, which has since closed. She taught me how to make a soup from scratch among other things. It was the most fun working that both of us ever had.
I have worked in the construction business since about 1969, in tile, carpentry, painting and drywall. I had a painting business for about twelve years.
In 2001 I retired from construction and went to work for the Sherwin Williams paint company, where I am a color blender, making specialty paints for commercial applications and colored lacquers for cabinet making shops. At SW I also work on the sales floor and drive the delivery truck at times.
Away from work Karon and I attend a lot of family functions. We have three daughters and eight grandkids between us. I also enjoy cooking and food, and have begun to learn the finer points of wine.
I like playing golf and used to be fanatical, but only play about once a month now. I have recently joined another blues band, my first secular band in twelve years. Life gets better the more I learn to relax.

To make the money, I make words and numbers happen with the Securities and Exchange commission for a publicly held property and casualty reinsurance company.

To make the happy, I spend time with my daughter and wife photography and music.

I enjoy photography and music my daughter and wife. The former occasionally makes me some cash. The latter generally costs me some cash.

Oh.

My.

Peace.
--SW

Edited for clarification, you awful bastard.

I have worked in the construction and maintenance field almost my entire life starting with the family business when I was 12 years old. I am currently employed by a major defense contractor in the same capacity only now I work with fire suppression systems. I held various jobs throughout high school and a little afterwards. My favorite was as a woodworker at an art bronze foundry.

I played trumpet in the elementary school band, took 3 years of classical piano lessons and spent one year playing double bass in the high school orchestra. My first gig playing bass guitar was when I was 14 and I‘ve played in bands ever since except for a gap from 1992-1999. I and a friend co-owned a live sound business for 2 years before “the gap” and it was running live sound for bands that got me back into active playing/gigging again in 1999.

I am a voracious reader on a fairly eclectic range of material including science fiction/ fantasy, history, mysticism/occult, religious philosophy, martial philosophy, space exploration, cosmology, retro-technology, self sufficiency and disaster preparedness. I have a ridiculously large number of books and magazines and am constantly expanding my shelf space to accommodate them (I’m convinced it’s a sickness!).

I spent 20 years involved in medieval re-creation and martial sports and through that hobby had the enjoyable privilege to give demonstrations and lectures to interested groups ranging from kindergarten to adults. I worked as an assistant to an armour smith for over a year and have crafted historically accurate maile and plate armour using both modern and traditional methods.

I enjoy shooting rifles and handguns and have been a lifelong hunter. My favorite hunts are of upland birds and elk but I also hunt deer and javelina when the opportunity presents itself (i.e. – I get drawn for a permit!). I am slowly putting together the equipment necessary to participate in single action shooting competition, this is a target shooting sport which utilizes only "cowboy era" firearms.

To those of you still awake after reading this, Cheers!

Yes, I am. I also have done a bit of the editing.

Peace.
--SW

I spend my days on a government facility, landscaping or doing other facility maintenance activities in the slow seasons. I have been doing this for 5.5 years now. Before that, I worked my way up in the golf course maintenance field into an asst. superintendent position. Golf was my passion for most of my life. That career was a natural progression for me. I chose to get out of it due to the hours.....plus there were these little people that kept running around calling me daddy. I could never figure that one out, but I rolled with it

I am currently back in school trying to get into the IT field. I have always been interested in computers, but I never got the chance to study them the way I would have wanted to....until now.

I am in my 12th year of marraige to a lovely lady and we have two daughters. My oldest is 11 and my youngest will be 9 in two weeks. My oldest just started middle school...yikes.....and I am starting to mentally prepare myself for the whole dating thing. I am hoping that is a few years away but it never hurts to get ready for it.

You can hide behind the screen today, but I will see you in person on Thursday night.

I am the Great and Powerful Oz. But, then, oh so much more. I am not afraid.

Peace.
--SW

I'm a Scot in my 50s and live in south London with my partner of over 25 years and our three school-age daughters.

Most of my career has been in publishing. After years as an employee for various book publishers I now work as a freelance editor and project manager – for many of the same companies.

I am also a freelance trainer, devising and delivering courses in writing and editorial skills for various organisations in Europe and the UK.

My bass life began relatively late in life, in my mid-40s. Luckily enough I’ve found a band of weekend warriors where everyone else is of a similar age and in it for similar reasons.

Outside work, family and bass, I have a long-term interest in military history. My ‘other’ hobby is playing board wargames. Yep, really. Six hours hunched over a map throwing dice and pushing cardboard counters around. Talk about a high-octane adrenalin junkie...

For exercise I play a little badminton but not to any standard.

Do I get the job?

Cheers

Graham

I’m a masonry construction estimator and project manager. I’ve worked in the construction industry since the late 60s. In the early 80s, during a serious construction downturn, I supported my family by playing, teaching and repairing guitars.

I’ve been married to my 2nd wife for 27 years. I have 2 sons, a daughter and 5 grandkids from the 1st marriage (they all live in Florida); 2 sons with the current wife.

In addition to learning to play bass guitar, my main hobbies are remodeling the house and maintaining the lawn and garden. I spend much of my down time reading…mainly about ancient cultures and religions. I spend WAY too much time reading/lurking here at the LDLD. I’m currently working my way through posts from 2006. I started with the oldest post still available…back when the forum a PAID moderator!

(OT: My 2 youngest sons are active musicians. My oldest son was a working musician until a motorcycle accident put him in a wheelchair. My oldest granddaughter started learning guitar last summer. My brother was a working drummer in his younger days. Is this familial interest in music genetic or from childhood exposure to musicians? My mother and her sister sang on the radio back when it was “live” and I have vivid memories of the jam sessions my parents and their friends would host when I was a child.)

I'll bite.


I am a Satellite Operations Manager for a major television network. I coordinate transmissions for news, entertainment and sports broadcasts both domestically and internationally. It's a fairly intense job when something major is happening in the news, but part of the excitement is some of the action. But ultimately we do hope for slow news days and broadcasts that go off without a hitch.

When I'm not playing bass I do pursue some other musical endeavours. I've produced tracks on a few indie records. And I also listen to whatever I can. And recently that passion has led me to clean up my turntable and rediscover vinyl.

My other interests of late have revolved around the arts. I've been frequenting some of NY's fine art museums recently. Notably I checked out a Vermeer exhibit a couple of weeks ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I've really been taken by more of the artwork of the past 120 ~ years. And that's prompted me to start collecting prints of some pieces that really struck a chord with me. And bit by bit I've started hanging those in my new home (well, does being there for one year still make it new?).

The creative bug has definitely gotten it's teeth into me in all sorts of ways. I had been blogging for a while about a range of subjects, but found that it wasn't always the best creative outlet for me. And now I've been making a point to take in the fall colors along the Hudson river. I've been wandering through the woods in search of anything and everything that caught my eye. I just got around to putting some photos that I took online. I've posted those here if anyone's interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44303367@N05/sets/72157622730624642/

My family is pretty cool, too. They've been incredibly supportive with my music projects. And looking back through the family there are a number of people who have been deeply involved with music. My mother sang operatic soprano and played the violin. My uncle plays about half a dozen orchestral instruments. Another distant relative was a classical composer. I ran across a singer-songwriter on my father's side of the family. And one of my great uncles actually managed the singer Al Martino! Plus, I guess having spent a good number of my summers growing up with the family up in Woodstock rubbed off a bit. And now I've got two nephews that are just amazing kids that continue to surprise me at every turn.

I work as a Quality Engineer for an Advanced Battery-Maker, dealing with Reliability Testing and Incoming Quality Testing (as well as the usual Quality Metrics). I've been doing the Quality-thing for over 10 years now, working my way up from Inspector at a Wire & Cable mfg to Quality Engineer at a Footswitch mfg (no, not the musical kind of footswitch unfortunately), to my current company which is a Start-Up in the Battery field.

I didn't start playing bass until the summer after I graduated high school, and I had never played ANY instrument prior to that. Mostly self-taught, with a few lessons here and there, but started jamming with anyone and everyone shortly after I figured out how to play and I'm now going on 20 years!

As for family, two teen daughters from my first marriage, and my wife and I just found out we are expecting (a child, that is). :-)

Awesome! Congrats!

Jumbled Jer, congrats to you and your wife.




I used to do that back in high school, mostly the Avalon-Hill games: Third Riech, Panzer Leader, Panzer Blitz, Blitzkrieg. A couple of my friends and I got into the Steve Jackson games Ogre, GEV and that whole related series. We would combine them all together and and make 3-D terrain maps out of foam board to play on. Car Wars was a lot of fun too. Later on I really got caught up in the sci-fi wargame BattleTech and played it for years.

US Army, retired after 21 years. All retiremetn means is that I took off the uniform and grew my hair a littel and went to work in the same dusty dry place I served in. I like what I do, which includes translation work, and analytical work.
I'm married to a wonderful German women who has put up with me and the Army for almost 20 years. We have a red-haired 13 year old daughter, so I'm getting ready for the dating thing, too. We have an 11 year old son who is the sunshine in my day.
Playing Music is a hobby, a passion, and a real stress reliever here in the big sandbox. I play in the chapels' Worship Service, and I really enjoy it. Having a need to practice makes me more lijkely to do so, and makes time go by, and gives me the feeling that I'm accomplishing soemthing in a place where every da is much like the last. I'm also working on learning everything from the book "Standing in the Shadows of Motown".
IF I'm not playing Music, I like to read, mostly non-fiction and history, but pretty much anything written well.

If left to my own devices, I have music palying all the time, and I wouldn't miss TV.
I really enjoy going to see Shakespeare pplays at teh Blackfriar's theater in Staunton , VA when I am home.
I used to do boardgames as well, but it's harder now to find the time.

Reporter with an affiliate of Agence France Presse, which is a newswire like the Associated Press, who just told me today they have no jobs available yet, call back in January.

Other than that: playing music and working on my french.

Maintenance Contractor.
That is to say I do anything a general, engineering, plumbing or electrical contractor can do only cheaper and faster.
I live in a retirement community so regularly prey on the old, infirm rich folk. I also handle real estate clients needs - although they tend to be more trouble than they're worth.
When my body gives out I will go back to my old job. Network design estimator.

I'm a massively underpaid videographer. I do transfers from videotape to DVD for consumers. I also take orders in and catalog them. And, I get chewed out by people when their orders which I don't work fail to come back when they want. I do all this for $10 an hour and no benefits.

I am active in my church as a member of the worship team.

And, I spend much more time than I should watching TV and playing with my computer on sites like this.

Besides just getting over the Swine Flu I have been unemployed since April. I've done every thing from running an apple packing plant to bee keeper. I tend to get bored easy. Its a sign of genius, right? My greatest acomplishment is helping to raise three beautiful children (2 sons, one daughter) into adulthood.
Lately I have been voluteering at a social space for people in recovery. Music has always been a large part of my life one way or another. I love playing bass, been doing so on and off since the mid 60's

Thanks

I'm a production engineer on defense subsystems. These eventually find their way to F16,18,23's. I work with assemblers and technicians throughout the build and test cycle handling everyday problems. I troublshoot,write engineering change orders and document manual test stands as well as automated test stands. I have been married 21 years and have 2 daughters that dance. 1 is in college dancing,1 in high school. I have been playing bass since 1974 with no lessons. I do it for pure fun. I keep imagining if I did take lessons for years, where would I be, probably in the same level of you guys, but I don't care like I said it's just for fun, a lot of fun.

It's just a hobby

Dude, tell me that's not your basement.

Don't be ridiculous. That's my basement.

Yes, his basement.

Necrotic gynecology?

Sounds like the name of a new death metal band.

Dude, I've been playing with that group for years.

I mean...

I commute by air from Northwest Indiana to various ridiculous locales to sit in a cubicle and have phone meetings with other people who have flown thousands of miles to other locales. In these calls, I justify to various CEOs and politicians my penchant for putting pretty colors and sounds on their respective websites. I also help make scary decisions.

Hobbies: Since July, I have pushed everything personal aside, including music, to paint little overpriced soldiers and aliens. It is my all-consuming obsession at the moment.

I have an omnipotent (and omniscient) wife and two whip smart little daughters that can redraw a transient spike in Pro Tools better than any engineer I've ever met. They love to go to Guitar Center, but not with me.

09...I envy your life.

I was wondering why you hadn't been around for a while. I hope your model painting goes well and you eventually return to us relatively unharmed.

day job: software architect/developer for a large computer company working on enterprise management software

hobbies: I used to like to play sports (tennis, ultimate, basketball), mountain bike (when I lived in Oregon) and build stuff or do crafty stuff (that must involve risk of severe injury in some way, and no paper cuts don't count) with my wife. Since the arrival of the kids (now 12 and 6) a little time for music is my escape and the rest of my free time is pretty much dedicated to kid stuff (scouts, kid sports, supervising homework/projects, playing games, etc.). Currently supervising building a small ballista for my son's science fair project this year (he did a trebuchet last year) so getting in some building fun there.

school: I'd love to go back sometime but we all like to eat so staying working seems like a better idea

My career is in IT. I started as a programmer, and other than the hyper-technical or network stuff, I've done a variety of jobs. I'm currently a "client partner", meaning I help translate the needs of my business unit to IT people. Lately I've been helping a new team with configuring Salesforce.com and doing database reporting work(which I've done lots of). Unlike many technical people, I enjoy the "dealing with people" part of my job, and often am the bridge between groups of people.

I do some stuff around the house - I had done mechanical work as a kid, and then worked rebuilding appliance parts (before IT). I don't do too much of that now - there doesn't seem to be any time.

My wife (31 yrs) bikes and does a great job taking care of our family. While my kids are grown, we are still close to them.

I play at Mass on Sunday with the youth group but am not involved much in church beyond that (I used to do more). Stonefly takes some of my time despite our infrequent rehearsal/gigs. I watch TV, read (including audiobooks), and have a great extended family. And I sometimes help moderate a forum.

Tom

Day job: translator.
Hobbies: chess, reading. Writing pointless entries to musician websites, for people who have nothing better to do than read them... LOL

Mostly I'm a guitarist and mandolinist and flute beginner. I can't call myself a real bassist but I can play simple parts on one, and sure enjoy it when I do!

I make my dough by leading evaluation research projects of educational programs and policies. Can you say, "randomized control trial?" Good! I knew you could!

I'm dad to two wonderful kids (elementary and middle school), and I'm happy that they both have begun musical journeys of their own on flute and guitar.

I've been a runner for a long time, although injuries have been on again, off again since I turned about 35. Nonetheless, I love to put on the shoes and get out in the world for a run, and willingly tolerate all kinds of weather and terrain.

I play bass for fun. I enjoy playing in an original rock band (see sig), although we're on a break right now due to various family transitions for multiple band members. They also let me blow on harmonica from time to time. I'm working on getting another band up and running, also originals, but a little more along the lines of rock/soul/r&b. I also play one jazz gig a year at the company winter holiday party, and consider myself fortunate that I have some outstanding musicians as colleagues.

I like a nice beer, and have become partial to IPAs of recent. getz76 brews a nice IPA, and I've heard that Carey Nordstrand does as well, although I haven't tried his brew. Smuttynose IPA might be my current favorite that's available commercially.

I played rugby back in the day in college, which I enjoyed a great deal. It also meant I got to travel to Ireland, Wales, and England while a student, helping me to develop my appreciation of a nice ale. I try to catch the occasional match on cable tv when I can, and look forward to the next World Cup in 2011 and the return of rugby to the Olympics in 2016.

I make an annual plea to Mr. Sadowsky to gift me a bass for my birthday. He has been cordial. He has been kind. He has been a gentleman. However, he has yet to gift me a bass.

And, like Thomas, I help to moderate this forum.

Peace.
--Dub $$

After 15 years in the mortgage business, that bubble blew up in '06. I work for an insurance investment company. Job's ok; the commute is hell. (Ok, so it's not quite as long as some in NY or LA; but still bad enough)

I love rollercoasters & theme parks; reading (history, sci fi, theology, comics... er, graphic novels, biographies, music catalogs, BP mag); cooking; eating; playing board games; The Finer Things Club; bad movies; criticizing; soccer (can't play much anymore- bad knees; but help coach my kids); Scouting activities with my kids (anybody want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?); long walks on the beach; watching my kids in theater productions (in fact, this time last year, the whole family was in a local produciton of "Scrooge & Marley"- I was Bob Cratchit); and general Tomfoolery. And bass & guitar playing, in church, with the band, anywhere else that will let me...

I used to like painting miniatures, too. My Space Orks will crush you, O9. Oar knott.

Yes.

Presently I'm employed as an underground electrician... not in the normal sense (as in the guy who buries power cables by the roadside) but literally 3000 feet underground in the largest primary producing Molybdenum mine in the country... about 45 miles or so outside of Denver. It's a great job, definitely unique and very rewarding. I've been with the electrical department for 2 years plus a little. Before that, I was a miner, at this same mine, doing the real fun stuff... drilling, blasting, basically using explosives to turn a mountain into small rocks and moving them to a place where they can be processed into moly.
I've done many jobs, like a lot of us here, I see, starting in the mining business at 16, in various capacities, throwing in a few half-hearted aborted attempts at college, farming, a stint in the Marines, logging, commercial fishing, hotel management, cable TV/internet/IT services and network administration, massage therapy... the list goes on. It's been a fun filled, adventure packed 39 years.
Currently I am playing bass and guitar on the worship team at church, doing a little at-home composing and recording, and spending quality time with my family.
I have a big one... my lovely, wonderful and fortunately VERY understanding (3rd and LAST!!) wife, 8 kids and a large dog. No livestock at this time.
Other hobbies/pastimes include cooking, photography, website building, 3D modeling and animation, electronics tinkering (effects pedals, gadgets etc.) and avoiding yardwork at all costs.

DX

[Edit]Incidently, anyone travelling to or through the Denver area who might be interested in seeing what it looks like 3000' under the surface is more than welcome to hit me up and I'll see what I can do about arranging a little tour. It is very interesting, and a huge part of our coutry's heritage.

When not playing bass, I work full time, I'm a full time student, and I am an all-the-time family guy.

Doing what?


Studying what?


how long? Kids? (etc. etc...)

Anyone remember the "six word biography" from a couple of years ago? I came up with, "Musician by design, salesman by necessity." I got a BA in jazz studies in college, which is why I currently sell windows for a large home improvement company. In the small bit of free time my new job allows, I play drums in the Shannon Tower Band. I am also a full-time husband and homeowner, trying to figure out how to get my house put back together after the wife and I tore it apart in a quest for floor space. The new floors are almost ready to go down... Otherwise: a good pale ale, Alabama football, politics/current events/solving all the world's problems, and muscle cars occupy my brain.

My current fantasy is to load the trunk of a 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ with cases of Mirror Pond Pale Ale and run down a few hundred congressmen on my way to the Alabama/Auburn game, where my band would play at halftime, and afterwards I'd sell a new window package to all 92,000 people in the stands.

I would like to ride along, especially when you are running over congressmen.
Rocky

Can you get our politicians whilst you're at it?

Alex

What else do I do?...

Well, I work a full time job. I also have a full time class schedule in college. I have a 2 1/2 yrs old daughter and a beautiful wife that I stay pretty busy with. I work sessions at a local studio (though sessions have pretty much stopped because my availability has decreased since I started school in Sept). I do a lot!!

Married 16 years. To the same woman. We have 2 girls and a boy. Our oldest daughter left for Michigan in the fall to attend Oakland University. Her Major? Music. My younger daughter and son are in high school and looking very much forward to getting out from under my thumb.

I work for a smallish (150 emp.) roller bearing manufacturer. I am the sole CNC programmer. It keeps me busy. Very.

I like holding hands, walks on the beach, puppies, and Scotch.

Tape???

Being a Scott, I am proud of our family distillery, "Oban" Have you tried it?
Personally, I very much like MacCallan single malt.
Rocky

No problem. Except that I'd probably do it in a Bentley Continental loaded with cases of Guinness, on the way to a Man United game. As long as there's good beer, a hot car, dead politicians, and sports mayhem involved, sign me up.

Research.

Always trying new things.

After working as a street peddler for 11 years (fruit, flowers to Christmas trees, and everything in between) I decided to get a real job after graduate school. I currently work for the government in an investigative capacity here in NYC. It's not one of those, "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you" sort of things, but I might kick over your trash can if you're not careful.

Other than musical related hobbies, I enjoy a nice pint of the dark stuff from Dublin, sleeping, and my newly rediscovered love of video games...in that order.

Have yet to try Oban. I have recently become a HUGE fan of Caol Ila.

I recently finished a wonderful bottle of Aberlour that was one of the best I've ever tasted. Now onto that Balvinie that's been sitting on the shelf for a while.