Slikvee

Howdy from Texas!

This is a bio, so I'll toot my own horn, though it goes against my nature. While at one time I was somewhat of an extrovert, I've gone in the opposite direction as I've grown older.

After graduating from HS, in antiquity, I went on the road in a rock n roll band for five years. We thought we were pretty darned good but we never got the break that we were looking for so, I and another band member left the group. I remained in bands on a local basis for about 4 more years. By then I was married and about to become a father for the first time and felt that I needed something a bit more lucrative and regularly paying. My brother-in-law was a firefighter so, with his help, I was able to become employed by the local fire department. About a year later, I was a paramedic/firefighter. That experience lasted for 14 years. I had gone to nursing school during my last three years at the fire dept. and after graduation, I was recruited for what to me, at the time, was a large paycheck that I could not turn away from. So, my firefighting and paramedic days evolved into nursing. I worked in various nursing jobs for the next 25 years, until I retired. At retirement, I had two retirement funds to draw from which gave me time to do many things I had been putting off for so long.

During my years as a firefighter/paramedic, I worked one day on and two days off so I had time to work another job or two during my two days off. One of those jobs was that of a lawn sprinkler installer and engineer.

To be able to work on or install lawn sprinkler systems in Texas, one was required to acquire a license through the state, which I did. It included a very difficult test, which I passed on my first attempt. I was lucky.

Once I acquired my professional landscape irrigator license, I began to operate my own business. I had been in that business for about one year when the bottom fell out of oil, which was the overwhelmingly dominating industry in the part of Texas where I lived. Well, once the oil boom was over, nobody, and I mean NOBODY wanted to install a sprinkler system and very few folks, who already had them were not repairing them at that time.

I waited for one year and dropped my license. I couldn't see keeping the license and paying the state, yearly, while I was getting no business. So, I simply found other part-time work.

Fast- forward to 2008. Oil has returned with a vengeance! My wife and I decided to get our irrigator license again and open another sprinkler repair business as money is just flying around all over the place in this part of Texas.

We opened our business and have been doing great ever since. We both have extensive experience in sprinkler system repair and maintenance now.

So, much of my writing will be regarding "sprinkler system repair and maintenance." Though we know how and occasionally do install a system, we do not encourage it because the repair business is actually more lucrative than the installation business.

So, what you'll see, mostly, from me are writings regarding that particular subject. My hope is that I will be able to save money for some or all of you by producing easy to read instructions and descriptions of various types of sprinkler system repairs. I don't see a bunch of writings about that particular subject so my hope is that it may help those who have broken systems or systems that may need some TLC to start working again.

Wish me luck and I hope it works out for you too.

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  Culinary Arts & Cooking Techniques

  My Favorite Redneck Desserts in the Whole World

  5 years ago

  You know, I watch all of these fancy shmansy cooking shows once in a while and they all feature, at some time, some kind of rich, unusual, frilly, and, I'm sure, high dollar dessert or two. These desserts always seem to be made of unique or unusual...