Hitting the road soon!

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mike, I live in the S.F. Bay Area and I hope to be on the road with you guys/gals soon. I have wanted to drive a truck since I was a little kid. After High School I decided to keep with the family tradition and go into the Military. I thought when I got out I could hit the road. I ended up getting married and starting a family, so I had to put my dreams of driving a truck on hold, did not want to miss out on my kids growing up.

Since getting out of the military life has had its ups and down. I am now single and stay that way by choice. I have 3 kids now, a son that is 14, and two daughters, 7 & 13. I am done, no more kids for me, plenty of love to go around, just not enough $$$

I had a decent job up until a few years ago, then like millions of other people, I lost it when the company closed. As I was looking for another decent job, I tried to support myself as a photographer, only to find out what life is like as a starving artist. So I ended up taking a measly minimum wage job, for the first time in my life, as a courier. This has not been paying the bills and has only depressed me more then when I was out of work.

Every morning I would wake up 3 hours before I was to start work in order to comb the job boards and look for something better. It seemed like such a waste of time, sending resumes and writing countless cover letters just to hear back from maybe less then 5% of the places. The job market is pretty rough right now, but I was not going to give up.

One morning I saw a job listing that only said "Veterans", so I clicked on it. It basically said if your an unemployed or underemployed veteran you could qualify for a grant that pay's for trucking school. The first thing I did was talk it over with my kids. If they were to break out in tears because I would be gone most of the time I would not have contacted them. Instead the only question they had was if they could go with me (one at a time of course) when they are not in school. Since I had the understanding and approval of my kids I replied to the ad. I had to do this for them and myself.

Since I was broke I had no problems getting the grant. I started trucking school the beginning of this month and the time has flown by. I knew I always wanted to do this, but I never knew how fun driving a truck would be, my favorite part is catching all the gears! I have always preferred driving a manual, but never knew what I was missing out on until my first time in a big rig! I should have finished school today, but their sleeper cab truck broke down, so I still have a few more days to do next week.

This forum has been a great source of information and I would like to thank all of you, thank you! I have been lurking around here for a few weeks now and decided I would sign up, so many great people with so much knowledge to share! If things go as planned I should start orientation on 7/5, don't want to say what company until it is for sure, but it is looking good so far. This forum has really helped me with deciding which companies to stay away from and which to avoid, thank you again.

A little about myself. Spending time with my kids is my favorite pastime. I also enjoy riding motorcycles, bought a bike before I even bought my first car. The San Francisco Bay Area is such a great place to ride. The drivers here suck, they seem like they are out to kill me when I am on two wheels, but I am only minutes from countless curvy roads lined with redwoods or rolling hills. I also love taking pictures, hence my screen name. I am a semi-pro photographer, specializing in night photography. I have done a few gallery shows and I teach a few workshops a year.

If any one is interested you can see some of my work here:
http://www.takenpictures.com
or on Flickr

That's about it for now, thank you guys/gals again for all the great info on this forum and I look forward to meeting some of you on the road! Until then, be safe and keep the rubber side down.

Mike

 

Thank You!

 

I hear you on the point and shoot cameras. Some have more control then others. Most of the Canon Powershots can be hacked with CHDK to give you almost total control of the camera which is nice, but still not the same as having the full manual control you get with a slr.

The big question is, what kind of camera is your 35mm? If you have a Canon EOS series the lenses will work will the Canon DSLR's. Alot of the Minolta lenses will work on the Sony DSLR's. And A lot of the 35mm Nikon Lenses will work with a Nikon DSLR. It is a great Idea to buy a DSLR that can accept the lenses you already own, because as you already know, the lenses are what cost to most and hold their value.

If your lenses will not work on a DSLR I would recommend getting a Canon or a Nikon. I say that because they seem to have the most to offer as far as lens selection goes and the most aftermarket support with lenses and accessories. I would also recommend buying a used DSLR. They lose their value quick and you can get a killer deal on one. For example, I paid $1300 for my Canon 30D when it first came out, now you can find them on Craigslist for around $300-$400 all day.

I hope that helps

Mike

 

I am not 100% sure, but I think the Chinon lenses might work on a Pentax DSLR.

 

no prob, anytime!