My background.
I am a 25-year-old central Ohio native who has no intention of leaving. I am going to college at the Ohio State University and studying to earn a degree in Construction Management. I am in my fourth year with two to go, due in part to a couple years in limbo as to what I wanted to do. I have one younger sibling who also plays paintball, though not as enthusiastic about it as I am. My father also plays about once a year, only because he can't keep up with the young guys and prefers to play with the once a year guys he works with. He also spends his weekends working on MG Midgets he seems to have started collecting, so that ties up his possible playing time. My mother is great and helped raise me right. She didn't like the idea of paintball but that didn't stop us. I was in the Boy Scouts but never continued to Eagle Scout. I went to a rural high school that had a "drive your tractor to school day". Yes, that's right, go ahead and make fun. I do. I'm not a farmer, nor was I raised by farmers, but the school was full of them. I like the rural setting much more than urban because there is room to breath in the country. I lived in the city for one year because of school and while I wasn't miserable, it just didn't feel like home. I think it had to do with there being too much concrete and not enough plant life. I was in middle school track and field one season during which I helped the 4x100m relay team break the school record. In high school I played baseball 3 out of the 4 years. I was also a marching "band geek" playing a base drum. The bus rides were always fun too. A coach told me that I should have been a wrestler because of my body type. I guess I looked like a wrestler, but that just never appealed to me. I do wish I had attempted football or soccer because in my younger years I was pretty fast.
Other interests are riding dirt bikes, skiing and snow boarding, camping, and watching good sci-fi, comedy, and horror movies. As far as music, I prefer rock but will listen to anything but gangster rap, classical, and jazz. Some country is a little too much for me some times. My paintball history.
I began my paintball addiction when I saw a Brass Eagle Stingray II at Wal-Mart. My brother and I bought a couple and started playing in our 4.5 acre yard. I'm unsure of what year that was but it seems to me that it has been at least 8 years. The following year we went to a commercial field and our eyes were opened. At that field there were a couple of cocky brothers using Tippmann Carbines. Compared to the Stingray I was using, that Carbine was awesome. From that day on I wanted something better, so I picked up a Pro/carbine. It has gone through several setup changes but is now where I like it and to this day it is my most dependable marker. Since it's arrival I have purchased a Sheridan PGP, a second Pro/carbine (the guinea pig), a Freak Factory vision Impulse, and built a custom Autococker. I have been captain of a paintball team called D.N.A. about 4 years ago that played in only two tournament events. The short-lived team's fait was due in part to monetary shortcomings, and also a very obviously biased playing environment. The first event was a novice only tournament in which one team pretty much dominated throughout the whole day. Come to find out, one of the players was from a pro team and nothing was done about it. We beat them in our final game by the way, to end up finishing 3rd out of 6 or 4th out of 8. I can't remember for sure. The other even, Columbus Cup, was by far the worst of the two. Both my father and the parents of another player on my team witnessed a referee wiping paint off an opposing team player more than once before that player was removed from the game. After that there was no fun or point in playing tournament ball again. Would I ever return if asked, probably? It would have to be on a team with experience (mine wasn't) and I would be out again if the same crap was still happening today, but I'm open to giving second chances. Ever since then I have played rec ball mostly on my property with a group ranging from 4 to 12 players. We try to play every other week and it usually isn't the same people every week. We also go to SplatterPark once in a while. One thing I would like to try sometime is a 24-hour scenario game. Machining
I have always liked making things, but only recently could I be considered a machinist. My inspiration came from a bad experience with a machinist who just couldn't get my things I had already paid for to me. That made me desire the ability to do things my self instead of relying on another and I started getting the tools to do it. Since then I have obtained a large manual mill, a small cnc mill, a second small mill with a greater Y travel and 8 direction movement that the cnc control will be switched over to, and a small lathe. A big thanks goes out to my dad for giving me a corner of the garage to set up my small shop in. A big thanks goes out to my brother for helping with the computer part of the cnc work I do. I know machining and he knows computers. Pretty good combination I think.I may also end up working with another machinist when he needs some help getting things done. From what I hear he has a full-blown cnc shop. That will be a nice experience if it happens.
Anodizing
I got into anodizing after I read an article on it. I tried it and found that it was something I was decent at so I am applying it to some of my creations. So far I wouldn't call myself a professional, but maybe when I get more room to set up a functional anodizing shop, and more practice, then I will be at that status. Hopefully that gives you a little insight into who I am.
