Cars: I think about everything in terms of automobiles. I'm a car nut. I hang around with a bunch of fellow car nuts and gearheads. Except for the categorical Objects of our Obsession, we are no different that sports nuts, quilting enthusiasts, collectors of beer cans and train hobbyists.

I am not a famous car guy. I have never worked in the automobile industry, although I've had some contact with Detroit car companies through employers. I am not a professional racer. I simply like cars. Always have. And I see everything through the special looking glass of an auto enthusiast. I shouldn't use the term 'looking glass.' Let me amend that to 'windshield.'

My earliest memory is staring at the chrome hubcap on the sidemount of a Packard (with the characteristic red hexagon in the center) while being held by my mother. I was two years-old. I started drawing cars when I was four. I drove a car when I was thirteen. I've owned cool cars. And awful ones. And ordinary, everyday ones, too.

Opinions: I've been opinionated since I was four or five. And never afraid to voice mine. (At first, my parents thought that was cute. Later ... very annoying.) I've been interested in politics since high school; the first Presidential election I followed was 1960. I watched the Kennedy-Nixon debate on television and, on election night, sat in front of the set with a piece of graph paper, plotting the returns as they came in and trying to extrapolate and project a winner.

I describe my politics as Pragmatic - Libertarian with a dash of Republican. Or Republican with a dash of Libertarian. Depends on my mood. And the phase of the moon. And whether or not I'm baying at it.

I used to consider myself Centrist. Until the Center shifted.

Work: I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and was employed in both the rubber and plastics industries. I owned my own plastics manufacturing company from 1977 through 1989. Since then, I have been an independent management consultant, focusing on small to mid-sized companies. I am now mostly-retired and, therefore, have time to blog.

Writing: I've had articles published in numerous magazines - business, technical and automotive. I'm a three-time winner of the Golden Quill Award - for writing and publishing - from Old Cars Weekly. For eight years, I wrote a newspaper column, Doin' Business. I have authored or co-authored a total of seven books and contributed to several others.

Life: I'm happily married - once only, in 1966 - to the love of my life and two wonderful grown children. I live in the Pacific Northwest, although I spent the first 35 years of my life in the Philadelphia area.

Essays/Musings/Rants: Go here.