My name is Kevin. I am a 62 year old guy living in the Midwest of the USA. I am retired, married to a wonderfully lovely and understanding woman who works part-time (her blog is HERE ). I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 30, and control it with an insulin pump. I was slowed down a bit by diabetic retinopathy a couple years ago and lost 100% of the vision in one eye, and about 70% in the other. I have a fantastic ophthalmologist, and have regained almost all my vision, and have 20/20 vision with glasses again! Yay! Over the years I have been physically active in all manner of activities and sports. These days I walk with The Mrs, sail, kayak, garden, work in the yard, do some leatherworking, play with power tools, and read.
I am an historian by education and interest. I have worked since I was 13 years old, starting out back then washing windows. I have pushed a broom & emptied trash for Spiegel and a Chevrolet dealership; I was a news reporter and later disk jockey for a couple different radio stations in Illinois; I worked for JCPenney for a few years as a stockboy, then in shoes/suits sales; I was a paid Youth Minister and Director of Religious Education for a church in the Catholic Diocese of Chicago for a couple years; I worked as a clerk at a university library for a couple years; then started a career as a state employee.
I am a certified Level 1 US Olympic Foil Fencing Coach. I am a certified Refuse to Be a Victim instructor, and am a Certified Physical Fitness Trainer. I was an EMT, EMT-Instructor, and EMT-Instructor Trainer. I was a volunteer firefighter. I was a Life Scout, member of the OA, an Explorer Scout, and an Assistant Scoutmaster. I have run half-marathons, biked centuries, and participated in triathlons. I studied ballet and modern dance for a number of years. I have competed in shooting competitions using authentic Civil War rifles/carbines.
The Mrs and I have bicycled along the Danube from Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria. We have bicycled around a number of lochs in Scotland. In September 2015 we hiked part of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in Wales and in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. We spent 8 days hiking throughout Glacier National Forest in Montana in September 2019.
Today is a new day and Adventure Awaits!
Nice to meet you! It sounds like you keep yourselves in great shape, and I’m in awe of all the places you’ve been! What an accomplished person you are as well! You sound like a down to earth, all around nice guy, and I so appreciate you stopping by! The doors have been wonderful and I’m enjoying your blog as well. Have a blessed day!
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It is my pleasure Kim! BTW, today is my birthday so the About info is already a year out of date! 🙂
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Thanks for looking at my blog. Yours is very interesting too. You’ve done lots of different things in your life. I love your little sailboat, I guess it is on a lake? How come you once ended up in Southampton?
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We love to travel, and one of our trips was a biking trip in Scotland. We had decided to return to the States on the QM2, which of course brought us to Southampton. And a couple subsequent trips have brought us back there for the same reason! We are looking/hoping/planning to be back next year, btw…
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Pleased to meet you, Sarg.
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As I was reading this page, the expression ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss’ came to mind 🙂
You clearly are a very active and busy person!
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Hi Joanne…I take that as a compliment of the highest order too, thank you!! I wonder, sometimes, how I ever had time to work a real job!! 😉
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Nice to meet you and thanks for following my blog! You appear to be very busy with a healthy leisure lifestyle!
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Hi Terri, and thank you!
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Wow! A certified Olympic Fencing Coach? That’s so cool!
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It was a tough school, but being at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado was totally awe-inspiring!!! (bet you though I was gonna say awesome…)
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I enjoyed your short biography. I look forward to seeing/reading more of your posts.
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Hello Kevin. It is nice to meet you. A great bio about you. We believe it will be fun tagging along and seeing more of this wonderful world through your eyes and words.
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Hi Tom & Audrey! Thx for dropping in… I am already enjoying your travel memoirs and looking forward to more!
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Awesome. Its always great meeting new people and learning from them and their travels. There is so much to see and it helps when we can see a situation through another’s eyes and words.
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It is rewarding to remain physically active as you do. Glad to have visited your site as well. Thanks for a lovely visit.
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