JD - What line of work were/are you in? Last I heard your pat of the country was booming, at least compared to the rest of the country.
I worked for a hardware/software manufacturer.
Back in 2000 I signed a piece of paper saying I wouldn't mention that I work/worked for them by name on any BBS, usenet, AOL, (you get the idea) etc.
Unless you're in tech, you've probably never heard of the company. I think we took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal once in 15 years but other than that, there's been no media marketing like commercials during broadcast sporting events or prime time television; just trade show participation.
Anyway, I was a field engineer for 10 years deploying gahzillion dollar network and security solutions for banks with a global foot print, large drug manufacturers, three letter shipping companies, petroleum producers.. heck, just about every company on the S&P 500 list.... oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the porn sites before the dot com implosion. No, I never saw porn being filmed. I just deployed gear in giant computer rooms called data centers to assure the sites were always "up" and ready to take money.
I did this on 5 continents, maybe 30 countries, probably about 450 customers.
I left the field for program management and they retired my program after 5 years,
Not wanting to go into "keeping the lights on" IT operations again, and not wanting to go back into the field, it seemed like a good time to take a break, recharge and figure out what's gonna make me happy besides keeping my CJ operational.
I can't retire yet. Every month w/o work means putting off retirement another month or two... but I can afford to take a break. I needed to get out.
Happily, last night was the first night in as long as I can remember that I didn't dream about configuring gear or frantically troubleshooting network traffic failures and re-configuring gear to compensate for environmental issues while some guy in a suit yelled at me for how much it was costing his department or company.
Don't miss that one bit.
-Jon
PS: Today I pat the CJ on the hood and hopped a bus down town to report for Jury Duty.
I only have a full soft top but still get the same benefit you describe. It also keeps the top frame bars from rattling around as well. My plan is to get a square of canvas and have a bunch of eyelets added so that I can attach that to the cage on four sides for shade and still be able to put down the windshield. Or maybe some mesh fabric or even expanded metal attached with small bolts for partial shade and protection from falling beaches etc from squeezing through the Maine woods. Could even have a solid aluminum top made that way as well.
Unlike other parts of the country, down here in the desert rain can be fun sometimes. Sunday I put the bikini top back on. It has been humid and miserable lately.
