I moved back to Titusville Florida in May of 2001 from Anchorage, Alaska. I had left Titusville for the last time way back in 1976, and have been "from" a number of places since then. Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Dakota, South Carolina, and then on to Alaska. I stayed in Alaska for approximately 15 years and pretty much think of Anchorage, Alaska as my home. If you have never been to Alaska, take this bit of advice. Go!! The first chance you get ... GO!! It is one of the most incredible and beautiful places in the world.

Over the course of the years since 1976 I have had many different "occupations" ... Sales, Construction, Cross-country "Haz-Mat" Truck Driver ... whatever it took to make a living. I was young and strong, very adaptable and believed that no matter where I was in the world, I could make a living at the very least ... and with a little patience make a VERY nice living! One has to keep in mind the first sentence on this page ... " I moved back to ..." and you should pick up on the fact that I am from Florida ORIGINALLY (as to what possessed me to move to Alaska ... that is another story entirely).

At the time I arrived in Alaska I was in the "construction" career portion of my life, having quit driving trucks because I was "on the road" more than I cared to be. Anyway, I arrived in Alaska in May of 1986. May in Alaska is unlike anywhere in the country! It was still cold enough that I was about to freeze my skinny ... ummm ... legs off! So, when I was offered a construction job in a warm climate, I took it and didn't even stop to think that something wasn't quite right. Warm climate ... in Alaska?? As it turned out, no one had mentioned Alaska and "warm climate" in the same sentence. This may sound strange but my first job in Alaska was in ... Honolulu, Hawaii! And I thought I wouldn't need my surfboard in Alaska. Go figure!

I had entered the world of "camp jobs" - construction jobs of 3 - 6 month duration, getting paid union standard "Davis-Bacon" wages (a pay scale that quite frankly pays OBSCENE amounts of money, depending on location) plus "room and board". It is unbelievable ... you sign on for a job at the local Carpenters Union, they tell you to pack your gear you're going to Adak or Hawaii or Shemya or some other location that is at LEAST a 5 - 7 hour plane ride, to work 7 days a week for some ungodly amount of money (a "sign flipper"...  you know, the person standing out in the road flipping a sign that says STOP on one side and SLOW on the other ... under Davis-Bacon wage scale makes about $17.85 an hour!! Skilled labor gets $19.85 an hour (skilled labor can read both sides of that sign or push a broom without hurting themselves). I was a "journeyman" carpenter and that is about $15.00 an hour above skilled labor. Overtime is paid on anything over 8 hours a day or 32 hours a week (i.e. work 3 days at 10 hours a day. Pay is 24 hours straight time - 6 hours overtime). Double-time pay for over 48 hours a week or weekend work. Triple-time for 75 hours a week or more and ANY holiday. Around 3K a week for a DRYWALL HANGER! Great work and even better money, except I had already changed careers once because I was away  from home all the time. So ... I enrolled in College, obtained a degree in Computer Science and embarked on a whole new Career field for myself.

I know, I know ... what does all this have to do with "exhibition two step" and "competitive dance? You know what they say! Every story has to have some background. Now that you have a bit of background information, let me tell you about the "exhibition two-step" that probably brought you to this page.

While in college I managed to meet a few young ladies (in Alaska at that time, the male/female ratio was something like 9 to 1 so "managed" is a good word) and I found out they liked to dance. Now, I had been dancing most of my life but it was mostly "country/western bar room" dancing, and I danced just well enough to "get by". I knew how to do a "two-step" ... barely. One of the young ladies that I had met, invited me to go to a dance class with her, as her dance partner. I had never been to a dance class of any sort so I took her up on it although I thought it was a bit strange that she had asked me to be her dance partner as I was almost 20 years her senior. As I later learned, that wasn't the strange part at all. The strange part was that when it came to dancing and dance classes, that male/female ratio changed dramatically. It closer to 4 to 1 ... four women to every man.

MORE LATER!