Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 12:40:33 -0400
Reply-To: Scot Douglas <sdouglas@MRDA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Scot Douglas <sdouglas@MRDA.COM>
Subject: Demographics
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Scot Douglas, I am 29 years old and I am a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am married and own three dogs (two retired greyhounds and a rescued whippet).
I was born in South Bend, IN and lived a fairly uneventful life there for 14 years. Following South Bend, my parents bought an inland lake lot in Centreville, Michigan and over the next two years, my father and I built my parent's house.
For as long as I can remember, I have been curious as to why things work as they do; toys did not last long at my house before I took them apart and "examined"' them. Seems I always had trouble reassembling the toys after my inspections (especially the wind-up toys!). I built my first scale model (glue, not snap) at 5, rebuilt my first lawnmower engine at eight, motorcycle engine & transmission by the time I was 12 and my first engine tear-down & rebuild (289 Ford for a 66 Fairlane) when I was fifteen.
As soon as I was able to get a job (other than the usual paper route and lawn-mowing) I found my niche at the FLAPS. I worked at the same FLAPS through high school until I graduated. My parents didn't push college on me, so I took some time off to see what else is out there: I worked as an emergency medical technician, carpenter, tubing bender, greenskeeper, and training assistant. During my carpentry job, I met a beautiful girl and fell in love. I was 19, she was seventeen. As soon as she graduated, she told me, "You'll have to go to college, or I'm afraid we won't work out." Well, at the end of that summer, I sold my car and bought her an engagement ring; four years later, we married.
And so started my college days. To put myself through school, I held as many jobs as possible: tech at a vet hospital (I got to hold the animals getting the shots, collected stool samples, cleaned kennels...), back to a different FLAPS, delivery driver, certified technician at a European sports car shop (Alan Christian Motorcars, Holland MI) and a dynamometer technician. I graduated with a BSME from the university of michiagn and went out into the world.
Currently, I work for Mitsubishi R&D of America. My main job is engine calibration and exhaust emission development.
I have owned:
67 Ford Mustang
66 Ford Fairlane 500
66 Ford Fairlane 500 XL
80 Mazda RX-7 (Ported 13B, Weber, 170 hp)
83 Mazda RX-7 GS = Wife's engagement ring
69 Type III fastback (I installed 2.0L Type IV)
74 Type IV wagon
78 Scirroco (strange european version? No cat, metric gauges)
82 Jetta Diesel
86 Honda Civic
86 Jetta GLI
89 Ford Festiva
95 Ford Contour
Current:
93 Eurovan MV (Purchased to haul the dogs)
96 Passat GLX
74 914 1.8L
My wife and I love the EV. It's big, it's slow, and it's alot'o fun to drive. Just had the chance to take it on a small trip over Easter and had a wonderful time. Just set the cruise on 70 mph and watch the world go by; it's also great to sit at the same height as those annoying Expeditions/Navigators. My wife is the van's main driver as she commutes 84 miles/day, but I always ask to drive the van if we take it anywhere. It's a great vehicle for hauling our dogs around - we like to take them to the University of Michigan's Arboretum to walk. I've even convinced my wife to go camping in it, which reminds me for all of the great-lakes region people, we'll be out at VanBuren State Park (just south of South Haven MI) the last weekend in May; anyone care to join?
Thanks for the time,
--
Scot Douglas
Project Engineer, Chrysler / Mitsubishi Joint Programs
Mitsubishi R&D of America, Ann Arbor MI
Ph: (734) 477-6143 direct line
Fx: (734) 971-0901
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