Hey all, my name is Mike and I'm from Texas.

At first, I wasn't going to do an introduction post, but I figured that it wouldn't be very hospitable.  I've never been much of a fan of telling folks about myself either in person or on the internet.  I think it may be some sort of mental block.  When I was growing up, I always hated the first day of class as it was always "Introduction Day".  I was also mortified of getting up in front of class to give a speech.  If I could pull it off, I was always home sick if I knew it was coming.  Many things have changed about me over the course of my 44 years, but this isn't one of them.

As far as doing it on the internet, I'm a bit torn.  I have no problem at all writing about myself.  I just have this nagging sense of why anyone would care that doesn't already know me.  Does that make any sense?  I know it is irrational, but sometimes you just can't help how you feel.  I also know that letting complete strangers know some tidbits about me is really the only way to meet new and interesting people to hopefully become friends.  I can honestly say that I have met some truly great people on the internet.

Now, about myself:  I am presently a retired OTR truck driver (extremely happy to not do that anymore).  I've also worked in the hospitality business, restaurant equipment sales business, and even did a very short stint in collections (like 3 months, never again).  I now spend most of my time with my lovely, beautiful wife, our seven dogs, and four cats.  This time of year is also spent doing quite a bit of yard upkeep on our two acres.

Some of my interests are, but not limited to:  oil painting, photography, video gaming, internet browsing, animal petting, cryptos, politics/economics, gambling, camping, coin collecting and just collecting in general.  There are many, many more things that I am interested in, but I won't bore you with them.  I always say that I don't know much about anything in particular, but I know a little bit about a lot of things.

Anyway, I really just wanted to let everyone know how excited I am about joining this community!  I truly look forward to getting everyone's incites and opinions on things and getting to know all of you.

Here's to learning many new things each day!