I’m feeling pretty lucky these days. It was just over two months ago I was back in my hometown of Camas, Washington, a small town just over the Oregon state border, however I am from the Portland area. Most people don’t know where the hell Camas is or sometimes Washington is for that matter, Thus I am from Portland. I was turning a wrench and selling bikes part time at a bike shop and scrounging for graphic work here and there. I was getting really close to calling it quits with this whole bike industry thing, I guess ten years seemed like enough time to get the bike bug out of my system. I had no idea what I was going to do next. It was passed on to me by some of the Dirt Rag crew that a position had opened up here and that I should throw my hat into the ring and I did just that. What the hell? This was a magazine I had been reading for long ass time and I was down with what the Rag was all about.


At 6:45 on a Monday morning, I got a phone call from Maurice (the big dog in the Dirt Rag house) letting me know that I had the job if I wanted it. Without a one second gap between the question and the answer I said yes. I moved from the Northwest to Pittsburgh with no hesitation whatsoever. Most folks back home couldn’t understand why I would move to Pittsburgh of all places. My answer to that was always, “well, what the hell am I getting done here exactly?” To me it was a no-brainer. I have been enjoying my experience here to no end in the two months I have lived here. I feel incredibly lucky to be in such a rad work environment with a most excellent group of people. Pittsburgh has welcomed me with open arms and I intend to set up shop here for a hell of a long time. I thank everybody here for making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside on a regular basis, except for the laser printer that thing sucks. Now I have a ridiculous nickname (Paper Jam) because of that giant plastic bastard.


Viva La Pittsburgh!