James Sloan:
CLASS OF 1978
Nitro High SchoolClass of 1978
Nitro, WV
Andrew Jackson Junior High SchoolClass of 1978
Cross lanes, WV
James's Story
Graduated from WVU in 1983 with a BS in Civil Engineering. Obtained my Surveyor's License #814 by test (I was not grandfathered in in 1995 with a whole bunch of engineers who don't know squat about surveying) in 1986, went to work for the WV Division of Highways in 1991, obtained my Professional Engineer License #12122 in 1993.
Working for the WV Division Of Highways on a permanent, part-time basis due to major health issues. I am their Research and Publications Engineer, working in the Technical Section of the Engineering Division. I research and write about half of Engineering Division's manuals and keep track of the updates required to all of them, plus I am the keeper and revision manager of the Roadway Standard Details. I like it; managing design projects was a heartache that nearly put me away for good. I like the design part, but when it came to trying to pull it all together from different sources, especially from the consuling engineering angle, to get them out the door and bid then built, it was like we had "all of the responsibility and none of the authority". Too much pressure. Too much stress.
Married in 1991, separated as of May 17, 2008. I'm waiting for the thing to finally be over so I can kill that past and come back to life.
Some of the health issues are probably related to this 17-year period, and the fact that I have a hereditary disease called Hemochromatosis It is non-curable, but treatable would you believe by the old-fashioned cure for all diseases - blood-letting. It makes my...Expand for more
duodenum absorb all of the iron I eat (most people absorb only about 10% - 15% and that's all a human being needs to survive on) thereby poisoning my body - eventually all of it if not caught and treated. This disease causes diabetes (check), liver cancer and cirrhosis (Thank God not yet), arthritis (check), depression (check), high blood pressure (check), and a host of GI ailments (check), and an assortment of other little things. Plus the depression I have is Bipolar 2, meaning mostly down with very few ups. I knew you could be poisoned by heavy metals - lead, mercury, stuff like that, but by IRON? Apparently you can. Also copper, zinc, and any other metal the body needs to function. In fact, since I absorb all the iron, it makes me susceptible to absorbing too much of the other metals, so I get tested more often than I desire to keep this thing in check.
In other words, I can be a sad sack at any time. But I try not to be. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I get stressed REAL easy. Then I'm practically non-functional.
Otherwise, I just take it day-by-day, almost afraid of what each new day will bring.
But I am still a nice guy.
And yes that IS me in the photo, just after a shower. I decided in late 2005 to let my hair grow. All the while growing up you know I had the short, parted-on-the-side, Dad-created military non-buzz haircut. But I'm now parting in the middle and it's down to within an inch or two of my beltline. This is my only rebellion I have against expectancies of me by others.
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