Thomas Stoner:  

If you're an LHS '67 classmate, you really should be a member of our class web site too. Find it on the web at lowrey1967.org, and please join today. I'm a writer, photographer, and on my third tour of duty as a contract automotive test driver, attempting to live the lifestyle of traveler, explorer, and voyager these days. I'm also a dual citizen with a pair of passports, which allows me a little additional freedom to search globally for the next perfect destination. Following an undistinguished performance at Lowrey, I tried a bit of college at Michigan Tech beginning in the fall of 1967. Lacking the interest, drive or dedication required to succeed however, it only took an academic year for them to bounce me out for some real world experience. My real world working experience began with Michigan Bell Telephone in 1968, where I was maintaining switching equipment in the Livonia Central Office. Really though, if you lived in Garden City or Livonia during 1968 or 1969 and had trouble with your phone, I swear it wasn't my fault. This was the only job I've ever really subsequently regretted leaving. Real world experiences were interrupted by the surreal, when I was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1969. Eventually trained in missile guidance systems, I served out my obligation to country in as short a time as possible at far-away and exotic places named Kentucky, Alabama, and Missouri. I parted company with the military in 1971 and I'm sure all parties were equally happy when that job and association ended. Returning to "blue collar" factory jobs, I worked with Unistrut, Ford, and General Motors between 1969 and 1981. I managed to eventually graduate from Washtenaw Community College (with honors, no less!) in both 1973 and 1974 and have taken the occasional class since, but never bothered to finish up anything more than the two Associate's Degrees. I went "white collar" as the Service Manager at an Apple and IBM computer retailer in the 1980's. Following up on the computer service experience I worked as a computer network administrator with the University of Michigan for more than 15 years, until my position was eliminated during a university-wide downsizing in 2003. I earn my walking around money as a contract test driver for Hyundai's North American Technical Center in Ann Arbor. This is a great job for someone like me who loves to drive, as cover up to 430 miles per shift on Michigan's highways in engineering test and prototype vehicles. It's fun driving disguised prototypes of nex...Expand for more