Jim G.Lewis

— a bit about his life

Early Years

Born in Florida, in 1949, Jim was soon moving with his family to different parts of the state since his father was with the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization (also known as the Border Patrol.) His earliest recollections were from the family's stay in Miami. The family soon moved from Miami to Daytona Beach and Jacksonville and then on to Pensacola. It was there that his father and mother divorced; a parting brought about by many factors including his father's bout with encephalitis which is mosquito borne.

Schooling

First grade through tenth grade were all in Pensacola. Mainland High School in Daytona Beach was where he graduated after studies in college preparatory coursework. His love of learning drove him to explore many different avenues of academia and institutions. He attended Daytona Beach College, Pensacola College, Miami-Dade College, University of Florida, Seminole College, University of Central Florida, Lake City College, and presently, Valencia College in Orlando.

Adventures

Playing hookey:

Bored with ordinary school work, Jim took to spending many school days hiding in the public library of Pensacola. At that time truant officers were quite vigilant but no one ever questioned why a 4^th or 5^th grader was at the library when he should have been in school. When not at the library, he explored the shoreline of Pensacola bay. The wharves and many docks were wonderful areas to explore and the colorful characters he met were an education in human diversity unto themselves. He still possesses a ship in a bottle that was made and given to him by an old sea captain.

Travel:

Thanks to the many books Jim read at school, home and the libraries, he loved to travel around and explore. His earliest ride from Pensacola to Jacksonville in a Greyhound bus impressed on his young mind just how physically big the world was. When he obtained his automotive driving license the world was his to explore. Two weeks in Russia in 2005 was the highlight of his travels.

Flying:

His first plane ride was also from Pensacola to Jacksonville. Unfortunately, he had a bad cold and slept through most of it. The idea of learning to pilot an airplane seemed like a natural extension of knowing how to drive a car or a boat. He took flight lessons in Orlando and earned his wings in a Cessna 172.

Skiing:

Water skiing in Daytona Beach was easy enough for him so what could be so hard about snow skiing? Simple - the cold. Jim loved the warmth (and heat) of Florida summers. Learning how to deal with 20 degree temperatures was a study in itself for him. The week-long excursions to Colorado were bearable mainly because at the end of a week he would be back in Florida...and warm again.

Boating:

Growing up in Pensacola along the bayfront left Jim with an affinity for the sea. His many swimming excursions around the bay area and into the Gulf gave him an expertise for water sports. Boating was an expensive proposition so it was a rarity for him, but on occasion he would meet people who earned their living from the sea. Captains, deck hands, stevedores, and other sea support personnel made up the majority of adults that young Jim met. In later years he, himself, would captain boats that carried up to 37 passengers.

People

From the poorest:

Those who work the sea have a hard life. Their work is labor intensive and does not pay that well. But such work builds character from within. Those people have a realistic view of hard life and can impart the seriousness of choices that lead to such a life.

To the richest:

For over 30 years Jim did document management for a Real Estate developer in Winter Park. This particular developer once invited two brothers to go camping on land that they were interested in buying. They drove around on the property, fished in the lakes and spent the night talking about what they could do with the land. Those brothers' names were Walt and Roy Disney. Jim has been given a unique view at a part of Florida history and has met many people who helped shape it.

Interests

Mechanics:

Jim first learned to work on bicycles at the age of nine. Faced with a broken ball bearing in his front wheel, he was resigned to having to throw his bicycle away because it wouldn't work anymore. When someone mentioned that the part just had to be replaced, Jim's view of all things mechanical took on a whole new appearance. Suddenly there were toys to take apart, metal appliances to disassemble and when his mother's washing machine was too expensive to repair she allowed him to take the whole thing apart in the living room. To this day he still has the motor mounted with a grinding wheel and it works just fine.
When Jim bought his first car it appeared to be too complex to work on. His father guided him in starting out with small things like replacing spark plugs and then doing tune-ups. After a while he began tackling valve jobs and engine rings on cars and small engines. It led to automechanics as a vocation.

Alternative fuels:

Jim's love of learning brought the history of mankind and energy into his view. He began to experiment with different ways to run engines. To date he has run a small engine on rubbing alcohol, tree wood and pure hydrogen.

Computers:

In 1976, Jim came across an advertisement for an Apple II computer in Science Illustrated magazine. He resolved to own a computer like that someday. In 1978 he went to work for Radio Shack and has been working on computers ever since.

Work

A litany of explorations:
1^st job was picking up dog poop at $2.50 for 6 hours over a week. His resolution: He will never do that again for the rest of his life (and he hasn't.)
2^nd job: Delivering newspapers. The lesson learned: hard work can be fun.
3^rd job: Soda jerk. The lesson learned: Not everyone is treated the same.
4^th job: working for barter; swept up for trumpet lessons. Worth every minute.
5^th job: copyboy for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The lesson learned: Master your language skills.

Mechanical and electrical skills were applied and learned at many jobs. His first professional mechanic position was at a Cadillac dealership in Miami in 1970. The lesson learned: Just hard work doesn't necessarily overcome poor pay. While at Western Electric in Miami he experienced his first exposure to labor union culture. He was not impressed.
Best job of all the decades: shop mechanic in Gainesville for Hugo and Son Auto Repair. Those were two of the best years of Jim's life. Hard work, good comrades and fair pay.

30 plus years working with computers
Radio shack, Winter Park. Jim worked as a computer salesman both in the store and did outside solution sales.
Adventure International, Fern Park. He was the store manager of the first independent computer store in the Orlando area.
Data Processing Institute,Orlando. He taught FORTRAN and COBOL courses and managed the school computer store.
Independent Computer Systems, Winter Park. He worked as the manager of a computer store.
Real Estate Consortium, Winter Park. He worked as a commercial property appraiser.

Walt Disney World:
Facility Asset Management as a user support technician
Animal Kingdom as a user support technician
Epcot as a user support and system administration
Hollywood Studios as a user support
Y2K: "Never before have so many resources been put forth to make sure of a non-event."

Columbia Data Products, Altamonte Springs, Jim was the primary quality assurance software tester for eight years.

After that it was back to school to earn a bachelor's degree in management. During which time he also worked delivering car parts for NAPA.

Presently Jim is attending Valencia College to upgrade his computer skills while he works as a boat Captain for Walt Disney World's Sassagoula Rivercruise operations.