My family moved to Moss Landing by my second birthday. Some of my first memories are looking at Monterey Bay. I could see Monterey & Santa Cruz from the upstairs deck on the house I grew up in. My dad ran a few chicken ranches amounting to 275,000 chickens. He bought a 10 acre farm down the street to build a proper house. My dad had a Minolta SLR but he only took slides.
I like prints. So when I was eight, bought myself a Kodak 126 instamatic with the sqaure flash cubes. I was hooked. I could point it at something and take that memory home, if I could hold the camera steady. By 12, I have moved to a 110 with a built in electronic flash. I still have a few of those negatives but they are so tiny I'm not sure if they are usable. I keep them because I think eventually we will be able to scan negatives that small in and be able to see the result.
Junior year of high school, I finally got my own SLR. It was a manual Canon AT-1. My buddy was the yearbook photgrapher but he needed money to pay for car insurance. He really wanted to drive the 1969 Mercury Cougar convertible his dad had restored for him. I have always taken snapshots since. I never joined the yearbook staff but they used my pictures anyway.
Sometimes being the photographer has unforseen benefits. As a result of buying the camera, I pulled together a computer slide show for my 20 year class reunion with over 300 pictures from senior year. No one there had seen any of the shots I showed that night. It took most of a month to scan those pictures in. Scanners in 2001 were very slow.
I worked for 25 years in Information Technology. I worked for Seagate, ASK Computer Systems, GEC Plessey Semiconductors, Peoplesoft and Coherent, Inc. I provided software support for the ERP software used administer a manufacturing businesses. At Peoplesoft I was a Release Test Engineer. We would create plans to test & run tests on the software for 4-6 month prior to its release customers. I usually managed a team of 12-20 consultants from the the BIG Consulting firms. The best part of high tech experience was meeting my wife. I liked her as soon as I met her.
My wife bought me a complete Canon EOS system with a 5d. She sent me to classes taught by Stephen Johnson, the First Digital Photographer. Peggy bought me the Apple MacBook Pro, Adobe Photoshop software and an Epson R2400 printer to make beautiful prints with.
Now, I am starting a couple of businesses for myself.
I fix computers as Scotts Valley Computer Repair. See my site at computerrepairinscottsvalley.com
I take pictures as Steven Paul Harris Photography.
If you need any photos or have any computer problems to be solved, send me an email or call my cell 818.5716.
Thank You for your time.
I purchased my 1972 Datsun 510 2 door sedan in 1985. I had been driving a 1977 Toyota Celica GT. Toyota's 20R engines had exhaust manifold problems and mine sucked a valve ruining he head. Sean Yarborough, a drummer in Materials Management, had a 510. He would thrash his four door past my office windows every day on the way home. One day, he told me his mechanic had a 2 door 510 for sale. I needed a new car and my family had lots of Datsuns. My first drive on the street was in a Datsun 1200.
The car didn't look like much. It had Texas golf ball hailstone dents in the roof. It was mostly white but the paint wasn't in good shape. I was thinking "I should probably run away. Sean introduced me to George. George wanted us to go for a ride. Sean hopped in the back and we went for a ride in George's car. He scratched 4th gear with three of us in the car and I was sold.
I have had the car ever since. I am on my 7th motor and 5th transmission. The 1980 Z20E engine, 1977 280Z transmission and my 1972 240Z R180 Quaife 4.375 differential were rebuilt by the guys at Rebello Racing in Anitoch, Ca. These should be the last set this car will use up. The engine has less that 30000 miles. I have been rear ended 5 times in that car. The chassis has close to 500000 miles.
I bought my adjustable suspension kit from Ground Control. I have 1981 280zx front struts with 200lb/in springs and Tokiko Illumina adjustable struts. The rear shocks are koni coilovers. I bought adjustable rear crossmember from Dean Sherman's 510 Fabrications and Rob Fuller at the Z Car Garage installed it. I have Suspension Techniques front and adjustable rear sway bars. Don Olenberg at Design Products Racing and Energy Suspension supplied the suspesion bushings. Custom Alignment in Mountain View keeps the car going straight. Lotts Auto Stereo put the rear speakers & alarm in. I bought the rest of the stereo from Lotts but put it in myself. I bought the driver seat from Krause Autohaus in Pleasanton. I bought Schroth Belts from Autotech. Ricky Freeman, formerly of Rebello, built my cage. Over the years, I have found sheet metal and more from Troy Ermish's 510 Outlet in Fremont.
The 510 has the easy life these days. It has retired from daily driving and now only goes out a few times a year. It's always ready to go all day, as long I remembered to keep the battery charged. There are only two major upgrades for the car left. A halfshaft to CV conversion would help the driveability of the car. Old cars always need another paint job.