
Dana Burton
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Well, it all started 46 years ago,
in a small place, called Rivers,
which is in Manitoba, Canada. It
was an RCAF Station in WWII and was
after the war. My father was a
Corporal and was a Aero-Engine
Technician working on the Lancaster
bombers.
We moved to Trenton, Ontario in
1966, where my father retired in
1975 from the Canadian Forces. Like
any normal kid I got my high school
diploma, working pumping gas for
$2.10/hr. And about that time my
father put me into the Royal
Ontario Conservatory of Music to
learn guitar, well that lasted
about a year and an half and being
young didn�t really care, but I
did learn to play and read music.
After high school I was going to
college but got diverted by my
friends to go and pick tobacco for
8 weeks, and saved a grand total of
$1200 dollars. So, I went out west
to Alberta and lived with my
brother, and worked for $6/hr
moving and cleaning appliances,
needless to say, it didn�t work
out and I came back to Ontario.
Within a month of coming back I
found myself in a cabinet making
apprenticeship, making $7hr, and it
continued for two years, when it
changed again and I needed to do
something different, so, I joined
the Canadian Forces on my
father�s suggestion, and got into
Communications, and learned about
computers etc, starting at
$20k/year
I did that for 6 years and it was
quite the adventure, played a lot
of sports, but mainly golf,
broomball, and ball hockey, but
again I just couldn�t do it
anymore, so I got out and went back
into cabinet making and carpentry
making $10, but it was just too
much work, long hours, and I was
just married with a child, so after
2.5 years I joined the military for
the second time and in the same
trade in communications making
about $35k/year.
Over the next 8 years had two more
children, got divorce, moved to
Ottawa, and gathering lots
training in computers, mainly email
and networking, then finally making
$45k/year. But yet again it got
boring, so I left the military to
get into the private business realm
since the military just wasn�t
working for me, and started at
$48k/year. I�ve been in the IT
industry ever since and to tell the
truth, its niche for me because it
come easy, and it make a descent
wage, without having to work to
hard. The only thing is I got
divorced during my second military
time and even though I have never
been with out a job, I have just
managed to make ends meet, and
that�s it. Living from pay check
to pay check, and once and a while
being able to save, not much.
Which brings me to the present day,
I still have my job making
$63k/year, and have been with the
last company for 8 years, and my
children are all in Ottawa, where I
enjoy time with them and my
friends, still playing guitar and
mainly golf now.
 | Dana Burton is a Silver author on EvanCarmichael.com |
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