Good morning/afternoon/evening/night/eclipse!
Hi! My name is... my name is... my name is... Roger Maxwell. I began writing for TorqueNews last month. At that time, I posted a brief, rushed introduction. I jumped right in at full throttle, so I'm now taking the time to slow down and do some housekeeping.
I won't bore you with all the details of my simple life, but the short story is that I'm an engineer for a company that manufactures industrial heating equipment used in a variety of industries including suppliers to automakers. I grew up watching and helping my grandfather work on cars and I've been on wheels ever since I left the delivery room.
After years of being stuck in the retail sales job I started in high school, I finally escaped to start college and pursue degrees in computers and accounting. Along the way, an engineering job landed in my lap.
Like most of you, I love driving cars. I love learning about them. I like to know how and why they work the way they do. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experiences with others. I also enjoy participating in several online forums. My focus is on Honda because that's been my brand of choice for the past decade. Before that, I was a big GM fan. However, I enjoy learning about and driving anything on wheels - even if it's not something I would personally buy or could afford.
It seems natural to combine my interest and knowledge of automobiles with my ability to form complete sentences (most of the time) into automotive journalism. I consider myself a jack of all trades and a master of none, although friends, family, and co-workers are crazy enough to seek my advice when it comes to cars and a few other subjects from time to time.
Automotive journalism is new to me. I was thrown into the water without knowing how to swim and I'm still trying to keep my head above water. I'm learning as I go not knowing exactly what to expect. I feel that my best work is and will be communicating my observations and personal opinions following hands-on reviews of automobiles.
I haven't won the lottery yet, so I can't afford to go out and buy one of every car that exists for a review. I realize that some people try and enter this field just to get free cars, but in my case I'm happy with what I drive. I have no desire to try and score a Rolls Royce Wraith only to spill an expensive bourbon on the plush carpeting (that's alcohol abuse) or see how much tread I can wear off the tires of a Bugatti Veyron in a week (no matter how much fun that might be).
As with any automotive journalist, I need a variety of cars to drive to qualify my opinions and demonstrate my (dis)abilities, but I'm finding that my opinions are needed before I can gain access to a variety of cars. Talk about a catch-22! but I'm sure you've been in the same place before and somehow made it to where you are today.
I often see things differently than most people do (or that they will publicly admit to, anyway). Also, I believe in quality over quantity. I welcome any and all guidance and constructive criticism as a teaching tool that will help guide me into this new adventure. All I ask is for a bit of patience for the newbie and that if you have something super ugly to say, please give me the courtesy of responding privately before lambasting me in public.
I look forward to contributing and getting to know more about each of you.
Roger Maxwell
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