I worked on ranch in Montana and a farm in Ireland at the age of 14 +15 for the summer. I worked as apprentice butcher for a few summers in high school also. I was a ticket agent for the CTA and unloaded trucks for UPS. I got a Philosophy degree from DePaul. I owned a catering business for 30 yrs. We feed Cardinals, Bishops, Mayors, business leaders, dignitaries, countless sport personalities and even a president. One week we feed 10,000 people and not just hotdogs, but gourmet meals. Catered concerts for The Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Madonna, and Paul McCarty to name a few. I have owned bars and liqueur stores. I have bought and sold a dozen buildings. I have made and lost over $2,000,000. I have not had a drink in 32 yrs(one day at a time).
I turned 21 on a beach in Spain. Spent a night in jail in Holland. Was put up against a wall in Belfast at gun point by British soldiers in the early 70s' (my fault should not have been there.) Saw a bullfight in Barcelona . Argued prices in the Medinas in Morocco and the Grand Bizarre in Istanbul. Slept in parks in England and Belgium. Had coffee on the Champs-Élysées. Got in bar fights in London. Got ripped off in Madrid. Walked the streets of Magala. Drank 5 cent shots of Ouzo in a bar all night long overlooking theAcropolis. Gambled in Lisbon.Took a freighter from Italy to Greece. Toured the Vatican,the Louvre, Ephesus, and the British museum. Jumped out of a plane solo. Climbed the 588 steps to Santorine . Cruised through the Panama cannel.
Retired at the age of 51. In retirement I have been in the jungles of Guatemala, and wrote a published story about it(google Finnegan Guatemala). Gone down the Amazon in a dugout canoe with only a guide and a cook. Rode a horse around the Great Pyramids and a bicycle in the Valley of the kings in Egypt. Raced bikes in Aruba. Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Machu Piccu and parts of Patagonia. Rode a bike through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam , and also across Iowa 10 times. Walked the great wall of China, sailed the Yangtze river, and saw the Terracotta warriors. Jogged the streets of Hong Kong, Buenos Aires,Zanzibar, Kathmandu,Cartagena,Montevideo , Alexandria, Zihuatanejo, Saigon, etc. Taken a photo safari in the Saringetti. Dived for Oysters in San Blas. Swam in the Great Barrier Reef. hikedthe hills of New Zealand. Explored the temples of Bali. Competed in over 25 Olympic distance triathlons, ran 3 marathons, and completed one 1/2 ironman(age 60) Toured Angkor Watt in Cambodia and the Mayan cities Tikal, El Mirador,Caracol, Copan and soon Chichen Ixza