I guess there are many things I could come up with that have changed my life for the better, but this one is one that shaped my life at an early age. When I was around 10 years old, my cousin (once removed) took me under his wing. He was 10 years older than me and got me interested in collecting stamps. We would drive to the post office the minute a new stamp design came out, and buy plate blocks of stamps. I say "WE" but we really know it was his money Then we started to buy old wood furniture and wood framed mirrors at tag sales and refinish them. Finally he kick started my interest in coins by giving me a 1925 D wheat penny. Then one day he said: "This machine here can find money in the ground." I was like .................. It was a $19.95 Radio shack detector Right after that I noticed this box he bought, that was an amplifier kit for the detector and we would carry it above the machine. It wasn't long before we had a "Real" machine from Bounty Hunter called the Rebel. Back in them days you had to adjust between mineral and metal and it was a BFO (beat frequency oscillator) machine. The machines continued and got better with time but by then I was hooked for life. Even guitars and girls in high school could only derail my interest for a while So to my cousin Danny, I owe a great deal of gratitude for keeping me out of trouble and opening the door to an adventure that I still travel today.