Although I have been enjoying the comments of each and every one of you as you attain that milestone, I'm still waiting to hit 70 next week so must defer my personal input until later. Posted 2/1/2016 - After me only Bryan P. awaits turning the big Seven Oh...

On the day of the Baccalaureate cermony I went to the lake (Canyon Ferry). After spending the day boating and water skiing I decided to head back to town. I had, of course, waited until the last possible minute to leave the lake, as I knew, or thought I knew, how long it would take me to get back into town, go home, change, and get to the Jr. High School. Unfortunately, on the way up the hill from Yacht Basin, I blew out the syncro-rings in my transmission and was stuck in second gear which slowed me down considerably. I called my folks from East Helena and had them meet me with my cap and gown at the Jr. High. I forgot to ask them to bring me any clothes, so I did Baccalaureate clad in cap and gown, but only a swim suit underneath.

After the army and college, in 1969 I moved to Las Vegas where I worked for the Las Vegas Sun newspaper in the advertising department. I resigned in 1975 and started Treasure State Games after designing two gaming devices that I believed I could get legalized in Montana. In 1976 I won a unanamous decision in the MT Supreme Court legalizing the machines which started the "casino" industry in Montana. I became one of two independent Bally distributors in the US with offices in three states. From 1975 until 1990 I maintained two residences (Las Vegas and Montana), had two kids, traveled too much, ended up divorced and then remarried. In 1990 I sold my businesses, bought a beach house in Florida and retired. After three years of that, I went back to work, building a slot route in Jamaica, buying an on-line sports book in Curacao which I subsequently moved to Costa Rica, and started importing card shufflers from Australia. I also got divorced (again), which is a status I've enjoyed since 1992. After buying and selling several gaming related companies, suing and being sued multiple times, and getting to be pretty well known in the industry, I threw in the towel (mostly) in 2007. However, it appears I can't give it up and am back at it.

Of course, one can't quit completely. In 2008 I had to have both knees replaced. I had that done in Pittsburgh, PA, recouperating at Eileen (Moen) Kaplan's. I helped Eileen rehab a couple of houses that she purchased, the most extensive project taking nearly 8 months as we completely refurbished a 120 year old Victorian she had purchased. Currently I am working on some gaming related patents I filed in 2011 and 2012 which deal with both tribal and internet gaming. Now, in 2016 I am working with three strategic partners on a rather large gaming related project. We expect to kick it into high gear at the Southern Gaming Conference in May.