Born and raised in northern Michigan, Fairview, for 36 years. Relocated to Wisconsin in ‘96. Entire working carrer has been as an Engineer - Quality, Plant, Process, Manufacturing, Industrial - in the OEM auto parts (brake-, fuel- lines) supplier industry (7 years), housing industry, manufacturing windows and doors (20 years) and most recently the HVAC (dampers and louvers) industry (less than a year).

I have 5 children, 4 men and 1 lady, YOB: ‘86, ‘89, ‘90, ‘91, ‘95. My eldest, Joshua has gone to be with his heavenly Father in ‘07. All of my kids are Wings and UofM fans; Josh, my best friend, was my closest WingsFan and is dearly missed. The ‘07-‘08 season and Cup #11 are for him. My youngest, Sarah, is now my closest WingsFan and best buddy.

I remember my early years with Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, as my favorite Red Wing. And I remember the “lean years” ... ‘nuff said.

The Detroit Red Wings - 11 Stanley Cups and counting. Historically, the best overall professional sport organization on the planet!

Oh, about my Screen Name. To make a long story short, I broke my little finger in high school at the beginning of basketball season my junior year. In order to keep it stable while playing, I would tape it to my ring finger. Unfortunately, the first practice with the tape I “mishandled” a few passes. The assistant coach started giving me a hard time - the more I tried to shut him up by playing well and prove myself unhindered, the worse it got. Thus the nickname StoneHands - no soft touch, clumsy, lacking sensitivity, ‘granite fingers’, ... you can get the idea. As a starting guard, I got a lot of playing time but was never able to shake the label of having bricks for appendages. And the 78 is the year I graduated. From high school.

http://stonehands.blogspot.com/