About

Who is 12 Volt Man?

• Age: 33
• Location: South Weber, Utah
• Marital Status: Married since 1997
• Children: 4 McKenna, Camryn, Peyton, Holden
• Interests: Family, Travel, Upland Hunting, Bird Dogs, Photography, Computers, Outdoor Cooking, Jeeps, Friends, Good Times, and more.

I took the name of “12 Volt man’ for my “internet personna” years ago when I joined my first Internet Bulletin Board. It was a place for Parrothead’s (fans of Jimmy Buffett). I have always liked the escapism that Jimmy Buffett creates with his music. I have listed to it almost daily for a lot of years. I had to pick a screen name and I was looking for something related to his music. “12 Volt Man” wasn’t taken. Since then I have just kept using the name for a number of online forums and pretty much anywere that I need to pick a “name”.

The song, “Twelve Volt Man”, written by Jimmy Buffett in 1983 has an interesting story. One of a much simpler life. I think it fits my personality or at least what I dream about…..

Here’ s the story behind the song. Quoted from songfacts.com.

“Mike Nesmith, who was a member of The Monkee’s, once told Buffett about a man he ran into down in Baja who is the unknown inspiration for this song. During the Baja race, Mike broke down in the middle of nowhere and went to a small village to wait for his repair team. He ran into an American – a fisherman who lived in a small hut with what he called “the essentials.” He had a collection of Buffett’s albums, packaged margarita mix from America, an old Waring blender, and a tape recorder hooked up to a peculiar power system made out of a Honda generator and a Sears Die Hard battery. It seems he would fish all week, and on Friday night, he and his friends would hook up the blender and tape player and make margaritas while they sang along to Buffett’s songs. This ceremony would last until the gas for the generator dried up. Buffett got the inspiration to write this while he was in Isla Mujeres, a small island near Cancun, where life had escaped most of the twentieth century. The tough part was rhyming “Die Hard,” but, with a few inspiring margaritas, the word came. This is one of his favorite songs. (thanks, Ken – LaSalle, Canada)”

Lyrics:

Twelve Volt Man by Jimmy Buffett

I never got a grip in penmanship
Could never make those small l’s flow
Seldom found the trick to arithmetic
Three plus two be faux pas
But ask for some palm trees
Or tales from the South Seas

I never had the clout to knock one out
But hitting was the name of my game
Standing on third as the coaches conferred
So close to my first claim to fame

Just give me the steal sign
And I’ll make home plate mine
And I just might turn some heads

Sometimes I may get a little drastic
Sometimes I just let my feelings show
Sometimes I may be a bit sarcastic
Most times that’s the way the story goes

Now I know this Joe down in Mexico
He went there to work on his tan
For years he’s been plugged into blenders and songs
They call him the Twelve Volt Man

He don’t need no charge card
Just give him a die-hard
And he’ll make sparks fly round your head
Or just ask for some palm trees
Or tales from the South Seas
And I’ll make sparks fly round your head
Round your head
In your head
In your head

I have no set goals for this blog. I am not a great writer, or a great photographer. We’ll see where it takes us.