I started to work in my father's company aged 14. The company called Päiviö& kni was founded in 1960's. From the beginning the company was specialized in building drainage systems for fields. The job was hard and the whole country was our playground. As a youngster I very often envy for my friends who had a summer vacation or some kind of light summerjobs. Our working days lasted usually about 12 hours so You didn't have very much freetime. Best years were when I was going around the Lapland with my own "team". In those days I surely learned how to operate an backhoeloader and how to manage with different people and strict timetables. In those days an common backhoeloader was built arround the tractor and in my case was called Vammas. Not much ergonomics. As a jounalist for construction I really appreciate those days. Of course I have also needed the techincal education I had afterwards. I graduated as an engineer in 1986. During the years i have finished few articles about those rich days travelling around Finland. Unfortunately they are only in finnish and to be downloaded from her (PDF).