That’s right, for a while I was a professional horse race handicapper. I worked as a statistician and handicapper for the Daily Racing Form, the newspaper that publishes the past performances of race horses. If you don’t know, the term “handicapping” refers to the act of weighing the various factors that lead a person to predict which horse might win a race.

It was another great job, and a big part of my personal growth.

I grew up going to horse races, thanks to my father’s sideline as a horse racing journalist. By the time I was in high school, I was a regular visitor to Longacres racetrack near Seattle (this photo comes from the summer of 1980 and was taken at Longacres — I was 17). After my stint as a deejay, I was hired by the “Form” and worked on and off for them from 1984-1992.

Today’s Prompt: Share an experience that helped shape who you are today.