Jeff Puthuff (a.k.a. Factotum) Joins TTAC as Ace Proofreader

I’m delighted to welcome TTAC commentator factotum to the other side of the WordPress platform. When Jeff volunteered to perform endless search-and-amend missions on our typos, bad grammar, factual mistakes, variance from the Chicago stylebook, punctuation transgressions, etc., I leaped at his offer. He stepped to one side. I hit the floor. Nothing new there. I freely admit that I get sloppier at the keys as I get tired, and man do I get tired knocking out this stuff. To that end I’m off the Lexapro. And man do I get dizzy. With Jeff sweeping up behind the circus elephants—what? and give up show biz?—I’m hoping my OCD won’t return with such a vengeance, so I can restore the personal energy levels that helped propel this quirky little car site to its million man per month march. OK, so now that I’ve done the TMI bit, I surrender the recently cleaned floor to Mr. Puthuff to introduce himself.

“I was infected with the auto enthusiasm bug when I was about the age of eight. My father (employed by GM/EDS) was transferred to Warren, MI, where we moved into a house close to the GM Technical Center. Squeezed in between a cemetery and the Detroit Arsenal, the neighborhood was like a miniature company town—if you didn’t drive a GM, there was something odd about you.

“Dad was a lifelong Chevy man; my childhood was spent in a succession of Chevy cars and trucks. My favorite was dad’s four-door sports car: the Celebrity EuroSport.

“On a whim, after our return to California in 1987, my dad bought a ’61 Beetle. It spent years in our garage waiting for me to turn 16. Meanwhile, I enjoyed my early teens with my grandfather off-roading in the Sierra Nevada or on BLM lands near Carson City, NV, and practicing shifting in the Bug while making my own engine noises. (I was caught a few times by Mom.)

“The Beetle served me poorly. It broke down every week. But every time I see one, I wish I still had mine. These days, I drive an Infiniti I30. I couldn’t be more pleased.

“When I was a senior in high school, I bought a book entitled “Car Secrets Revealed.” It was so riddled with errors I tracked down the author (in Canada) and berated him until he agreed to let me re-edit the text. I had found my niche. At the tender age of 17, I was a published editor.

“Since then, I’ve worked for Boeing, MCI, EDS, the Seattle Times and a commercial printer in various capacities. I’m now self-employed as a technical editor, currently working on a large, multinational project for Levi Strauss & Co.

“I’ve enjoyed TTAC for a couple of years. During that time, I’ve viewed every typo and grammatical mistake as a shortcoming that betrays the site’s overall quality and mission. It got the point where I was mad as Hell and couldn’t take it anymore. And so I’ve got the keys to the garage.

“Feel free to email me if I miss something @ editTTAC[at]gmail.com. Thanks.”