For starters, I'm In case you were wondering, I'm about 17,000 Days old. 

I am the oldest of two siblings, by two years.  To view some pictures of me as a Kid, Go Here .

I did OK in school, I guess... I wasn't the brightest kid in the class, but then I guess I wasn't the dumbest, either.  I got average grades (B's and C's), and I made the honor roll every so often. 

Religion was a major part of my life growing up.  My Mom came to the Lord when I was 4, and her influence over my life has stuck with me ("Raise them up in the way they should go...").  We attended a local Independent Baptist Church every time the doors were opened, which really burned into me the importance of church and the values that can be reinforced in a Christian community of believers.

I came to Christ when I was 5, and have reaffirmed my faith over the years.  One of my best memories as a kid is spending about every weekend with the Men of the church for about a year digging with shovels under our church building, which was originally built in the 1700's as a theater, so that we could build a series of classrooms, and a separate auditorium for teens... we COULD have gotten heavy equipment under there to make the job easier, but our pastor decided thought it would be a good thing for church unity to do it using manual methods.  It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun, too... we literally wore out a whole pile of shovels, but we got it done, and felt real good about it!

I graduated from  Biddeford High School in 1983.  I graduated in the top third of out of 113 or so... not great, but not too bad, I think, anyway.   My 'claim to fame' in high school is that I wrote an inventory program to manage my home town's library (books, inventory, the library cards, who signed what out, what was late, etc).  They've since replaced it once the rest of the state standardized on one system, but it was cool while it was there.  I also won a Governor's Award for Computer Science.

When I left, I was a Master Gunner for two tank companies at the same time (who placed 1-2 in the battalion!), and was a tank commander as well.

I'VE SPENT TIME IN THE FOLLOWING UNITS:

• A Troop, 1st SQDN, 2nd ACR, Camp HOF, Germany

• D 6-68 Armor, 8th Infantry Division, Baumholder, Germany

• B 2-77 Armor, 9th Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Washington

• B 4-7th CAV, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Gary Owen, S. Korea

• B 1-33 Armor, 1st Corps, Ft. Lewis, Washington

• A 2-37 Armor, 1st Armored Division, Ansbach & Vilseck, Germany

• B 2-34 Armor, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kansas

• E , 2-11th ACR, Wildflecken, Germany

• C 1-1 CAV, 1st Armored Division, Buedingen, Germany

• B 3-37 Armor, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kansas
  

Some of those units are gone, redesignated, or moved; but when I was there, that's where I was, and where they were.

I went to  Desert Storm with 2-34 Armor.  My platoon was picked to be a breach unit, and I had the honor of being the first tank to enter Iraqi territory from the 7th US Corps.  My platoon led the way for the 1st Infantry Division throughout the entire 4 - day Assault. 

I ended up spending 12 years in the Army, and was a Master Gunner for M60A3 and M1/M1A1 Tanks.  My Companies and Troops Shot First or Second every gunnery, and my average score on  a tank ranges as a TC and Gunner is around 910 or so, with 3 1000 point runs.

During my time in the Army, I managed to maintain, for the most part, my relationship with the Lord.  I was  raised a Baptist, but when overseas, it was difficult to find a church that believed the same way I did... I checked out other religions as part of my quest for knowledge, and I learned a great deal in doing so.  I attended at a German Lutheran church for a while, but I eventually came across a minister with the church of Christ.  (NOT the "of LDS", or the "United Church of Christ"!)

I quickly hit the books again, picked up on my interests in Computers, and turned my Hobby into my Profession.  I took classes at the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Portland Community College, in Oregon, in their CIS and CS Associate programs.

I quickly found out that it was easy to find work, and  worked as a Programmer for a few smallish software/consulting shops in Portland Oregon, doing work for businesses such as  Leatherman Tool Group,  The Oregon Education Association,  Northwest Engineering, the  Firestone Agricultural Rubber Products Des Moines Plant, and Lawrence Livermore National Labs, among others.  I specialized in Custom Database applications and Custom Business Software for small to mid-sized companies.  

My focus has been primarily Services, desktop applications, SQL Server, Internet/Intranet, and MS Office automation.  I'm familiar with VB, C#, ASPX, C++, JAVA, HTML, SQL... blah, blah, blah... :)  Was "on the road" for quite some time, going company to company, as a contractor; when one job ran out, I simply went and looked for another one... more often than not, I had a job waiting as one was finishing.  Things were good.
 

Because my hobby is my job, I feel like I'm playing at work (well, most of the time).  I've always enjoyed programming, and did it for fun while I was in the military, which helped me use my free time wisely, rather than getting myself in trouble. 

Those who say that making your hobby your job is a bad idea have never done it, in my opinion.  I enjoy what I do, and its a pleasure to go to work.  12-15 hour days are common, but not a problem for me, because most of the time I feel like I'm getting to play longer.  Its a blast, and the pay is not half bad... how can you beat that?

When the economy looked like it was slowing down, I gave up the "road dog" days, and took a job at a division of Seattle's Safeco Insurance Corporation, Safeco Life and Investments, which was headquartered in Redmond Washington.   It was right around then that the "Dot Com" bust happened, so it was a good thing I played it safe!

I enjoyed my job with Safeco quite a bit, working largely on insurance calculation engines, primarily for web sales applications, designing and building new ways to sell insurance.  I was even a "Co-Inventor" on a system that allowed Life Insurance to be sold and bonded online - a first in the industry.  Before too long, a majority of the sales at the company were happening on the systems I designed and built.

I lived in Redmond, Woodinville, and Olympia, and for a few years went through some pretty trying times -- not at work, but unfortunately at home.  Prayer, friends and family came through for me, though, and it wasn't too long after that things smoothed out, and got better.

It was during this time that I was discouraged by different events that happened within the church of Christ I was attending, and I looked for another church, visiting several different churches, including Redmond's  Union Hill Church, and Olympia's Living Water Church, before finding (on advice from a co-worker to whom I'm now married) Mercer Island Covenant Church, where I now attend, and am a member.  I'm happy to say that I've regained some of that "First Love" that Paul spoke of, and have really been reveling in the benefits of a closer walk with God. 

Safeco Life was eventually spun off and sold to a consortium led by Berkshire-Hathaway, and was renamed  Symetra Financial.  I followed them to their Bellevue Headquarters, and not long after the transition work was completed, I went to work in their Financial Management Systems Department as a Sr Systems Analyst. (fancy-talk for "programmer, et al")

I was moved to a different department in the company we worked at, and after a few months, it seemed that it was time for me to move on.  I found a job after less than a week of searching.  I took up a job with a contracting firm, and rejoined the "Road Dog" days again, only this time, on a more localized basis.  I worked as a contract Business Intelligence database programmer, for various companies such as Group Health, Weyerhaeuser, Fluke, among others, and loved it!

My spouse, "The Shadow Lady", also changed jobs, and we moved to a house that's out of the hustle and bustle of the city - we're both small town folks, and we feel very much at home in a town that city folk would call "Po-dunk".  Our home town has a population of about 4,500 or so, with about 10,000 living around the town, in the same zip code.  Its in the foothills of the Cascades, and it seems like a great place to bring up kids.  There's certainly a lot to do around the area, and the neighborhood seems to be perfect for a kid for finding friends, and places to play.
 

We recently were blessed with a boy... which is sort of a miracle in itself, because I had been told when I was in my early twenties that I couldn't have children back in the Army, after an unfortunate accident that involved a spider.  Apparently, God had other plans, and has given us the incredible opportunity of raising a little one.

He's awesome, and I've found that the experience of being a dad REALLY suits me!  He seems very healthy, strong, inquisitive, and generally good-natured... I'm looking forward to getting to know him better!  :-)  Its been an amazing first year, and I can see the changes in myself, almost as clearly as I can see the changes in him.

The economy tanked a bit, and being on the road wasn't quite as appealing, so I got a job at Microsoft, working as a consultant database administrator.  I met some great people, and really enjoyed my opportunity there, but wanted something that felt a bit more stable, so found a more permanent job at T-Mobile USA, the mobile phone company, as an FTE.  I pretty much did the same thing I did on the road with the consulting firm, only I had the stability of a company I worked for.  If anyone is curious, T-Mobile is a GREAT company to work for!

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