About Me

My Career

I've been a software developer since the late ’70s:

· I have worked on many platforms from micro-chips to mainframes

· In several languages from Assembly to Java

· In lots of OS/environments from Altair to UNIX and Windows to IBM (whatever their mainframe OS is called)

· I’ve produced low-level hardware drivers and high-level CAD, GUIs, and analyzers

· For batch and real-time processing, desktop, and online applications

· In a variety of disciplines like:

o Newspaper Publication

o Aerial Photogrammetry

o Civil Engineering Mapping

o Mechanical Engineering

o Medical Research

o Land Surveying

o CAD/CAM/CAE

o Manufacturing

o GIS mapping

o Security

o Financial

o Advertising

· I've been self-employed and I’ve worked for small companies and large companies

I retired after 18 years from Boeing as a level 5 Programmer/Analyst the whole time.  Throughout most of my career I worked as:

o Customer/User Liaison

o Application Analyst

o Software Developer

o Project Leader

o Technical Writer

o Mentor

o Trainer

o Speaker

o Author

And I have successfully avoided any subordinate management positions.

My Hobbies

I've run a few marathons.  Hiked the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim in one day a couple of times. I still like to hike and run, and putter around the house.  I used to do all my own auto maintenance and repair – both minor and major, but since retiring, decided that’s just not where I want to spend my time, energy, and mechanical aptitude.  Writing technical software for my day job wasn’t enough; I also wrote several simulators after hours at home, just for fun. Like:

· Robotic Juggling Stage Performer

· Multiple-Moving-Parts Assembly Designer/Analyzer

· Rocket Performance Monitor

· RC Airplane Virtual Cockpit with First-Person Navigation

We were going to make our rocket navigable to return it under power to the launch sight, but SpaceX beat us to it, so we changed our mind. 

I studied Mechanical Engineering in college, but my career just never went in that direction.  So I decided I’d been suppressing my urge to design and build mechanical things long enough, and it was time to exercise my manly right to a mid-life crisis; so with a lot of help from my engineer-son, I outfitted my half of our garage into a full-blown machine shop of a “man-cave” with a CNC mill.  We also designed, built, and tested a spectacular high-altitude rocket.

My Family

My wife and I have been married for over 45 years and have a family tree with over 40 smiley faces!

My Faith

I believe in God.  I believe He created the universe and everything in it, including the earth, and us.  I believe there is a spirit within each of us that gives life to this lump of clay, and that God is the Father of our spirits.  He loves us and wants us to be happy as we reach for the potential he sees in us.  I believe that He put us on this earth for a specific purpose.  Our success in achieving that purpose will not be a record of our public accomplishments, but of what we desire in our hearts, what we strive to live by, and the nature of the man or woman we become, as evidenced by our attitudes, our choices, and our behavior.  The best we should and can do while in mortality is to strive for our divine potential by loving Him, following His counsel, and by loving one another as His Son has shown us by His example.