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.
I’ve been working forever
on a very technical game called RealMachine.
Go check it out.
And now (in process of), studying, being trained, getting
certified, buying, building, storing, and flying a gyrocopter.
My Family
My wife and I have been married for nearly 50 years and
have a family tree with over 50 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.