If you really must know something about me...
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Background:
I was born and raised in central Pennsylvania, then joined the US Air Force after graduating
high school. I worked in communications electronics and
computers. I was lucky enough to live in exotic places
like Athens, Greece and Adana, Turkey. I had several
extended stays in Latina, Italy and Ramstien, Germany.
Thanks to mobility units, I also traveled extensively, with
"camping trips" to Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Sudan, and
Honduras. I had shorter visits to Israel, Spain, and
England. While in these countries, I tried to absorb as
much of the culture as possible and enjoyed each
country. In 1994, I took early retirement from the
USAF and moved to Lubbock because it was a nice town and had an
Air Force Base nearby. A few days after buying my house,
they announced that Reese was closing - Just my luck! |
Work
My current employer is Texas
Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. I am the
information systems manager and systems administrator for the College of Human Sciences.
Translated to common English, I'm the head computer geek who
plans, maintains, and manages computer systems, multimedia
rooms, and computer labs within the college. It's my
job to give the faculty the technology they need to teach and to
give the students experience using the computer technology
they'll find in the real world. Here are photos of two of
our labs - main lab, tech lab.
The fringe benefits are that I get to play with neat technology
toys while working in a family atmosphere of the college.
It's a complex & challenging job, but it's also very
rewarding. |
Play
Astronomy, computers, and bicycling are my current
passions. Each has its own place in my active life and
each are my haven from the stress of my demanding job. I
don't have much to say on this site about computers &
cycling because the Internet is filled with sites dedicated to
them - I don't have much more to add that's not said elsewhere.
Astronomy is one area that I can add a bit. I'm very
active in the local astronomy club, I'm a bit of an equipment
freak, and also help with real world data collection and
research when I can. I spend many Friday and Saturday nights at
TTU's observatories helping instruct the open air portion of the
freshmen astronomy courses. These sessions are also open
to the public and I really enjoy showing the beauty of the
heavens to people of all ages for the first time. That
"OH WOW" is worth the time and effort to set up
my scopes.
I'm very active in the club's outreach programs - We're hoping
to assist local schools with their science programs, give
presentations to civic clubs, and help Boy or Girl Scouts with
badges and progression. (If you're in the area and have a
club, school, troop, or gathering that could benefit from our
programs, please contact me!) I sometimes give
presentations to the astronomy club - For example, I've got one
on sunspots posted in
PowerPoint. The club site has another on Eclipse
Timing in HTML format.
Besides astronomy and computers, I also enjoy woodworking (from
fix-it projects to small items of furniture), SCUBA (as a PADI dive master), cycling, photography, and the
outdoors. I usually have a dog as a companion and for the
last 10 years, it's been a crazy English
Springer Spaniel named Sparky (I picked him up on the 4th of
July weekend), who's been with me through thick and thin. |
School
Before leaving the USAF, I earned an Associate's Degree in
Electronic Systems Technology from the Community College of the
Air Force (CCAF). The degree is based on my education,
experience, and training as a computer and communications
technician and manager.
In 1999, I started work on a bachelor's degree. While I
work at Texas Tech, I am attending Wayland
Baptist University because Wayland recognizes my CCAF
credits. Wayland's Lubbock
center caters to nontraditional students like myself and
runs eleven week semesters, with one 4-hour class per week
(6-10pm). It's a brutal schedule with only one week
between semesters, but it's the best choice available to me in
Lubbock. I will complete a dual degree in Business
Management and Electronic Systems Technology in November 2002
and get the diploma in January or February of 2003. After
a break, I will probably return to Wayland to earn an MBA with
MIS specialization. |
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