Where I’m From
I’m originally from Mosier, Oregon, a small town on the Columbia river about 80 miles east of Portland.
I currently live in B0ston, Massachusetts, in the East Boston neighborhood (aka Eastie to the locals). It lacks the view of Mount Saint Helens, but the weather is better than Texas and I really like it here. The politicians are much more crooked, however.
In between the two I’ve lived in about 20 different places in Oregon, Texas, Virginia and South Carolina. I hate to move, but seem to do it a lot.
What I do for a Living
I currently work for Certica Solutions, a startup company based in Wakefield, Massachusetts that specializes in data quality analysis software for K-12 school systems. Our software is used by school districts around the country to help keep their student data in good shape, which generally leads to increased funding and, in some cases, lower numbers of “government cheese” sandwiches being fed to students. No, I’m not kidding about the “government cheese” sandwiches!
It’s hard to explain what, exactly, I do for Certica because I’m the “guy who can do a little bit of everything.” Generally, my job consists of some consulting, a bit of development, pre-sales and running Support.
Married?
Divorced since 2002
Age
Damn near 40!
Politics
I’m a registered independent in Massachusetts (technically “unregistered”) and I tend to vote Democrat, but I’m really a Socialist at heart. I’m proud to say that I voted for Obama this year! My political beliefs can be summed up as “don’t bankrupt the country, keep people fed, housed and healthy and I don’t give a rats ass who you marry as long as you’re making each other happy.”
University
I went to Weatherford College and Southern Methodist University. I have a degree in Real Estate and Finance from the Edwin L Cox School of Business. You’ll notice I’m not exactly using my degree at this moment - oh well…
What I do for Fun
Believe it or not, I have a pretty busy life. Here’s the short list of things I like:
- Travel – most of the postings on this site are pictures from my travels around the world.
- Collecting and drinking fine single malt scotches, Irish whiskeys and bourbons.
- Cocktails in general – if you know me you know about my bar.
- Baking desserts – the only thing I really like to cook.
- Reading – I have an eclectic taste in books, so you can find about anything in my library except trashy romance novels.
- The study of 20th Century Soviet and German History (how’s that for focused).
- Web design and development (in case you can’t guess from this site). I generally like hacking and the various web technologies I use (ASP, PHP, JSP) tend to fill this desire quite well.
- Driving my Mini Cooper S down just about any twisty/hilly road I can find – generally a bit too fast.
- Woodworking – especially finish carpentry or miniatures. Don’t ask me to build you a house – it will take forever and be way over built.
- Traveling: Generally in the US, Europe or Australia / New Zealand, but given the chance I’d go about anywhere.
- Web Surfing – the web is full of information on all sorts of interesting topics. I can spend hours just researching something for fun.
- Drinking Shiner Bock Beer (mmmmmmm, beeeeerrrrr), though I can’t find it in New England.
- Play softball (summer) or party with the softball team (winter).
- Just hanging out with friends – especially friends that are also fond of Shiner!
Pets
Zaphod died a few years ago and I’ve finally replaced him with Houdini, a large, ginger, neutered tom with some serious character.
Siblings
One older brother and one younger sister. I don’t hate either of them anymore 
