(11.30.09) It's about time for me to get more serious about writing. I've started an offline journal where I can explore the jumbled mess of my mind. What I'm finding are some thoughts I can share, though I lack any reason to share. I lack the creative prowess and ability other friends seem to have. If you want to see real creativity and have kids, you'll relate to Mary's blog http://www.thecubscuties.blogspot.com/. Mary should really be writing her own newspaper column. Back to me, I'll see about bringing some of my random thoughts forward to this page.

(03.18.09) Loving Facebook! This week I reunited with several more old friends. I've reached that stage in my life where I feel obligated to reunite with old classmates, 4H acquaintances, college friends, relatives, etc. Many from my HS class have reached that same point, and old photos are being digitized, old stories told, and we all marvel at the hair we had back then.

(3.17.09) Am I the stupid one? After 10 years at the same job I sometimes have to ask myself why I'm still here when all the staff positions have changed over at least once in the last decade.

(01.02.09) Money saving tip: don't buy Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 game. What a complete waste of money. The graphics are horrible and the user interface is horrible. Random Jillian audio bits repeat too frequently and frequently you reach points in the game where you don't know what you're supposed to do. When you do the motions the graphics don't match, and there are polygon shading problems. My wife says if that was her first WII game she'd never buy another. Luckily we have WII Fit already and know how a properly implemented application should work. It's obvious some no-talent group spent all their money convincing Jillian to sell her endorsement rather than creating a usable application. This is game is so poorly done I'll never purchase any other Jillian endorsed product for fear of similar problems. I cannot believe Jillian ever agreed to endorsing that product and obviously she did no research.

(11.14.08) Finally a night to myself! Laura's at a girl's fondue night, the kids are in bed, the lights are low, some mellow Singers & Standards music playing on tv, and I'm cuddled up with a laptop that's making my lap sweat. The weather's turned cold finally and I'm beginning to regret not putting my lights up a week ago when it was 50 degrees warmer. This week wrapped up an annual corporate sponsorship review at work. Can you believe that come January I'll have been at ISU for 10 years? Back then Pluto was still a planet, gas was less than $1.00 a gallon, and you could still buy music on cassette tapes Back then I figured I'd be gone to Texas in 3 years or transitioned out of this small town. Oh yes, Ames is small town even though it has an extra digit in the population category. The transient college population bent on chain smoking, binge drinking, and hangover eating does nothing for the local scene. Yet here I am, and will be content wherever my kids will be their happiest. Will I still be here doing this same job in 10 years from now? Who knows.

(07.14.08) Posted some You Tube video of a Discover Channel Canada show featuring the C6 and an interview with your's truly. Also posted is a CNN - The Next Big Thing segment that aired repeatedly.

(04.21.08) Still working to add content to the family website. Working to prepare a place to upload some family tree information, as well as my angle on the doomed United Airlines flight 232 that crashed in Sioux City. Tonight I'm sitting a sick file server, fsck on 1.5TB takes a mighty long time.

(04.02.08) After a long winter it appears Spring is finally going to make an appearance. Spring has also been the time to get reunited with old college friends. In one week I received emails from Brian Boyle, Chris Sevick, and Mark Rowzee, all floor two of which I'd not heard from in 9 years.

(03.21.08) Completed a week long training course RHS333 Red Hat Security: Network Service course. Nothing helps you hone your skills better than a week long training course. Since I've not taken a RHCE I was unable to take the exam which I hear is one of the toughest out there.

(3.14.08) Inside Iowa State must have been hurting for material so they interviewed me for their March edition. Mike did a great job on the article, but I still find it uncomfortable to hear yourself described through the eyes, or pen, of another.

(03.09.08) What a weird week. Last weekend we did a family swim at Okoboji. This week saw the birth of my co-workers third child, major progress with my auditorium remodel project, and I was the subject of my first human interest story and photo shoot. The article will be published later this month, and I discovered it is odd reading about yourself through the eyes of another. Sure, I've been interviewed by Discovery Channel, and worked with a number of media outlets like CBS Early Morning Show, CNN, Wired Magazine, and various other niche news agencies. This time the story is not about my work, it's about me and that's just plain weird to read. I'll post a link when the article is published, I've seen the proof and guarantee I'm not a pulitzer prize winning subject.

(1.1.2008) My first entry of the new year. New Years Eve we took the kids out for pizza and ice skating. We welcomed in the new year with our friends Eric and Lisa who came over for snacks and drinks.

About me: Born in 1971 on the first day of school. I was the third of three brothers. Early life was spent on the family farm getting into and avoiding trouble. My first car was a black Ford Mustang LX that let me start exploring life away from the farm. Summers on the farm were spent working from sunrise to sunset, if not for my father then contract labor for various neighbors. No wonder I was stick thin as a kid. After high school I attended Iowa State University and received my B. S. in Computer Science. Not a penny to my name I took a job with a startup in Cedar Rapids supporting The Medical Manager software. 4 years later after multiple mergers and acquisitions and constant travel I decided to find something more challenging and took a position at and Iowa State University research lab (VRAC). Many years later I'm still here, we've also added a graduate program (HCI), and spearheaded the creation of a new industrial outreach program (Cyber Innovation). While at ISU I rekindled an old relationship with Laura, we got married, and are now the prod parents of the two greatest children anyone could dream of. Laura's Chiropractic office has us pretty tied into the Ames community, and my job has provided me with numerous exciting experiences and opportunities to work in a world-class organization.

My web presence:

, Facebook, work blog, personal blog, Virtual Reality Applications Center, Human Computer Interaction, Cyber innovation Institute, Pi casa Web Album,