I'm a software architect. This term is a bit loaded these days, but in a nutshell it means that rather than writing code, I design it. The other part of my job is to engage various technology groups within the company and tell them what and what not to do when they're writing software. I offer guidance and make sure that everybody sticks to standards developed within the company to minimize risk, maximize potential and reduce costs. Standards are what I eat and breathe these days, and although many developers tend to think they suck, they exist for a reason. Believe me, I used to think the same thing about them.

I've worked at my current employer for more than 14 years. I started writing SAS applications as well as some COBOL (shudder), and eventually moved to Java in the late 90s, just recently (2005) being promoted to my current non-developer position. The only other real job I've had was as a business analyst at Honeywell, which I hated. The job, not the company.

Some people consider me a bit of a Java guru, my mom and I included. Well, I used to be good at it. I'm also a bit of an Oracle expert by necessity, as well as a minor authority on enterprise middleware. Mostly I work with software design patterns, which to my surprise I ended up liking very much. A lot of my time is also consumed by technical writing.

Another one of my responsibilities is to evaluate software (and sometimes hardware) products for potential inclusion in the company's standards portfolio. That means I also spend time talking to vendors and sitting in the lab waiting for things to install. I even have my own set of servers, which are actually 12 used IBM Thinkpad laptops running RedHat Linux and Windows Server 2003. These machines are in a sort of home-made shelve structure, which is wobbly and completely unsafe. This is where I do my evaluations and prototyping. The data center guys call it the Ghetto Rack.

On the personal side, I'm married to the most beautiful and intelligent woman on the face of the earth (hi honey!), who has given me the most intelligent and handsome boy on the face of the earth. Her only fault is the fact that she was born in Boston (hi honey!) but her other attributes more than make up for that little defect. Andrew on the other hand, being my son and and having been born in the best place in the world (Santa Barbara, California) like his dad, is completely perfect. He's four years old, so he's not completely aware of how awesome he is, but in time he will. The family (especially my mom and sisters) are taking bets on when the next offspring unit is due. I told them to let me know when the pool gets up to $5,000. I'll then ask one of my nephews to place a bet for me and completely screw up the date. This is so I can buy another motorcycle.

I grew up in and around North Central California, went to UCLA where after two years I was told that I didn't have the mental fortitude to be an economist, so I dropped out and taught myself to write software. C'est la vie. I do have an MBA from Cal Poly, which I hope to one day actually utilize by starting my own business. I also have lots of certifications and all the other detritus that lets people know I allegedly know what I'm talking about.

My hobbies are simple. I like photography (and I used to do that before DSLRs, the hard way), the outdoors, biking (the self-propelled and motorized type), reading and writing. And playing soccer with Andrew. I don't play computer games, but we do own a Wii, which to my surprise Heather has become addicted to. I have to admit those gum sitck motion controls are a lot of fun.

Other than that, I like playing with our three cats. Thunder, Rain and Snow are a Calico, Calico and Maine Coon, respectively. They actually own the house, we are merely tolerated as guests.