Ever since I was in middle school, I was interested in computers. At the time, there were only three computer books
in our school library. I didn't understand exactly what these books were talking about, but I took those three books out of the
library almost every week and read them with fascination. I was amazed by how computers touched everything from appliances to
rockets. I thought that if computers were used in so many ways, there must be some way I could work with them when I got older.
My first computer was a Commodore 64, which I hooked up to an old television. I didn't have a storage device, so I just typed in a
program, fiddled around with it during the day, turned off the computer and started over again the next day. All that just to get a
funny looking ball to bounce around on the screen.
Work Highlights
In 1995 I got my first job with a big company, Electronic Data Systems. I started out as a first-level help desk agent, fielding
technical phone calls from other employees to help them do everything from get logged into the network, to using applications like MS
Office products and provide information on network status. I realized quickly that there was no documentation for new help desk agents,
so I created documentation and eventually ran a training program to get new help desk agents up-to-speed on using our ticketing system and
giving them information about how to handle common help desk questions.
After working on the help desk for several years, I had the opportunity to transition to a role where I created reports and provided
information to help keep up with the details of how the help desk and other support divisions within the company were performing. In this role
I used Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and SQL Server. Eventually, I converted hundreds of manual reports into automated reports
using SQL Server Reporting Services.
As a side job, I worked as a trainer for CompUsa, teaching adult learners how to use Microsoft Windows, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and
Access. Teaching in-person courses was a great experience and I enoyed all the new people I was meeting and the challenges of in-person
training.
I have held various other positions, all of which required various degrees of using Microsoft Excel and Goolge Sheets. I also found
that in most positions I held, there was no documentation on performing the tasks and therefore nothing to help new employees learn
their new roles. In most positions, I have created this much needed documentation and many times also delivered the training to new
employees.
Adventures and Hobbies
Travel
Niagara FallsYosemite FallsArches National Park
In 2015 I decided to take some time off from full-time employment to do some traveling around the country.
Some of the trips I have taken have included:
Niagara Falls
The Smokey Mountains
Tour of California including:
San Diego
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Yosemite National Park
The Redwood Forest
Mount Shasta
South Lake Tahoe
Sequoia National Park
and more...
Texas
St. Louis
New York City
Utah National Parks
Colorado
The Grand Canyon
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Two of my favorite National Parks are Yosemite and Grand Teton. My travels have taken me to 38 of the 50 U.S. states.
I hope to get to the remaining states in the near future.
You can check out photographs and quotes I've shared on my Instagram page.
In August of 2019, I started doing Plastic Canvas projects. This has been a fun craft to pick up and I have completed many
projects. See my Hobbies page for details about the plastic canvas projects I
have completed.
Employment and Skills
Resume and Timeline
Download a copy of my resume
for full details of my employment history or view the timeline below for the highlights:
2019 - Present
Self Employed
Software Coach
Created online courses, learning content, and performed one-on-one training.
Microsoft Excel
Google Sheets
Camtasia
Udemy
2018 - 2019
NetSource Technologies, Inc.
SEO/SEM Consultant
Managed PPC accounts and provided SEO expertise for external and internal clients.
Google Ads
Google Analytics
SEMrush
AdRoll
Special Project:
Created a detailed SEO plan for use with all SEO clients to progress them through keyword research to
ranking high for content they care about.
2015 - 2018
Self-Directed Studies
Increased skills in various web development and database technologies through self-directed study.
HTML5
CSS3
JavaScript
PHP
MySQL
Responsive web design
Special Project:
Created this hand-coded, responsive, mobile-first website.
2013 - 2015
NetSource Technologies, Inc.
SEO/SEM Consultant
Provided Search Engine Optimization services to clients,
managed internal and external Pay-Per-Click AdWords accounts,
did quality assurance reviews of websites.
Google Ad
Google Analytics
Various SEO tools
HTML5
CSS3
JavaScript
Classic ASP
SQL Server
Special Project:
Created an online tool to manage and report on Pay-Per-Click client activities.
2012 - 2013
NetSource Technologies, Inc.
Programmer
Developed websites for internal and external clients.
HTML5
CSS3
Classic ASP
ASP.net
C#
JavaScript
SQL Server
Special Project:
Hand-coded a website for a yacht club.
2010 - 2012
Lender Processing Services
Business Analyst
Report generation and maintenance, ad hoc reporting and queries, dashboard query maintenance.
Crystal Reports
T-SQL
SQL Server
Special Project:
Helped maintain a complex data dashboard.
2009 - 2010
Data Targeting, Inc.
Assistant DBA
List management, data maintenance and extraction.
FoxPro
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Special Project:
Created application to track collection of property data from multiple states and counties.
2004 - 2009
Electronic Data Systems
Infrastructure Analyst
Report generation and maintenance.
SQL Server Reporting Services
Special Project:
Converted hundreds of static, manually-generated reports down to a dozen dynamic automated reports.
1998 - 2009
Electronic Data Systems
Infrastructure Analyst
Website design.
HTML
CSS
Classic ASP
JavaScript
VBScript
Special Project:
Created an online tool for collecting and managing ad hoc help desk requests.
1997 - 2004
Electronic Data Systems
Infrastructure Analyst
Report generation and maintenance.
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Access
T-SQL
SQL Server
Special Project:
Co-lead project to get Help Desk ISO 9001 certified.
1997 - 2002
Electronic Data Systems
Infrastructure Analyst
Training for New Help Desk Analysts.
Microsoft Office
Applications supported by Help Desk
Special Project:
Created a complete training program for new Help Desk agents.