About Me

I was an Army brat -- born in Fayetteville, NC while Dad was stationed at Fort Bragg. The family moved to Southern California shortly thereafter, but settled in the northwest suburbs of Chicago by the time I was 4 years old. Since then, I've never lived anywhere else, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. Much like my friends, The Boat Drunks, I'd rather be living on Tropical Standard Time.
After spending my formative years at the University of Illinois, I returned to the suburbs to work as a software engineer at Motorola. My wife, Connie, and I were married in 1987, and we have two daughters, Amanda (1990) and Kaitlyn (1993). The past 20+ years have been a blur. Raising two great kids while working to stay comfortably in the middle class has been my life. Sure, I've had opportunities to make more money, but it would have meant too much time away from home. Being there for my family was (and still is) more important than bigger salaries, bonuses, and stock options. For the past 12 years, I have worked from home for IBM, with the exception of a brief and ill-advised consulting "sabbatical". I love the flexibility that working from home provides, but I really do miss the social aspects of an office environment.
Come August 2011, both kids will be away at college. With any luck, I'll be able to talk Connie into spending a month (or two) each winter at our condo in Fort Myers, FL. (I can work from anywhere that has internet access.) We bought this condo in 2005 because it looked like a good investment. While the real estate market in the Sunshine State has certainly not lived up to expectations, I'm still happy that we have it -- and we'd love to share it with you! Our Casa Bella Condo is available for weekly, monthly, or seasonal rentals.