Hello.
According to Google, I’m one of a surprisingly large number of people who have this name.
I’m not the baseball player, the super techie, the aspiring musician, the PGA golf executive, the apparent hippie, or the college student. Nor am I the ex- husband of the reality show babe. And facebook lists hundreds of people with the same name, a few of whom appear to live in another solar system.
I am the project manager/program management professional working for a global consulting group aligned at the intersection of corporate real estate and technology, providing services ranging from retail site selection to construction management and team leadership. I’m a CCIM, which means I am in the top percentage of commercial real estate professionals though it’s been awhile since I’ve conducted transactions. I’m certified as a 6σ Green Belt, so I can be a bit obsessed with efficiency at times though unfortunately for my family that sometimes extends to theme parks visits. And I’m a LEED Green Associate, which means I understand something about building with the environment in mind. In my opinion, regardless of what you and I might believe about the extent to which humans contribute to global warming, it just plain makes common sense to me that we ought to migrate from finite fossil fuels to unlimited forms of renewable, sustainable energy while we still have a decent supply of the former in our own land.
In a previous life, I’ve been a banker, a loan officer, and a REALTOR. I’ve presented workshops on LinkedIn/Social Media, guest-hosted a syndicated talk radio program, and helped launch the initial internet presence of several somewhat prominent faith-based organizations. I worked my way through college as a janitor, maintenance man (ha), bank courier, data center items processing clerk, substitute teacher, and a few other odd opportunities.
I love to read, and write from time to time–but not on this site. I’ve traveled to 49 states and have likely eaten BBQ in a third of them, but only good BBQ in a handful. As a native of central Florida, I’ve been to Disney World more times than I can count and can strangely manage to get around the park effortlessly while not going anywhere near the yakking tiki birds or Small World ride. I like pretty much all kinds of music except rap, hip hop, grunge and opera. Silly me—I still believe music should have a melody, harmonies, and a language I understand. Movies ain’t what they used to be, but when I do go without the kids I gravitate to political thrillers, time travel, and documentaries.
I like my breakfasts basic, either a bowl of cereal or a trip to the Waffle House. Lunch should be a bowl of strawberries and blueberries, or something from Chick-fil-A or a pizza joint. Dinner is perfect at pretty much any steakhouse or meat-and-three diner where I can get a good steak or some wood chicken or fish, a mixed greens salad, some vegetables and a piece of chocolate cake, peanut butter cookies or pecan pie. That is, unless I’m on the coast and there’s a seafood shack nearby loaded with fresh fish, shrimp, oysters, and crabcakes, or if I’m in Texas, Memphis, or KC near a BBQ joint, where you walk out humming Willie Nelson tunes and smell like a fireplace. All I need to drink is OJ in the morning, Gatorade during the day, and an ice cold cola or lemonade alongside a cool glass of water in the evening. I only drink iced tea in the deep south where it’s actually delicious and doesn’t taste like boiled weeds or lawn clippings. City life is fine for the day and evening, but on weekends and vacations I want to hear the quiet breeze of the woods, mountains or the oceans, not sirens and horns and cars.
Unless I’m meeting a client, doing a presentation or going to a funeral or wedding, I favor jeans, hiking boots and sweatshirts in the winter and shorts with golf shirts and running shoes in the summer. I hope I always get to live on a lot big enough for woods, creeks and wildlife.
I’m an American whose ancestors fought in the American Revolution, and I give my support and my vote to the candidates I believe most strongly embrace the U.S. Constitution and the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I’m related to the man who became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, as well as to another man who is known as one of the greatest pioneers and explorers in American history. I grew up on the Space Coast pf Florida watching moon shots and shuttle launches as a kid. Evidently I get my love for travel, freedom, independence and adventure honestly.
One one hand, I love change and variety, which is one reason I moved to north Georgia from central Florida: seasons. I’m a weather nut, strangely attracted to hurricanes, snowstorms, and extreme weather. On the other hand, I am boringly loyal to my employer, family and church. And don’t tell my wife, but I still work out in clothes even older than our kids. [UPDATE: since posting this, some of those t-shirts have mysteriously disappeared]
I’m old enough to have played football back in the day when coaches in Florida believed concussions were no big deal, frequent water breaks were for wusses, and if you weren’t bleeding, puking or woozy, you weren’t giving your all and you better not quit. In my twenties, I skied all over Colorado. Now I’m an occasional golfer and most of my sports activities involve watching my kids.
Most weekends I’m with my family hanging out doing sports, music, biking, cooking out and hanging out. If it’s fall, college football is probably on the television(s), which means I am at risk of startling my family and possibly even neighbors by yelling at the TV when any team I am rooting for fumbles a football—old habits from playing days die hard. I’m periodically obsessed with my fitbit, when not ignoring it completely due to it’s deteriorating condition. But when I’m in Manhattan or Washington, D.C. I easily double my daily goal with it.
On Sundays I worship and periodically get up in front of a bunch of kids to teach. And I am often at parks, bike paths, greenways, science fairs and sports fields on Saturdays. During the week I could be anywhere in the country or working from home, thanks to Delta and the power of modern technology. And if I’m on vacation I’m probably at a museum, historical site, wilderness area, science center, or sporting event chasing my wife and kids on zip-lines, go-carts, bikes, or anything else nearby with wheels they can either ride or build, or a ball that can be thrown and bounced.
If you’re still reading this, you’re probably a new acquaintance, relative, recruiter, co-worker, ex-girlfriend, stalker, government bot or someone with little else to do at the moment but search Google. Regardless, unless you are a stalker, you might connect with me at my via social media. I connect on a business level primarily at LinkedIn, while my friends and their friends also find me at Facebook. One day I will start using my Twitter account, which mostly exists thus far to keep the “handle” away from characters.
Thanks for stopping by.
