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Life started on March 10, 1975 just west of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. I have remained in the area ever up to 1997 and have called the shores of Black Lake in the Town on Walden home from 1986 to 1997. Hockey was a key activity in my early years of life up until about grade 9 or 10, when the interest shifted towards snowmobiling as a favorite past time. During the days at Lively High School, there was always a sledding topic to discuss while standing around the lockers. Times have changed and I have since called California and Kingston my home over the years with stops back in Walden in-between. Stittsville is now home base after a four year stint(Jan. 2000 until Nov. 2003) in Kanata, just a few minutes up the road.
Through the high school years I helped built homes as a summer job for about five years with my uncle Tom. I then moved on and completed a four year specialized degree program at Laurentian University where I studied Math and Computer Science. During the summer of 1997 I worked with a smaller company in San Jose by the name of LogicVision. Summer of 1998 saw me rooming with my cousins in San Jose, California as I worked with Hewlett-Packard for the summer in their Chemical Analysis group as a Student Emplyoment and Educational Development (SEED) student. Each provided great insights into the computer industry for myself and helped to nicely bridge the gap between academics and the commercial marketplace. I started a Master's Degree in Computer Science at Queen's University in the fall of 1998. For the summer of 1999, I worked as a research assistant as I completed my Master's thesis, so there was no American cash coming in, just the cheap Canadian stuff and in greatly reduced amounts compared to the last two summers. Thank God those days are over! I successfully defended my thesis on Jan. 15th, 2000. So the M.Sc. is done and I moved to Kanata and began consulting as a software designer at Nortel. Working life is far better than anything school had to offer. I am now an employee of Nortel as of Dec. 4th, 2000. Yes, I survived the 50% headcount reductions of 2001 @ Nortel! As of Apr. 2002, things are just fine, although I am in need of a change... I'm not used to doing the same thing year after year.
I moved division within Nortel in November of 2003 out of the Wireline division. I am now part of the Wireless Division, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) OAM Access in particular. The work still involves network management software as in the past, now just with a different context. Nortel as a company appears to have "turned the corner" and the bleeding is over for the time being. Now I need to find a way to get ahead in the business world. My real life take home pay has gone down each year until mayb this year, this is not good. Who knows what the future holds?
The things that keep me busy nowadays include hockey ( played as a kid, actually back at it in Kanata now at least once a week year round), golf, any water sport including fishing, waterskiing, snowboarding and especially snowmobiling. I also enjoy a social drink or two(in-case this in not obvious from the "Weekend Adventures" section) when the weekend comes around as I am sure many friends can attest to. I manage to disguise this with BBQ's, sporting event outings, general social gatherings, that sort of thing. Watching the Ottawa Senators fill quite a few hours as well... seeing as their rink, The Corel Centre is only about four km away from my home.
The Futures markets have received a fair amount of my time and I began actively trading in April of 2001. This is my ticket to the easy life(working is overrated), but I still have more to learn and the lessons cost thousands of $ each by the looks of things thus far! I have been in the stock market for years but it is in commodities that the excitement lies. Stocks are too slow, but keep me busy during the work day at least. My first kick at futures last a year before the funds ran out. Better luck next time.
I bit the bullet and purchased a town house on the summer of 2003. Moved into Stittville Nov. 28th, 2003. Access to the sledding trail being one of the most important buying criteria, I bought a place about 100 yards from a groomed trail. It backs into a wooded area, has a garage and a deck..... what else do I need?
Tamara, my girlfriend of two years will move in come May, as she is finishing up a dental hygiene course and ready to enter the work force. The big 30 milestone is looking me in the eye and the next logical steps in my life would include the words marriage and a family. Yikes!!
- Large