In September 1964 I became the first child born to my mom, who had moved from a farm in Saskatchewan, and my dad, who had come over on a freighter from war-savaged Germany in 1951.  We were a lower middle-class family but my childhood was very idyllic. I went to good public schools, lived in a safe & beautiful city, and never went without.  I often joke that my biggest challenge back then was finding $0.25 to play pinball!

After high-school I attended Engineering at a local university, UBC, ending up with a degree in Mining Engineering. Upon graduation in May 1987, learning that there were no underground mines in downtown Vancouver, I departed for a little town in Northern Manitoba.  I spent two years there working in a gold mine and then moved down to Sudbury, Ontario, about 400 km north of Toronto.  I lived there for 5 years, switching professionally to developing software for 250+ mining personnel.

In 1994 I left the corporate world, moved back to Vancouver, and went into business for myself as a computer consultant.  This indirectly led me to accepting a CTO position a year later with a small software/advertising firm in Chicago.  Though I thought I'd be in Chicago for a long time (love that city!), six months later I was transferred down to Mexico City ... knowing barely a word of Spanish!

My time in Mexico was . . . well, interesting.  It opened my eyes to how other people in the world live.  It introduced me to a culture that, in many ways, I feel much more comfortable with.  In Mexico City I met a number of amigos (and amigas) with whom I am still great friends today.  In many ways, my experience there initiated a series of events that shaped my life for the next decade.

I absolutely love travelling!  I've been to much of North America and have also been lucky enough to visit Western Europe and Southeast Asia.

Politically I'm fiscally conservative but am socially liberal on some issues.  I abhor hypocrisy and am disgusted with how many people seem to have replaced personal responsibility with blaming everyone else for their problems and/or mistakes.  I am proud to say that I was the first one to identify "PVS" (Permanent Victim Syndrome) as a yet undiagnosed disease infecting our society!  Feel free to mention this term to others!!