Judi ( Grieger ) and I have been married for 38 years.

We have purchased a home next to the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia and I am look forward to retirement starting April 2008, but for now, we are still flying the American Flag in Miami as some of the few remaining Gringos.

I acquired FAA certification as an Aircraft Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic in 1966 and completed an apprenticeship in the airline industry. Inducted into the Army during the Vietnam War, I was awarded a Turbine Engine Mechanic MOS and became NCO-IC of the Engine Shop for the 175th Assault Helicopter Company in the Mekong Delta at Vinh Long. After discharge, I returned to the airline and later went to school at night to study electronics. I worked as bench technician on aircraft electronic controls for 15 years.

Along with a friend at work, we became interested in computers and in the mid 70s started to learn programming and computer interface design. At home, in an attempt to learn how to use computers for control applications we were able to develop interfaces to control and program devices using Radio Shack Model III computers.

The methods for recertifying many of the various control devices at the airlines involved the construction of test panels and then long arduous sequences of changing inputs and monitoring the responses. These begged to be computer applications, and we successfully began the implementation of computer driven testing for new applications. We were able to design modular racks with removable interfaces and resources using programmable switching, function generators and metering.

A group was needed to improve the reliability of some 50 million dollars worth of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) which the company had previously purchased. I became part of the group. We provided maintenance, repair, diagnostic and programming support for the ATE machines and developed circuit board level testing on our modular racks. I left the Airlines in 1989.

I was hired as a Digital Controls Specialist for an electric utility where we repowered a 1950s vintage steam plant to the more efficient heat recovery technology. Turbine Engines now provide the heat source for this highly automated facility. Four 200,000 HP Gas Turbines, two Steam Turbines, four boilers and six electric generators are operated by a crew of only four people. I am currently employed at the utility's system contol center in Miami.