My education and Experience

 My schooling took place in the Robbinsdale School District. I began playing percussion and singing in the district choir in 5th grade. While attending Jr. High I delivered the daily morning newspaper before school and played football after school. I got a guitar, began self teaching with a lesson book and eventually formed a band with some friends. During my Sr. High years I took auto shop, basic electricity, wood shop, hot metals and worked as a gas station attendant and janitor.

 After High School I served 3 years active duty as a Tracked Vehicle Mechanic in the US Army, pledging an oath to uphold the Constitution for the United States of America from all enemies foreign and domestic, where honor, duty, teamwork, determination, perseverance, truth, knowledge and helping others is paramount.

 Returning to civilian life, I took a home study Master Course in Microcomputers and Microprocessors while beginning a machining career at a hydraulics manufacturer. Advancing my machining knowledge by reading equipment manuals and taking a CAD/CAM course at Anoka Tech helped to move me into CNC programming, eventually becoming the CNC Department for a small plastic injection mold shop for 6 years. I also bought a synthesizer and self taught playing keyboards.

 Moving to Forest Lake prompted change of employment to a small metal stamping tool shop where I was also the CNC department. I used my formal and home/self education to design and build a device so the time clock computer could sound the break buzzer, eliminating the old mechanical punch card unit when the company system software was upgraded and began some computer system administration. Eventually, I accepted a salary position as the IT Department, Network Administrator, Novell File System Administrator, Email System Administrator, Windows Domain Administrator, Enterprise Resource Planning System Installer and Administrator, Database Administrator and SQL Query Programmer, Order Entry Department, Purchasing Department, Engineering Associate, Administration and Installation of the Telephone System and Building Entry Security Systems, wrote some Windows Utilities using FreeBasic to automate Inspection Data Entry and an Android app for the Shipping Department.

 The owners of the stamping company retired and the company was absorbed into a large corporation that had fully staffed departments so I was handed a severance package after training their IT Department on the acquired systems. I now design fixtures and program 5 Axis CNC machines at a medical implant manufacturer that 3D Prints parts from Titanium and Stainless Steel.

 I've also built a 30 x 40 Pole barn including all the wiring, an electric fence, and installed a hydrant for a horse watering trough using a back hoe and hydraulic excavation. I am an advocate for Open Source Software such as Linux and LibreOffice.