About me

What's to tell?

I grew up in an unincorporated area (San Bernardino County, California) between the city of Redlands, and the town of Loma Linda. My Mom's family, the Van Leuven's, brought the first orange trees to the San Bernardino area, and are also a part of Redlands' history. My Dad's father was a Swedish immigrant.

I come from a family which has proudly served it's country. My paternal Grandfather served with the Army in WWI, my Dad served in the Navy following the Pacific Campaigns in WWII, my oldest brother served in the Navy, on a Destroyer -- the USS Noa, during Vietnam, my middle brother served with a SMASH unit, as a Trauma Doctor in the Army during Desert Storm, and I served in the Marine Corps at the end of Vietnam.

I graduated from Redlands Senior High, the same High school my mom and her brothers graduated from. During high school I worked part time for Griswold's Smorgasbord which was next to Ford Park, in Redlands. I left there and went to work for The Pizza Factory, a pizza and sub restaurant started by two brother-in-laws, Dean Murphy, and Roger "Rocket" Farson. The shop was located in a strip mall in Loma Linda.

In high school, I majored in art under the guidance of Bernard Lowrey, and was accepted to the Art Center, in Pasadena. I never made it there, though. After high school I decided that I needed some more art experience before going to the Art Center, so I started classes at San Bernardino Valley College. At the same time, I also moved into an apartment. My job at The Pizza Factory didn't pay well enough for this life-style, so I quit, and went to work for La-Z-Boy West as an upholsterer. They were just starting talks about bringing in a union when I left for Boot Camp in San Diego. So my timing was good.

In the Marine Corps, I was an Electronics Technician. I repaired tactical Radio, Crypto, Teletype, and Telephone equipment. I was stationed in 29 Palms, Okinawa, The Phillippines (where I got to attend JEST- which is no longer in operation, BUT, I did get a bolo!), Camp Pendleton, and Lackland Air Force Base (for Crypto school).

After leaving active duty in Jan 1980 (and switching to Inactive Reserve status) I got a job with San Bernardino County Hospital, as a Phlebotomist, while also starting my first year at San Bernardino Valley College, with the goal of transferring to Cal-Poly Pomona's engineering program. I also married my girlfriend, Cindy.

Over a year later our first daughter was born. She had complications at birth, so I decided at that time it was more important to care for my family than attend school. I dropped out of college, and got a full time job at General Dynamics in Pomona. Although work in the Quality Control Laboratory was interesting, I wasn't happy there. The union environment was very restrictive and oppressive. So, after only three months, I left General Dynamics for a much better, non-union job in Medical Imaging Service with Picker International.

Over the next twelve years, as a Field Service Engineer with Picker, I got to do many different things. In the early 80's, I was the Primary FSE for Picker's new Digital Angiography system, which was also their Western Regional show site, at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach. (In the late 90's, Picker was bought by Philips, then sold to GE Medical Systems in the early part of the 2000's). I had the opportunity to install and service X-ray (Radiography/Fluoroscopy), Special Procedures (Digital Angiography), and CT scanners.

My wife and I were blessed with two more daughters during this time.

After ten years, my wife, three daughters, and I were transferred to Oregon, where I was based in Salem, and continued to service and install Picker's equipment. In 1993 President Clinton's wife, Hillary, started serious talk for socialized medicine (aka "HillaryCare"), and as a result hospitals and clinics stopped all equipment and service dealings, until they knew what the outcome was going to be. What followed was an industry wide lay off -- except for GE, which used the situation to build their install base.

Working for Picker was always interesting, and challenging. Many times I had to standby during the use of our equipment, observing the procedures, and seeing the results, real-time. Watching Dr. Michael Brandt-Zawadski at Hoag Memorial was always a treat, because he was trying cutting edge techniques and materials. Also, the variety of electronic components, techniques in use, and differences in application always kept you learning. This was because Picker had manufacturing facilities in Canada, Germany, England, and Ohio. Plus, they bought equipment from Japan. Each country was unique in their approach.

In April, 1994, three months after being laid off, I was hired by Hewlett-Packard, in Corvallis Oregon. Fortunately for me, they were ramping up manufacturing for a new pen product, that went into the Deskjet 800 series printers.

In 1997, I was asked to join a new group in Manufacturing Prototype Design & Build, where I had the opportunity to use Cocreate's SolidDesigner and ME10 to design or redesign tooling for new manufacturing equipment. It was during this time that I had seven designs become intellectual property of Hewlett-Packard.

In 2001, I left the manufacturing area to join the Mask Design group. So, today I am a Mask Designer. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!