I was born a poor country boy...

Welcome Matt, to the 21st Century! Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks??? I'm blogging, fer crying out loud! Since I'm writing this for me, it will be stream of consciousness stuff -- mostly. Maybe my sons and (if I ever have any) my grandchildren will find this interesting. I've lived an amazing life, blessed by family and friends and partners and success. I'm not a holy roller by any stretch, but as it is my first blog, I will tell you I believe in God and have a faith that sustains me and protects me. With that as an underpinning for everything in my life, here's some more background. I was born in Washington DC, and lived in Rockville Maryland until I was 4. That's when the National Institutes of Health offered my Dad the opportunity to live in Ghana, West Africa to work on a team who was developing a national healthcare program for this newly-independent country. We lived there for 2 years, and then moved to a subsistence farm in Nelson, Pennsylvania. We were dirt poor -- literally -- for several years. The best time of my childhood. From subsistence farmer (milk cows, beef cows, homemade butter, giant gardens, no indoor plumbing, no central heat with water freezing in the glasses by our bed overnight) through craftsman (bricklayer, welder, machinist) back to government professional (soil conservationist for USDA) my Dad was only out of work once in my life -- when he left NIH after Africa. USDA took us from Nelson to Allentown to Newtown Square to Jamestown -- all in Pennsylvania, where I graduated from High School. By then I think I had 16 different addresses. On to Indiana University of Pennsylvania for a degree in Criminology, and then into the US Air Force -- where "we" (my wife and two sons and I) served proudly for twenty two and a half years. I retired shortly after 9/11 -- a terrible time for the country, but the best time to be a security guy looking for work. Over the next 16 years I worked in the security industry, bouncing between consulting and leadership activities.