jalarie: Me

Please have a look at my résumé page.

You may work your way straight down through the page, or jump directly to one of these areas:

Family
Scouting
Church
Education
Work
Hobbies
Other

Family:

I was born at a very young age in Flint, Michigan, of the United States of America. I was a truly beautiful baby, unlike most who look like Winston Churchill. And, as you can see from the photo, I have retained my good looks to this day. I also have a great sense of humor.

I was blessed with two parents, three brothers, and a sister with whom to share my childhood. After my mother's death and father's remarriage, I gained another mother, three more brothers, and two more sisters. From my in-laws I get two mothers, two fathers, five brothers, a sister, and more "steps" than I can keep track of. Most of these have spouses and children. It is good to be so richly blessed!

I have a lovely wife who has put up with me for over 30 years, now. She'll be eligible for sainthood soon. And I have two offspring who, feeling that they are too old to be refered to as "children," get very upset when I use that word on them. They are truly brilliant, thus proving something about genetics. Our son graduated from Kearsley High School in 1999, attended college, married, and has given us a grandson to brighten our lives. Our daughter graduated from KHS as part of the class of 2001.

Scouting:

When I joined the Cub Scouts upon entry to second grade, all existing dens were filled, so my mother agreed to be a new Den Mother. We learned quite a lot and took a number of very interesting field trips, including to the Flint Fire department, Flint Police department, the Paramount Potato Chip factory, and the 7-Up bottling plant where I made quite a mess by pouring salt into a bottle of soda pop. The Salvation Army sponsored our cub pack.

At age 11, I joined the Boy Scouts in troop 121 under the leadership of Les McKnight as scoutmaster and numerous other excellent adult and boy leaders. My father became a member of the committee and, eventually, advancement chairman, and my mother was a very active member of the mothers' auxiliary. Our official roster listed well over 100 boys as members and a varying group of around 60 attended the weekly meetings. I progressed through the ranks all the way to Eagle, and eventually became an adult leader. I dropped out for a while during my college years, or maybe it was because of discovering girls, then rejoined as an assistant scoutmaster when my son became a scout. I give much thanks for the many people, both men and women, who contributed to my scouting experience, and to the East Flint Lion's Club for being our troop's sponsors for so many years. You may wish to visit Lions International.

I have also spent quite a bit of time working with the Girl Scouts, first with my sister as she went through, then chasing those who didn't run too quickly, and finally working with my daughter in her efforts. For some reason they didn't want me to go camping with the girls.

Church:

I am a Christian and have been a member of Bible Baptist Church of Burton, Michigan, since September 6, 1987. I help operate the sound system, and my wife assists with a Sunday School class and in the nursery. Please feel free to visit the God's Simple Plan of Salvation page.

Education:

Most of my Kearsley High School teachers seemed quite ancient way back then, so I expect that most of them are now dead. This is a sad thought, as many of them evoke such fond memories.

After high school, I attended the University of Michigan and was granted a bachelor's degree with teaching certificate in Math and Physics. I learned FORTRAN and IBM Assembler language while an undergrad, and COBOL in post-grad work. From a class at GMI, I learned C++.

I've taken a number of Oracle classes, learned SQL, PL/SQL, and Developer 2000, and earned the Oracle Master's Certificate in Application Programming.

I'm currently working with HTML, JavaScript, and Perl.

You may find comments and maps for local schools on my Universities of Michigan page.

Work:

My last three high school summers found me as a counsellor at Boy Scout Camp TaPiCo in northern lower Michigan near the city of Kalkaska. I was a lifeguard, managed the trading post, taught handicrafts, and kept track of much of the money that had to do with the scouts.

During my four undergraduate years of college, I spent the fall and winter semesters in studies and the summers working for the UM-Flint Physics department. I began working as a student assistant in the computer center labs during my senior year.

I've worked in the UM-Flint Admissions office, Registrar's office, and in administrative computing for over 30 years, and been involved in so many conversions from "the old system" to "the new system" that I've lost count.

I retired from the university on April 3rd, 2007.

Hobbies:

I love to read, learn, and teach others. I especially like to present ideas in a manner that forces people to think, often driving them nuts. I also make a pretty fair couch potato.

Other:

For a large part of 2000 and 2001, I spent most of the nicer weekends, and a few that weren't so nice, helping my sister and brother-in-law build a barn. They made me "Supervisor in Charge of Dumb Questions." Although they keep claiming that there are no dumb questions, I think that they might change their minds before I'm through with them. We finally laid the 50x50 foot cement floor and they said something that I didn't quite catch regarding "concrete overshoes." Hmmm.