BCDEnterprises

BCDEnterprises

last updated august 2005

Work

For 25 years I earned my living in the Information Technology field. I programmed; supported vendor products; taught classes; wrote technical documentation; participated in national, regional and local user group meetings as a seminar and workshop presenter; and much more. I have spent most of the last 15 years of my IT career consulting. My experience crosses many platforms including mainframes, client/server and web technologies. In the last few years I have developed my abilities with web design, desktop publishing and 3D photo albums.

Unfortunately, between a bad economy, outsourcing of jobs and my age (over 40, oh my!) this field seems to be closing off to me, so I'm back in college majoring in Psychology. We'll see where this new journey takes me.

I am now an empty nester and officially retired.

Hobbies/ Interests	While my work utilized my "left brain" (logic, analysis, detail), my hobbies and interests are "right brain" (creative, artistic, "big picture") activities.
	Photography	My newest hobby and the one where I can best abandon my problems/worries because I am so focused (no pun intended) on what I'm doing. I use a Canon EOS Rebel SLR film camera and a Nikon CoolPix 885 digital camera (for the pictures I take expressly for web sites). But the creativity (and my heart) remain with the SLR. Nearly all the photos on this site are my original photos.
	Reading	My oldest hobby and the one that has contributed the most to my knowledge base (of course!). Any list of recommended books would be too long; one of the books I go back to, time and again, is The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz). I love the Earth Children series by Jean Aual. I have been reading "classics" lately, too.
	Music	I have been so fortunate in my life to have the opportunity to develop some musical abilities, although I always had far more love for it than talent. I started playing cello when I was 10. In high school and college (music was my first major) I played oboe in concert band, glockenspiel in marching band, cello and viola in string ensemble, double base in jazz band, and percussion (timpani, chimes, xylophone, etc.) in orchestra. In the last few years, I learned to play piano (a bit) and played in a hand-bell choir. My favorite listening music is usually calming or uplifting. CDs I play most often are by George Winston (December), Mike Rowland (The Fairy Suite), Andrea Bocelli (Romanza, Sogno), Josua Bell (Romance of the Violin), Yanni, and Orchestral (Baroque, Classical), but an occasional foray into reggae (Bob Marley) or late '60s music is refreshing.
	Arts/Crafts	This is where I get downright creative. Go take a look at what I've got on this site so far. Also, check out winners from the local county fair.

Travels	Growing up, my family was not able to afford vacations and so vacations have become very important to me in my adulthood, first to make sure my sons got the benefits of seeing different places, and then just for my own enjoyment. We often vacation as a family even now, but every now and then I get away by myself. Click on the links (underlined names) by some of the places to see pictures.
	U.S. states	25 and D.C. so far: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusettes, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin
	Yosemite	We spent many vacations in the 70's and 80's camping in Yosemite. We used a tent and sleeping bags, and often cooked over open fire. Although it's overcrowded in the summertime, it's not hard to get away from the crowds and find a peaceful place. There's no way to describe Yosemite's awesome beauty and the geological history is fascinating.
	Pacific Northwest 1986	We drove from Los Angeles to Seattle and spent a couple days seeing the city (Pike's Place, Space Needle, etc.). We then took the ferry from Anacortes to Victoria for a couple days where we toured the city and Butchart Gardens. Then we went over to Vancouver for a few days to see the city and the World's Fair. On our way back,we drove down the Washington and Oregon coasts, and through the Redwood Forest in Northern California.
	Catalina 1987	Twenty-six miles across the sea... from Long Beach, California to Avalon, a delightful way to spend a day. Catalina is part of California, although people have asked what currency they use there and what language they speak! If you want to move there, be aware there's a 6-year wait to get your car on the island (many residents use golf carts) and the speed limit everywhere is 25 mph. There's a casino where you can't gamble (it was built as a dance hall -- gambling was, and is, illegal in California); a mansion where no one lives (the Wrigley Mansion is now a museum); an aviary with no birds (the entire island is a conservancy and so birds cannot be held captive); a jail with no prisoners (they are transported to the mainland); a post office that doesn't deliver (you have to go pick up your mail) and a grocery store that does; and there are birds that swim (diving birds travel as much as 65 feet under water) and fish that fly (they hurl themselves out of the water and also travel as far as 40 feet).
	Jamaica 1992, 1993, 1994	This island is so beautiful and its people are so friendly and courteous, one visit wasn't enough. I stayed in Ocho Rios all 3 times at the Jamaica Grande Hotel (all inclusive vacation) and while there, I toured the island (Kingston and Bob Marley's house, Spanish Town, Blue Mountains and brought back some coffee beans), climbed Dunn's River Falls 3 times, and went horseback riding on the beach twice. This was also the first time I snorkled and have loved it ever since.
	Puerto Vallarta 1998	This was a total relaxation vacation for me. Aside from a tour of the town, I spent the entire week reading on the beach. The beaches in Mexico are public and there are vendors walking up and down the beaches all day selling their wares: serapes, hats, shirts, strawbags, muffins, jewelry, maracas, toys, puppets, shoes and anything else they could carry.
	Carribbean 1997, 1998, 2000	Three cruises have taken me to many islands and ports in the eastern, western and southern Caribbean. My first cruise was to Key West Florida, Cayman Islands and Cozumel; these last 2 places were awesome for snorkling. The second cruise took me to Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Cayman Islands (swam with the sting rays this time) and Cozumel (no snorkling this time -- there was lightening in the area and jellyfish in the water!). These were both 1 week cruises. My third (Millennium) cruise was for 2 weeks and took me to Curacao, Aruba, Isla de la Margarita (Venezuela), Trinidad, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, St. Kitt's, St. Thomas/St. John and Half Moon Cay (the cruise line's beach resort).
	Mount Rushmore 1999	I worked in Omaha for a few months with a great group of consultants. A few of us and a couple of our adult offspring took a road trip to Mount Rushmore.
	Great Smoky Mountains 2002	A road trip with Dale during Spring break to Kentucky to see Mammoth Cave and to Tennessee and NorthCaroline to see the Smoky Mountains.
	St. Louis, Missouri 2002	Another road trip, a get-away for a few days, to a place we wanted to see -- mostly, we wanted to visit the Gateway Arch .

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