Marrying off my father.

Patience

Consistency

Sacrifice

Blue collar work ethic

Going through changes

When I was in college I remember telling my father that he would one day be the best man on my wedding day, little did I know then, that I would be the one giving this speech!

I’ve known my dad all my life, literally…

And throughout my life he has displayed the most noble of characteristics: Patience, Consistence, Sacrifice and a blue collar work ethic that is as dedicated as it is rare.

His sacrifice for my family ensured that, although my sister April and I may not have had everything we wanted, we most certainly had everything we needed… and most of the things we wanted. He imbued in me that same blue collar work ethic he displayed my entire life. He taught me the lessons of patience and consistency. He taught me the do-it-yourself mentality, when we built an ice fishing shack when I was young. I now rely on those early lessons as I rebuild my own home. I remember those cold mornings and how excited I was to get out on the ice. I remember how excited I was when I was old enough to drill the holes. He taught me to be tight with a buck, well, that lesson never really stuck..

My father is a model of consistency. It’s amazing how he’s taking on all these changes at once. Today he is married. In 5 days he turns 60. In two weeks he spends his last day at GE where he has earned a living for my family my entire life. In three weeks he and his new wife will be leaving Erie and moving outside of Raleigh North Carolina.

They say that change is the only constant in life. So far I can attest to that having had 6 jobs and having lived in 8 places in the 6 years since I moved away from Erie. But somehow my father has been able to disprove that adage for the better part of 30 years. Well dad, change finally gets its his. And as I was there through his years of consistency, I look forward to being there through his time of change with new members of the family, Regina, Jason, and of course my new step mother, Robin.

So lets all raise our glasses in celebration of consistency and change!

Life in Dubai

Its 10:08 Am on Sunday May 21, 2006, 2:08 AM EST.

Sunday is a work day in Dubai, our weekends here are Thursday and Friday, so technically its Tuesday.

A little background as to why I am here:
The Dubai Internal airport (www.dubaiairport.com) is expanding. They are adding a third terminal, a state of the art beast that looks like a huge catepilar. (http://dubaiairport.com/DIA/English/TopMenu/About+DIA/New+Projects/)

Arinc, the company I work for,has been subcontractecd to be the primary systems integrator of a number of airport subsystems. En Inglais: We collect data from other parts of the airport, store it, and transmit it to other parts of the airport. These systems include baggage handling, passenger loading and unloading, billing, et cetera. Capish?

My team in Annapolis is the engineering group responsible for developing the code which will run at the airport. I am here in Dubai to interface with all the subsystem vendors here, and transmit information back to the engineers back in the states.

I would say I am just now acclimated to the environment. Yesterday was my first work day here. I was having a hard time with the heat, the high yesterday was 108, the low, 79.

We had a meeting with the prime contractor and the gate operating system yesterday in the temporary offices setup right outside the construction site. Second to working in a steel mill for my internship, this has been the most interesting place I've been.