Who am I? - Marriage to Calgary

At the time I got married, I was working for BM Wilson & Associates. This was a great learning experience for me. They contracted me to NBTel to work on a customer service Application in COBOL and I learned what it is to work in a professional IT department.

FYI - nothing in school really prepares you for this. I was fortunate that I did my internship at this very same position, otherwise, it could have been disasterous. I think I did pretty well there, once I learned the ropes. I wasn't a super-star by any means, but I was willing to put in the effort, which counted for a lot then.

1998. Near the end of my contract, a major turning point in my life occured. I was offered a chance to work directly with NBTel as an employee, or I could work on BM Wilson's internal IT team. Looking back, I am not sure I made the right decision, but I definitely learned a lot by the decision I made. It probably made for a harder road, but a necessary one.

1999. Major change on the homefront!! Beth and I are pregnant! J was born in February, a beautiful and energetic baby boy. J and I are cut from the same cloth, full of energy and no idea how to focus it. I love him, and he is the most entertaining and frustrating part of my life.

In the summer of 1999, I screwed up. I was working internally at BM Wilson and without getting into too many details, I grew lax, overconfident and in a nutshell, I got was I deserved. The Wilsons let me go and it is one of those things that pulls me out of a deep sleep at night. I betrayed a trust with friends, not just employers. I will forever be sorry for that, but it taught me that you have to always stay vigilant (sounds corny, but overconfidence is the biggest killer).

After a couple of months, we ended up having to move back into my parents (round 6 by my count). I was quite depressed during this stage and directionless. Without Beth and J (and my parents) it could have been very dark. I posted my resume on a number of jobs, and had a number of interviews, but nothing clicked.

Then, one day I got a call. It was in response to a job posting that I really don't remember sending my resume to. They were looking for a programmer with Visual Basic experience and willing to learn a new product.

Thus began my journey into the world of Navision. After 4 weeks of training in Atlanta, I joined a small Solution center called Central Software (later Central Solutions). We did 2 implementations of Navision over two years and the company folded. It seems a very short paragraph on such a challenging time, and someday I may come back and flesh it out, but that is all I want to say for now.

Two highlights from my time in Central. First, I got to work from home, which really gave me the opportunity to see J grow up. It also gave me the opportunity to work almost every other waking hour, but such is life. Secondly, I worked with a wonderful mentor, Lloyd Queen. There is not enough space in this blog to tell you the things this man taught me. Business, life, family, what have you, we had long discussions about every subject imaginable.

2001. When Central folded, it was almost expected. Sad, but expected. I actually only sent out one resume, to a company I had met at a Navision conference in Atlanta. CSB Systems. I talked to them on the phone, they flew me out for an interview and two weeks later, we were moving to Calgary!