Greetings One and All!!
Well, where to begin.......as Bill Cosby says "I started
out as a child".............
Originally from the Forest Park area, I became interested in electronics & Amateur Radio at an early age when my Uncle Emmett brought a police scanner with him on one of weekly visits. Then, in grade school, one of my friend's father was a ham radio operator & invited me over to look at his "shack". Also my mom worked with a couple of hams at P & G and took me to see their stations....I was hooked. As with most any other boys, my friends & I played cops-n-robbers and fireman. And yes, the TV show EMERGENCY! played a BIG part in my career selection. In 1980, during my Freshman year of high school, I became a police/fire cadet & made runs with the local fire department. I furthered my education in electronics at Scarlet Oaks and took jobs in both the Private Security & radio communications fields for several years.
In 1986, I met my wife and made the transition from "Mall Marine" to the private ambulance industry and eventually as a part-time Firefighter/Paramedic with several local departments.
In 1997 I suffered a severe back injury while on duty & was told by the Doctor that the next one would be the one to do me in. At the time my wife's friend mentioned that the police department of the village she was Mayor of was looking for a part-time dispatcher. I applied for & got the job. It eventually transitioned into a full-time position with the added responsibility of assistant Mayor's Court clerk, data entry and database development, among other things. In 2000, budgetary constraints led the village to to contract out the dispatching end of their operations. I was then hired by Hamilton County Communications Center as a Communications Officer.
I ended my career in Public Safety in 2002 because it was in the best interest of my family and my sanity. It was no longer fun and the stress level was becoming more than I really wanted to deal with. After that, worked again in a career close to the health care field doing physical exams for insurance companies. I then moved back into the public safety field as a dispatcher for a local college's police department. Tiring of being desk bound, I have returned to the private security field as a Security Officer at an international manufacturing company closer to home. What the future holds, no one knows but whatever it is, I'll meet it head-on!
As some of you may (or may not) know, I had an older son by a previous relationship. Unfortunately Michael was killed in a motor vehicle crash on September 15, 2004 in Bethel, Ohio helping some friends move. Nothing in my 22 years of fire/EMS could have prepared me for this. It has been a VERY trying time in my life and am THANKFUL for all the support I have received from my family and friends. Please give your loved ones an extra hug, you never know what the next minute, hour, day, week, month or year has in store for you or them.
So, in a nutshell, that's me. Thanks for stopping by & check back often!!!
Page created 30 DEC 04 0254 Hrs