My friends know that I have a lot going on at all times. If you're one of those friends, perhaps you've shown up here to figure out what in the world I do for a living. Besides my default answer: Professional Nerd
Professional Nerd™
I say this tongue-in-cheek, but oftentimes when I'm asked what I did that day, it sounds like a lot nerdy things: writing presentations, coding, updating documentation, completing tasks on our backlog, writing a script (software script not a movie script!), and/or creating the perfect spreadsheet to figure out how to optimize the next process. So yeah. Professional nerd.
What I Actually Do
I'm a consultant, which sounds like a fake job. But it's more of a technology evangelist with planning skills. I love to read and consume copious amounts of books, scientific papers, and magazines. I try to cram in a few documentaries each week and have been known to throw the occasional Audible book or podcast into my playlist so I can learn about just about anything. I then use whatever I'm researching, reading about, or stumbling upon (usually a little more targeted than that) in a quest to find solutions to the issues my clients are facing.
I'm usually playing with three or four new pieces of software each week (one of which may be this month's flavor of Linux), pushing databases past their limits, spinning up dockers (then editing, creating my own, then trying bare metal installations), and writing code snippets for projects. And that's my spare time.
On the clock, I work by contract for my clients, usually an hourly rate. I do most of this work through my company, Ungatech.
Engineer
Mostly this is in the software realm as a developer or systems administrator. I specialize in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Server (though I have years of experience with many other Linux distributions), and large-scale deployments using various tools (like Ansible). I do a lot of development, usually in some kind of scripting language like Linux shell (bash or Korn), PowerShell, or Python. Occasionally, I'll use Java for a specific project, if no other preference is given but by and large, I will write in just about anything that a team is already using, be it Perl, C#, SQL, PHP, Javascript, or Go (a recent favorite of mine).
I've also been working with (and occasionally as one) Industrial Engineers, almost exclusively in the semiconductor industry. For 20 years, I've been using the standard software tools to drive efficiency in the fabs, react to issues, and translate changing business priorities into code. Usually by giving them "buttons" to press when they inevitably change how they want to approach it. I work hard to design and write solid code that will be flexible enough to continue to use well into the future.
I still have unmodified scripts I wrote running in production all around the world from over 15 years ago. Normally that would concern me but some of these factories haven't changed in over 30 years, so it's okay!
Whatever the challenge, I look for the right tools for the right solution. I don't just try to cram a square peg into a round hole. This keeps my toolbox full of good tools and allows me to turn on a dime when the situation -- or global markets -- demand a change. The varied priorities and complexities of my clients also keeps my "techpertise" broad and exciting.
Educator
I will keep this brief: though I love the work, teaching is my passion. My goal is not to make myself invaluable but instead replace myself. I love to train on how I do what I do, teach others to approach issues the way I do, and give them opportunities to shine. In my professional life, we call it: working yourself out of a job. For me, this is just the end of one contract or project and time to move on to the next one!
However, as a father of seven, I absolutely LOVE the opportunities I have to teach youth. In my community, I started a coding club called COPA Coders. In my church, I work with youth to help them with family history research (a huge passion of mine) as well as occasionally substitute for our high school seminary program.
Any opportunity I have to teach, mentor, instruct, or tutor youth is exciting, especially when I get the opportunity to involve my own children. And now that I'm a [young] grandpa, I hope to start expanding those opportunities.
Entrepreneur
As a business owner for 30 years, I've worked hard to cultivate a spirit of collaboration with others, using my spare time to help organize others, both in their own business endeavors and community efforts. I've helped several 501(c)(3) corporations organize, countless LLCs, and helped to form groups, clubs, teams, and even ran several tournaments and regular clubs with hundreds of participants.
I've been running my current company since I moved to Arizona with my family 15 years ago, Ungatech LLC. Through it, I mostly help small and medium businesses strategically grow. My background in financial planning and analytical nature makes me a great ally and, if needed, strategic technology advisor as we work to help you grown your own business.
Please reach out anytime to see how I can help you: Ungatech
