The majority of my time is spent at the office. I work as a computer analyst for Nebraska Public Power District. I have been with NPPD since the days of programming using punched cards.
 

Me at the Office

I have many hobbies that keep my spare time occupied. First of all, I enjoy looking at the stars through expensive pieces of glass. While I have been interested in astronomy since I was just a kid, I rekindled the interest in 2004 and purchased a really nice telescope. On clear nights I can usually be found looking at the sky. I have more recently began to get into astro-photography. As my abilities increase, I will post some of my photos on my web site.

The Current Moon Phase

D My Pop-up Trailer

I also enjoy traveling. I have been to almost every state east of the Rocky Mountains. I especially enjoy being around the ocean. I have made several trips to Florida and been to Hawaii twice. I just love stretching out on a sandy beach with the sun and the smell of the surf. 

By the Mill At Pidgeon Forge, Tennesee

I have found I really like to ride the rails on Amtrak.  I usually get a sleeper and love the fact you can just kick back and enjoy the scenery as it goes by the window.  In 2018, I took an extended trip which covered 14 states.  I left Hastings and traveled on the California Zephyr until I got to Sacramento California.  I then boarded the Coast Starlight and traveled to Seattle, Washington.  Then I got on board the Empire Builder and traveled East through Glacier Park all the way to Chicago, Illinois.  The final leg was back to Hastings on board the California Zephyr.

As you can see from my web site, I have a personal weather station at my house. I upload the temperatures to a database the eventually makes it into some of the weather modeling computers. This data is used to develop a computer model of the forecast that is used by the meteorologists to predict the weather.

One of my more recent hobbies is a recreation from my youth.  When I was high school, I enjoyed building and launching model rockets.  I have jumped back into the hobby again and enjoy building model rockets.  I have joined the NAR (National Association of Model Rocketry) and KOSMOS (Kansas Organization for Space Modeling), which is a chapter of the NAR.  The recent pandemic has given me time to work on my build pile.
 

Last Updated: 06/07/2021