Introductions

OK.  Who am I, what do I do, and why is any of this important?

Who I am?
This is probably the easiest.  I am David Brown.  But of course it is never that easy of a question is it?  I am a husband, a father, a middle aged college student (more on that later), a fan of college sports, and at least for the last few elections I have been a Democrat in a state of Republicans.

Starting at the top, I am extremely happily married to my wife Paula.  She drives me up a wall at times, we fight and we yell, but in the end she is the most supportive person I have ever met.  As for the father, well I have probably the worlds most perfect son, Xander.  Yes, I know everyone feels that way about their child, and I am not saying that my son is perfect...but he is close enough.  He is equal parts Paula and I and is one of the more loving children I have been around.

As far as the student thing goes, back in 2007 I decided to go back to school to pursue my M.B.A.  I studied and took the GMAT exam and started attending classes at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (U.A.B.).  I finished that degree in 2010 and 6 months later I was crazy enough to actually start a Ph.D. program also at U.A.B, this time in Engineering.  I am about halfway through with the coursework part of that degree, but I am still trying to figure out what my research is going to cover.  That is the thing some people just don't understand about Ph.D. programs.  In the 3-4 years you are actually studying the course work your idea for your dissertation changes about half a dozen times as different things become interesting.

College Sports?  That's easy enough.  I finished my bachelor's degree at Ohio State and grew to love their sports teams.  My folks had brought me up as Alabama Crimson Tide fans, but something about Ohio State just won me over so in a state where everyone seems to be "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle", I am a "Go Bucks!"

The Democrat thing?  Not really anything too interesting there.  I felt the Democrat was a better candidate than the Republican.  I don't tend to vote along party lines because I don't want someone else to make up my own mind on who the best candidate for me is.  I was up visiting my parents shortly after the election and they both were talking about a judge (who they liked) who had lost her seat in the last election.  They felt it was a shame because the judge was a "good judge".  The judge was a Democrat and the Republican candidate had won.  I asked if they had voted for the judge and they both said no, they had voted straight Republican party.  Neither one of them saw the humor in that.

What do I do?
Well I have spent the last 20 years working in one form or another in the computer industry.  The majority of the time I have worked as the I.T. Director for some small law firms here in Alabama.  Trust me, the job title makes it much more appealing than it actually was.  I mean can you really call yourself a Director if you do not have staff?  I was basically responsible for everything to do with the computer and phone systems.  That changed about the time I started the Ph.D. program last year.

I was working for a firm here in town and they decided to outsource the I.T. responsibilities. I had cleared the school work with them before starting but they decided they did not like it anyway and so I was looking for work.  Luckily my adviser for my program had an opening for a programmer/analyst in a computer lab at U.A.B. and he offered me the position.  I am not truly a programmer, true to my roots I am much more of a jack of all trades/project manager.  The group I work with is great and I am learning a ton - probably more than I learn in the classes I am taking.  The pay is not the best, but a huge perk for me is free tuition so it works out well in the end.   I will write more about the lab I work in, trust me.

Why is this important?
It isn't.  As I mentioned in the last posting, this is for me to get my thoughts out of my head and onto paper.  A big problem I have been experiencing for the last few months is an inability to shut off my brain at a decent hour so I can get some sleep.  Maybe writing out what is rattling around in there will help.  That is the goal at least.  I do not know if anyone will ever read this besides me.  If you do, enjoy it or not, read it or not, just know that it really wasn't meant for anyone but me.