ABOUT ME

I was born in Houston, TX in 1953. We traveled around the country a lot when I was a child, so I lost my southern accent by the time I had reached high school.

I attended Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix (graduated 1972), with a 4 year scholastic scholarship to the University of Arizona in Tucson. Sue got a 4 year scholarship to ASU in Tempe. I was so sick of school after high school, that I said, "I don't want your scholarship, I want to join the Navy and see the world!" Sue’s mother was very happy about my choice.

I joined the Navy in 1973 and served aboard the USS Blueridge (LCC19) until 1975. I was an operations specialist (radar tied to the computer, air traffic control, etc). I am a Vietnam Vet. Our ship was the one that newsreels show helicopters being pushed off the rear of the ship. What a story.

After the Navy, I attended ASU with a major in marketing. I went three years, and quit due to boredom. I have over 120 credit hours, but I never did get my degree.

I married my high school sweetheart (Sue Yuschik) in Oct 1979. We met in High School making a movie for the boy scouts called “Cinderella Mod”. She played Cindy, and I played Harry A. Prince. Her fairy godmother turned a Coors can into a corvette, and she dropped one of her combat boots at the dance. In the end, we had a kiss scene. The night before that scene, we went to an amusement park (Legend City). I asked her if we could practice the kiss scene, and she said, “Why don’t we just hold hands, instead.” We are still holding hands today.

We have twin sons (Ryan and Dan) born in April 1983. We also have a lovely daughter (Lisa) born in Jan 1990.

Daniel married Leigh Ayn Brocato in 2005. They had our first grandson (Calvin) in 2007. Calvin is the first grandson for both families, and he gets a lot of attention. Unfortunately, with them living in Vegas, we don't get to hug him as much as we would like to. Sue watches airfare prices almost daily to look for good fares to Las Vegas. As far as in-laws, we couldn't have asked for better ones than Larry and Victoria Brocato. Sometimes when we visit Las Vegas, we stay at their place. They are the perfect hosts. We both love to go to garage sales on the weekend, and then over to Starbucks for coffee. Leigh-Ayn is due again in October 2010.

Ryan married a lovely young lady named Mimi. She had two precious children from a previous marraige, and they both get along great with Ryan (Kaylie(SP) and Luc). We just found out that she is pregnant.

Both our boys live and work in Las Vegas. They are IT professionals at Vegas.com.

Lisa still lives in Denver. She works as a cashier at home depot. Lisa tells her customers, "Please don't ask me where anything is, I'm just here to check you out, and look cute". She is currently dating Mikey, a fellow Home depot employee. I think she plans on attending college in the spring of 2009, but her plans change daily. Over New Years, she dropped a bomb on us. The second worst thing a parent frets about (after death of their child). She has become another statistic as an unwed Mom to be. Sue and I were devastated initially, but we have both come to realize that life throws you many curves. All you can do is learn to roll with the punches, and move on. Baby DASH is a very cute and precocious one year old. Mikey is his father, and they are discussing marriage.

Sue and I went from no grand-kids to six in about two years.

I have worked for the US Postal Service for over 31 years, as a real estate specialist. I purchase land for new post offices nationwide. I a currently ELIGIBLE to retire. If the economy doesn't get any better soon, then I plan on continuing to work.

I play the guitar, write music, and I love playing music from the 70's (James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Harry Chapin, etc).

I am also an amateur real estate investor. After purchasing about 12 homes, the poor real estate market caught up with us, and so we are now down to just two homes.

Sue and I are active in the church, and spend time volunteering. We also like to travel, cruise, and just spend time together. Every Friday we go on an "$8.00 dollar date" (the early movie @ $2.00 each, and two items from the Wendy's dollar menu). Dinner and movie for two for $8.00. What a deal. Sue says that if I wasn't already married, I probably wouldn't be. The intent of the date is just to spend more time together.