Observer, Writer, Consultant, Upstairs; in among two acres of pine trees

Ask questions, listen a lot, talk some, travel a bit, and generally have a fantastic time as a freelance trade journalist, marcomm writer, and sometime prognosticator in factory automation.

Head Fire Plug, The Yankee Group, 89 Broad Street, Boston, MA

Direct the research on the alphabet soup of factory automation technologies; specifically, CAD, CADD, CAE, CAM, CAMM, CIM, FMC, FMS, NC, CNC, DNC, AI, PCs & PCs, MRP, MRP II, CRP, DRP, SFC, BOM, BOMP, MPS, OPT, JIT, WIP, AS/RS, AGVS, EDI, LAN, SNA, OSI, MAP, 802.4, 802.5, RS232, RS422, CPUs, uCs, uPs, GM, IBM, DEC, HP, ATTIS, ITT, AB, TI, DG, etc., UPC, EAN, LOGMARS, and Codes 2 of 5, 93, 128, 39, interleaved 2 of 5, and 11, as well as research on real words like interface, integration, bits, bytes, nibbles, mainframes, minis, micros, robots, and supercalifragilisticexpeallydocious.

Riter, Modern Materials Handling, Cahners Publishing, 221 Kolumbus Avenue, Beantown, MA

I write artikles on subjects about those komplikated electronik things that run and operate and oversee and direct mechanical things in materials handling. Information handling, too. Materials handling is moving, storing, and protecting parts and assemblies from receiving to shipping. Lots of artickles I writ.

Bum (but showered and groomed), Le Tour de Grande d’Europe

Bummed through Europe. Had a blast. Accomplishments:

• Number of countries visited: 12 (including Luxembourg for a weekend)
• Number of rides: 273 (minimum)
• Number of rolls of film: 97 (all print film; two rolls B&W)
• Number of books read: 14 (excluding travel and museum brochures mostly in English)
• Number of actual professional events attended: 8 (23 days total)
• Number of languages bastardized: 2 (French & German)
• Number of pounds in rucksack: 50 (average)
• Number of pounds lost: 15
• Number of items lost: 1 (Swiss army knife on return)
• Number of colds: 2
• Number of memories: Countless

Ad man, Abcor, Inc. (now Koch Membrane Systems Inc.), 850 Main Street, Wilmington, MA

Abcor makes special industrial filters with teeny-weeny holes in them. And it makes UF’n balls. Responsible for the entire domestic and international marketing communications program in four industrial market segments. Responsibilities included writing, design ing, and producing printed matter; coordinating trade show participation; writing and coordinating customer seminars; designing a new trademark and coordinating its use; initiating and supervising a database of customer installations; directing the advertising agencies; and specifying a corporate word processing system.

Accomplishments included not becoming an alcoholic.

And now you see why I went to Europe for almost a year.

Inginere, Stoned & Wasted Engineering Corporation, Summer Street, behind South Station in Boston, MA

Main primary responsibilities and duties were the development and writing, inclusive of revising and standardization, of the 36 (thirty-six) directives of the Stoned & Wasted (S&W) Standard Nuclear Test Program in compliance and accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50 (fifty) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and 4 (four) vice-presidents, 8 (eight) directors, and, within the division alone, 6 (six) managers and 5 (five) engineers who couldn’t write a damn to save their lives.

M.S. Teknikl Ritin’; RPI; sunny, southern, beautiful Troy, NY
B.S. Sand Boxes and Traffic Jams; Clarkson U; basically Canada

Professional: intern inginere (NY)
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Formerly: BCS, CASA, IIE, MENSA (uh-oh), SME, STC
Currently: ACLU, BCI, Greenpeace, an HMO, IRA, Keogh, O+, PPNNE, SC, TNC, YA
Former Editor of Sierra Club’s yellow (rag)—but recyclable—journal
Former commissioner on town dump committee
Current blowhard making a joyful noise on bagpipes

Nationality: No minority here
Age: Mid-life crisis time (to put it nicely for us males)
Marital status: Spousal Equivalent (SPEQ)
Height: 5’10.5” nominally; decreases as the day wears on