31 Oct 2011 - Due to temporary lay-off on the NASA contract, I am once again available to take cases on an individual basis. If you need assistance, feel free to contact me via the "Contact Us" link above to schedule a free consultation.
11 Sept. 2011 - As of 19 Sept. 2011, I will be returning to the Huntsville area to continue work on a contract with NASA. During the duration of the contract, I will be resuming limited operations as my schedule allows.
I also want to take a moment to mention those who lost their lives 10 years ago today. I, for one, will never forget the events that unfolded that day.
08 Aug 20011 - As of 18 Aug 2011, i will be taking a temporary leave of absence due to an extended out of town contract. I will not be available to accept work for approximately 6 months, but will update my website and several other sources of information once i am again available. If you have an immediate need, please contact Barbara Klein at 256-883-7496.
04 Jun 2011 – I have thought about doing many things in my life, but never found the time or reason to actually follow through an many of them, until now. I went this morning and took the exam to receive my Ham Radio license from the FCC this morning. I am proud to announce that I passed the Technician Class exam with a score of 100%! If my schedule allows me the time to study more, I will be pursuing my General Class license next month when they are open for testing again.
I also begin CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training provided by the Huntsville / Madison County EMA on 07 Jun 2011. This is an 8 week course in Emergency Response that is available to all members of the community that wish to attend, provided they have available seats when you contact them. This should be very interesting. I can’t wait till Storm Spotter classes start back up!
28 May 2011 – As many of you have probably seen, there were many deficiencies exposed in the days and weeks following “April’s Fury” here in Alabama. Many who wished to volunteer were met by the daunting task of driving clear across town just to register, sit through some half baked safety class, and then wait around until mid day to even be sent out to assist those in need. Once you received your list of addresses, you spent the other half of the day finding out that the addresses you were given had already been taken care of by other groups so you had wasted a whole day and at least half a tank of gas without accomplishing anything.
I found this to be the case in both the Huntsville area and in the Birmingham area when attempting to volunteer in both regions. While I understand the reasoning behind the preliminary steps, I see the inefficiency of the process as a waste of valuable volunteers since many do not return after the first day or two due to these issues I have mentioned. I have chosen to “do something about it” by removing the obstacles hindering my ability to effectively volunteer in times of need with in my community. I have enlisted in the Alabama State Defense Force. I wasn’t aware of this militia prior to the storms, but a valuable friend and colleague of mine, Barbara Klein of The Profile Agency, mentioned it one evening in conversation regarding the destruction of the storms.
For those of you who are unaware of this organization, take a moment to check it out at http://sdf.alabama.gov/. Their mission is simple and the fact that we cannot be deployed outside of the State of Alabama was especially appealing to me since I have a small son I have to think about. It doesn’t require an inordinate amount of my time, and all of the training I am receiving from them can only help me to be a better person and asset to my community.
If you found yourself as frustrated as I was by the process required to help your neighbors in time of need, I urge you to find an organization that fits your needs that can help facilitate your desire to help without causing a drastic change in your lifestyle. I did, and it has already helped me achieve things I had only “wanted” to do before.