"I've always wanted to be in the Witness Protection Program. I already have my name picked out, Lord Rupert Everton. I'm a shipping merchant who raises fancy dogs." [Michael Scott, The Office]. Anyway, I was born and raised in Upstate New York (primarily Eastwood ) but moved to Raleigh in the summer of 1996 after time well spent in the Navy. Basically, my best friend since 12yo thankfully talked me into coming here, after he himself moved here w/his parents in 1994. While in the service I lived in Va Beach and loved it (I originally left home for that in July of 1993 following a halfhearted year in Syracuse. I've primarily been a Professional Recruiter ever since, and in Human Resources my entire career. I was recently w/First Citizens, hired early '05 after almost 2yrs contracting, but went "gunslinger" again @ IBM July of '06 while I work on ramping up my school schedule and travelling finally).
On that note, I finally restarted college in the summer of 2001 at NC State to finish my BA then PhD. Later in that same year a nice girl I'd been with for almost 4yrs had to move back home (also from Syracuse by sheer conincidence) and I'd been mostly single ever since; with the exception of each summer it seems (life is funny that way). I like to spend time in both Charlotte and Wilmington and my friends do too (especially since many of them are from one place or the other, and the motorcycle group I just recently joined has tons of members and group rides in both cities too. If you Wilmington or Charlotte types get added, now you know why)!
Speaking of MySpace, I came here at the end of June 2004 (a week before I moved from my flat in Cameron Village to a rented house, still Raleigh but nearer to Garner). I hated leaving Cameron Village after almost 4 years but it was time for something cheaper and simpler. That's also about when I started an interim recruiting position for Cisco Systems (following a few months earlier that spring in a similar role with PPD). I then did the same exact thing yet again but this time for Eaton Corporation at their Vehicle Controls facility in Selma. I moved to Clayton that December, and that's 2004 in a nutshell.
2005 in turn was just about the best year ever (short of breaking my leg in August but that's another story). Despite that, I met a ton of awesome new friends, including some of the best friends you could ever ask for, and we had a blast nearly every single week (not to mention the job @ FCB). 2006 was perhaps the most important year of my life. There's the renewed back-to-school goal and great job @ IBM but best of all, I moved back to Raleigh proper at the end of September. Not to Cameron Village again but rather Glenwood South (walking to my favorite places is awesome)! Point being, I [re]learned quite a bit about myself during the 22mos living "away" in Clayton, and have come to many new understandings about myself, my life and things in general.
As for 2007 I had an interesting on/off relationship for 8mos which finally resolved itself, and work continued to go extremely well! I just had to remain patient and prepared for whatever the future holds here in 2008 and beyond (buying a bike which opened the door to meeting awesome new people, advancing my career, etc. At minimum, an awesome job like the one I have but not on contract, and if they're smart they'll hire me in the next year or two. I'd love to stay at IBM because I can live and work anywhere and frankly, they deserve to have me. I've learned I can literally do anything and for now, that includes remaining one of the finest Recruiters in the entire nation). From a top-down managerial perspective, I am an elite and dependable professional that handles his work flawlessly at all times.
What I've realized that I'd really like to do someday alongside IBM is consult for NASA once I finish my degrees, evaluating astronauts and determining which ones are mentally fit to go on extended missions (such as to the moon or especially Mars). Thus, making the benign historic impact on the human race in the field of Psychology like I've always wanted to and worked towards. For now, I feel good about just donating my time and money again to causes important to me, and I encourage everyone to do the same (especially if your soul is hurting). Oh, on 1/3/08 I also began tutoring two great 1st graders @ Lacy Elementary each Thursday morning, so that's awesome (thanks Francisco)!
Regarding family, my mother (60) lives in Florida now w/her awesome husband George (70), having moved there around January of 2004 (both are retired thanks to George having spent 30yrs as a VP @ IBM). My father and all four siblings still live back home in Syracuse which is nice. Dad is 83 and continues to work 40hrs a week despite retiring in 1988 from Carrier as a welder. My brother Stephen (38) is a carpenter, my brother Scott (42) is a Deputy Sheriff, my sister Liz (56) is a nurse and my brother Gene (62) is a Chief Mechanic for the 174th Fighter Wing . In essence, I'm the youngest of 3 boys, all ~3yrs apart (Gene and Liz are our half siblings). Grandpa Chet (my mother's father) was the only grandparent left when I was born. He too lives back in Syracuse (Baldwinsville) but winters over near Tampa Bay.
Raleigh-wise I have my huge group of endless friends, and even though I think of moving someday I'd really only do that for the right person or job (should I be so lucky). On AIM I'm "Tommy of NC" but that's all I would ever touch from AOL (I use RoadRunner for internet and My Yahoo for a startup page and webmail. I've actually been hawkeye_pierce2 with Yahoo since being online, dating all the way back to August of 1998)! I also build my own computers and love to dabble in Quantum Mechanics , particularly string theory.
Fun Stuff:
Father = 100% Irish (off the boat)
*Mother = 50% German, 25% Dutch, 25% English
Thus I = %50 Irish, 25% German, 12.5% Dutch, 12.5% English
*My mother's father is 100% German and my mother's mother was 50% Dutch and 50% English (my mother's maternal grandmother was 100% Dutch and her maternal grandfather 100% English). My father's parents immigrated to the United States (just before he was born on March 11th, 1926 in Jersey City, NJ as #12 of 13 children)! He also has 2 surviving sisters and lots of remaining family in NJ and from what I've discovered, our surname derives from Mac Piarais (anglicized into Pierce) and our family motto is "Sub cruce salus" (Salvation under the cross).
I eat, sleep and breathe the NY Mets, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Red Wings, Syracuse Orangemen (especially b'ball), #96 Bobby Labonte, all Navy athletics, and Notre Dame f'ball. I was also fluent in French although I don't know why I mentioned it here (I'm beyond rusty now)! Two fave things to say in French, "Pas une seule personne tombé amoureux de moi dans un long, long moment. Être vous. C'est ce que c'est" and "C'est avec le cœur lourd que je vivre heureux et libres" lol.
My impromptu "Words of Wisdom" are: Bombproof your roll . We're not bad people , just good people who do bad things sometimes. Hint/Tip: hold down the "ctrl+shift" key when you "left click" and you'll spawn profile links in new windows/tabs (so you don't keep restarting someone's song and also reload their page eleventy billion times)!
What's On Deck:
Now that I've picked up the new bike, next up is some coldwater kayaking (probably in Colorado so I can see my buddy Mark and best friend Kristen, both in Denver). Sometime soon after I'm hoping to hit South America to try their whitewater and most of all, a big trip to Ireland (ideally in 2009. Hopefully I can visit where my paternal family comes from, County Cork)!
