An
eDiary of
Some of the
Key
Things in
Don's
Life
As some of
my
memories are starting to slip away in my 70's, I've set up these eDiary pages for some key threads that meant more to me than any others…
they may well get "tweaked" as I recall others and/or get replaced!
I started these eDiaries in the mid-80's, organizing into decade-based pages…
each are sorted by year and months, showing from Jan to Dec;
click on any of these sections to visit that decade?
Main page |
2010's |
2000's |
90's ( this page ) |
80's |
70's |
50's-60's
You should also consider visiting my family tree profile
page
that shares info about me,
or see the list of my
Global Places
I've visited?
For a more "historical" perspective, you could start your visit at
the very end
of my eDiaries & then scroll up to read them backwards in time?
Also, the embedded content of the textualized events reflects the time of the events vs. current time—view the pages full-screen?
I updated my eDiaries regularly until the creation of FaceBook's
2011 "eHistory"
feature, whereupon I stopped… sadly, my account then crashed out in 2019
( while I was updating my profile )
and I had to redrill some of the "lost years" to get them back!
Have fun, regardless ;)
The 1st Year of this Decade was 1990
In January of 1990 I discovered ( via several letters from Mum & Dad ) that Dad's very long-standing question about whether or not his close friend, Mike Wilson ( incorrectly shown in the snap as "Mike Peters" ) had managed to impregnate Mum with me while Dad was away working as a Merchant Navy ship's cook in 1954… While I was ( & today am ) mentally certain that he did not ( see my birth info? ), it sure remains such a stunning thought!
- Rebuilt X-Ray group software staff, hiring 20 engineers in 1 year
- Led continued software development process improvements; ISO-9001 process representative for software group
- Developed reorganization concepts for group, including software cluster subgroups & leaders
- Resolved issues with several poor performers in my group
- Functionally responsible for many concurrent software projects
My accomplishments were
- America’s pole software deliverables for all projects in R&F/Mobile businesses, as well as Apollo & InSite projects
- Concurrent TC program leadership responsibility (details above)
- Up to 15 people in my functional unit; developed plans & work assignments, performance appraisals, salary plans, budgets, & other administrative tasks
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Our 91st Year
In July I was snapped "sleeping" at a party at a friend's house
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Our 1992 Year
On their way to school on March 27th, 2 young girls (6 & 7) were hit by a 2nd train & were killed;
they had ran onto the tracks as the 1st train had passed & were hit by the other train; see the
news report?
In April we got our new
Ford Explorer
van & we drove it down to Florida to visit Disney for a week in June. Stopped at Mammoth Cave on the way down, with a looong drive on way back!
In December. Ms. T got her new
Grand Prix;
I drove it too
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The 1993 Year
Alex
( then aged 12 )
was living in the world of computers & had managed to find his way into credit-card fraud having downloaded a Credit Card Generator & used the numbers for 1-900 calls for porn;
this ended up bringing a federal agent to our house in May of 1993 with a huge gun holstered on his belt… other than a formal record, no actions occurred
In July my birthday gifts were
a trip to PA,
a cabin weekend
and I saw my future wife-to-be for the first time bouncing around Marketing!
Another event in July was where I got into at GE Medical Systems X-Ray R&F Program Management as the TC Program LPI for 3+ years;
this was in Waukesha WI, at Buc's France Office & in the Fischer Imaging business in Denver, CO
- New Product program team leader, developing & introducing the Tilting C-Arm system (Tilt-C), a new type of X-Ray system for clinical & surgical Interventional Procedures
- New entry to $1,50MM+ market for GE Medical Systems
- 3-year/$7MM+ development, with a cross-functional program team of over 100 people at peak, as well as several major suppliers, geographically split around the US & Europe
Accomplishments
- Key leader in all phases of the program, through production
- Champion & change agent for internal process improvements:
- Changes in engineering program management techniques
- Automated system validation techniques (cycler)
- Cost prediction & management tools (Q&P sheet)
- Completely revised system installation approach (SCAT),
saving time & money & improving quality to the customer
In August we had our Michigan weekend away in the Treelands cabin for a week
In October, I started a business rental of an apartment in Denver for my TC team
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Our Busy 1994 Year
Of the many events that I had in that year, the 1st was that I managed to cream the 'Prix in a shitty snowstorm: lost control, smacked bridge—no injuries, car damage was minor! The 2nd was our family weekend cruise to The Bahamas in February… details follow:
| Day/Date | From | To | Events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Feb 9th | 9pm | 11pm | We had an overnight stop in a hotel Left home at about 9pm… we waited so late because of choir. BTS was supposed to just give Ben his lesson, & then leave but she got "caught" & ended up playing. Not to worry The hotel ( a Quality Inn ) included parking. There was a ton of snow, & the secured area wasn't very well plowed! I got what looked to be the last & only spot in the lot, tucked in at 45 degrees next to the gate… Left it hoping that we didn't get clobbered! We left our (winter) coats in the car as the weather will be warmed I grabbed some cookies from the lobby when I was parking the car At 11pm ( or maybe later ) we finally got down to sleeping The boys got the sleeper sofa, & us the bed; Stu was aged 14, Alex was 12. Ended up giving the boys the quilt, as they were tussling over the blankets! We (BTS & I) ended up freezing our butts off as we neglected to check the thermostat, & it was "off…" |
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| Thurs, Feb 10th | 4:20am | 6am | Wake up/shower/yawn/brkf… Very coooold! B had packed croissants/juice for brkf. we grabbed coffee from lobby, took off for our plane Damned desk clerk & his "sorry sir, you have to do that when you check in" with my AAA card. What an ass! He then proceeded to write $8.88 on the charge slip; he unfortunately noticed before we left! |
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| 6:20am | 11:30am | Fly to Orlando, via Detroit Just a short hop from Mke to Detroit, then off without too much hassle or delay for Orlando Not a bad breakfast—something like an egg McMuffin biscuit, yogurt, coffee, juice, bagel, etc I think I probably slept a bit… read a bit… nothing spectacular |
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| 11:30am | 2pm | Travel to Port Canaveral After we took the "subway" train across the airport, we were herded onto a bus; Big cafuffle at the bus stop area, with hordes of people hanging & milling about, wondering what to do/where to go/who to see The bus driver was a bit of a lark. Could almost call him funny… He was nice, though. Tried hard to be light, communicative, etc My 1st impression of the boat was from the bus—one B-I-G momma!! You could see it about a mile away… Side note—this is where the tips started: $5 for driver, $2 for bag hauler… |
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| 2pm | 3pm | On board! There were pretty big lines for "US" people, but we went to the very short line for "non-US" & they checked us all. They kept my green card… (I got it back later, though) Explored a little; waited for bags to show Boys vanished! We wandered around a bit, lots to figure out… bags came slow, one ended up down the hall, in fact! Everything ok, tho' |
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| 3:25pm | Lunch… we ate outside on the dance-floor. Pretty windy outside, not too bad where we sat. Just burgers/etc, I had some nice fruit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6pm | Dinner… we stood in line for ever! Oh well… table party was for older types, not too happy to be seated with a couple of teenaged boys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8pm | We crashed for the night… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fri, Feb 11th | 8am | 9am | Slept in… we were whacked from travel yesterday! Breakfast on deck; buffet style—nice! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9am | 9:30am | We watched as the boat pulled into Nassau in The Bahamas…
we arrived an hour late due to the headwinds last night. Oh well… Took a bunch of pix; it's very tropical, of course! Palms, blue sea, white sand. It was really interesting to see that the general "demeanor" of the place is pretty shabby… you always imagine Nassau to be sort of paved with gold. A reality check, I guess |
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| 10am | 11am | Glass-bottomed boat ride | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11am | 12:30pm | Brought a couple of conch shells from street vendors alongside boat; they were pretty cheap Shopped a bit; got some Tee-shirts, etc. Pretty raggedy shops, more of the "shabby" feeling of this place in general |
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| 12:30pm | 4pm | Lunch on board; on deck again Siesta for a couple hours in the room |
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| 4pm | 10pm | We headed over to the Carnival Hotel Beach, getting there almost too late—it was crowded as hell but it cleared right out as the sun vanished!
Decided to eat out, as dinner is "dress" on the boat & we didn't want to.
Difficult to decide.
Tried one place, "Blackbeard's Forge," but it was at least as hot as a damned forge, so we dumped out…
BTS & I were quite bitey at this point. Nothing like fun on vacation! Ended up at the Bahamian Kitchen, a place recommended by some literature on the boat. A guide walked us there ( it was dark by then ) & the place was tiny, just like a cheap café ( back home for me in the UK), with a very skimpy menu, mostly local stuff. I had fried turtle, just like chicken! It wasn't spectacular at all, a bit of a letdown really |
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| 11:30pm | I crashed; BTS & boys kept on rolling 'til late | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sat, Feb 12th | 6:10am | 2:45am (Sun) | We spent the whole day relaxing on the boat…
|
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| Sun, Feb 13th | 7am | 9pm | Up & rolling… 8:00am Resident Alien check-in/check-out; regular bag of shit! Oh well… 9:00am Breakfast in the dining room; long & boring line… this is getting to be old 7:00pm We travel back, pretty much the reverse of how we got here 9:00pm Dinner at Uno's to try & wrap up with something nice after our long day's travel 10:00pm Arrived home, unpacked a little & hit the hay |
The most significant event of my life came with my work at the SCVIR show in San Diego… details follow:
| Day/Date | From | To | Events | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Mar 17th | 6:30am | 2:30am (Fri) | Day 1 of our SCVIR show
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| Fri, Mar 18th | Day 2 of our SCVIR show
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| Sat, Mar 19th | 8am | 9:30pm | Day 3 of our SCVIR show We spent the whole day installing the Tilting C-Arm. Kicked our heels most of the morning. All in a big pile of boxes… Amazing to see what a mess this all is before it turns into a show! Booth is a bit tight—room could have been further back at least 18", which would have made the front more roomy Took off around 4:30 for a break ( chips/etc in Seaport Village ); found when we returned that everyone from the setup crew had gone, & that the gantry had the wrong connection on the power cable! Forced FIC to figure it out to ensure that we got powered & checked out before we left for the night… Sandy showed up after lunch but didn't hang around much—prep for the kickoff tomorrow |
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| Sun, Mar 20th | 8am | 8pm | Day 4 of our SCVIR show The installation continued for a couple hours… around 10:30am I helped out w/pitch prep, working w/Sandy & Connie to look over brochure, data sheet, etc & dry-ran Sandy's presentation, giving feedback & suggestions The presentation to the sales folks was in the afternoon & went very well; they were supposed to go see the machine, but they didn't want to. Oh, well… Deb Knapp's 1st customers ( 2 docs, pretty impressed ) came at 6:00pm We then spent the evening trolling around… got some gas, Burger King. Black guys hassling mgr. Found book store(s), but nothing to buy |
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| Mon, Mar 21st | 8am | 11:30pm | Day 5 of our SCVIR show Bob Sengupta & I met in the lobby at 7am, & walked over. Machine was up & running just fine Sales guys arrived at 8am—1st impressions "looking good"! 1st customers ( from show ) arrive around 8:30 am Leave w/Bob for airport & lunch Met Sandy in the lobby around 7pm to go and get some dinner. Kind of nervous; just us… Ran into Nancy walking. chatted for a while, cold out! Headed to a nearby bar & had a couple drinks (happy hour) & appetizers—shitty service—ran into Dow/Mike/others at bar—could have been embarrassing! We decided to head out to cruise & maybe hit the beach or something. SRV cruising music in the car!! Drove thru gaslamp district & around & about, then headed out to mission beach We paddled in the Pacific—C*O*L*D—in fact, our feet went numb very quickly, making it not so cold! This was where the famous "cold in bed" comment originated… we walked along the beach for a while, & then back around the roller coaster etc. Didn't stop to eat; decided to head back to gaslamp district & have something decent We had dinner around 10:30pm at the Brewski's pub, a real nice bar/restaurant in the gaslamp area, with their own micro brewery; ordered a sampler round—5 or 6 small glasses of each of their beers. nice! We ordered swordfish, a special. Played some SRV while we waited. Talked about all sort+s of things, including the pig-pen "beach", fresh cow-flops, & "cold in bed". Nice time! |
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| Tues, Mar 22nd | 7am | 12:30am (Wed) | Day 6 of our SCVIR show—the beginning of Our Remarkable Relationship!! Breakfast & meeting/review from 7:00am to 8:15 am; talked through ups/downs from 1st day of show. Opinions in general are very high—a hot potato. Around 11:00am I took Mark & Nancy to the airport & then had lunch at Dick's Last Resort—oriental chicken salad—very nice. Worked a bit on laptop. Had an 8-year-old girl helping the waitress—fun! A video taping session started at 7:00pm—Sandy, the movie star. I was just there in case the machine hiccuped, but it didn't (of course!); spent most of the evening working on the laptop config startup selections/etc & packed up & left not too long after 10 We then went to the top of the Hyatt, grabbing a window seat, a small table. Close. She had a Miller, bottle. I had a Corona/lime & a double Jameson's in a snifter. We talked. Looking out at the lights of San Diego, the harbor, & TJ ( I suggested ) in the distance After a time, Sandy said "OK, take me to TJ" & was not kidding. Half a hint of what might we do there?… We talked some more, admiring the romance of the lights, etc. I said we should be on a big couch, behind us, with cushions, cuddly. Kidding. Quiet, suddenly. Sandy said "I think I need to stop hanging around with you"… Serious. Very. More to this than met the eye… Talked. Difficult, really, because the bar was loud & her voice was quiet, subdued. "You've made me realize how lonely I've been in the past couple days" but ( I thought ) didn't really want to talk about it. She said "How much fun you are to be around" & "eyes, deep, smiles" ohhh my… Talked about Denver, steakhouse, & the potato—"best time I've had in a very long time"… it was, I agreed, heart in my throat now. Can I stop this? Should I? Where the hell are we headed? I talked her into going somewhere quieter, on a beach, Coronado Island… we head out, very quiet in the elevator. No tension, though. This isn't a date or anything, at least not yet. Worrying now about how to control things if they get difficult. Already complicated… We then spent a very long couple of hours together starting around 11:15pm—just the high spots… > Over the bridge to Coronado Island ( I joked about the suicide help stuff ) > Talking. Showed her my 1974 pic. Talked about Ireland, a bit. About my life with Jane, although not much. How I got here, our open communications, et al > We drove past the battleships, the carriers, each so close, yet so far behind the fences. Would have been neat to get nearer Plan really was not a plan, just knowing that she wasn't ready to talk yet. Driving with SRV crooning on the piano do-da-doo, do-da-doo, do-da-du-do-doo, bam-bam-bam-bahm I can't really capture that with letters… play it once when you have a minute? Remember. Remember… > Took a couple of U-turns, looking, looking. Finally found the beach. High sea-wall, huge chunks of granite. Parked & clambered over, down to sand. Surf was about 200 yards out. Cool breeze blowing. Moon was shining on the sea, on the waves > Alone. All alone. Hugs. Long. Tight. She said "Nothing like a hug"… & "I've wanted one from you all week" Bumpity-bumpity my old heart… > Her soft, scented hair. She fits low under my arm, she's shorter. Simply delicious—could be, anyway > Have to be honest here, simply have to. A little afraid, too. Gave her my "Showtime" sweatshirt, made a joke of it She helped me light my cigar, cupped hands, talked about how memorable this would be. Touching > We walked up & into the wind for a while, arms around. Stroking. Close. Got into to some whys & so forth—am not going to write it all down, but it's clear that they ( she and her husband ) are either on the rocks or are damned close Walked for ever, turning back when we hit some kind of wet area, the river or something. Back past the car, & on & on Moon behind us, so was the wind. Walked, talked. Comforted. At least, I think so > Sat some. talked more. walked on road back towards the car for a bit. Quieter now away from surf. Picked at thoughts to help her, don't know where they will go, though. Felt good to have helped, even if it didn't?? Until it happened, she'd still be stunning. Told her that even if she waited 6 or 8 years she'd still be her—inside, gray, few more wrinkles, maybe, but still h-e-r > Reassuring, or trying to; smelling flowers, leaves as we walked. Walked back from the streets to the beach. She said to expect her to be nasty tomorrow. part of needing to put some space between us; understood Hope we aren't beyond friendship already… > Couple more long hugs as we walked back across beach towards where the car was parked. Just held each other, stroked softly Hair, fingers, arm, back. Kissed her hair, hugged, tight. Not sexual, but could easily have fallen into it > Walked back; got in the car. She was stroking my leg a little, just fingertips, worrying "you better take care of that diabetes" Sitting a minute. Thinking one small kiss, lips. Deliberate. Soft. Very. I know she held back Can tell for sure. Understandable but it was & just for a thank-you, really… We leave, head home > She was almost abrupt as we got out of the elevator. S'ok. Understood… hope yet > Poured the sand out of my shoes in my room, kept remembering. Dream, dream… Going to have to THINK very hard here. Scenarios? It could sure get deep Remember "That night on a San Diego beach, spring of '94", the moon, be in a little awe, always. A 1-in-a-million night… |
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| Wed, Mar 23rd | 6:50am | 11:30pm | Day 7 of our SCVIR show Woke/breakfast at 6:50am & headed to the show She was ignoring me as expected… Saw her in the hall, while I was getting coffee & she walked right by me—I turned so she wouldn't be "confronted," I think before she saw me, & stood, stirring or whatever, hoping she'd nudge me or something. She didn't though—walked right by. Don't really know if she saw me or not but she did speak to me after a bit. S'ok. Smiles, Conversational She said that she had just 2 hours of sleep; I then spent a bunch of time just watching her. All morning, in fact… Worried? Certainly confused & wondering… I checked out/in for my flight around 10:30am Had a Phone conf at 1:00pm Flight at 2:30pm, NW, 1st class upgrade! Via Mpls. actually shorter than MWXP—must be faster plane, or something! Got 1st-class upgrade because of the 1-way, high-cost ticket at last minute. Good seat (window), lots of leg/recline room. Excellent dinner, with spinach & Chinese bean-sprout salad, followed by yellow-fin tuna & choc cake for dessert. Bad! Looked out again over the desert, grand canyon, & the rockies Snoozed a bit; made some journal updates. Spent really a whole bunch of the time staring out of the window, thinking about her. Deep, buddy… v deep. 2nd leg of the flight was a bit bumpy, as there were a bunch of storms over WI; landed at 10:00pm Was picked up at the airport; bags came quickly—pretty nice to fly 1st class when you get the chance! Went to Von Trier's for a couple of beers & a chat. Nice to be home but sure had lots to think about… lots… |
After the SCVIR show in March (described above), many, many other things occurred in 1994; a general summary is shared here…
Apr MAB, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Ms. T's weekend in Denver
Traded-in my 88 Tracer for the '89 Dodge RamCharger; ~$10k
I transitioned from working under DeRome to Hauck, terminating my Unit management role & becoming a senior LPI
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Our 95th Year
The year in summary:
Jan Refinanced our Oconomowoc house to bring monthly payments down
Feb Ms. T springs the surprise about "thanks" on the house
Mar I moved back from the apartment in Hartland to 146;
Ms. T & the boys moved across town to her Chaffee rd apt
Apr Ms. T retains a lawyer
May I retain Charlie Phillips for the divorce
Jul My 40th birthday; a huge party with many friends (at Ken' Accardi’s house; tent/blew away!).
Summer plans w/boys got "shot" with the first TC pilots to Europe out of control…
Aug I start paying 25% support to Ms. T after a preliminary hearing.
With my achievements for the success of the GE Tilting C-Arm program, I organized a HUGE celebration
at the Milwaukee Museum with 60+ team members!
Sep Got a 6-point ticket (doing ~75 in 45) late on my way to work; argued down to 4-point but still cost $175
Oct My UK Trip (Oldchurch TC eval); visited Bournemouth, etc also… just "showed up" at 70 Elmes!
Dec TC reached M4
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Our 1996 Year
My RamCharger truck was totaled in January by a drunk guy who crossed the center line in Milwaukee at 2am with John French & Mike Gueth…
My then ex-wife-to-be gleefully withheld the insurance payment;
I replaced the wreck with a 1991 GMC Jimmy ( full-size )
In February
Sandy
and I moved to Lake Keesus
In March
Alex
was committed to the in-house treatment program at the Roger's Memorial in Oconomowoc for a month or so.
As Ms. T had expired all of her options, I helped talk Alex into this…
A year before our
marriage,
some very good luck on April 17th allowed me to finalize my divorce from Ms. T!
In July my TC Program role ended & I became the Vascular lead for a year+
> LPI for New World Program, driving redefinition of 2-year-old program back to re-approval of M0, on track for M1 & execution with new deliverables – program was suspended Sep/96 to utilize all Vascular resources globally on completion of business-critical LCA program
> LCA Sys Eval Leader – led audit of GEMSE Systems Engineering evaluation files in support of FDA/ISO inspection & leader for America’s systems evaluation team, driving clinical scenario evaluation & testing
> Global Vascular FMI Coordinator. Led development & deployment for multiple concurrent Vascular FMIs
> $3.5MM LCA M4 FMI deploying to 110 customers world-wide…
— most complex FMI ever deployed at GE Medical Systems
— personal leadership, recognized with Management Award
> V3 XRT FMI deploying globally to 325 Vasc & R&F customers
> Other Vascular FMI’s deploying to 250+ customers
Accomplishments
> Key leadership role in Global Vascular Business Team with focus on program rollout & IB Customer Satisfaction
> Resolution of quality issues in the Vascular IB resulted in turnaround in share growth for Vascular business in 1997
My 41st birthday was also in July; I went up to Canada in August for 1st fishing trip with GE guys
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The 1997 Year
In January I visited with my family in the UK; somewhere around one of these trips, I discovered that Simon Stone had been led by Lucy to the world of Christianity… O-M-G!!! Saw them for the last time
In February, Alex was again committed to the Lawrence Center, staying there for 2+ in-house months
Many of my other 1997 events actually remain unmentioned
( & are unmentionable )
and unshared…
Will share however that
Sandy
&
I
had met in 1994 & were very happily
married
in March, 1997 in San Diego!
In May I was the Global I&W 6-Sigma Champion in an overlapping role for 6+ months
- LPI role for all deliverables related to Global cost reductions for Installation & Warranty expenses for the Vascular business
- Developed detailed project scope report, including estimated savings, resource requirements, & deliverable timing for over 70 key activities
Accomplishments: Coordinated & drove global 6-Sigma activities for Installation & Warranty cost reductions to meet GDXR business goal of $7MM reduction in 1998 – transitioned lead role to Buc team for execution
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My 1998 Year, With Huge Complexities…
I started to feel crappy at work around April of this year
( wonky ears, balance etc );
we took a 10-day spring break vacation to the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, etc.
There are snaps of
family
( me, my wife, Alex & his friend )
and of
Ship Rock
( Alex is the tiny person, lower center ),
a place that would become significant for Alex in an as-yet-unknown way at that time…
I visited with Dr. Dougherty on Monday, May 4th with my weird head pressure…
a scan brought to me the disastrous discovery of a brain tumor; view the
events
here?
The very scary activities
( that were possibly fatal )
are shown in my
profile
page…
My 2 other major life events were my
accident
in 1976 and my move to the
US of A
in 1980
Looking back to January where I was the SenoVision Mammography Supplier Lead for 6+ months
- Off-pole LPI role to GEMSE Mammography NPI SenoVision program team for critical US supplier in Long Island, New York
- Developed & executed recovery plan with supplier
Accomplishments: Led supplier recovery to meet deliverables & restore missed program schedule
In April I was the Apollo Feasibility Sys Service Integration Lead for several months
Small team LPI role for Apollo feasibility sites in US, providing organization & leadership to ensure uptime & Customer sat
Accomplishments: Provide leadership to growing team; ensure rapid service response for customer, transition to centralized team
My annual fishing trip in July with friends to Holinshead Lake in Canada was very nice—Sandy advised the team that I was not allow to have any sharp knives! John did remember to get gas that year! The wind on the lake made it difficult to stay in one spot & relax, but the fishing was as good as ever! Lots to catch, lots to eat (!) & of course, we had plenty to drink both in the boat & in the evenings!! Our trips up & back were visually more amazing than any year before—we saw a moose-calf on the forest road on the way up, a black bear & a lynx on the way home!
We had a simply wonderful trip to England in July; my journal of the trip is here…
In October I was the Emperor Global Program Lead for a few months
- Global Program Manager role for fast-track NPI with development team in Beijing, China… Global RAD value-tier offering in $200MM market; GEMS did not compete in this market segment
- Delivered milestone MR/MS (announcement) & M3 (pilots)… showed new product at RSNA / complimented by Jack Welch!
- Team recognized for Competitiveness with ALL-STAR award
- Personal leadership recognized with Management Award
Accomplishments: Provided program leadership to fast-track global team in 3 poles, led service deliverables, ensuring issues reach rapid closure, organized & delivered milestones to plan
I went
hunting
up in the northern WI woods in the fall of '98 with my now sadly departed friend, Gerry, bagging a small deer one year that helped my wife make some pretty Yummy Venison Chili!!
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Some of Our Good Times in 1999…
In January I became the Manager of the CT Product Planning/NPI Process at Ryerson for 9+ months
Staff role, leading process development & implementation for business-critical operational & administrative responsibilities
Accomplishments
- Deployed processes & tools for financial control as well as web-based reports for heads, materials, T&L expenses & others
- Managed annual Base-cost Budget to quarterly & Y-E targets: 1999 $23MM (Mke), 2000 $41MM Globally & 2001 $48MM
- Deployed financial tracking processes & tools to facilitate overall Engineering budget predictability & allow control
- Managed WWPP, OP & other product planning tools/processes
- Developed new program processes/process improvements & tools (web & non-web) to support them
- Continued delivery of these key operating mechanisms & tools despite significant personal medical complexities
In February we spent a toasty warm week at the
Crown Paradise
resort in
Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico to get away from the FREEZING COLD Wisconsin weather!!
PV was a really wonderful vacation resort on the Pacific coast with many, many beautiful places. The hotel is right on the beach, with an amazing view.
Our room was way high on the top floor in the corner—you can almost see it on the web site picture of the hotel!
The view shown along the hotel to the sea is exactly the same as the one we had… we awoke each day to the sound of the sea & watched big sea-birds float past our window
We spent a good deal of time during the day lounging around the delightful pool with endless cold drinks & all the snacks we wanted!
The social director organized great games like Tequila Volleyball in the pool & exercise sessions
( which we declined!! )
We went out horseback riding one day in the mountains nearby with a group, & spent another exploring the town.
My wife shopped there for ( & found ) a gorgeous sundress!
We enjoyed
Huevos Rancheros
for breakfast pretty much every morning with excellent coffee/juice/etc, & a great variety of excellent foods at lunch & dinner.
Sadly
"Montezuma's Revenge"
took a bite out of me on the 2nd or 3rd day but the wonder-drug Imodium helped limit this to just one day… whew!
My Granny passed away peacefully in April at the age of 97. We flew in from home & after a brief funeral ceremony, she was cremated with 40 of her family in attendance & everyone then gathered together at Doug's farm for a couple of hours later to reflect on things
Our favorite summer break was a long weekend in the
Wisconsin River Valley.
We stayed at the
Prairie Garden B&B,
a wonderfully reconditioned old farmhouse,
& spent a day wandering through
The House on the Rock,
a truly amazing museum filled with literally miles (!) of displays.
Another day we hiked in
Devil's Lake State Park,
just beautiful scenery with an energetic clamber up the bluffs—whew!
We also had a day out during the summer with our friends at the
Annual Kettle-Moraine Jazz Festival,
a 2-day concert with many incredibly good artists.
One was
Daryl Stuermer
( an ex-Genesis guitarist )
was clearly the hit for me, but all the music we heard was really good & worth every penny!
We said goodbye to my aging kittycat, PaintPot, in June of 1999. Some pictures & memories of him & of another friend from the past, Betsy the pooch
A great weekend away in the fall was when we went up to the
UP of Michigan
to see the leaves, hike, bike, etc.
Our best day was at
Mackinac Island,
a short
high-powered ferry ride
away from
St. Ignace
& then a bike rental to get around the island
( no vehicles! )
with a delightful visit to the
Butterfly House
I was elected "Bull of the Woods"
(CampFryer's leader for a year )
at the
Black Hawk Park
spring trip—see a link to my
older album
for a couple of snapshots of the trip (near the end of the page )
We had a simply wonderful closure to the year of 1999
( which was also the end of the "2nd Millennium" & the end of the century of the 1900's )
with an evening spent with many of our friends at a REALLY GREAT
New Year's Eve Party…
come on in & see some of the fun!
Our Christmas fun with family was really good, too…
I created "My Wish List" to share some of my thoughts, retained just for fun!
Return to the top or visit my Home Page
The End of My 90's Decade…
Well, that's pretty much the end of the events in the decade of my 90's…
visit the more recent decades here?
You could also go to
my Bio summary page,
the personal profile that I created a few years ago,
a page that shares my many years of work,
my family tree page or
visit my FaceBook
where you can scroll down to view my events year-by-year
As I expect that parts of my eDiary will improve and/or change as I tag some more year-by-year info, or clarify some of the threads… watch this space!
Please also visit my
privacy page
to be aware of some legal stuff?
As a final thought, view some snaps of me & my family in my
older album? Enjoy!! ;)