Bakersfield.com

Well, what can I say about myself?  It seems to me that the only reason to say anything at all is to offer some evidence that I am qualified to hold the opinions that I might defend from time to time on this site.  While I do want to remain anonymous to a certain extent, due mostly to my shy nature, here are some facts that I am willing to share.

I am a non-religious person, but I believe in teaching religion to my kids.  This may seem hypocritical, but I grew up in a religious family, and I like the person that background made me.  Even though rational and logical adult analysis of religion casts doubt on its believability, the underlying structure and morals are important.  And, if it all were proven to be true, it couldn’t hurt for my kids to have faith.  When they are adults themselves, they can make up their own mind.

On the subject of children, I'm married to my first and only wife, even though 21 years have past since our vows.  This is a source of pride for me, but I really can't see it any other way.  I don’t understand divorce.  Not that I am any better than anyone else, but it seems to me that if divorce was ever an option, then marriage is unnecessary (and actually unwise).  Anyway, I have two kids, one in college and one in high school.

I am the child of a United States Air Force officer with a distinguished career.  I have two brothers that also served, one of which has retired from his own distinguished career, and the other who served during Desert Storm and then got out.  While I am proud and thankful for their service, I never served myself.  I consider the lifestyle to have been a great benefit to me as I grew up, providing the opportunity to witness and participate in multiple cultures around the world.

I have a degree in Economics from a UC school where I also played varsity soccer.  I also nearly finished a B.S. in geology at UC Riverside, but stopped when I decided I didn't want to hunt for oil for a living.  After all of that, I have lived only a fraction of my life in California.  I am new to Bakersfield as of July 2007, but I expect it to be permanent.

Over the past 20 years, I have worked mostly as a business analyst in finance and IT, mostly in manufacturing companies.  For the past 7 years, I have done so as an independent consultant.

As for my political views, I really can't say that I fit in any of the available containers.  But I also think most of my views are shared by a vast number of Americans that don't fit any of the available containers either.  For example, I consider myself to be liberal in many ways, especially if the word liberal is taken literally as one who desires political change.  I am one of those touchy-feely people who feel everyone else’s pain.  But on the other hand, my intellectual side understands the macro view, and that political issues can’t be resolved to the benefit of every citizen simultaneously.  Because of this, I find that I often agree with the so-called conservative viewpoint, especially where social programs are concerned.

Yeah, I’m weird. 

User Name:BJD
Gender:male
Member Since:October 24, 2006
Last Signed In:September 27, 2007
Profile Views:1189
Blog Views:446