I graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the U of MD and took at job with the Dept of the Army. I enjoyed a 32-year career, eventually performing research in artificial intelligence and data fusion. I married Sandra Spencer in 1975 and in the early 1980's we built a small house (board by board) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along with a wholesale azalea nursery (again, from the ground up) (www.LongMountainNursery.com). Over the next 25 years, we raised 500,000 azaleas that we shipped to northern VA garden centers. Following an early retirement from my government job, I took a position with a contractor that for the next 17 years allowed me to telecommute (most of the time) from the top of Long Mountain in rural Rappahannock County, VA. My wife and I retired our azalea nursery in 2008 and I retired from my engineering job three months ago (January 17, 2014). I enjoy reading, gardening, hiking, oil painting, and occasionally playing the piano at church. We have three grandchildren (and hope for more); they truly are the greatest benefit of growing older.