Welcome to my world:
Updated 1/4/08
I currently live in Prescott Valley, AZ. I was born in 1939 in Los Angeles but was immediately transplanted to Arkansas for the first four years of my life. (That may account for my tendency to talk funny at times.) Up to now, I have lived almost exclusively in the San Francisco, CA, South Bay Area (from Fremont/Newark on the East side to Mountain View on the West side and down to Gilroy in the South side). For short periods of time I have lived in Sebastopol (CA), Wilmington (CA), Boston (MA), Newport (RI), Chicago (IL), Sacramento (CA), Chico (CA), and Scottsdale (AZ). While in the Navy I have seen all of South America, Panama, the British Isles, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, and a few islands in the Atlantic Ocean between Florida and Europe. Since then I have visited Hawaii, Alberta Canada, the Bahamas, Baja California, Israel, and several states in the USA. Although I don't consider myself a traveler, the evidence is I've seen quite a bit beyond my front door.
I am divorced, a father of one daughter, five sons, a grandfather to twelve (the latest was born in July, 2005), and great grandfather to one (born in 1998).
I am currently retired. My occupation was Release Engineer. I was working primarily as a contract programmer since 1986. Prior to that, I have worked as an electronic engineer, an electronic technician, a salesman (of you name it), and a production manager (electronics).
On the health scene, I am a cancer survivor since 1994 (story to be available in an upcoming monogram.) And in November of 2001 I had a triple heart bypass (for which I deeply regret submitting to - my preference now would be a rigourous session with Qigong, Chelation therapy a proper mix of diet, exercise, and meditation, and lots of and lots of water).
Of little interest to most is the fact that I was the first technician to do R&D work on integrated circuits (RTL, resistor-transistor logic) at Fairchild Semiconductors in 1961. We used to joke about someday having computers small enough to fit on a desk. Now they are in the palm of my hand, complete with a phone and a camera (Nokia 9500).
I received my AA in general studies in 1991 from San Jose City College, San Jose, CA. It was a great moment in my life.
After some thought, I decided to "borrow" some words from personal profiles of others that would best describe me. Here goes.
I start and end each day with a thankful attitude. I have a spontaneous sense of humor (I laugh easily at myself). I find continuing peace in the recognition that I am never alone. I am a self-starter, quite independent, and have the discipline to focus and achieve specific goals but prefer to work in a competitive way or with a team mate. I resound with passion about things that interest me and fall asleep on things that don't. I am curious, self-confident, honest, emotionally available, and kind (to animals and humans alike). I have a high level of ethics in all things. I am prone to forget special occasions and appointments. I enjoy intimacy at all levels and being playful if not downright silly! I have found fun and interesting ways to refer to "God" without using the 'G' word -- Love is my favorite alternative.
My bookshelf contains subjects on Metaphysics, religion, philosophy, self-help, physics, math, astronomy, health, computer programming, and very few fiction and non fiction stories.
I obviously like to travel, meet new people, and hike around the mountains (I'm not a serious backpacker or camper). I am compassionate, sensitive, and spiritual. In many ways, I am a hopeless romantic. I enjoy reading about science (Discover Magazine is my favorite). For movies, I love science fiction, comedy, action, and travel. I enjoy driving, cuddling up with my "Lady Love" (she was my next door neighbor - we now live together), cooking (often), dining out (sometimes), hosting parties (infrequently), and dancing (forgot most of what I learned). I look much younger than my years, but my wrinkles are starting to take over my face. My hair is slowly getting lighter, but it is still all natural. My skin is fair (okay, white). I am fairly trim and muscular at 5' 8" and weigh in around 162 lb.
A downfall of mine is that I am entirely vulnerable and I expose my thoughts freely. Some people prefer to think that I have no filter between my brain and my mouth, but I see it more like what I think is what you get. In short, I'm not very conscious of how anyone may take what I say, so sometimes, regrettably, some people have hurt feelings without any such intentions on my part.
On the Enneagram, I am a One with a Two wing.
My favorite tag line in my e-mail is:
As it is in Love,
--
John R. Carter, Sr.
john@jrcarter.com
http://www.jrcarter.com
"I gave the world all the meaning it has for me." - ACIM
... and I'm willing to change my mind about it.