About ๐
Welcome! Iโm Dave, a.k.a. "The MaudMan". ๐
This is a blank canvas where I can write about whatever is on my mind without feeling the need for it to be particularly useful or entertaining. Someday these musings might be all that is left of me, so I might as well make the best of it.
My personal website, mauder.com used to be called โMauderโs Money Mattersโ, and was hosted on Wordpress. At some point many years ago I got bored with it. At that time I was focused on personal finance, debt-reduction, and investing. I also wrote a monthly column by the same name in a nationally syndicated trade publication. Yes, Iโm a nationally syndicated writer. Well, I used to be. ๐
Since I've been using Standard Notes for over a year now, I recently decided to give their blogging platform, Listed.to, a try. Hopefully it will reduce the friction of daily writing and I'll get back into my groove again.
Professionally, I work as a Senior Principal Engineer and Technical Team Lead for a multi-billion dollar leader in the tech industry. I mostly specialize in block & file-based storage systems, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and virtualization. Iโm fortunate enough to work from a home office in beautiful Hocking Hills, Ohio, and I travel quite a bit. Iโm not sure how much longer Iโll continue to work for โThe Manโ, but for now I enjoy what I do.
Iโve worked in IT since 1990 after I graduated college with a degree in computer programming. Sitting at a desk writing code all day didnโt suit my personality at the time, so I branched off into technical support and systems engineering. In late 2001, I got interested in storage technology (SAN/NAS) and it has been my specialization ever since. My tech skills include servers, virtualization, networking, hyper-converged platforms, systems management, automation, disaster recovery, and various other aspects of IT. However, the underlying theme is always SAN and/or NAS related.
In hindsight, I wish I would have stuck with programming / coding, at least on the side. Today I find myself wishing I could write some apps to scratch my own itch. For that reason, Iโm very fascinated by sites such as FreeCodeCamp, and one of my goals is to eventually get through all of their course material. Although, with the advances in AI over recent years, that might just be a huge waste of time. ๐ค
Over the years, Iโve been involved in many โside hustlesโ including network marketing, vending routes, and affiliate marketing. Without a doubt, I found the most success with online affiliate marketing, but never achieved a level of income that would have allowed me to quit my job. Maybe someday I'll get back to it.
My timelineโฆ โฒ
- 1968: Born in Northwest Ohio. I'm a Gemini. โ
- 1980: Introduced to my first computer, a TRS-80, by my nerdy cousin Gary who had an electronic wonderland in his basement. I was hooked. ๐ค
- 1983: Parents bought me my first computer, an Atari 800 XL.
- 1985: Saved up some allowance, sold the Atari 800 XL to my sister, and upgraded to an Atari 130XE. Still 8-bit, but had 128KB of RAM! Holy crap, that was cutting edge technology.
- 1986: Graduated high school. Sold the Atari 130XE and bought another computer with a 16-bit 80286 processor.
- 1987: Joined the US Navy.
- 1988: First child born. Itโs a girl! ๐ง
- 1989: Honorable discharge from Active Duty Navy, entered the Naval Reserve for the next 6 years. Started college and officially launched my new career in IT. Started out majoring in computer electronics, but changed to applied business with a major in computer programming. Got back on the BBSโs and learned 16-bit computers are for losers. Sold the 286 and bought a 32-bit 386SX. OK, the CPU was 32-bit, but the data bus was still 16-bit. Itโs all I could afford at the time.
- 1990: Got married and second child born. Itโs a boy! ๐ฆ Started first real IT job โ computer operator and quickly moved to a programmer role. Got rid of the 386SX computer and bought a 486.
- 1992: First and only paycheck from Microsoft. Maybe Iโll share that story in a blog post one day.
- 1995: Honorable discharge from the Naval Reserve.
- 1996-2006: What the hell happened here?? I guess just a bunch of working/furthering my IT career, and being a husband & father.
- 2007: Various IT/tech jobs since 1989. Was starting to look bad on the resume and decided I need to "settle down." ๐ Started working for a multi-billion dollar tech company. Oh, and I got Lasik surgery.
- 2008: Mom passed away. ๐
- 2012: Dad passed away. ๐
- 2013: First grandchild born. Itโs a girl! ๐ง Built our first family log cabin in Hocking Hills, Ohio.
- 2014: Second grandchild born. Itโs a boy! ๐ฆ
- 2016: Moved to Hocking Hills, Ohio and launched our log cabin rental business. Got lured away to a new company/job by an x-coworker.
- 2017: Third grandchild born (on my birthday ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ ). Itโs another boy! Grandkids are fun, but damn, three is enough and I wish theyโd stop moving so much and making noise & messes! LOL! Hated the company I joined last year and, after a 16-month "sabbatical", returned to the same tech giant I joined in 2007.
- 2018: Turned 50. Ugh!
- 2019: Broke ground on a new home. Sold our oldest rental log cabin, now we have four.
- 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic. Are you kidding me?? Best year ever for our log cabin rentals. Did better this year with four cabins that we did the previous 3 years with 5 cabins, despite being shutdown by the local health department from March 23rd to May 4th.
- 2021: COVID-19 Pandemic still going. Are you kidding me??? Cabin rentals doing even better than 2020. I guess we have a pandemic-proof business. ๐๐ท My wife finally got her first new Jeep despite working there and building them for 20+ years -- a firecracker red Gladiator.
- 2022: Fourth AND fifth grandchildren born. Twin boys! ๐ฆ๐ฆโ Sold the cabin rental business.
- 2023-2024: Life happened? Stay tuned for updates coming soon...
My current interests, and topics I will likely write about:
- Technology, especially leveraging technology for several of the interests listed belowโฆ
- Personal Finance & Budgeting
- Investing
- Managing & Eliminating Debt
- Early Retirement
- Nutrition / Natural Health
- Depression & Anxiety
- Buying & Using American made products
- Digital security & privacy
- Digital Freedom
- Productivity
- Minimalism
- Coffee (REALLY good coffee!)
- Barefoot walking, running, hiking/rucking
- Reading
- Watching Movies
Want to get in touch? Hereโs howโฆ
On Social Media:
For the most part, I hate social media. Despite that, you can occasionally find me hanging around atโฆ
Send to blog at topcat.anonaddy.com. Please no spam or network marketing opportunities (which would be spam!) ๐
Or sign my guestbook and I'll get back to you.