Manufacturing:
Machining, Maintenance, Management
- Machinist: CNC & Manual
- Tool & Die Maker
- Production Machine Maintenance: Ticket gaming industry
- Management style: Servant-leadership
You've arrived. Welcome to midnight-joker.com
Admit it. The song's stuck in your head now, isn't it?
(Yes, I know it's "midnight toker", but that's not legal in my state.)
Background:
This is the second version of this site. The original used very outdated coding and was not responsive. I found that intolerable from someone professing to be a problem-solver, particularly when that someone is me.
While the primary focus of this website is professional, I'm not going to set that as a boundary.
What you will find here:
- Insights into my skills and professional background
- An overview of my hobbies, interests, and educational pursuits
- A little about me, as an individual
- Too many bulleted lists
What you will not find here:
- Politics
- Religion/spirituality
What you might find here in the future:
- Personal projects
- Articles on topics that catch my interest
- More bulleted lists
Bonus section:
The content immediately below was originally just placeholder material while building the site. Now I'm accustomed to always seeing it there.
Here's a picture of one of my very favorite human beings. It's from 1979's Roller Boogie. If you haven't seen Roller Boogie, you've probably been wasting your life.
(Soundtrack available on Casablanca Records.)
While you're here, why not go help her feed some puppies?
Random Gallery
Some cool images that I had Copilot make while working on this site.
Qualifications, Certifications, and Background
The images for each category link to more details. Accompanying documents open in a new tab.
NOTE: My résumés are my own Microsoft Word creations, not made from templates.
Data Analysis
- Languages: Python, R, SQL
- Jupyter Notebooks, R Studio, MySQL, Excel
- Data Visualization
- Statistics
- Hypothesis Testing
Locksmithing
- Foley-Belsaw certified
- Residential
- Commercial
- Institutional
- Lockouts
- Automotive
- Safes
Additional Skills
Manufacturing, Maintenance, Management
My entire professional life has revolved around machinery in one aspect or another. The majority of it has been in the machine tool trade, be it custom machining or tool and die. During that time, I've made everything from aerospace components to wooden @$$holes for hobby horses.
When I wasn't in a machine shop environment, I was doing production machine maintenance in the ticket gaming industry.
Over the course of this career path, I've advanced into various leadership positions. In that capacity, I follow the philosophy of servant-leadership.
Data Analysis
This is a career aspiration that has yet to reach any type of fruition. Three years of intense independent study and a certification ≠ a Bachelor's Degree.
Nonetheless, I still wouldn't mind giving it a go at some point.
(Still in progress. Hey, I'm busy.)
Locksmith
Admittedly, I persued this topic only as a hobby and out of sheer curiosity. However, given the chance for an apprenticeship, I'd definitley be on board.
Certificates linked at the left are a combined .pdf file. To view them separately, use the links provided below.
Click here to view the Professional Certification.
Click here to view the Advanced Certification.
Return to the beginning of Qualifications, Certifications, and Background
About Me
As often comes up in job interviews, as well as social events where people may meet for the first time, being presented with the non-question, “Tell me a little about yourself”, always elicits the same initial thought: “Could you please be a little more specific?” Nonetheless, that’s how I’ll go about writing the content of this page.
First of all, I’d say that I’m unique, just like everyone else.
People have told me that I'm a skeptic, but I don't believe them.
I have no problem in changing my views on a subject when presented with new information.
If asked what my greatest passion is, I’d say that it’s learning. I’m on a lifelong quest for knowledge of anything and everything that piques my curiosity, including those fleeting “shower thoughts”. I feel quite fortunate to share the same period in human history with the likes of Google and Wikipedia. This sort of technology is truly a boon to those of us who are constantly curious.
While I don’t necessarily consider it to be a passion, I’ve come to discover that I enjoy problem-solving, as I've already mentioned ad nauseum. Even the majority of my hobbies are centered around a form of problem solving: jigsaw puzzles, scale model building, even that sudoku app that I’ve wasted so much time on.
While studying data analysis, I'd found myself growing quite fond of mathematics, which itself can provide a literally infinite number of puzzles to solve. Language has always been my core aptitude, so this newfound fascination with mathematics has been somewhat exciting.
Inasmuch as this has become something that I really tend to enjoy, depending on the situation, I don’t seek out problems to solve. To paraphrase something that my dad used to tell me when I was a kid, “Don’t look for problems; they’ll find you.” I’ve never found less than complete truth in this statement.
In my view, the key to solving problems doesn’t lie in just having the answers; it lies in asking the right questions.
Returning the the self-summary, I’ll continue with a few inconsequential tidbits.
- Favorite novel: Welcome to Xanadu by Nathaniel Benchley
- Favorite non-fiction work: Cosmos by Carl Sagan
- Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw (That’s a 2-for-1)
- I do not own a television.
- I do not use social media.
I’ll also answer a couple of those trendy job interview questions.
- If I could be any non-human animal, I’d be an octopus. Their cunning coupled with their problem solving capabilities makes them nothing less than amazing. Plus, some species can survive outside of water for up to an hour. Now that’s adapting to adversity.
- Given the usual selection of superpowers, I’d choose invisibility. Aside from occasions related to healthcare concerns, I struggle to imagine a scenario when being invisible would be any sort of disadvantage.
A Peek Behind the Curtain
A few random things about me and what I'm into:
In addition, you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of ♥ Linda Blair ♥ than I am.
Personal Space
The title says it all. If you don't know my significant other's name, click here.
More updates to come.
