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The Hatchery: a blog about my adventures in bird watching

Remember

The following is an excerpt from a Memorial Day speech I delivered in 2017 to the Rothbury Community Church Congregation. I thought it was fitting to re-use it here. During his speech at the Vietnam memorial dedication on Nov 11, 1984, President Ronald Reagan perfectly articulated what it means to lose a soldier, Reagan Said,…

May 31, 2021
My Friend Skinnylicious

The final tale in the Ballad of Skinnylicious is less of a tale and more of a list of oddities. I chose to go this route because many of the remaining stories were not of the PG variety and frankly, there are so many weird things he does I could write fifty blogs about him.…

March 9, 2021
DJ Skinnylicious

“I find it so amazing when people tell me that electronic music has no soul. You can’t blame the computer. If there’s no soul in the music, it’s because nobody put it there.”Bjork Imagine for a second I told you I love to golf. One would expect that I owned all of the apparel and…

March 1, 2021
The Ballad of Skinylicious

“There are people who enter your life and then fade away softly as if they never existed. There are people who enter your life and fit like a missing puzzle piece. Then there are people who enter your life and stick like a large piece of bubble gum in your hair. Tyler Ewing is my…

February 25, 2021
Success?

When Chris Dawson, Rick Blauw, and I founded CatchMark in 2012 I knew our tiny new business had the potential to be something great. But before we could begin, a simple and extremely important question needed to be answered. The answer to this question would prove to be the foundation of our business for thee…

February 15, 2021
Mess with a Scammer!

Yesterday I received the following email from a person whom I know, but not well (I am hiding the identity out of courtesy). I was immediately suspicious, and after contacting the real owner of the email address, I decided to have a little fun and document the shenanigans for my readers enjoyment. THE INITIAL EMAIL…

February 8, 2021
My Son

On September 8th, 2004 my life changed for ever. Late into that evening Conner Aaron Raeth arrived, and Kara and I became parents for the first time. Although the labor was difficult and he had to be taken via C-Section, he was a perfectly healthy baby boy. The next year flew by, he grew quickly,…

February 1, 2021
#LETTHEMPLAY

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Most who read this blog know I am a technologist by trade. What many may not know is that a significant portion of my career has been spent evaluating risk. I hold a certification known as the CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control). The goal of the CRISC certification is to…

January 28, 2021
10 Things the Army Taught Me

In the spring of 2000 I enlisted in the US Army. I didn’t know it at the time but within two years of my enlistment I would find myself deployed to the desert near Baghdad. In a very short period of time I did an incredible amount of growing up and over the course of…

January 26, 2021
The Worst Symptom

I woke up on Christmas feeling good. We opened presents, had a wonderful breakfast, and then settled in to relax for the remainder of the day. I quickly began feeling a little off. Sinus pressure set in and it felt like I was getting a head cold. My health continued to deteriorate throughout the next…

January 18, 2021