Comments:
Here's the latest with me......
I am remarried to a wonderful woman, Mary, and very happy. We were married over the summer and loving every minute of it.
Mary is from Oklahoma and a hugh football fan, so don't talk about GA football with her....
Mary has 3 grown kids and 8 grandchildren.
I am now a member of the faculty at Georgia State University/s Entrepreneur and Innovation Institute. It has taken me some time getting use to the sound of students calling me "Professor Mathis", but i am starting to like it. I am teaching and working with student teams on how to start and grow a business. It's a lot of fun with the kids, i am old enough to call a 20 year old kid, right? They actually listen to me and think i know what i am talking about. Fun, right?? I can see me doing this for a long time.
As for my wayward 22 year old daughter, she is headed to Florida as she is now on a path to attend school in Tampa.
I really look forward to our picnics. it is a blast and a blessing to see everyone.
I'll leave the history below as is for those interested in the more distant pass.
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Cramming 44 years into a thumbnail sketch....have a great 16 year old daughter. Moved to CT in '92 for work. Traveled a lot for work between 1981 and 2007. Been to most of the lower 48 and Hawaii. Sydney, Brussels, Paris, London. and Delhi ( the surrounding areas).
Favorite place, Grand Canyon especially the 6 day raft trip down the Colorado through the canyon. Favorite city: domestically, San Francisco, International, Brussels. People in Brussels will tell you that when a Parisian wants a great meal, they come to Brussels. I will have to say New York city also has many wonderful attributes, especially a great Broadway play occasionally. Down side, it's just too much of an in your face city. Most surprising place visited- Taj Mahal, stunning architecture surrounded by abject poverty.
Twice divorced. I think i am done with marriage...;o) Wife 2 was interesting as she was from the NY area, Catholic from a large Irish/Italian family. I grossly underestimated the cultural differences between the South and the North. Long story.
My time in undergraduate school was unremarkable. Two years at UGA, then moved to Atlanta and graduated from Ga State U. Still without focus and not sure what to do, i took a job at a bank, hated it. Went back to Grad school to get an MBA. I really found my niche in grad school. Came out and landed a great job in management consulting at Peak Marwick Main, one of the Big 8 accounting firms. (now there are 4). I spent the next 30 years in consulting, working for several different firms. The wildest job was with an internet consulting firm in 98. From 98 to the internet melt down in 2000, we hired 1500 people, then when things melted down, fired 1/2 of them in 3 months....wild ride and exhausting.
In 2007, i left a great job at IBM and started my own business. i had always want to have my own business. Just picked a really bad time to start one. the beginning was OK, but by the end of 2008, we could not raise capital from external sources, and the business suffered. I plowed a lot of my savings into the business to keep it going. It has finally turned around over the last year..yipee!!
My daughter, Rachael, is clearly the sunshine in my life. I guess there are pros and cons to having a 16 year old when you are 61. I don't think about the cons too much, but Rachael tells me that it freaks her out to have a Dad as old as i am...
I live in a small town in south western CT about 35 miles north of New York City. I don't make it into the city (that's what we call New York City) very often these days. I have done enough that already. I still go in occasionally to meet clients and friends. I still get mesmerized walking through Time Square at night. For those of you that are curious, NY is incredibly safe. Of course, there are places you just don't go, but for the most part, you can walk anywhere, anytime and feel very safe.
A few of my favorite things:
Movie(s) All things Star Trek and the first 3 Star Wars, Crash, The Big Chill, Field of Dreams, and A Beautiful Mind,
Books, Non Fiction; Founding Brothers, George Washington, ( all books about the founding of America), A Brief History of Everything.
Books, Fiction; Atlas Shrugged (reading it again now) Forest Gump, The Hunt for Red October,
Love Baseball, College Football. Living in the north east, you don't find a lot of people that like College FB. Everybody loves the Yankees and the Giants. Oh the cross that i carry....;o)
Love Technology and am constantly amazed at what we can do with technology today. I also think we are just getting started with tech and every year we will continue to have startling revelations.
Music. Any rock n roll BEFORE 1974. New Stuff: Fun (This song seems appropriate for upcoming reunion -- http://bit.ly/Fun_We_Are_Young) a lot of Country.
We are all shaped by our own individual life events. Traveling, consulting and living in the North East certainly changed my perspectives significantly. Being a Dad is the most important thing i have ever done or will do.
