Background

Note:  This post updated on October 3, 2021

For those of you who might stumble across the blog from various places, I thought I would start with a little background about ME. I'm a former Gunner's Mate (Guns) First Class in the U.S. Navy / U.S. Naval Reserve (hence the name of the blog...Gouge is naval slang for rumor, as in "what's the gouge?" I'm also a former Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. I'm a graduate of Texas A&M at Galveston (TAMUG), also known as the Texas Maritime Academy (TMA). I have a BS in Marine Transportation and, at one time, held a Third Mate's License for Steam or Motor Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage (Oceans). I've worked as a:

• Actor
• Janitor
• Darkroom film developer for a newspaper
• Cook at various fast food restaurants
• Warehouse clerk
• Midnight shift clerk at a convenience store
• 9-1-1 Dispatcher (midnight shift)
• Clerk at a hobby shop
• Maritime Cargo Inspector (sort of a stevedore) 
• LAN Manager
• Analyst
• Webmaster
• Program Manager
• Business / Financial Manager (twice)
• Museum curator
• Director of Operations at a (small) museum
• Emergency Planner
• International Trade Specialist

I grew up in St. Louis and am a lifetime Cardinals Baseball fan. My family moved to rural NW Arkansas just before my Freshman year in High School. I learned a healthy disrespect for authority in High School (long story) and barely managed to get into college where I had the amazing good fortune to meet my beloved wife of 35 years, to whom I was devoted and faithful from the day we married until the day she died, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. 

I've lived in:

• Central Arkansas (twice)
• Northwest Arkansas (twice)
• Houston, TX
• Washington, DC area (twice, and don't intend to leave)

I've bought and sold five houses and am living in the sixth (and hopefully last).

I have recently learned about the concept of "radical honesty", which is a process of being open and honest about both my virtues AND my faults.

So, in my opinion, some of my virtues are:

• Loyalty
• Honesty
• Fidelity
• Compassion
• Empathy
• I over-tip when I eat out and I treat clerks and wait staff with the respect and courtesy they deserve (and so rarely get)
• Generosity
• Curiosity
• Strong work ethic

Some (probably not all) of my faults are:

• Stubbornness
• Easily distracted
• So, I have LOTS of partially finished projects going at any one time and I will start and stop projects, but, because I am also stubborn, I rarely abandon a project, I will finish it - (eventually).
• Impatience
• Inflexible about some things
• I tend to follow most rules pretty strictly (for example following speed limits; not drinking and driving (not even one drink); sticking to my work schedule; etc.)
• Indecisive
• I may have a hard time deciding what to do, and I may (probably will) not immediately finish what I start, but once I DO decide to do something, I stick with my decision (see stubbornness above)