About Marv
I don’t remember when I was born. Maybe because I wasn’t there. Fortunately, Mom was and so was able to tell me when my birthday is.
If it weren’t for me, there would be no handsome geniuses in the family.
On a more serious note, I just took over administrative duties for John’s Joint last week. (This is being written Saturday, August 22, 2009.) Based on the experience gained with three other blogs, I have made a few changes to John’s Joint, hopefully for the better. The name will not be changed, but will remain John’s Joint.
I have an extensive background as a computer professional. My most recent professional experience, however, was as a truck driver, from January 2000 through April 2007. My working career came to an end when my back was injured in a fall. Since I fell off of the trailer of an 18-wheeler (a water tanker) and we truckers don’t call it a “trailer,” but rather, a “wagon,” I tell people I fell off the wagon…
The back injury is not what ended my working career. The fractured vertebra has healed up very nicely.
I was in the US Marine Corps for just over nine years, and my Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was Weapons Control Systems (WCS) Technician. I worked on the AN/AWG-10 and AN/AWG-10A WCS (a computerized radar system) used in the F4J and F4S Phantom Jets. During that time, I was exposed to a cleaning solvent, Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK), which we used almost on a daily basis to clean radar components. When my feet started feeling numb about a year before I fell off of the wagon, I belatedly found out that one of the long-term effects of exposure to MEK is neurological damage. By the time the back injury was healed, I was having trouble walking. I have been told by one doctor (about 1-1/2 years ago) that I will eventually be unable to walk at all. However, I am still painfully perambulating, but not very far without stopping and elevating my feet.
I am presently an Assistant Pastor and Minister of Music for a church that has a mostly Navajo congregation, and I teach a basic computer class for the Southwest Indian Ministries’ School of Ministry. How basic? “This is a mouse…” Many of my students have never seen a computer before taking my class, except for those on display at Wal Mart! Both positions combined take only a few hours a week, and are unpaid.
Since I can’t stand up for more than a few minutes at a time, my duties as Minister of Music are limited to teaching the choir and Praise and Worship team, which I can do while sitting down. I really miss being able to lead the congregation in Praise and Worship.
Maybe I could lead Praise and Worship from a barstool…
…talk about falling off the wagon! Leading Praise and Worship from a barstool? In which nightclub? Communion wine, anyone? (Once again being serious: I have never had a drink of alcoholic beverage in my entire life. Not even one sip, not even during my nine years in the USMC, when I was not yet living a Christian life. And my denomination uses grape juice, not wine, for communion services.)
I also can not sit down for very long without starting to have pain in my legs. So if you see a long pause in an article I post to John’s Joint, it’s because I moved from the computer desk to the reclining chair for a few minutes…
By the way, on those “nerd tests” that John linked to on his “About Me” (now “About John”) page, I scored higher than he did.
