About Me

I was born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut. Wasn't very good at competitive sports but played until High School. Music had always played a part in my early years but once I got to High School it took over my life. The Danbury High School Marching Hatter Band was in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1996 - it was very cold. We were behind the Lawrence Brothers float. "Whoa..." My sister had been in the hatter band in 1988 when they marched in the same parade! I was a part of the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band and the Spring theater productions for all four years of High School. I graduated in 1999.

The next four years were spent obtaining a degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Graphics and Multimedia from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. It was an exciting four years filled with drinking, partying and never ending good times. I fondly remember joking with friends that "this isn't real life..." as we looked out over the Hudson River on a warm Fall afternoon. While my earlier years were fun, it all went by so quickly. In college I often stopped to appreciate my surroundings. When I graduated in 2003 my four year old nephew questioned why they didn't say "cum laude" after my name...

After graduation I wasted no time lining up my first "real job." I had a summer internship with "Central Hudson Energy Group" that turned into a two year stint while attending Marist. I joined the "Mortgage Lenders Network, LLC" in Middletown, CT. I learned first hand how every operation in a mortgage lender worked from the sales people to the underwriting to the closing table. It was fascinating, fast paced and strange all at the same time. I didn't mind my boss but she certainly didn't like me! My quarter-life crisis hit and in 2005 I found myself riding a motorcycle from Hartford, CT to Big Pine Key, FL. My week vacation turned into a permanent move.

I started off as a processor with "First State Bank of the Florida Keys" and quickly made friends and learned the ropes. Things in Key West move at about 1/5 the speed of what I was used to in New England. I was afraid that I'd either go insane or become lazy. Inevitably, both happened! Then I figured out how to work both sides of the equation where I got all of my work done and just watched others drop the ball. Once you release your angry emotions from a given situation, it becomes much easier to cope with ineptitude, stubbornness and pompousness. It's like a degree of apathy that allowed me to care but not get caught up in things that couldn't be controlled.

The apathy cocktail worked for a while until those above me were transferred, fired or just up and quit. Before I knew it I was responsible for people and things that were above my pay grade. I did the best I could and in general helped out quite a bit. Tough times fell on the banking world though and things got very stressful for everyone. I was unable to manage my people (not that I was a manager in the first place) and found myself working between 55 and 60 hours a week. I was always angry, always on edge and my lovely wife suggested that I find a new occupation before I had a heart attack. She saved my life, literally. I resigned from the bank in August of 2009.

I obtained my Real Estate License in one months time. The prep-course was next to impossible but I aced the test. I joined Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Estate Co. in September and have been quietly observing my fellow professionals and trying to pick up their good habits. I quickly discovered that business does not walk through the front door, you have to go out and get it. There are a million different ways to go about this and I've dabbled in a few. I think I've settled on Internet Marketing and am in the process of designing websites to help my cause. www.KeyWestCondoLiving.com is about 10% complete. Using GoDaddy Web Design has proven a bit tedious. The user interface is easy but things don't always work the way they should. This blog is also the beginning of one of my Internet Marketing projects. Now if I can just find people who want to read what I have to say....

What does the future hold? I'm not sure, exactly but my wife and I have high expectations. Our first goal is to be able to vacation for more than a week. We will try to spend 2-4 weeks in New England this Summer... That will be a major accomplishment. I told her though that if we are up there, she needs to get her real estate license too! Then maybe my domain name "TriblesofKeyWest" will make sense. At the very least, she needs to get on my business card with me, she's much more attractive than I am!