about bayernrudi

Born 1943 in München, Germany, Rudolf had his first encounter with an American when he was two years old and a kind American soldier sitting in the back of a Deuce and a Half wanted to be nice to the little blond kid standing on the side of the road.

So he threw an ORANGE to me from the back of the speeding truck. Problem was, that the orange splattered on the trunk of the tree next to me, and I, never having seen an orange before in my life, was frightened and ran crying to my mother. She inspected the orange remnants on the tree trunk and then put my finger on the pulp on the tree and let me taste what was left of the orange. She then told me about the kindness the soldier did to me.

This early incident was probably what started my fascination for, and love of, America, that ultimately let me work and live in this great country of ours.

From July 1964 to end of May 1965 the German Air Force was kind enough to send me to Huntsville Alabama. At the Ordnance Guided Missile School, located in Redstone Arsenal my comrades and I were introduced to the finer points of maintaining and repairing the Raytheon built, "Homing All the Way Killer", otherwise known as the HAWK anti-aircraft missile system. This was the precursor of the Patriot Missile System.

After the Air Force, I started a career in the fledgling computer industry and eventually worked for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in Munich. In 1979 I was able to convince my bosses, that DEC would be best served, if they sent me and my family to Maynard, MA (headquarters of DEC) for a multi-year assignment.

In September of 1979 the family stepped off the "pickleboat" (MV Stephan Batory of Polish Ocean Lines) in Montreal - we never looked back.

Our two daughters grew up into American teenagers, complete with all the angst and tribulations normal for their kind. They eventually developed/metamorphosed into real human beings, both of which I am very proud of.

I had an interesting and rewarding 26 year career with DEC, till it got bought by Compaq and my whole department was cut in the reorganization/downsizing effort.

I started a small IT consulting company with a co-worker, but after one year I got an offer as a IT Manager I could not refuse and spent three good years at the OMG Consortium.

February 2003 was the second time in my life that I got "downsized".
After contemplating my options, which were not plentiful ( who hires a 60 year old, highly paid IT professional, at a time of shrinking demand and plenty of younger, less expensive, IT persons available). I made myself a promise to not even go through the rigmarole of job interviews any more and to look for other options.

The company that I started after my first downsizing in 1999,  had been dormant during my employment, and subsequently I resurrected and enlarged it.

In the spring of 2005 I sold the company to a former co-worker and friend from Digital Equipment Corporation.

On 07 August 2005 I pulled my rolling home out of the driveway in Stoneham, MA for the last time, to begin the next phase of my life as  a modern-day Gypsy.