Ben was born in 1974 in Lima, Ohio.  My family is from the area south of there in Botkins and Anna.  My maternal Grandpa and paternal Grandma still live in the area. 

When I was still small, we moved to Marysville, Ohio.  I went to a small Lutheran school that was connected with the church that I grew up in.  I graduated from Marysville High School in 1992.  The picture on the right is from that year.  Stud.

I went to Capital University the next fall and started in Music Industry and ended in Philosophy.  My degree is a double major in Philosophy and World Religions and Philosophies.  I sang a lot in school, spending two years in the Chapel Choir and two years in the Vocal Jazz Ensemble.  I became a Brother of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in the Spring of 1993.  This is a professional music fraternity. 

While at Cap, I was active with the Campus Congregation, being one of the spearheads of the weekly services.  I was involved with the Student Government for two years, devoting a summer and endless hours during the year to the Core Curriculum revision.  I took on the post of Commissioner of Academic Affairs my senior year, where I waged a war against apathy through odd commentaries in the campus newspaper.

I entered the world of camping the summer of my first year at Cap.  I worked with Miami Valley Outdoor Ministries.  I became all too familiar with the unusual condition of the Appalachian settings in inner cities in Ohio.  I took another position as the Camp Manager of Camp Hemlock in the summer of 1995.  It was entirely on a whim that I did so.  I returned the following two years, once as the summer-long Camp Manager and then as the Cook for the one week kids' program.  St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Toledo has since sold the land.  Otherwise, I would have something in here about trying to buy it from them.

After the camp stint, I went to work at Micro Electronics, answering phones for the technical support line.  Here is where the tech stuff starts.  I learned a lot and quit because it had cost me a lot of my life and a relationship.  Then I went to Aldiscon as a Unix Contractor.  A few weeks after I started, the company was bought and I was responsible for sending the equipment to Boston and the new headquarters.  I learned even more there in the four months I had there. 

The next leap was to the Gas company.  Columbia was my Graduate School.  In two years, I had more money spent on me than the sum of the money given to my friends in grants to graduate schools.  No kidding.  I have what I consider to be the best education in Citrix and Thin Clients around.  Thanks Columbia.

So where does that take me?  To Dublin, of course.  Just less than a block from where I was a UNIX Admin, I took up residency as the V.P. of Operations at Cornerstone. 

After a year there during the great tech decline of 2000 and 2001, I left to work for a friend at Integrated Check Technologies on the east side of Columbus. I won't bore you with details. I was laid off for a while and returned to a slightly different responsibility set.

I have a ton of hobbies and mostly enjoy life. Some thing stink and other are fabulous, so it all evens out.

More information about me can be found in links on the left link bar. Enjoy.