Personal
Technology, faith, family, and the road between Silicon Valley and Colorado Springs.
1980
My fifth grade soccer team was sponsored by Apple Computer when they were still one building. I'm the blonde kid in the front row, second from the right. None of us knew what we were looking at.
Photo: Tim's soccer team, 1980 — Apple Computer sponsor
1985
Started at Fry's Electronics' first store as a stock boy for floppy disks and RS-232 and parallel cables. That lasted about two weeks — because it turned out I knew more about the PCs than the salespeople did. I ended up behind the tech counter building machines: installing RAM, hard drives, and loading operating systems. I was employee #32.
1986
Graduated from Lynbrook High School in San Jose. Headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study Graphic Communications with a minor in Computer Science — at the exact moment those two worlds were beginning to collide.
Summers 1987–1989
At the time, Fry's Electronics was having San Jose Mercury News paste-up artists lay out their full-page newspaper ads — with a two-week lead time before publication. Fry's was spending over $1 million a year in advertising with the Mercury News.
Fry's CEO John Fry invited me back each summer to solve this. He set me up with a Mac SE/30, Aldus PageMaker, and a LaserMaster full-size newspaper laser printer. I figured out how to produce full-page newspaper ads entirely in-house — cutting the lead time from two weeks down to 4 hours before press time.
That 4-hour turnaround changed how Fry's competed. On Friday mornings, they could look at competitors' ads — CompUSA was the main one — and quickly offer the same products for just a little less over the weekend. Because Fry's was now supplying camera-ready art instead of using the Mercury News's union paste-up artists, the paper gave Fry's a 20% discount on their $1 million advertising budget.
I believe I was the first person in the world to produce full-page newspaper ads on a Mac at this scale.
During this same period, I also created the digital version of Charlie Chip — Fry's Electronics' iconic mascot. The character is still in use today.
Fry's Ad — AV Items, August 1989
Charlie Chip — Fry's Electronics mascot
Spring–Summer 1990
Spent the spring semester studying in London through Cal Poly's study abroad program, then traveled Europe that summer. It was the kind of trip that reframes everything — what the world is, what design means across different cultures, and how small the American experience actually is.
1988–1991
During college, the Protestant campus ministry InterVarsity — known on campus as Poly Christian Fellowship — invited me into their dorm Bible studies. I eventually became a Bible study leader with PCF.
I also got involved with the campus Newman Center, where the Christian Brothers — a Catholic teaching order — introduced me to the Catholic faith. I became a leader in the Newman Center and went through the RCIA process, but decided not to become Catholic at the time. My family was deeply Protestant: my father and grandfather were committed Protestants, and my uncle was a Protestant minister.
The seeds were planted, though. The question of faith and church would follow me into the next chapter.
December 1991
Graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Graphic Communications and a minor in Computer Science. Landed my first real job immediately after graduation: Triple-I in Culver City, CA, which made newspaper publishing systems — software and hardware for helping newsrooms produce 100 pages of a newspaper in 24 hours with 100 people.
1992–1993
Moved to Manhattan Beach. Got involved in two communities simultaneously: the young adult group at American Martyrs Catholic Church, and the young adult group at the local Baptist church. The instinct to bridge traditions was already there.
The Christian Brothers were also in my orbit again — this time, I was helping them refurbish old computers donated by companies and ship them to their high schools in developing countries.
In November 1992, I was laid off from Triple-I. Started with VGC Corp in January 1993, installing and training print shops to use digital prepress equipment — Agfa film and plate-making systems.
1994
In January 1994, the Christian Brothers asked if I would go to Nairobi, Kenya as a missionary — teaching computers and math at one of their high schools. I said yes.
I decided that if I was going to be a missionary for the Catholic Church, I should actually be Catholic. I went back through RCIA — and this time I followed through. I was received into the Catholic Church on April 1, 1994.
Shortly after, I started with Current Inc. as a printing engineer — and within two years, met the woman who would become my wife. In November 1994, a job offer from Current brought me to Colorado Springs.
1995–2001
Got married in October 1995. In August 1996, our first daughter arrived and we bought our first house. Over the next five years, we had four daughters in total. We raised them in the Catholic faith.
They're all in their twenties now. Three of them work for Catholic organizations. That's not something you plan — it's something you live into, day by day.
Professionally: laid off from Current Inc. in December 1998. Started with Cook Communications in February 1999 as a Mac Specialist and system admin, eventually moving into prepress management — a role I held until November 2008.
More chapters to come.