Jim got his start with Macs when he was hired as a commercial appraiser for a Downers Grove Township Assessor’s Office in 1987. After the 3rd day, he became the computer department! Jim has always used his Macs for business and pleasure and has been self employed since 1998.

Jim grew up in LaGrange Highlands, IL. His father was an architect and home builder taught Jim everything from sweeping up basements to drafting. He got a start in electronics when his parents got him a crystal radio kit when he was around 7. He continued learning electronics by building many HeathKit kits – CB radios, test equipment, and even a color TV. He won an award for a presentation on RADAR at the Illinois Institute of Technology around 1956.

Jim’s Mom & Dad moved to Downers Grove, IL (he went with) where he finished high school. He was pretty popular and ran for Student Council President – lost by 1 vote.

Jim got formal electronic training in the US Air Force where he was an Instrumentation Technician on a Thor missile launch crew based at Vandenberg AFB in California and Johnston Island in the Pacific (717 miles WSW of Hawaii). The payload was a nuclear warhead used as an anti-satellite project named Program 437 and was Top Secret until news of its existence was in the LA Times.

Jim drove a semi-truck for a while to see the USA and got into the heavy duty towing business where he became pretty good… he was the 1984 Illinois State Driving Champion and in 1985 the National Tow Truck Driving Champion. He does enjoy driving!

Jim’s Mac life has taken him to many AppleFest and MacWorld conferences. He had a number of friends from Apple’s User Group Connection. His work continued through two Assessor’s Offices, but due to an election was forced to look for another position. He worked with the Planet Group (5th employee) doing consulting work at Sears and Duff & Phelps.

Jim moved into a nice startup company – hired as a Network Administrator, but soon became the head of the computer department. After the company was bought out by a company in Connecticut, he decided family was more important than moving – especially since his father was loosing his leg due to diabetes.

After the passing of his father in 2002, he looked after his mother. In 2006, he decided it would be best to move his mother to The Villages for a number of reasons.

The second thing Jim did when he got to The Villages was to join The Villages MUG! Jim tries to give back some of the stuff he has learned from others.

Jim does some Macintosh consulting work and enjoys creating video Life Stories for people, some are on his website: LifeIncluded.com.