Felix "Albert" Liard
Considering all the data privacy intrusions, cyber-bullying and "shaming," I hesitated bringing our website back online. I hope the content we share on these pages is not misused or misconstrued. If it is.. then I'll quote Popeye: "I am what I am, and that's all that I am." With geographically dispersed friends and families, we have no choice but to use technology to keep in touch, and since we don't use FaceBook.. old'skool it is!
What can I say about myself? Since a wee bit child, hiking and exploring in nature was my passion. In the imagination of a young child, I would explore "the jungles of my local woods."☺
That's me as a scout.. past/present. A long hike or camping in the mountains is how I recharge. I love living in Colorado.
Coloradans are kind and chillaxed. "A culture of calm" a Colorado native called it.
Top 5 most educated states in the USA
and 2 cities in Colorado among "top 5 places to live."
Land-locked in Colorado, SCUBA diving is not something I do regularly anymore. In a previous life, I was a certified Rescue Diver and Ice Diver. In Massachusetts, I had a lobster-diver license. Below with my biggest catch: an 8 lb. lobster. Ice diving was exhilarating; a real rush; eerie and surreal. I once dove behind a frozen waterfall in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (pics below). Carrying SCUBA tanks among people carrying skis. ☺
Also below, ice diving a boat wreck in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
There is no algae growth in winter and the ice blocks the wind, therefore visibility is pretty good when ice diving. I have picked up fish hibernating at the bottom of lakes, examined them and put them back without the fish realizing it!
We enjoy taking long road-trips through the US, hiking in parks and chatting with the diversity of people we meet.
We've visited 16 of the 59 National Parks, not counting National Forests, National Monuments, and many State Parks.
(click Delicate Arch pic above for HI-RES)
I attended the same Catholic school from kindergarten until college (St. Anthony's or "Colegio San Antonio"). Although I am not a very religious person, I am thankful for the education I received and the ethical values they instilled in me.
Below pics of an electronic drum set I built using piezos for pickups with neoprene rubber – controlled by an Alesis D4 drum module. I used to enjoy playing synthetizers and making music with MIDI gear. I listen to all types of music, especially trance and electronic music when I'm coding.
I have worked in IT for many years. Started as a computer programmer coding in C and assembler, Bash/Korn shell scripting and Perl. Python has been my favorite language for the last seven years. I've worked as Software Developer, Applications Development Manager, Senior Linux Systems Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Technical Project Lead, Infrastructure Manager, and EMC Storage Architect. I've had the privilege and have enjoyed working with "big toys" in large datacenters. Lately enjoying automating things with Python and working with AWS & GCP Cloud technologies.
A colleague asked me "You go home to keep working on computers?!" Technology is my profession, passion and hobby: coding for fun, tinkering with electronics and building things. Python is a very elegant language. I do a lot of "hobby coding" with Python and Raspberry Pis. I have 4 deployed around the house, collecting data and doing geeky things.☺
My degrees are:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Master's Degree in the Management of Technology, University of Minnesota and EMCSA EMC Certified Storage Administrator.
