Friends......where would we be without our friends?   I don't have a ton of friends but the ones I have, I really appreciate.  This is more of a list of all the folks that I see on a somewhat regular basis and even if I don't, they are ones that I consider friends.  Some go way back to school days and past life jobs, others are more recent.  If there's a friend that isn't on this list it's because I haven't gotten around to updating the list due to all the other stuff I'm doing.  Here they are in alphabetical order:

• Andre - Andre was a lead software developer in one of my development groups I met while working at Qwest. He is a very interesting Frenchman with a history as not only a top-notch software developer, but also as a policeman in France.  He has a great sense of humor and is a great person to speak with on any subject.  I have really enjoyed knowing Andre and appreciate him as a true friend.

• Bally Tim - Actually, his name is Tim Leslie and I met Tim while trying to give him a hand on repairing one of his Pinball games.  His "tag" is Bally Tim since he likes Bally Pinball games and he has quite a nice collection.  We've done some trades where I've traded him some of my games for some of his, so at least we know where the other guy's games are located.  Tim also knows who to call when he needs to move a game quickly since we like to keep games amongst ourselves if possible.  I really enjoy seeing and talking to Tim and his nice family and love his sense of humor.  He's an "organized" kind of guy and I can be somewhat sloppy, so it's fun to see his reaction when I secretly place something out of kilter, just to see him straighten it back up.  I expect I will know Tim for quite awhile since we have similar interests in Pinball and rock music and I really enjoy seeing him.  He's like a brother from another mother.

• Benny - Ben is an Electrical Engineer I first met while working in the Satellite Systems industry. He's a great embedded systems hardware/software engineer and just an all round good friend. Ben is from New Jersey and one of the funniest things about Ben is that he isn't shy and he has ..... let's say he has lots of energy. One of the funniest times I can remember with Ben was when he was deep in thought and another mutual friend named Mike threw a tennis ball at a closed Venetian blind that was near his head. The noise scared the heck out of him and that was quite a sight to see when he got scared and then mad. Our favorite thing to do is shoot the breeze and go to weird food places. We have a common friendship with Mike and Tim as we all used to work together. Tim is great at finding some of the truly weirdest websites and jokes than anyone else we know, and Mike has a very good sense of humor that requires close listening so his wit is not wasted.

• Bill - Bill is another Engineer that I first met when I started at Qwest in early 1998.  Bill's job was to roll out the OSI NetExpert product for surveilling the Qwest Class IV switching network.  This wasn't an easy task mainly due to the yahoos that worked in the Network Computing department that seemed to come up with any way possible to keep success from occurring.  Bill isn't a quitter of course, got it done and then ran the development group responsible for the NetExpert system.  Bill and I became friends during this time and ended up spending many hours together including chatting about anything a person could imagine while going to lunch, typically at Indian restaurants.  I think I got him hooked on Chai Tea and even today restaurant folks are amazed that we can drink as much Chai as we do. Bill has also been bitten by the Pinball game bug and he too is now a collector.  We still see each other (typically at an Indian restaurant if we can) and get together now and then to play some Pinball.  I really enjoy talking with Bill on any subject and I plan to have him as a friend for a long time.

• Bob - I really enjoyed being around Bob. We both worked for Qwest Communications (Bob moved on to better things) and I have a lot in common with him with the exception being Golf.  Now Bob is in to Golf!  Like no one I have ever known.  Actually Bob lives outside of Columbus, Ohio in a quaint rural area near Choctaw Lake.  He built a house that includes - get ready for this - a Golf green!  He has about 5 acres of land and decided to build a hole about 160 yards away from his house.   Now that's some kind of serious hobby he has there.  One thing we do when we get together here in Denver is to shoot pool while drinking beer from my keg that's out in the garage refrigerator.   His other favorite thing when he's in town is playing Pinball and he's quite good at it (his favorite game is Theatre of Magic).  Of course the 8-Ball pool games are the most fun.  We've had an ongoing duel that's always close with lots of trash-talking.  I've never had anyone leave me so bad on a shot as Bob.  He's the bank master and I'm the cut master.  Lots of fun with the "racker" (his racks are .... well lets just say loose sometimes).  There's an ongoing "Champion of the Universe" title at stake (similar to Clay's title hopes) when we play 8-Ball.  Bob also does drawings of fictional characters and is quite good at it.

• Chih-Chen - Chih and I first met at Qwest.  I really enjoy and admire Chih for his dedicated work ethic and his ability to manage software developers.  He has a ton of telecom knowledge and is always in to something that is quite interesting.  He should really be a hardware engineer given that he's always fooling with electronic stuff.  Chih is one of my favorite guys for eating out when I see him.  He'll eat just about anything and I've never heard him say no to a good meal.

• Clay - Clay is another old friend that I've known since the mid-70s.  We used to work together as electronic technicians, but since then we've gone different paths.  I went on to college to get my Electrical Engineering degree and Clay went on to something completely different - remodeling homes.  He's a meticulous sort of guy so he always does excellent work.  He and I are different people but I really enjoy the differences.  He's one of the few people that tells me straight and is very good at observing life for what it is.  Very honest guy.  Our favorite get-together is playing 8-Ball Pool, darts, Pinball, and recently - Foosball.  We play so many different games that we've dropped our pool games to the first one to win 3 games.  Unless someone is in a slump, like I seem to entertain now and then, we seem to fair pretty evenly. Then there's Pinball.  He can be addicted just like any of the other folks that come over except he will eventually get the championship initials entered in to a game.  His favorite game is probably Medieval Madness.  Both of us really love 8 Ball and Joker Poker.  Especially Joker Poker. He is one of the few people I trust enough to put one of my Pinball games in his house so he can enjoy it there as well.

• Dan - Dan is another old friend that I used to work with at U S WEST Advanced Technologies.  Dan and I both moved on, but have stayed in touch as we have a common interest - drinking good beer!  Each year we go to the Great American Beer Festival and check out the various beers they have to taste.  We both like hoppy beer and really enjoy the walking around, tasting the beer, and shooting the breeze.  Gives us a chance to catch up on old times.  Always interesting seeing Dan.  He too is a southern boy just like me so our humor is similar.  Especially when it comes to the telecom industry.

• Danny - Danny is actually my brother-in-law, but he's more of a friend too (of course, so is my sister Cathie). I really love being around Danny because he has a great sense of humor and is like a good brother to me.  Danny and Cathie put up with me in Florida when I go down to stay with them, and it seems like all we do is drive. We'll drive any place, any time, at the drop of a dime.  No kidding, I put on at least 1500 miles during a 7 day stay when I stay with them. That's just our love for "going for a ride."  Our favorite place to go as soon as I arrive in Florida is to Palm Beach over on the beach and Worth Avenue (where all the rich cats shop). We go there every time I go to Florida and never seem to get tired of it.  Of course Cathie and I come from a strange family so we love to get near the beach when the weather is especially violent, and I think we have Danny tied in to this strangeness too. Our other favorite thing to do is eat barbecue food at Sonny's and get coffee to go from Dunkin Donuts (they're all over south Florida - besides, my car won't pass one without making me stop) and eat at Waffle House.  Then there's the Krispy Kreme shop down near Ft. Lauderdale.  They make fresh donuts and we'll drive down and buy a couple of dozen so we'll have something to eat while we do all that driving I was telling you about.  I've probably known Danny longer than anyone else other than immediate family and look forward to many more years to come.

• Eddie-boy - Ed is a real Frenchman. Born in Paris, France.  He has a very slight accent and he knows just about every slang American word there is as a result of hanging around me and just being Ed. The thing I really like about Ed is that he's kind of a smart-ass. I mean that in a nice way because I'm kind of a smart-ass too and we think just alike. We have lots of psychic connections as it always surprises us how we were just thinking about the other guy and the other guy calls. He has some really funny ways of looking at things.  I really like Ed's mom too. She calls him Mr. All Know (French version of know-it-all). Can you imagine staying with his mom near Paris and she can write a French cook book? Boy was I lucky. Great cook and a lady that can keep up with anyone (people walk a lot in Paris).  They are probably the only two French people that don't tick me off.

• Frank Gracen - Frank and I have known each other since the early 80s when I worked in the Satellite systems business and he owned a Satellite sales and installation business named Cable Tech. Frank had been around the Satellite systems business for a long time, and really is one of the old-timers in the TVRO business. Lots of folks left the business in 1986 when satellite signals were first scrambled (HBO started it all). It was a free ride for many folks for a while, but the business changed. There was a real dark time during the mid to late 80s and Frank saw it through which really paid off for him and his family. One other thing about Frank is his musical skills. He's played in bands for years playing as a Bass guitarist although he's really a very accomplished musician with other instruments as well. He has since retired with his wife Tammi up in the mountains above Denver in his mountain cabin, and at different times of the year they drive around in their coach to go salmon fishing and just take it easy.  Lately he's been spending winters in Florida where he works at Disney World to keep busy while playing band gigs for fun.  I just wish I was as thin as him, don't know how he does it.

• Frank Welzig - I met Frank while working at Qwest in Denver when I was a Director and he was an IT recruiter.  Frank went on to retire from being a recruiter and has since written several books on how to get a job and escape the corporation.  Frank and I are roughly the same age and often have similar views both politically and otherwise.  I always feel energized when I'm with Frank.  We'll meet for lunch typically up in Boulder every month or so and just hang around and shoot the breeze.  Check out Frank's website (with his lovely wife Gerry) for building websites at reasonable prices and quality work at http://www.websitedesignanswers.com/ Very nice friends that I hope to know for a long time.

• George King - I met George while working at Qwest where he was introduced to us in IT by my other friend - Jimbo.  We have since left Qwest, but I still stay in touch with George.  We meet up to eat at restaurants for lunch and talk about the "good old days" at Qwest where we met our share of wack-jobs.  George is a down-to-earth person that still lives here in Colorado and I hope he stays around for a long time to come.

• Jimbo - Jim and I worked together at Qwest in Denver and I discovered that he was a closet web logo developer.  Jim is the guy that designed my "Woodman" logo that was on my old Woodman website as well as the designer of the one you see on my home page here at SteveChannel.com.  He's full of ideas and one of the most creative people when it comes to designing web logos.  He should be an artist or at least bill himself as an artist based on the various logos he's created for different people on the web.  Jim finally took his option money and retired to Arizona and then on to Arkansas so I miss seeing him.  He had an excellent view on management and understanding of the politics that go on in a big company.  A very calm person and he was hands down the best client I had while working in the Telecom arena. You can see some of Jim's creative skills on my web design page.

• Kevin and Carole - I met Kevin and Carole back in the early 2000s when like me, they too attended Dave Mercer's open house Pinball parties.  Later on, they decided to open an arcade in Lyons, Colorado in early 2003 to satisfy their passion for the hobby.  They have a main arcade where people can enjoy playing Pinball and classic Video games, and they have a couple other smaller venues nearby where even more games can be enjoyed by the public.  When my wife complains about the number of Pinball games I own, I can point to Kevin and Carole and say now THAT is what it's like to be some serious collectors.  They not only have quite a few games in their arcades, but they also have a ton of games at their house.  Nice folks and if you would like to visit them, head over to the Lyons Classic Pinball website to learn more.

• Mehul - Mehul and I have known each other for quite a while now.  We first met while we worked at Time Warner Communications together and then worked together again at Qwest Communications.  Mehul is one of the few software development management people I trust to get things done when it comes to running a team of software developers.  The one thing we really have in common (other than the Telecom industry) is eating Indian food (he's an Indian, so it's his culture).  We really enjoy eating good food and know where all the best Indian restaurants reside.  Mehul, Travis, and I have worked at a couple of places together and always enjoy eating together when possible.  Mehul's also enjoys my Pinball games.  Turns out that he's as much an addict as the rest of my friends.  Check out the Friends Pix page to find him playing Pinball (with another of our friends - Jonathan).

• Mikey - Mike is actually my double first cousin. As close to being a brother as is humanly possible. His mother and my mother are sisters, and his dad and my dad were brothers, and we're both the oldest kids. Mike's family is bigger than mine, but no wackier than mine. We enjoy lots of stuff together and often see each other here in Colorado. I consider him a friend too, because we really behave like friends as well as family.  Mikey and I have so many stories to tell about our "family" and stuff we've done that there's no place to even begin since it goes back to us being kids. I used to stay with his mom and dad (Murray and Gail) when I was a kid and always looked forward to being with them as well as Mike. I'm a little older than Mike, but you wouldn't know it by the way we act when we're together. He really brings out the kid in me and we will do almost anything for a hoot. One thing about being with Mike, the blue collar side of me stays in check and it's a little hard to get the "big head" when you're with someone who knows you like he knows me. We've made rock videos, wrestling videos, and other wacky videos, one-pontooned it on catamarans near my home-town of Stuart, Florida, and love exaggerating a situation or talking about what "the family would do" when we talk about anything whether it's important or not. We are both kind of outside of our family and really love our sisters (who are just a little younger than us). Kind of strange since we didn't always act so nice towards them when we were growing up. But that was then, and this is now. We're really lucky guys to have such nice sisters.

• Mike Fontenot - I first ran in to Mike while working at Time Warner Telecom.  He's got a reputation as being a top shelf Java developer and was a Smalltalk developer when I first met him.  He's also in to martial arts (teaches some form of Japanese sword whacking stuff), Paragliding, and ultralights.  For being a Black Belt in Karate he's one of the most calm, even tempered folks I have ever met.  I really enjoy Mike's sense of humor and all that calmness that he exudes.  Another guy with a slim body that I wish I had.

• Rafa - I met Rafa while working at TelePacific and he worked for Comverse helping our company with a KenanFX migration.  Rafa is a high-end software developer from Brazil and has a nice little family in Rio waiting for him to return from each visit to the U.S.  I wish he was closer since we have a similar sense of humor and really enjoy being around each other. He also appreciates Pinball games not just for being a game, but for the beauty of the game.  I really miss him every time he returns to Brazil and can only hope I'll see him again.  So far my wishes have come true but the spacing between visits is getting longer. The flight time to Brazil is longer than our flight to Europe every year so I don't envy the work he has to do just to get here.  Well, here's hoping we see you again real soon Rafa and I miss you buddy.

• Roger - Roger's an old friend from the 70s where we worked together at Western Electric. He and his wife Deanie live happily in Arvada, Colorado and Roger is the guy that first turned me on to kite flying. Roger was also crazy enough to sign up for learning Indonesian Kung Fu (Silat) from me back in the early 80s and it turned out to be a painful but rewarding experience. More painful for him, rewarding for me. He did get a Black Belt and I always got a good workout which kept me slim (at least back then), so I guess we both made out on that deal.  Roger is one person that definitely sticks to things when he says he will.

• Roger Carlin - Roger is a newer friend (since September 2001) that I met while working at Qwest.  I was a Sr. Director in IT, and Roger was a manager that I inherited in a reorganization.  Roger turned out to be one of the best development managers I have had the privilege of knowing.  He is always happy and smiling and finds a way to see the humor in most all of the craziness that can be easily found at a large corporation.  Roger has a couple of interesting hobbies too.  He collects old swords (mostly from Europe) and absolutely loves anything to do with airplanes, especially the old ones.  And then there's the muscle cars and drag racing.  He's a Chevy guy and drives a hopped up Chevelle which he also uses in drag races at Bandimere Speedway.  We no longer work together, but I still see Roger and always enjoy his humor.  Now all I have to do is get him addicted to Pinball so he will start buying games for me to play.

• Steve H. - Mr. H is special. His first name is Steve and actually our birthdays are just opposite - me on 11-7, him on 7-11. Kind of strange for two buddies, huh?  Steve is a class act and is the smartest developer I have ever known.   He's an ex-NeXTSTEP guy (although he still believes NeXT was the superior technology - he's currently tied up with JAVA) and has really developed some cool stuff.   I think some of the best times I had with him was hustling up hardware and software and "checking out" other folks' systems when they were - let's just say not near their system.  Flipping a screwdriver in hand and walking down the aisles, we would make an "adjustment" now and then to others systems that were "idle" to make our systems faster and bigger.  To be honest uhhhhhhhh, we didn't actually take anything from someone who had a system, more like systems that were sort of abandoned or "unmanned" (for a few weeks or so). Steve is also a winner by all means and the bravest friend I have.  He has a beautiful family and gets to live up in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado.  Gosh, to be a kid in that family would be great!  I finally got him to let me take his picture.

• Travis - In the business I've been in, I've met a bunch of damn good developers.  Travis is one of them.   He's also my guitar buddy at times.   While near my pool table one day he noticed the amplifiers and guitars I had against the wall and wanted to hear me play some music.   I told him to try it (he already knew about a guitar and keyboard) and ever since then he comes over to play the guitars with a sprinkling of Pinball games now and then.  It's always fun playing the gitfiddle, especially with Travis.  He's another cocky guy (and with a good reason, although he isn't obnoxious about it) and his main hobbies have been diving and flying planes.   Travis has one of the funniest and most demonstrative ways of expressing himself that makes it fun to jabber with him.  He's also very good at juggling too.  He's a fun guy to argue with about religion, politics, or big business stuff. Definitely supplies a mental challenge on most every subject.  He's also another person I often eat with at a variety of restaurants (mostly Indian and Mexican).

• Tombo - What can I say about Tombo?   Tombo and I have spent so many years with each other doing some of the wackiest crap you could imagine, that there really isn't anywhere to begin to explain our friendship. Some of the best moments of my life were spent with Tombo sailing after work when we were building houses together back in the early 70s in South Florida.  We'd drink a quart of Busch beer, drive about 50 miles to get home (not driving while intoxicated though), jump in the sailboat, and slam into a sandbar.  Stuart, Florida has a couple of very large rivers (St. Lucie and Indian River) that are miles across and that meant lots of room for us to capsize the boat, slam into the draw span of the bridge (I'm not kidding), or just in general trash our boat.  You name it, we've slammed in to it, fell in it, went under it, flipped it, etc.  Tombo loves to go fishing and that's probably his number one hobby.  We've played our electric guitars every Friday night in the basement of my house for over 25 years.   We play about 2 hours of rock and roll and blues with our electric guitars (rather loud) and cap it off with some taped boxing matches or professional wrestling while sipping on beer (what a way to relax!). We also play pool, but he's really better than me (although not that much better!).  He can shoot pool very well with a strange style of addressing the ball. Friday nights over the last 27 years has also included Chris since she and I really look forward to seeing Tombo and playing Pinochle, Pitch, Smear, Cribbage, and Mexican Dominoes. I win a lot of the games, but these two ruin it for me most every week. Mostly as a result of ganging up on me. We also keep score of who finishes in which position so we can see who wins the overall games for the night.  Their main goal in life is to keep me from winning a grand slam (which I periodically win) where I win every game we play. We follow up the various games with four person Foosball where Tombo and I face Chris and Derek (both are usually better players than the two of us).  Hope to continue doing this Friday night thing until we're so old we can't hold the cards or the guitars.