michaelnewbern.com

My name is Mike. Hopefully you guessed that by the title of my site and its URL. If you didn’t then you must be a Pirates fan.

My about me page is quite verbose as a case of logorrhea has afflicted me for some time. My efforts to shorten it always end up failing. Just as soon as I remove something, I add something else in its place. Sometimes, I am concerned about being narcissistic and then remember that I am awesome.

Thank you for interacting with me on my Interwebz site. Before you dive into this awesomeness, I would like to warn you. I will say things that will make you uncomfortable. I may even say some things that infuriate you. At the very least I will probably crush your stereotypes.

I am an agnostic libertarian and love to discuss public policy and sociology. I am firm in what I believe in and make no apologies for that. Pig-headed I am not as I listen to others’ points of view, willingly admit when I lack knowledge, and love to learn.

I am an activist. I work to defend the right to keep and bear arms. In addition to lobbying and protesting, I teach firearms safety as an NRA certified firearms instructor. Teaching others how to safely and responsibly own and use firearms helps keep those that would take that right away at bay. I also enjoy leveling the playing field with thugs.

I’m the guy that’s had several careers in his life. I’ve operated, maintained, and repaired nuclear power plants on submarines in the US Navy. I’ve been a full-time photographer/studio owner. I’ve been in the motorcycle business. A career decision brought me to Southern Ohio to operate a uranium enrichment plant. When that didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to, I decided to go back to school using my Veteran benefits. I’m working on a bachelor’s degree in engineering @ OSU.

My current income generating endeavor is in quality management at a specialized material manufacturer in Columbus. We make a metalized polymer fiber yarn. We are surrounded by other small high tech companies in a technology business park. I work and interact with some of the smartest most interesting people I have ever met.

My eclectic taste in the arts and entertainment is varied to say the least. My music tastes range from the late romantic and modern era (classical for the lay person), rock, blues, jazz, metal, and older country. I enjoy visual art and frequently visit museums and have a budding collection of my own. I haven’t had TV/cable/satellite service in two years and find it liberating. I also enjoy Reds baseball, Nascar, and Titans football. Heck, I’ve even seen some theater and would go again if the fancy struck me.

“I luv motorsickles!” I own two right now, an old Harley police cruiser and a bobber I finished building a little over a year ago. Hopping on my scooter and riding 700-800 miles in a day to see a friend only to ride back the next is not foreign to me. My old police bike has been ridden (not trailered) in 23 states and I’ve ridden in a total of 24 (hard to ride to Hawai’i). I will never not have a bike I can ride, never.

Meeting new people is exciting to me as I am very social. Since I’ve been at OSU, I’ve met lots of interesting people. Unfortunately, I can only remember a small percentage of them and am often greeted by people who have some fond memory of me or who I made a great impression on only to greet them back with a blank stare. My close circle of friends seems to get a really big kick out of that.