I live and work in Herndon, VA. Herndon, VA is a suburb of Washington, DC and is in the heart of the High Technology Corridor on the border of Northwestern Fairfax County and Eastern Loudoun county. This Technology Corridor has a large number of technology companies headquarted in the Washington area and is also home to many sizable tech centers of companies headquartered on the West Coast.
As an example, AOL is located in Eastern Loudon County near Dulles Airport. My employer, Network Solutions is headquarted in Herndon, VA just off of the Dulles Toll Road.
I started working for Network Solutions, Inc. in September 1999 and in March 2000 VeriSign, Inc. announced that they were acquiring Network Solutions, Inc. The merger was completed in June 2000 and the Network Solutions website was rebranded to VeriSign. Early January 2003 saw the Network Solutions, Inc. brand name being reborn and Network Solutions, Inc. was made a wholly owned subsidiary of VeriSign. In November 2003, Pivotal Private Equity Group acquired Network Solutions from Verisign and it is now Network Solutions,LLC. Pivotal Private Equity Group is now known as Najafi Companies.
In August 2005, Network Solutions acquired Inquent Technologies, the company that provided the private label web hosting that Network Solutions launched as a product in January 2005. Inquent Technologies is now a Network Solutions company and is a leading wholesale private label hosting provider. Their customers include cable companies, communications providers and internet service providers.
In December 2005, Network Solutions acquired MonsterCommerce, a leading provider of comprehensive e-commerce solutions. Thousands of companies trust thier vital e-commerce operations to MonsterCommerce. Founded in 1998, the company is an industry leader known for delivering integrated, customizable, easy-to-understand and use e-commerce storefront systems for companies of all sizes. MonsterCommerce provides its merchants with a full suite of e-commerce services designed to help businesses build and manage a successful online storefront.
In March 2007, General Atlantic, a leading global private equity firm acquired Network Solutions, LLC from Najafi Companies.
About Me
I was born in George Washington Hospital on July 19, 1951 when my family lived in Arlington VA.
At the age of 2 1/2 my family moved into my childhood home in Alexandria VA.
For my freshman year of high school I attended T.C. Williams High School of "Return of the Titans" fame for the first quarter of the year. The day before Thanksgiving of my freshman year, I went into the hospital and was diagnosed with Infectious Hepatitis. I spent 37 days in the hospital and came home in time for New Years Eve.
I spent the rest of my freshman year at home and had three tutors that taught me Earth Science, Geometry, Spanish and English.
Fortunately I was able to go back to school for my sophomore year. We had sold our house and moved to an apartment in Alexandria, VA and I started my sophomore year at Francis C. Hammond High School. I was on the Dean's List every quarter throughout my high school career including the year I was homebound. I was a "geek" in school and was most comfortable in Math or Science class. I took five yars of high school math (starting in eighth grade) and four years of science. The only classes other than Math or Science that I was really "comfortable" in were Humanities (experimental at the time) and journalism. I was a reporter for the The Salvo, Hammond's newpaper and took journalism for two years in high school. I had a number of articles published in the Alexandria Gazette.
As a lark, I took Data Processing in my senior year of high school since my brother was a programmer at Washington Gas at the time. I wanted to "find out what it was all about". I guess I had an apptitude for computers and it was my summer job between high school and college and in the summers between college years. I went to work for a computer manufacturer in 1973 and have been in the computer industry ever since.
I have always lived in Northern Virginia so I am a "Washington native". I am Lead Configuration Management Engineer at Network Solutions, LLC.
I am a big Washington Redskins fan (even when they are not so good) and have season tickets. I also constantly watch the Washington Nationals and am glad we finally have a baseball team back in D.C. I also follow the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Wizards and the Washington Mystics. I have recently started paying some attention to the Washington Capitals.
I have also been a fan of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers Basketball team for over 25 years. I think Pat Summitt is probably the best coach in college basketball (mens or womens) and is better than most of the NBA coaches.
Of course, I am in "7th Heaven" over the "Sweet Repeat" since the Tennessee Lady Volunteers are the reigning Women's Basketball National Champions, the eighth time they have been the best team NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball. And they won the National Title back-to-back again! So now they have a three-peat and a back-to-backer - looking for the hat trick to make it another three-peat.
I purchased a "Cool Blue" Mini Cooper Convertible in August 2004, took delivery of "Leanna" in late September and have had a blast driving this "Street Legal Go-Cart". I am enjoying my "top down" days this spring. I still infrequently drive my 2001 Infini I-30 - can't let her get jealous of "Leanna".
