intro…

I would like to start by explaining the “Mountain Top” part of my blog title. I don’t imagine myself a “guru” or some wise man sitting on the top of a mountain delivering wisdom to those who take the time to climb the heights and listen. It is much simpler than that, but I really need to fill in some back story to really get the idea across.

some back story…

Having been raised in a small town in Arkansas, and living the majority of my life in that same small town, I was imprinted early with certain “facts” that have shaped my philosophy and determined my basic outlook in life. At the same time these values were being built into my personality I fell in love with technology. For close to three decades I have been working in some area of computing or another, and most of those years I worked for myself. Needless to say when on a conference call with potential clients I have a built-in handicap that must be overcome… and that’s my marked southern accent. So one day my phone rings and I notice it is one of my service clients calling. This particular client just loved to poke fun at my accent, so I decided to have some fun and answered the phone “Hillbilly Programmin’! How can I hep ya?” After about 20 seconds of silence I hear about 6 people burst into laughter. The client was calling to add me into a conference call with AT&T because AT&T was interested in using my software to do the fulfillment for their “Friends & Family” referral program. We did actually land the contract, but to this day there are people who were on that call (including at least two vice presidents) that know me as either the “Mountain Man” or the “Hillbilly Programmer.” I am just an ordinary guy with some things I want to say, and since I’ve been called a Hillbilly I thought the title would be a nice play on the idea.

keep reading… I’m getting to the point… like “who am I?”

I would like to think I’m an intelligent person, and the tests I took in school used to tell me that this was true, but tests don’t mean a lot and life has a way of quickly showing you just how stupid you are when you get thrown into the real world thinking you know it all. I am a conservative Christian, the husband of a VERY tolerant wife, and the father of two amazing young men. In my life I’ve worked in factories, I’ve worked construction, and, while running my own businesses, have worked for some of the largest companies in the world. During all of this, though, the best compliment I ever received from any client or employer was when I was told I had the best work ethic of anyone they had ever had work for them. This takes us back to the previous idea of early development. If someone asked me what single thing that my father taught me that has had the most influence on my life it would be “give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” He always told me that if I didn’t do that it was the same as theft… I might as well be stealing money from my employer/client. That’s enough about me for now. Trust me, if you follow these posts for long, you’ll learn a lot more about me in the future.

so… just what is this blog going to be about?

That’s a good question! I really don’t know. I’ve spoken with a friend of mine who has agreed to post “counter-points” to my ramblings. I don’t want this to become just another “right-wing rant” blog. This friend of mine can introduce himself (if he is still wanting to give this a go), but I will tell you that while I am primarily a conservative he is primarily a liberal and while I am a Christian (or attempt to be one), he is… well… I’ll let him explain it. I personally think he falls into the agnostic camp, but I’m sure he will correct me. A lot of you probably know him, so when Tom Black posts on here, everyone welcome him.

are you going to allow comments and, if so, what are the rules?

Yes, we’re going to allow comments. The rules are simple… be civil, be respectful, and don’t attack other people because of their beliefs or their stands on a particular subject. If you aren’t capable of intelligently DISCUSSING your position on a subject without resorting to attacks, then frankly we don’t want to hear from you. We are going to be discussing everything from politics to science to religion. Everyone is welcome to comment, but by commenting you accept the fact that if you ARE disrespectful or attack other people your post will most likely be deleted with no notice and no explanation. I would also ask you to keep the language down to a PG rating. Again… you should be able to get your point across without resorting to foul language.

so… what now?

Introductions and Ideas. Introduce yourself and let us know what topics you would like to discuss. We’re going to try to put up a post every week at first. We may change to more or less frequently after we get a feel of how things are going, but I think that weekly is a good start. I’ve already got some topics lined up I want to discuss such as Gun Control, Immigration, Universal Registration, The Tax System, and many more, but I really want to hear from you., so spread the word that we’re out here and start letting us know what you want to discuss.

Thanks, Michael McGaha