Personal Page
Dave's Story Part I: The Early Years
I was born in York, Pennsylvania (locator map). You've probably ridden through York on Interstate 83 or U.S. Route 30 (aka The Lincoln Highway). I spent my first 15 years near York in Dallastown, PA before moving to Glen Rock, PA (see locator map), where I graduated from Susquehannock High School (same district, different name). While York is an independent city, Southern York County is a bedroom community for Baltimore, so I root for the Orioles and read The Sun. I attended Penn State University and graduated in December 1998 with honors in Meteorology and a minor in Geography. I took more than 18 credits in the music department but did not qualify for a degree.
Part II: Erie, and Syracuse
More for practice than intent, I applied for a job at
WJET-TV 24 in
Erie, PA, in May 1998. Little did
I 
know I
would spend the next 4 years living in Erie and working at WJET, where I was the weekend and fill-in meteorologist. I also designed and maintained
the web site for a time, reported, administered the newsroom and weather
computer networks, and worked almost every other job at some point -- the fun of
small market TV! I also taught
a three credit introductory meteorology course at
Penn State Erie.
After a four years in Erie, I decided to move on. Being interested in full-time collegiate teaching at some point, I enrolled at Syracuse University where I am now pursing a Ph.D. in Geography. I also work part time for WSTM-TV 3 and Precision Weather Service on an as-needed basis. Thus I'm still in both television and academia, I've just switched the full-time and part-time jobs. In June 2003, I gained a lovely wife.
Personal Interests and Hobbies
WEATHER is obviously a big interest of mine. The Internet has made it so easy to get information, too. Some of my favorite sites include
- U.S. Weather
- Interactive Weather Information Network (IWIN)
- Penn State E-Map Wall
- NCAR's RAP Weather Page
- Unisys Weather
- Texas A & M Weather Interface
MUSIC is another. I grew up playing cello, trombone, and piano, and still play occasionally at church or in various SU ensembles. I enjoy composing and arranging, although I never seem to have the time for it. Syracuse also has an excellent symphony.
TRAVELING - I enjoy visiting new states and my county collection now numbers more than 500 (see my travel page). I must confess I'm a bit of a road geek. Learn about interstates, interstate interchanges, and U.S. Routes.
TRAFFIC SIGNALS are a related interest; I now have 2 in my collection. Otherwise I enjoy signal "hunting" as shown on these pages!
LANDSCAPING is how I spent my summers in college, and I even did some contract work in Erie. Now I enjoy working in my own yard, and fixing my house and cars.
Dave with his infamous 1990 Ford Festiva in New Cumberland, PA,
at exactly 100,000 miles. Photo by Verna Call, December 25, 1999.
Read the Festiva eulogy here.
This page was last updated on 3-May-2006 at 2038 UTC.