About Jeff
Although born in Florida, I grew up in Setauket, NY — a small town in semi-rural Long Island, NY. The NY branch of the Watkins clan returned to Florida in 1984, however, I escaped to Atlanta, GA just five years later to pursue a Computer Science degree at Georgia Tech. Recruited away from GA Tech by the now defunct maker of PC Paintbrush for Windows (zSoft), I have developed software for Lotus, Microsoft, Primus, Attachmate, and a host of smaller companies.
In 1995, I fled the approaching Atlanta Olympics and moved to Seattle, WA. Ultimately I settled in the Pike Place Market — one of the last great public markets in the US, where I could buy giant prawns, fresh cheese, and cut flowers (and much more) all within 100 yards of my home.
After discovering a talent and passion for communicating with customers, I gradually transitioned from the technical roles I had previously enjoyed to more client focused technical roles. Although my tenure as a Sales Engineer with BroadVision was sadly cut short by the collapse of the Internet Bubble, I frequently refer to that time as “the most fun I’ve ever had at work”.
However, all good things come to an end. In my case, it took a conflict with the ineffective management of the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority, which for years had been neglecting repairs on all Market buildings including my apartment building, and a patella shattered while falling down an 18 foot cascade in Washington’s North Cascade Mountains. As soon as I had fully recovered from my injury, I sold most of my worldly goods and embarked on a summer adventure. I’ve written about my cross country journey and other travels.
Following my extensive vacation in the summer of 2002, I settled in the Catskill Mountain region of New York with my long-time friend, Anna Piskoz. In July of the next year, Anna made me the happiest man alive by agreeing to be my wife. How she can put up with me on a regular basis is anyone’s guess. I’m just glad she does. The details of our wedding are touched on in some of the postings from 2003. We were finally married the day after Thanksgiving, 2003. And, yes, we plan to celebrate our anniversary as the Friday after Thanksgiving (AKA Black Friday).
We lived for a short time on the East side of the Hudson River, in Rhinebeck, NY — a really cute little village with just enough restaurants and other ammenities to satisfy me, including an authentic British Tea Shop where I was able to indulge my crumpet-craving (even if they weren’t fresh baked). When Harte-Hanks closed their Lake Katrine office, my position as Director of Business Development evaporated, and I was once more looking for work.
In October of 2004, I was offered a position as a software developer with Sentillion, maker of Identity Management solutions primarily for the health-care market. Anna and I fell in love with Newburyport, Massachusetts, and although its farther away from my office than I’d like, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.