davebugg

I live in East Wenatchee in a rural and mountainous area of North Central Washington State.

At age 18, I joined the Army during Vietnam as a Flight Medic aboard the UH-1H Huey. I am grateful that I had that opportunity to be of service to my Country.

I hold a Master of Public Health degree, specializing in infectious diseases, a Bachelor of Arts in Language Arts, and a minor in sports medicine and training.

During my time at university, I became increasingly involved with various manufacturers for gear and clothing for backpacking, mountaineering, and climbing as a quality control tester. I have now been doing this for over 40 years. It works out well because it is a flexible gig that easily works around my regular job schedules.

I worked for the American Cancer Society and worked as a 7th grade teacher for a few years. I then decided to pursue an interest in clinical medical patient care by attending a three year Midwifery program, becoming the first male to become a Licensed Midwife in Washington State. During my active practice, I assisted moms during 6,200+ pregnancies and births.

Eventually, I took a position with the Chelan-Douglas Health District. At the health district I was involved with infectious disease control and tracking, which included performing testing and case management. I was also assigned as a liaison with the Seattle CDC office.

In 2003 I left my position of 17 years with Chelan-Douglas Health District. My decision to do an early retirement was the result of spending over a year developing a business plan for a small barbecue restaurant. Dave’s Pit-Smoked Barbecue opened its doors on October 16, 2004.

In 2011, I sold the restaurant for an obscenely good profit. My next venture was attending a community college commercial truck driving course to become a commercial trucker. After 5 months of training, I worked for 3 years as an over-the-road truck driver, covering all the lower 48 states. My decision to leave commercial truck driving was primarily due to being away from home 3 weeks of every month.

At this point, I renewed a consulting business in public health and education that was started while attending university. A second area for consultation was also developed covering the area of small restaurant business startups. My clients are diverse and have included European ministries of health, BBQ restaurant startups all over the world, as well as contract work for USAMRIID and NIH/CDC.

With all things considered, my greatest achievement to-date, bar none, is being the father of two daughters and three boys who are now wonderful adult men and women.

Hobbies & interests: These include backpacking, target shooting sports, baking and cooking, American history, woodworking, raising parrotlets, audio-video, and traveling around America and Europe. I enjoy reading, walking in the nearby Cascade foothills, political debate, and autumn.