KimWatt.com

Welcome to my little corner of cyberspace. Having been a computer programmer most of my life, I thought it was time to have my own website where I could share my life and work with my family and friends. This is a work-in-progress which I hope to complete one of these days.

Websites

Over the years I have designed and hosted quite a few websites. Feel free to drop me a note if I could help you create an Internet presence for you or your company. Even if you don't have a company, you might be interested in a personal site sharing your life, or showing off your photos or collections.

Genealogy

Long ago I developed a real interest in genealogy, and I created an extensive searchable database with over 9,000 individuals, 3,000 families, and 1,000 distinct surnames, all linked together. You can view the information at my alternate site breeze.org. Much of the information was gathered by my mother's brother, Robert Looper, and my second cousin Laurie Scarpace. Unfortunately both of them have passed and I haven't continued developing the data. One of these days I'll get back into it, but for now the information is static.

Restaurants

During my middle years I had a real fondness for beer, and homebrewed regularly. I ended up investing in the Wisconsin Brewing Company and loved spending my free time there as a volunteer working the bottling line. I did their website, which was one of the first I had ever written back in the early 90s. After two consecutive 100-year floods in 1996 and 1997, and no insurance, they were forced to close the doors. The company was sold initially to Pioneer Brewing Company (which was acquired by Sand Creek Brewing), and is now owned by Lake Louie Brewing - at the time of this writing.

I put word out that I was looking to invest in another brewery. We were contacted by an ambitious couple looking to build a brewpub in Delafield, Wisconsin and we eventually became partners, building - at the time - the largest brewpub in Wisconsin, the Delafield Brewhaus. We raised the money to build the project with both investors and bank loans. Our very wealthy investors decided that they wanted it for their own, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I was already working full-time as a software engineer at Rockwell Software, so I took the money and ran. That check actually let me retire at the early age of 48, and I moved to Three Lakes, Wisconsin in the beautiful Northwoods, where I lived for 14 years. Now I am living in paradise in Cape Coral, Florida.

Real Estate

Once again back in my middle years I invested a lot of my earnings in buying single-family homes in the Milwaukee area, and renting them out. My wife and I ended up getting our broker's licenses so we could make the commission on the properties we bought and sold - saving additional money. We no longer are doing any real estate, and have let our licenses lapse. I guess that is something I could always fall back on someday. When I was active I started my own company Breeze Realty, which was another one of the early sites that I wrote.

Computer Software

Most of my working years were spent as a computer programmer, or more formerly, a Software Engineer for both Square-D and then ICOM (acquired by Rockwell Software). I never took a class on programming - I'm totally self taught by reading tons of books. Some people just have a knack for certain things, and software was mine. Most recently I was working at Travelport, writing software for the travel business.

Retirement

My wife and I both retired in early 2023, for the second and last time. We live on a canal in Cape Coral, Florida, and have 2 boats. Haven't seen snow in many years, except on TV, and really don't miss it at all. Our free time is spent vacationing, golfing, disc-golfing, and boating.