About the Author: Randy Jones
I've had a very diverse career. I began my professional career in electronics. My career in electronics quickly evolved into the installation and programming of large PBX telephone systems, call accounting systems and voice mail systems. I later decided to go back to school to get an engineering degree in Computer Science. I was hired as a software engineer at a company that manufactured long distance telephone switching systems which were sold worldwide to major long distant network systems. Some of those older switching systems consisted of many refrigerator sized cabinets that took up an entire floor of the building they were housed in. I was fortunate to get in on the development of the next generation switching system that could handle four times the long distant telephone traffic, yet is only the size of one refrigerator cabinet.
I also worked a couple of years developing web based software for a new startup company in the healthcare industry. Another venture was customizing stock market trading platform software for the trading floors in New York for a major US bank. I then began developing software for almost all major Aerospace and Defense contractor companies in the US and later spent a couple of years as a software engineer on a US Army project.
Currently, I am on a software engineering contract with the LCS (Launch Command System) team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I am developing software for the Launch Command and Control Center. The software allows technicians, engineers, and astronauts in the Launch Center to receive telemetry data from NASA's new SLS rocket system, the payload and the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle during the count-down to launch.
It is really neat to work at such a historical place as NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral and also know that the software I worked on or created from scratch will actually be used when NASA launches the new SLS rocket that will send people back to the Moon. The new rocket will also support the new gateway portal that will orbit the moon while serving as an outpost for landing on the moon, asteroids, asteroids and later will be used to send humans on to Mars. The SLS system is primarily engineered for deep space missions well beyond low Earth orbit.
JB became a self-made Billionaire by selling the huge Internet company he started 10 years earlier. He sold his company to the largest Internet search engine company in the world in exchange for $18.8 billion. The initial investment JB made to create his company was less than $7,000, so selling the company was a <i>no brainer</i>. After selling the company, JB increased his wealth to over 24 billion through some very wise investments.
JB's current business is in investments. He buys and sells big time real estate. He also invests in young entrepreneurs and new startup companies.
He is JB McGregor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Specifically, <i>Papaya Island</i>, also known locally as <i>McGregor Island</i>, located in a small cluster of islands just to the north of St. Thomas and St. John. JB also has a cottage in Key West Florida, a multi-million dollar mansion on the waterway in Fort Lauderdale off of Bayview Drive, and a huge ocean-front mansion just outside Honomu, Hawaii. JB will be giving the cottage in Key West Florida to a former employee as a retirement gift as soon as the current cottage remodeling job is complete. JB is recognized in the media as one who helps and shares his wealth without hesitation.
Most of JB's staff travel with him everywhere he goes. They are all paid very well and have excellent benefits. His employees are also extremely loyal to him. JB has provided each staff member with superb medical insurance along with an outstanding 401k plan. The age of most staff members is about 33 years old, the same age as JB. On Papaya Island, they all live in the bungalow's JB had built, which are nestled in the dense vegetation just out of sight of the main house on the island. When JB is in Hawaii, they have a similar setup. When in Fort Lauderdale, JB's staff members usually stay on the yacht where they each have their own cabin. JB and his staff maintain offices in the Papaya mansion, the Honomu mansion, and on his yacht.
Since selling his company, JB has had several thrilling adventures. The adventures magically come his way, thanks to Sam Peters, his business partner and sometimes the adventures come from one of the entrepreneurs JB has invested in. Most of these adventures have paid off very well. Plus, the adventures are usually fun and exciting...
JB McGregor is asked by two of his employees to help a man they had met at a yatch convention in Florida, David Wade. David wants to find some valuables that had been confiscated by dictators in Italy, Germany, and various other countries from families during between 1933 and 1945 World War II. David wants to return the valuables to the rightful owners or descendants. David Wade's father and his grandfather performed years of research and are almost certain that the valuables were being transported on a DC-3 airplane that crashed in the Sahara desert in 1953.
An expedition to the Sahara desert is formed by JB, David Wade, and several of JB's employees to try and find the DC-3 airplane. The airplane crash is assumed to be in the vicinity of the Ahaggar Mountains near Tamanrasset, Algeria because the last radio transmission of the DC-3 was with the Tamanrasset airport.
Unfortunately, a team of known criminals somehow got wind of the treasure and follow JB's expedition throughout the desert.
