Leaving Columbus behind, I packed up my life once again, this time bound for New Jersey. I had landed a job with Ameren (Exelon), stepping deeper into the world of energy and infrastructure, this time at a nuclear power plant. It was a different kind of engineering challenge—one that carried higher stakes, more stringent regulations, and a whole new set of expectations. My new home was in Seaside Heights, a place that was legendary for its summer chaos but eerily quiet in the off-season.

During the summers, the Jersey Shore was a non-stop party. My apartment was in the thick of it, and when the weather was warm, it was packed with tourists, loud music, and bar crawls that stretched until sunrise. When the show Jersey Shore aired, the first episode literally captured people walking in front of my place—it was that central to the madness. But when winter rolled around, the town turned into a ghost town. The contrast was extreme—wild in the summer, deserted in the winter, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the cold Atlantic breeze.

Nuclear Engineering: Designing for Safety and Efficiency

At the nuclear plant, I was part of a design engineering team, working on digital instrumentation and control upgrades. One of my major projects involved replacing Yokogawa analog recorders with modern networked digital recorders. The old systems were clunky, and upgrading them meant better trending, data retention, and analysis capabilities. But even a seemingly simple upgrade was a regulatory maze—nuclear engineering meant navigating Appendix B, 50.59 screenings, and the NRC’s mountain of compliance requirements.

I also worked on integrating Modbus TCP networks, pulling plant data into more accessible monitoring systems. This was where I pushed boundaries—navigating cybersecurity challenges, working with RuggedCom Crossbow to create secure, controlled access for data collection. Some of these upgrades clashed with IT, as we had to introduce new ESP (Electronic Security Perimeter) zones, leading to battles over security implementation and who had control over what data.

Another significant project was my work on the turbine control system upgrade. The plant’s original GE mechanical-hydraulic governor system was aging, and I helped lead the transition to a PLC-based digital governor system—a cost-effective, streamlined approach compared to traditional vendor solutions. While similar upgrades at other plants cost millions, I pulled off a functional, scalable version for a fraction of the cost, proving that engineering didn’t have to be bloated with corporate overhead.

The transformer monitoring system was another major win. After a main power transformer failure, I installed a Serveron dissolved gas analyzer (DGA) system, which became an industry standard over time. Monitoring transformer health in real-time meant avoiding catastrophic failures, and while it seemed like a small addition, it was a game-changer for reliability.

Boating Adventures, House Projects, and Burning Man

Outside of work, I threw myself into boating. I lived near the Barnegat Bay, and soon I had a small collection of boats—some better than others. My most memorable was a 21’ V20, which suffered an engine failure while I was out with a friend. Getting it home turned into an ordeal, but I eventually swapped the motor, only to realize the new engine had a counter-rotational prop, making reverse act like forward. The throttle linkages didn’t line up, and I had to jerry-rig the entire system to make it work. One time, I stalled out near the nuclear plant’s discharge canal and had to rope-start the engine, which was both terrifying and hilarious.

Then there was my house renovation project in Stafford Township. It was supposed to be a place to settle down, but I ended up tearing it apart instead. I redid the mahogany floors, reconfigured walls, and upgraded everything—spending way more time and money than I should have. At one point, I had three boats in the yard, a Kubota tractor I later flipped for a profit, and a massive gray-market Hinomoto tractor I bought cheap and repaired, including a full clutch swap using a Massey Ferguson clutch. It was a never-ending cycle of projects, upgrades, and fixing what I probably should’ve left alone.

And then came Burning Man.

I had done Bonnaroo, so when the opportunity came up to go to Black Rock City, I went for it. Burning Man was something else—an entirely different reality, where time and rules warped into something abstract. I kept going back, year after year, bringing my RV, my nose-waxing act, and an ever-evolving cast of wild stories. The culture of radical self-expression, the creativity, the sheer madness of the event—it became an anchor for me, something that kept me grounded in a way nothing else did.

Shifting Gears: Leaving New Jersey

My work at the plant was solid, and I was well-respected, but eventually, corporate politics started to push me out. The industry was changing, and I found myself frustrated by bureaucratic inefficiencies, cybersecurity battles, and the ever-growing list of regulatory hoops to jump through. One of my last projects was implementing IEEE 1012-compliant software verification procedures, essentially ensuring digital safety systems met regulatory standards.

At the same time, life in New Jersey was becoming stagnant. The excitement of summer had faded, the house projects were draining me, and I was spending more and more time looking westward. I had spent years solving engineering puzzles, fixing boats, tearing apart houses, and escaping to the desert once a year. But it was time to move on.

The next step? Chicago. Another new start, another new chapter, and a completely different landscape to navigate.

New Jersey had been a period of intense engineering challenges, crazy personal projects, and radical cultural shifts, but the best stories were still to come.