Dave Laemmle

I've been lurking around this site for a bit, reading bios and re-familiarizing myself with people and places. The Aspen elementary photos sure brought back memories. I haven't really keep in contact with people much and only returned a handful of times for handful of days since graduation. I have recently run into John Pistone who now lives in Seattle, and I exchange Christmas cards with Karan (Toby) Bhatia. Anyway here is what I have been up to.

After graduation I moved up to Seattle and attended Seattle University. Although the majority of my college life was spent indoors : in a computer lab, Boeing warehouse, coffee shops, and clubs watching live music (“grunge's” infancy); I loved Seattle for its outdoors. The white topped purple mountains, blue Puget Sound and lakes, and many shades of green make this place a slice of heaven on Earth, and I knew I would live here always. I graduated in 1992 with a BS in Computer Science and a head full of Jesuit Ideals. Despite working throughout college, I still had some large student loans, thus I figured the only way I would ever afford to see another country was to join an international volunteer organization.

I was accepted into the Jesuit Volunteers:International for a two year stint in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was supposed to be a faculty member of St. Xavier's College's computer department. Imagine my surprise when I found I was THE department, and the computer facilities were 2 large rooms
with electrical wires hanging from the ceiling, a document of recommendations, and a monetary grant. Because it took a year for the lab to be furnished, computers to be purchased and pass through customs, I decided to stay for a third year. The unofficial reason I stayed was that I met a wonderful woman and my future wife, Lily Tamang. Kathmandu and Nepal were 180 degrees different than anything I had experienced and it really opened my eyes and mind. I stayed in Nepal from Jan 1993 through Jan 1996, and was able to hike and bike through most of the country and get up close to the mountains, culture and people. It was painful to leave, but my visa and student loan deferments had run out.

From Nepal, I came back to Los Alamos for about a month and then went up to Seattle. I needed a job for my loans and to apply for a visa for Lily. I started working at AT&T Wireless as a Software Engineer in March. After 6 months INS finally approved my visa application for Lily and that October I flew to Nepal with my mom to be married.

I continued to work at AT&T Wireless until 2000, when I got the start-up bug and left to work at a company called Locate Networks. The bursting dotCom bubble dried up startup funding and I was out of work in summer 2001. I did a little construction and wrote code as a consultant for bit before landing at another startup in 2002, where I have been since. I was the 12th person hired, two years later I was the 5th person left, but the company survives and we are back up to 15. We have changed names 3 times (currently: Identiprise), and moved 4 times (currently : downtown Seattle). The job is interesting and the type of work varied. I still write code, but do a lot of network management, system administration, developer management as well as sales, technical and customer calls. I also answer the phone and buy office supplies. Basically everything but talk to investors.

Lily and I live in Seattle, with our 3 wonderful children: Supriya (6), Diyanka (3.5) and Nirvan (2). We try to do as much outdoor stuff with them as we can, usually getting in 2-3 camping trips a year. Supriya will be going into first grade next year. She really blossomed in Kindergarten and is a smart and athletic girl. She loves to bike and swim and was on the Cross Country team this last year. Diyanka is a head strong talkative girl who loves gymnastics and makes me laugh every day. Nirvan is beginning to grow out of his love of dresses (2 older sisters!) and plays with cars and balls. He loves to wrestle and has already learned “where the head goes, the body follows”. Lily works part time as a para-legal for a law firm in Seattle and became a citizen in 2004. Lily's mother has been living with us in a room I built in our basement for the last 2 years and her father recently joined us as well. So we have quite a busy and active house.

My exercise regime mostly involves bike commuting to and from work. I did run the tough Seattle Marathon in 2000, hitting 2 of my 3 goals (Finishing with under 10 minute miles, but missed out on under 4 hours). I won't be doing anything so crazy again! Occasionally I'll play basketball and soccer in some friendly tournaments.

I was back in Los Alamos with Supriya and Diyanka in 2006 for my moms' retirement from the Library. With my brother Rick and his family is Las Cruces we often end up there if we come back to NM. These big reunions seem to always happen when there are other big events and trips that are planned in our life. The 10th Year reunion was the same year my brother Rick got married and Lily's sister was married in Nepal, and this reunion conflicts with a family reunion in New Brunswick, Canada. I'll plan better for the 30th.

Thanks for the site and the bios, it has been great to catch up a bit.
Dave Laemmle
dlaemmle@yahoo.com

Dave&Girls-LakeStickney -- Supriya, Diyanka and I in our canoe summer 2007

KidsInFrontRhody -- The kids in front of our house in Seattle 2008

GasWorksPark -- Getting pinned by the kids - May 2008

Nirvan and I trying our new outfit from Nepal

Christmas 2007

Camping trip in Northern Cascades - Sept 2007