Doug Weiss

As everyone else has said – Wow!  20 years!  It doesn’t seem possible that 20 years ago we were all sneaking beer into the movie theater at midnight to watch Beetlejuice!  It has been a lot of fun reading everyone’s bio of the last 20 years, and I hope mine doesn’t bore you too much.

After high school, I followed friends to NMSU, where I managed (after several changes of mind and heart) to stuff a one-year certificate in Paramedic Sciences into 5 short years of college (including summer sessions).  I got married in 1991 to Melissa Farley (LAHS 89) and we moved to Albuquerque in 1993 to start our “adult” life.  I became the second-youngest paramedic ever hired by Albuquerque Ambulance Service, but back then the pay wasn’t up to par.  I worked for Isleta Pueblo Ambulance Service, and eventually got a job with Lifeguard (fixed-wing) Newborn Flight Service, where I would fly to different parts of the state and pick up premies who needed care at UNMH.  Needless to say, working 2-3 jobs led to major burnout, and after one particularly horrifying call involving an abused 3-year old, I decided to leave this career.  The good news during this time was the birth of my first son, JD, who just turned 14. 

In mid-1995, we moved back to Los Alamos, and I became an LAPD cop.  I remember I pulled a few of you over, and we got to chat before your “warning!”  But politics, a bad attitude and poor choices on my part led to my resignation and divorce in early 1997.  Fortunately, I met someone who saved me from myself, and Holly (LAHS 95) and I will celebrate 11 years of marriage this September.  We have two boys, which brings my boy total to 3, which is fine because at this point I have no idea what I would do with a girl!  Tyler is 5 ½ and Brandon is working on 3.  Where I came up with a redhead and a blond to go with the brown haired oldest is a mystery to everyone.

After leaving LAPD, Holly and I moved to Albuquerque, where I discovered retail.  I worked a couple of different places, moving up the ladder as I went.  Last year I was able to take a job and move back to Los Alamos, where we could be more involved with JD, and where we felt better about raising the 2 little ones.  Unfortunately the job fell through shortly after moving up, so I took a much needed vacation and got very involved with the kids, as well as getting to spend more time with my passion, baseball umpiring.  Currently I work high school, American Legion and Connie Mack level games, which keeps me busy from February until October.  I am hoping to be chosen for the Connie Mack World Series in the next season or so, and I am part of a group that fills in for Albuquerque Isotopes games, so maybe someday…

At the beginning of this year, I took a job as the Front Desk Manager of the Holiday Inn Express up here, and have been having a ball!  We love it here, we have good friends, including my ex and her husband (Travis Brown) and family, and are enjoying being busy and active.  JD is a baseball and basketball player, Tyler loves hockey and baseball, and Brandon is waiting to get to crush someone in football (at least that’s what he looks like!).  Pictures of everyone are attached.  A few more pounds and wrinkles with a lot less hair is my aging story.   I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in July.