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About Jovis
(For those who wonder)

Well, my name is Joe Bateman. I'm 40 years old, born on March 7, 1966. I was born in the middle of the 'famed' blizzard of '66. There was approximately 10' of snow on the ground the day I arrived. There was a helicopter waiting for any transports, but they didn't use it. Instead they had two snowplows clear the way for my grandfather to drive us to the hospital. After 24 hours of labor, I arrived at 6:46PM. I'm the oldest of two. My brother Mike was born July 19, 1969.

We grew up with a single parent (my mom), who endured alot with two boys who were constantly fighting and doing the many boy things that make moms cringe. I must take an opportunity to thank her for putting up with all our crap. Raising two boys alone was very tough for her. She had no high school diploma which only made things worse. We always had 'very' little money. Mom however, always made sure we had the best birthdays and Christmas' possible. I give her alot of credit! Thanks mom!

During high school I was bored to my wits end. I quit school a year early. Within the week of my 18th birthday I took an entry level job as a machinist. In the summer of '86 I met a wonderful girl "Kim". She was in a marriage that just wasn't working. I used to meet her when she got out of work and we would drive down to the lake and just talk. Meanwhile her divorce became final and on February 28, 1988 she moved into my small apartment.

On January 2, 1989 we had our first child, "Christin". After five years of playing machinist I did alot of warehouse work, driving forklifts and hand loading tractor trailers. During this time I bought my first computer. It was a CompuAdd XT/10 (8088 processor with 640k memory, a single 360k 5¼ floppy, monochrome monitor and an Epson LX-800 9-pin printer) for $500. On November 12, 1993 we had our second daughter, "Katelyn".

Since Kim moved in, we have moved a total of five times and I've owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 different computers. I spent a lot of my time studying hardware and software and am now quite proficient, especially in the hardware aspects of computers.

Jovis? - When I was young, my younger brother could not say Joseph, he kept saying Jovis. We always got a laugh over this, and the name has stuck with me.

Education / Work Experience - I went to high school at Oswego High School. I majored in Architectural Drawing (4 years) and minored in Industrial Arts (4 years) and Welding (Basic and Advanced Courses). I also took jobs during the summer at a local retail store called The Half Price Outlet, stocking merchandise and at a local Catholic Church & School, St. Mary's, painting the cafeteria & stage and doing custodial duties.

03/85-08/87 - Without a High School diploma, I started working at The Eraser Company in Mattydale, NY, as a Machinist's Apprentice, commuting 80 miles per day. This company produces automated wire stripping machines. I ran Bridgeport mills, lathes, drill presses, sheet metal brakes and shears, sheet metal notchers, and many other machines. This lasted for 2-1/2 years until I found a job closer to home.

08/87-11/89 - I started work as a Machinist at Fulton Metal Mechanics, Inc. in Fulton, NY. This was a machine shop. One of the big contracts they had was producing tanks for the air brakes on trains. When I started here, I was running a huge metal lathe. The major thing we made on the lathe was steel rollers for paper mills. These things were 8 inches in diameter and 10-12 feet long. After a couple of months, I was taught how to program a CNC vertical mill, and continued with that until I left. I loved this job, but it was cut short after 2-1/2 years, when I was laid-off. Shortly after that, the shop closed down. When I left, I was machining the castings for helicopter transmissions.

1990 - Tested for my G.E.D. and got it (should never have quit school).

1990 - I started a business in computer repair, which after getting a DBA, would continue until 1999.

1990 - In the summers of 1990 and 1991, I worked at Oswego Cycle as a motorcycle mechanic. Having played around with motorcycles a lot during and after high school came in handy here. Here I did everything from tuning up mopeds to rebuilding Harley engines.

08/90-07/91,04/92-02/93 - My aunt was a manager at Manpower, a temporary agency. She got me a job at Syroco Plastics in Baldwinsville, NY, as a towmotor driver. At first I was cleaning up after a major fire, in which a towmotor driver hit a beam that took down a gas line. The gas line caught fire and took down the whole warehouse. There was melted plastic everywhere. After the cleanup, I moved on to loading tractor trailers with plastic lawn furniture. I did this for a while, and then was given the job of load auditor, counting product as it was loaded, writing up manifests and bills of lading. As things slowed down, I was laid off, then was hired back in April of 92 as a permanent employee. Company management, among many other things in my life changed and I quit this job in February of 1993. In 2004, Syroco announced that they have been purchased by Vassallo Industries.

1990-1995 - Was an active member of the Scriba Volunteer Fire Department, where I earned a certificate as a NYS licensed pump operator.

09/91-05/92,05/92-08/93 - I was hired through Manpower to work at Sealright Packaging Company, located in Fulton, NY. I was to temporarily replace someone who was out after an operation. Sealright is the largest supplier of frozen dairy dessert packaging in North America servicing customers throughout the U.S. and overseas. Sealright was recently purchased by Huhtamaki, a Finnish company. My job was to create pick lists for the towmotor operators to load trucks, and to keep track of inventory. During my temporary employ, the warehouse manager was impressed with my computer skills. He and I became good friends. When the permanent worker had recovered, and returned to work, the manager decided to hire me as a self-employed computer consultant, at a much higher rate than I was making as a temporary employee. I wrote databases to facilitate in their shipping process and trained their employees in the use of the software, as well as general computer operation.

1992-1997 - I ran Pyramid Computer Design, doing computer repairs and website design, as can be seen by viewing my portfolio.

11/94-07/96 - Worked at Sears Product Services in North Syracuse, NY. This location is a hub for major and minor appliance repairs which covers an area from Northern Pennsylvania to the most Northeastern part of the US. My job here was to prepare any repair parts the technicians would need the following day, organize them in parts bins, which would be then be delivered to their closest repair center. I also kept up the inventory and worked the front counter, which took care of retail consumers, searching for repair parts. We serviced everything from portable cd players and big screen tv's, humidifiers and washing machines, to lawn mowers and garden tractors, and much more.

1997 - Took a course in Computer Maintenance & Repair at Burton Ramer Technical Career Center. In 1997, I had already been repairing computers for 7 years. I just wanted a piece of paper saying I could. I actually ended up helping the instructor assist the students. I received a certificate for completing the 220 hour course.

1997-1999 - Founder and Vice President of The ComputerWorks Inc., doing computer repairs, website design and hosting, as can be seen by viewing my portfolio.

1998-Current - Selling vehicles for local car dealers on eBay in my spare time.

1999-2004 - I ran Bateman Web Services, doing website design and hosting, as can be seen by viewing my portfolio.

2003-Current - My uncle worked at St. Mary's Church in Oswego, NY, and retired in 2003 after 35 years, and another uncle worked there for about 20 years as well. This is the same church that I worked the summer at back during high school. My brother had worked there for a couple years, and I started there as a maintenance technician in September of 2003. This is where I am currently employed. We do everything from custodial work to major renovations and repair. I like the hours, I like the work, and the benefits are great. And I get to work with my brother. So Cool!

I currently run my own computer repair business.
Kim is an LPN at a local nursing home, and has been for 10 years now. She is as beautiful, if not more, than the day I met her.
The kids are 17 & 12. Still pains in the butts, but I love them to death.
Parenting is a wonderful thing. It has calmed me down considerably from my wild & crazy, motorcycle driving, leather jacket wearing, beer drinking, women chasing days. Of course, now that the kids are growing up, I get the itch once in a while to do something wild and crazy again.