I’m Brian Arness, a retired accountant from Boston where I’ve lived all my life.  I was born, and grew up, on the South Side.  I went to college there, then joined the Army.  I went to Vietnam.  I’m lucky to have survived that debacle, but the memories haunt my dreams, and I often wake up from terrible nightmares of that place.

After the war ended, I sent back to school and got my MBA.  I like numbers, I like playing with them, and seeing patterns.  I worked for an accounting firm, mostly doing tax preparation.  It’s pretty boring work, but it suited me.

Married, divorced, two children.  Unfortunately, I’m estranged from both of them.  It’s a long story, but when I got divorced, they blamed me for it, and cut me out of their lives.  I’ve got 3 grandchildren who I’ve never seen, and am never likely to.  I wish things were different,and that I was part of all their lives, but it’s been 10 years now.

I get by with my pension, and some savings, but it’s not easy, and I can’t afford to go away on vacation, not that I’d know where to go, or what to do.

I’m not sure why I replied to the advertisement.  I’m not very adventurous which is probably why I became an accountant.  There’s part of me that wants something different, but I really don’t know what that means.  Maybe this opportunity will result in that!