What was your major in college?
Computer science and math at Bridgewater State.
What is your job history?
From the age of 11 I was a paperboy for the Brockton Enterprise. When I was 15, I worked at Roche Brothers and Sudbury Farms. Then as an adult I worked at Meditech as a programming manager – I had five teams of programmers in my group, dealing with the billing end of electronic claims. When customers called hospitals with billing questions, I would write the software that dealt with that, coming up with code to make it more efficient. Then I was a personnel process improvement manager, meeting with different teams of people, learning the specifics of what they were doing and automating it to make it more efficient.
Who trained you for this job?
Dayle Swerling Burke
What’s your favorite part of the job?
Variety. It’s a lot of new things to learn and absorb. And I love learning and digging into how things work.
What’s the most challenging part?
My own head. I feel like I should know more than I do all the time. I’m trying to catch up. I need to learn Dayle’s short-hand signals, like when I need to take pictures of inventory at a loss site in a group instead of individual items.
What’s the most memorable or most rewarding loss you’ve worked on?
The actual damage stands out – before this job I’d never walked through a house after a fire, so I wasn’t used to seeing a ceiling showing burnt joists but still somehow holding up the house. It’s tough recognizing that it’s someone’s belongings and their life being uprooted. I imagine myself as a kid going off to school and then losing everything. It can be shocking.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy weightlifting. And right now I’m into pyrography, which is burning words into wood. I do it manually with irons and chisels, and nibs for different symbols. I made a sign for my friends’ new lake house. I’ve always tried to do something new. In the past I’ve delved into martial arts, photography, painting and origami.
What was the last concert you went to?
I went to a 3-day reggae festival in California – Gwen Stefani, The Roots and Ice Cube were there. Styx and REO Speedwagon was the first show I ever attended.
Favorite Food/Restaurant?
I love Asian cuisine, mostly Pho and Thai. Pho So 1 is a favorite restaurant – I like the chicken curry and the Pho Thai soup w/bone broth, vermicelli noodles and beef.
How do you motivate others? How do others motivate you?
Encouragement, and genuinely showing interest in whatever they’re working on. I did that for a lot of years, motivating people. And the same goes the other way. If someone is interested in what I’m doing, I’m more motivated to do well.
What would your best friends say is your best quality? What would colleagues say is your best quality?
I think my friends might say I’m a good listener, I’m genuine, and I’m always willing to try new things. My colleagues might say I have a willingness to learn, and I’m persistent in trying to improve the process. Note from Dayle Swerling Burke: Dave is proactive in helping to improve the claims process, which is huge; and he’s never hesitant to try something or pitch in.
Name a time when you did the right thing and no one saw.
I recently picked up a lady’s purse that fell out of her shopping cart, put it back in there without her even noticing, and kept walking. It’s kind of funny because if anyone else had seen it, it may have looked like I was trying to steal it.
Favorite vacation spot?
St. Croix – I prefer beach vacations over touristy experiences. I mostly like to relax, but then also get out and see some things. And I like watersports, especially paddleboarding.
What is your daily attire?
Typically a button-down shirt and jeans.
Favorite TV show?
The Sopranos and The West Wing.
What do you listen to in your spare time?
Sometimes podcasts. And music from most genres, from Spanish Flamenco to Beethoven and everything in between.
What’s your favorite picture you’ve taken?
A sunset in Hull.
If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
I’d love to fly. I could help people lift things, and it’d be really impressive at parties.
How do you maintain a work life balance?
I try to put everything into what I’m doing. If I’m working, I’m all in with that; if I’m relaxing, I’m all in on that.
Do you have any pets?
I’ve got 3 dogs – a Chorkie (chihuahua/Yorkie) named Chase, a 12-year-old pit bull hound named Nemo, and a 4-year-old chocolate lab named George. I also have 2 fish tanks. The 150-gallon tank contains African cichlids from Lake Malawi, and that’s filled with Texas holy rock and terracotta urns. The 60-gallon cube tank contains some very interactive tropical fish – tetras, angelfish, shrimp, snails and living plants.
