Names can be quite confusing

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 10, 2003

According to the Internet, I'm a vice president for a company that produces semiconductors. Would you believe I'm also a doctor in California?

Plus, I've helped direct The Lion King on Broadway.

I'm sure you've been in my shoes: Someone thinks you're them.

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Say your name is Lisa. The safe money is that people have called you Leslie more than once. Or vice versa.

The same could be said if your name is Dave. You've probably been called Dale or Dan. (FYI … I've been called Dave, Dale and even Stan)

But have you ever encountered a different identity?

Like "Are you the same Jeff Anderson who's the representative?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, I'm the eye doctor."

And to the third Jeff Anderson here in Austin, I'm sure he's been called both.

So out of plain curiosity, I hopped on to the Google Web site and typed in my name. Google is kind of like Yahoo!, which essentially is a huge White and Yellow Pages for the Internet and it's a lot more confusing.

One of the first hits came up for the Sutter Physicians Network in Elk Grove, Calif. with the following profile information for Dan Fields M.D.:

"Come any week you like and spend 60 minutes with Dr. Fields and some of his other patients dealing with similar issues."

Interesting. Let's read more.

"Brief private examinations and discussions are available if necessary."

Uhhh

… let's move on.

I then went to the next interesting site.

"Electroglas, Inc. (it's EGLS for you Nasdaq stock market fans), a leading supplier of process management tools for the semiconductor industry, has named Dan Fields to the position of vice president of Asia-Pacific operations."

Gee, that was awful nice of them. Apparently my boss also had some nice things to say.

"Dan's vast experience in Asia, coupled with his significant track record for visionary and responsive leadership, make him the right choice to direct Electroglas' efforts to meet increasing customer demand in the Asia-Pacific region."

I'll admit, I have a penchant for Far Eastern cuisine, but living there is another thing.

Moving on, apparently I've been interviewed in a magazine not too long ago.

"Dan Fields, is the Assistant Director for the mega-hit Broadway musical, "The Lion King." Mr. Fields gave HarlemLive a few moments in between rehearsal to share some of his experiences in this world famous musical."

This should be interesting.

"When we asked if he feels a lot of pressure from the show because it's a major Disney production and world famous, he says he doesn't feel too much pressure because everyone works together to maintain a high level of excellence. Everybody works to keep the show as exciting for the audience as it was opening night."

And I thought getting the Austin Duplicate Bridge Club notes right was nerve-wracking.

"Finally, Mr. Fields says that even though everyone has projects they'd like to get involved in, right now he really loves being a part of The Lion King and would not want to leave the show."

Unless you've never seen it before.

There were many more pages of revealing information. Some even included past articles I've done for this paper and former publications.

But I'm quite happy here, toiling away with ink my veins.

Still … I wonder if I could swing a corporate jet ride. I heard last year was a good one for semiconductors.

Dan Fields can be reached at 434-2230 or by e-mail at :mailto:dan.fields@austindailyherald.com