My Google Problem

A Google search for "Vincent Cleary blog" yields the above results.

I started writing this blog a month ago to share some stories and sharpen my writing and internet skills.  Today is my 21st posting - meaning I have been able to write a new post every weekday for the past month.  It's been a challenge to come up with something new and interesting to write every day, but all the great comments and encouragement have kept me going.  I can't believe it's already had more than 500 page views.  Thanks to everyone for reading along.

But when I started this one month ago there's one thing I didn't anticipate: I now have a Google problem.

As you can see in the screen grab above, if you type my name into the Google Machine, I'm listed just below a "Vincent Cleary - Florida Sexual Offender."  No, it's not me.  No, it's not a relation.  A sex offender from Florida?  Who knew?  And this proves once again why truth is stranger than fiction.  I couldn't have thought this up if I'd tried.  A sex offender from Florida?  I would have backed off the Florida angle as just a bit over the top. 

Although the surname "Cleary" is not unusual - there are pages and pages of "Cleary's" in the Dublin phone book - I met a couple of Cleary's at US Air, but I've never met another Vincent Cleary.  Never had anyone else claim to know another.  The infuriating thing is not only that he's a registered sex offender, but he's a sex offender that shows up HIGHER in Google search results than I do, dammit!  I'm not sure which is considered the greater sin in Silicon Valley: sexual deviance or poor Googling results. 

Looking for a bright side, I am hoping in San Jose perhaps this sort of thing is considered a status symbol. Many of you out there undoubtedly have a Gulfstream V,  a Porsche and the latest prototype of the iPad; but do you have a Google Problem?

Nice tie, Senator.  Clip-on?

Looking even further on the bright side, at least my Google problem isn't nearly as embarrassing as this guy's.  I've never been a, uh, member of the U.S. Senate.  And I don't foresee a Presidential run in my future.

I'm not going to worry about it.  I'm just going to let it sort itself out.  It's like water off a duck's back.  If the duck had to check in once a month with his parole officer.

Oh, yes, there's just one more thing...I'm never setting foot in Florida again.