I was born at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, in the late 1960s. At age five, my family and I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where I stayed for more than 10 years. I then lived in Atlanta, Georgia, for 3 years, returning to Michigan in 1991. These days I live in the area of Livonia.
I love
animals, and presently have two cats and a dog.
I've also kept fish (fresh- and saltwater) and even a couple of Chinese dwarf hamsters, which don't live very long, I might add. Cats are spectacular; anyone who doesn't like them is maladjusted! It takes a special kind of person to understand and interact with a cat, because they're so independent and aloof. As for less conventional "pets" like reptiles or spiders, no thanks.
While in North
Carolina, I was a firefighter for Providence Fire Department; here
in Michigan, I just finished the initial semester of school for
licensure as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B), and graduated
first in my class of 35 people with a 4.0 GPA. My certification
expired due to my recent brush with death, but I plan to continue
in the paramedic (EMT-P) course, and should wind up with full
credentials in the future. Since most states have reciprocal
agreements concerning EMS, I can practice virtually anywhere in the
United States once nationally registered with NREMT.
I've been
playing around with computers since 1978. I currently have
three machines running at home: a laptop, a workstation, and a server. I hand-built the workstation in 2006; I have a section online here that includes specifications, photos, benchmarks and a parts list for the machine I built previously, but haven't gotten around to documenting the current Athlon 64 box.
I used to run a BBS, too... I have been trying to recover the ANSI menus from tape backups that are now almost 15 years old. And of course, I am active on Wikipedia, MySpace, and a host of other locations online.
A few of my recreational activities include:
-
First person shooters like Deus Ex (a classic), Medal of Honor, and so forth
-
Music, mostly techno and trance, though I amopen-minded to other things
- Cars, for example my own, in which I installed car audio and an alarm system myself
- Science fiction, like Star Trek (though I don't go around dressed up as a Klingon)
- Reading, although it's almost stricly non-fiction (such as magazines, etc)
- Movies, whether on DVD or (more rarely) at a theater... comedy, sci-fi
- Food (both cooking at home and dining out), one of my last remaining vices
Being a techy type, I hold a lifetime Restricted Radiotelephone Operator's License,
and may apply for a five-year General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license,even though cheap FRS radios are ruining this spectrum. If you're into such things, check out this cool frequency allocation chart.
I
no longer have a plane or boat, but I still enjoy flying (general
aviation as well as commercial travel), boating & water-skiing,
scuba diving, and biking.
I try to be active, but I'm not, never have been nor will be a body nazi. Those who are, well, they're compensating. ;)
I don't view a
whole lot of "regular" network TV... it's much too juvenile:
"reality" shows are staged, news is biased, and advertising is
insipid. When I do watch TV, it's usually something like The
Science Channel, Discovery or HBO.
I've been
known to use various pharmaceuticals once in a while, but I'm no
druggie, and am disturbed by people that "use" constantly.
There's an uninformed element in the Detroit crowd that seems to be hell-bent on self-destruction, trying every new thing that comes on the scene. These people have issues (and on this, I speak from experience!).
I quit smoking
at the end of 2002... it's a filthy habit I'm glad to be rid of. I
stopped without any patches, gum, lozenges, pills, inhalers, or
hypnosis, and if I can quit, anyone can.
Because I don't have any other place for it right now, you can peruse my summary of the 2003 Blackout as seen from my perspective (no really, it might be interesting). I also have an evolving file on Rodney King's antics. For more
of these wonderful rants and ravings, plus the latest news and
events as I see fit to record them, take a look at my WebLog. It seems everyone has one these days, so why not me?
Last but not least, I am "attached"— I have been with Marc since October 2003. He is the love of my life and the kindest, most dedicated, hardest working person I have ever known, and I hope to spend the rest of my life with him. He is also smart, creative, and cute on top of everything else. I may be taken but I'm still open to meeting interesting and intellectually mature people; if that's you, drop me a line.
"Nature delights in diversity. Why don't human beings?" -- Lola Cola