Born: Lincoln, Nebraska.
Age: 48
Sex: Male
Etnicity: White
Marital Status: Married
Profession: Web Designer, Photographer, Digital Artist
I grew up in a small community called Havelock, that used to be a town of its own, until it became incorpated into the city of Lincoln.
It is a blue-collar community, consisting of Burlington Northern rail yards and a Goodyear factory... the two trades a young man dreams of getting some day.
My younger years were pretty typical for a boy, dreams of becoming an astronaut, president, etc.
As a teen, I discovered music and had a natural talent for picking up tunes from records and the radio. My mother bought me a cheap plastic gutair, and all the higher strings broke, except the lowest 4. I naturally started to learn bass lines and became as proficient as someone with a plastic guitar can be. My friends were starting a band, so I dropped right into place. A real bass was given to me by one of my friends, who really wanted to play drums. We never were much of a band and eventually split up. I joined a band that played top-40 rock, and did so for the next 10 years.
I evetually went back to school and got my GED and learned motorcycle mechanics. I had plans of moving to California to work there and race bikes, but instead I moved to the Chicago area. Working as a mechanic didn't last too long and I found myself a factory job. I eventually moved back to Lincoln and got a job as a plumber. Three years later, I got a job as a pipe-fitter, installing fire sprinkler systems.
I met my wife as your typical "pen-pal". She is from the Philippines. We wrote back and forth for about a year, and decided to get married. I took an extended vacation of 3 weeks, went to the Phils and came back a married man. The bad thing was... I came back alone. It took just one day short of a year for her to get past all the paperwork and get to the U.S.
About a year later, I decided that the years of pipe-fitting and being dirty/cold all the time had taken its toll. I went back to school (a community collage) and learned computer programming.
I got an intern job working for the state that eventually turned into a full-time position, and have been there for 8 years. Allthough I started out doing Java programming, I now do graphic work and server administrator duties.
On November, 2006, I was diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma on the right side of my brain. Acoustic Neuroma's are a benign tumor of the cranial nerves. Mine was pressing against my brain stem, so it needed to be removed. On December 29, 2006, I had an opperation to have it taken out. The surgery lasted 6 hours and I ended up spending the next month in the hospital. I lost all hearing in my right ear and the nerve that assists in balance. I am doing better, but have a way to go to complete recovery (as of Sept '07). My right eye is still sewn halfway shut, my face on the right side is paralyzed and my balance is spotty.
Wife: Christine
Cats: Cheney, Hobbes, Dexter