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About Me
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I've been passionate about computers and technology since my Introduction to Computers course in college back in 1975 or so. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Technology and worked in the steel fabrication industry for a few years before being able to put my passion to work full time. My first PC was an IBM and I bought it with a copy of Microsoft Word 1.0 and the original MS Mouse. We've certainly come a long way since those early days and I've enjoyed the ride. I am a Systems Reliability Manager for UPS and an active beta tester for Microsoft in my spare time. You'll also find me as a moderator at the Windows Live One Care forums  and the forums at Computer Haven.

In 1996 I met my wonderful wife, Pennie. Our initial contact was through a newsgroup for the author, Poppy Z. Brite. I think we were the elders in the group, which we no longer frequent. The fates caused us to correspond privately in August, 1997 and we soon realized we shared more than an interest in a little known horror author. After quite a few car trips between northern New Jersey and western Virginia and some pretty hefty phone bills, we decided to start a life together. We took the first steps and purchased a home and closed on it in late July, 1998. Not quite a year later, on 6/21/99, the summer solstice, we married.
We chose New Jersey to settle in, close to where I grew up. Our home is a wonderful, old Colonial Victorian built in the early 1920's. It's got great character and holds lots of promise. There's lots to be done and we're taking it slow. We're getting to know the house and it's getting to know us. We've done some painting, ripped up lots of carpets, put down some floor tiles in the kitchen, paid someone to put in a new wood floor in the living room, replaced a few upstairs windows and remodeled the dining room. The dining room remodel project included a new floor to ceiling bookcase along one wall, wainscot all around, crown molding, and a new floor tile border. We've got some projects underway and pending, but these are stalled at the moment. We are working on the upstairs hallway and have yet to fully attack the basement remodel project.

We've got quite a zoo here! When Pennie and I moved into our house in 1998, she arrived with 2 dogs and 2 cats - Chase, a lovely Dalmatian (also known as the Eubulubus); Molly, a Shepherd mix; Kahler and Nikki, the kitties. Nikki left us early in 2004 after a long cat life of alternating adventures and sleeping in warm spots. Chase became ill early in 2001 and sadly, she left us at the end of that summer. Before she passed away, she met Finnegan, our chocolate Labrador. Pennie's daughter, Melissa, moved back in with us in June of 2001, after a little more than a year in Virginia to finish High School. Upon her return, she brought a new cat into the fold, Severina. Just short of Christmas, 2001, we adopted a very porky Dalmation, Razz, from the Pequannock Animal Shelter. After a little while of good balanced meals and plenty of activity, she's nice and trim! Molly developed bone cancer in 2002 and, after removing the affected hind leg and several chemo treatments at Oradell Animal Hospital, she was in remission and doing great until the summer of 2004. In July, Molly developed another cancer on a front limb that took her from us on 9/11/04. Our smallest addition to the family arrived on 3/29/03 - Lily, a Dachshund puppy, a few days shy of 5 months old. Lily is the princess of the house, but since she's a clown, too, she is better known as "peanut." Another cat arrived on 11/14/04! Penguin was part of a litter brought in to the animal hospital where Pennie worked. They were the "Batman" litter, all named for characters from Batman's adventures. I don't think our Penguin is as evil as Batman's nemesis, though. Another year, another pet. Pennie visited her parents for the New Year's holiday and she went with her dad to get a puppy for him on 12/31/04, promising that there would be no new dogs for us. They picked up a lovely little Boxer mix who is a sweetie, already housebroken, and a generally excellent dog. On 1/2/05 Pennie's dad reconsidered and realized that having a dog was a responsibility he wasn't sure he was ready for. Since Pennie had fallen in love with her, she couldn't let him decide to return the puppy, so a phone call to me cinched the decision. I expressed my misgivings, but relented anyway. Ruby is our newest addition to the crew. Kahler left us on June 15, 2006, at the ripe old cat age of 22. It was surely sad to let him go, but he had a long and happy life. At this point, we're not looking to add any more pets to the household!

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Me

You can learn more about me on my blog

I keep a blog on Windows Live Spaces which is really my diary or confessional. I try to update it daily with snippets about life with my beautiful wife, our menagerie of pets, dealing with my Mom's Alzheimer's disease, and occasionally work and the weather. It isn't a technical blog, so be forewarned that you generally won't learn anything exciting there.

 

http://sboots.spaces.live.com/


Favorites

Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite, and a whole slew of Science Fiction writers.

Music - My tastes range from classical to industrial/techno with a whole lot of 80's new wave and 90's shoe-gazers thrown in.  Computers, a little television - mostly HGTV and TLC shows, more computers and the Internet, technology, orchids, Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, Living Dead Dolls, more computers, and a little auto racing to round things out.

Yet another web site...