Welcome to my little corner of cyberspace!
This page will serve to tell you a little bit about myself, my family and friends, and my hobbies and interests.
I was born in Haleyville, Alabama along towards the end of the baby boom. I lived there until 3rd grade, when my family moved to Osage City, Kansas. We stayed there only a couple of years, then moved to Yorkville, Illinois. I spent the next 24 years in and around Yorkville (it's a bit southwest of Aurora, Illinois, for all you Waynes World fans).
Yorkville was a great place to grow up. Lots of good people, good school, and I kept busy with model rocketry, motorcycles, and reading science fiction.. hobbies that I still enjoy! In high school I wrestled and played baseball, never excelling at either (though I tried hard!).
After high school, I went to work at Caterpillar Tractor Company, working my way up to NC Machinist after a brief stint on the deburr bench. I chafed at the regimen, though, and left after a few years. I've worked as a pinsetter in a bowling alley, dishwasher, brake/punch press operator, cook, maintenance man in a 128-unit apartment complex, general construction laborer, wired mobile homes, installed drywall, auto/truck mechanic, freelance handyman, NC/CNC machinist, Personal Computer/Networking Consultant, and CNC Programmer/Manufacturing Engineer. I moved to Olive Branch, Mississippi (a stone's throw south of Memphis, Tennessee) in 1990, and currently hold the latter position at Smith+Nephew Orthopaedics.
I was married to a marvelous woman, Karen Lynn, for 23 years. Alas, I lost Karen to cancer in the fall of 2000. We had two of the finest children a man could ever hope for; Robert Lewis, 21, currently serving a stint in the U.S. Army (he's a 14-Tango, for those who're up on their MOS classifications), and Dana Kay (or Dayna, as she currently spells is), 18, who is a Senior at Olive Branch High and plans to attend Northern Illinois University this coming fall.
And as of Jan. 7th 2001, I'm also a grandpa! Bobby and wife Cassie have two beautiful daughters, Mikeala and Olivia. I plan to spoil 'em completely, once I get the chance... ;-)
Proving what a lucky sod I am, I've met and wooed another wonderful woman, Miss Pamela Dawn Bray. We were married on July 5th, 2003. 'twas a full Scots Highland ceremony, with pipe & drum, kilts, etc. More pictures available here, including some of our Irish Honeymoon.
Current hobbies and interests include Music (listening only, try as I may I can't master a musical instrument), Science Fiction (reading only, try as I might I'm a miserable writer), Model Rocketry, Motorcycles (riding, collecting/restoration), computers/modeming, Celtic history and culture, photography, and mysticism/occult studies.
