This is all about me. Not much to say really. I was born in Mesa, Arizona on the 28th of February, 1976. My dad was in the Army at the time so by the age of six I lived in Germany and California. My parents separated and we relocated back to Arizona where I continued to live till I was 19. We moved around a lot, mostly because my mom was a single parent. She eventually remarried when I was 10(I think).

I was a smart kid. I was put into advanced studies throughout elementary school and did pretty good. I didn't have very many friends due to the fact I was never in the same school for more than a year. So I read a lot. Mostly Stephen King. I have read almost every book he has written.

I picked up skateboarding when I was 10 or so and knocked my front teeth out. But that didn't stop me. I kept it up and continued skating for the next five years. When I look back on my life, those were the greatest years. I had a lot of friends and I was always outside skating. I was pretty good and had dreams of going pro but I had an unfortunate accident and screwed my ankle up pretty good. I tried skating again when it healed but I couldn't get back into it.

I graduated Chandler High School in 1994 and went on to drop out of Mesa Community College where I was studying to be an Architect. The reason I dropped out was because I picked up a nasty drug habit. Crystal Meth-Amphetamines. That drug was all over the place in Arizona and was extremely cheap. So I plunged my life down the toilet for about nine months. I was actually doing the drug with my Aunt and Uncle and they eventually told my family what was going on. I was then put in rehab where I was kicked out for not following their guidelines. A few months later my Aunt and Uncle said they were moving to Florida and wanted me to go with them. For some odd reason I agreed. I sold my '65 Mustang and off I went.

Those first few months in Florida were horrible. We lived in some shit hole motel and I worked through a temp agency. Crappy jobs mostly. We eventually got a decent apartment and then moved into a house that my Uncle's dad owned. Things were going good but I drank all the time and worked my ass off at U-Haul as a manager. I was pulling 80 hours a week and making damned good money but I was too tired to do anything useful with it. I was actually pretty bad with my money. I would forget to put my check in the bank and then forget to pay my car payment. It was bad. I think I hit rock bottom. Not really sure though.

Then I met Jenny. My whole life changed. I was happy once again and things were starting to look bright. After I asked her to marry me, we were sitting in my driveway discussing our future. She wanted out of Orange Park and so did I. So she suggested the Military. I agreed and off I went to see a recruiter. On the way there I swore I wouldn't join the Marines because they were nuts. Low and behold, guess who stopped me as soon as I walked through the door? You guessed it, The Marines. They talked me into joining, guaranteed me a signing bonus and on January 22, 1997 I was headed to Parris Island for basic training.

So 13 weeks are spent on the island that God forgot being yelled at on a daily basis. Looking back I actually enjoyed boot camp. I was whipped into shape and taught self-discipline. Nothing wrong with that. After boot camp I came back to Florida for 10 days before shipping off to Jacksonville, NC for Marine Combat Training. That was 17 days of playing war. We learned basic infantry skills and all that good stuff. Directly from there I was sent to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland to be taught my Military Occupational Specialty. This ended up being Electro-Optical Ordnance Repairman. I was taught how to repair tank fire control systems, guided missile systems and night vision equipment. I graduated number one and was awarded with orders back to Jacksonville, NC stationed aboard Camp Lejeune. I liked it there I suppose. While I was there I was signed up to deploy with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. I did one deployment to the Mediterranean and got to see some of Europe. Some of the countries I visited were Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Malta. It was a fun 6 months.

I came back home and decided to do another deployment with the 26th MEU. 11 days before we were scheduled to deploy September 11th happened. This changed everything for me and my fellow Marines. Our orders were almost changed to deploy to New York to help clean up the mess but that was changed. We were still scheduled to deploy when we were supposed to. We headed back out to the Med and did a training operation in Egypt. After that we spent a few days relaxing in Italy and then we got the call to head directly to the Arabian Sea to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom. I like to refer to it as Operation Enduring Boredom but whatever. It was a long deployment. We ended up getting extended for an extra month. We came back without losing any Marines and was greeted with a Hero's welcome. I could never in a million years describe what that feeling was like. Seeing all those people lined up along the streets cheering for us, their hero's. Just writing about it chokes me up a bit.

A few weeks later I was then given orders back to Aberdeen Proving Ground to be an instructor. I taught for two and a half years. I burned out on it very quickly. Luckily, the network administrator was getting out and I weaseled my way into the position. I am much happier now and actually enjoy going to work. I was also able to get the command to send me to an MCSE boot camp where I passed all but one exam. I am one test away from the coveted certification which I tend on getting soon along with my Security + certification. That combined with my security clearance should get me a pretty good job when I get out here soon. But that is where I am now. Being stationed here also kept me out of Operation Iraqi Freedom which I wasn't happy about. But oh well what can you do? So here I am now creating web pages. Go figure.

I decided to leave the military lifestyle. There are a couple of reasons why I made this decision. One, the Marine Corps thought it would be a good idea to give me orders to recruiting school. No way in hell was I going to be a recruiter during a war, an unpopular war at that. I didn't want my career ruined due to a bad recruiting tour. Two, the Iraq war. I'm not saying I got out to avoid going to war. I'm just saying I felt there was better things to do. I don't mind the desert, I don't mind the lack of civilization, I do mind being away from my family and being shot at. Third, I felt it was time to move on. I had a good time as a Marine but there was nothing left for me there. The only really good thing I got out of the Marine Corps is that they paid for me to get my MCSE certification which in turn landed me a good job outside of the military.

So I found a job with Orbital Sciences Corporation as a contractor filling a Network Engineer position. I did that for about nine months and realized Orbital was not the company for me. I parted ways with them and lived four weeks without a job trying to support my wife and kids.

Luckily, a company that goes by the name SMS Data Products Group, Inc. contacted me for a job as a Senior Systems Engineer. I happily agreed and they placed me at the United States Capitol Police in Washington DC. I've been with SMS and the Capitol Police for almost 10 months. So far it has been great. The people I work with are awesome and the environment is pretty cool.

There you have it. My life in a simple nutshell. I hope you enjoyed it.

My hobbies include computers, reading and tormenting people.