Welcome to our living
room.
how is it that Cosmo finds his way into every
picture we take around the house?
Andrea and I
live in cheerful Nanaimo, BC. This is our new home where we've
been living since January of 1998. We were married on September
4, 1999. (Please follow the Wedding Link
to get the details.) Andrea has two children, James and
Christina, and we have two cats, Cosmo and Ziggy.
A closer look at British Columbia - click
here to see map.
Nanaimo's population is about 72,000, we have
lots and lots of malls, the largest of which is Woodgrove
Mall in the north end. Nanaimo is a port city with ferries
to Horseshoe Bay on the mainland - a quick (but expensive) trip
to Vancouver. What else is there to do in Nanaimo? Well there's Price-Costco
- home of free-sample lunches if you have a membership. There's
golf courses, bars, bowling alleys, a swimming pool, and many
other amenities. The downtown harbour rivals Victoria's for
beauty since the recent upgrades done to it, and there is a new
waterfront theatre there. There's lots of terrific restaurants in
town, and they're generally quieter and cheaper than their
Victoria equivalents. Unfortunately, there's not much in the way
of late night restaurants (Boston Pizza is open till 3 am, and
there's another pizza place that's open late, but that's it aside
from donut shops). Some of our favourite restaurants include Fast
Eddie's Good Eats (jukeboxes retro-diner), Mrs.
Riches (nice family restaurant, great decor), Katerina's
(Greek), Gina's (Mexican), The Green
Garden (smorgasbord), the Hong Kong House (smorgasbord),
and Ricky's (a nice chain family restaurant,
great for Sunday brunch, and close to Costco.) All of these
places are now much nicer since the implementation of the
smoke-free laws.
Um... lets see... what else do we do here? well there's some
nice lakes around and good hiking and bike riding areas. The new
highway has a nice foot and bike path alongside it. But mostly,
we hang around the house playing with the computers, and
occasionally get out and shop...
click to see some of our Favorite Links
here.
The Dossier
I work for the Provincial
Government of BC, in the Ministry
of Finance and Corporate Relations. Although I live in
Nanaimo I commute to Victoria to work every day (a 250 kilometre
round trip). The trip takes about 2 hours each way. I was working
in Nanaimo for a short time with the Industry Training and
Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC) early in 1999 but since then
have transferred to the Corporate Accounting Systems department
within the Ministry of Finance, providing computer help-desk
support. Since that is what I've always wanted to do, I'm no
longer actively seeking work in Nanaimo. Hopefully I will someday
find systems-related work here which will save me commuting
during the worst of the winter months.
I am studying in the Computer Based
Information Systems Program (CBIS) at the University of
Victoria, completing my courses by correspondence. I communicate
with the instructor and students through a WebBoard and by
electronic mail.
Some of my hobbies include tinkering with computers, working
on cars (visit my Garage), and reading
books - mostly fantasy and science fiction novels.My family takes
precedence over even these hobbies so lately I've been just
working hard and relaxing with my family when opportunity
permits. We like to watch silly TV shows like Drew Carey, The
Simpsons, and Saturday Night Live.
I was born in Chilliwack, BC and have lived in various areas of British Columbia during my
life, including Vanderhoof, Ocean
Falls, Vancouver, Victoria, and now Nanaimo. I wouldn't want to
live anywhere else - British Columbia is one of the best places
to live in the world, in my humble opinion. I've travelled across
Canada, been to some of the western states, and been to Mexico,
and while I've seen some beautiful places, this will always be my
home.
Computer Geek Stuff
The first time I saw an actual computer was around 1981 - I
believe it was a Commodore SuperPet at my elementary school. It
had a game where you had to land a small lunar lander on the
moon, using the numerical keys to change rocket velocity. It was
hard - most of us crashed the rocket every time we tried. In
Grade 8 I had a small computer unit in my advanced math course -
we had to program the school minicomputer using computer cards
that you had to fill in with a pencil, and then run through a
card reader.
In 1984 I bought my first personal computer, a Commodore 64.
It was always breaking down and I got very little actual use out
of it. I took more computer courses but gradually lost interest,
mainly due to lack of access to computers and poor teaching
technique which discouraged the interest I had in them. It wasn't
until 1994 that I purchased my next computer, a 386DX-40. Which
turned my life around! It came with a 300 baud modem, but I
replaced that with a 2400 baud one the first week I had the
computer. I logged on to a local BBS, The X, and got hooked into
the world of on-line chat. The BBS is long gone now and the 386
board that served me so well is now gathering dust in my parts
drawer... but my interest in computing was re-awakened for good.
I now have an email account on Victoria Freenet, National Capital
Freenet, and Hotmail, I have an ICQ number (3859384), an ISP
account I share with Andrea, an Excite Talk Virtual Places
account, and I use computers to access my library, and to access
the University of Victoria to participate in my distance
education classes. Every time I turn around there's another great
use for computers. Like this web page, which enables me to share
information with friends, family, and people I know online, but
have not yet met.
Return to my
Home Page