About « Arrant Drivel

About

Hmmm…since this is a pseudo tech and personal website (and I have some free time) I suppose I should write a little about myself.

I was married for 10 years, but now am divorced (walkaway wife) and I have a daughter (Hannah) who is my absolute heart.

I work, and have worked, in various Engineering fields as a Draftsman / Designer (primarily using AutoCAD, MicroStation, and SolidWorks) for companies such as Six Flags and Proctor & Gamble. In my varied career I have worked on everything from paper manufacture, theme park attractions, military training ranges, and even Doppler radar systems. I consider myself a decent drafter and have been doing this (off and on) since I was 14 (over 20 years).

I am a huge Linux fan. Debian is my distro of choice, although I still play with several others and a few BSD’s. I have been using Linux and BSD’s since the mid 1990’s and now I primarily focus on things from an “everyday desktop user” standpoint, rather than a “server/compile it all from source/business admin” point of view. I enjoy assisting people with their shaping of the Linux desktop to suit their needs.

I even went so far as to start a Linux LiveCD project called “Apologetix” (seriously Google it and see for yourself) which was aimed at meeting the needs of small churches. It included everything from the means to project lyrics, accounting programs, member services (databases, miscellaneous forms), a number of tutorials, and programs to help filter email and http traffic on the Internet. The first versions were based on Knoppix with later versions using the Morphix format. I had plans on using Debian’s own livecd programs, but “life happened” and I abandoned the project.

Seeing as how I’m not currently active in church, I point apologetix.org to the “Linux for Christians” website. I figure that if people do a search for Apologetix then they probably should be pointed to something relative to what they were looking for.

I see myself as a “Chaotic-Good”. I don’t necessarily follow all the rules, and am generally willing to what it takes to get the job done. Although, I go out of my way to avoid lying, cheating, or stealing. I might not always do the right thing (in retrospect), but I do take responsibility for my actions.

I enjoy learning new things about virtually anything (I tend to be a “fact nut”), and probably share what I know a bit too much sometimes.

I actively ride a motorcycle (2005 Suzuki Hayabusa Limited Edition) and I love it. I am currently averaging over 20,000 miles a year and can’t wait until I get some time to do some serious riding.