About our Family

Our Family

Karen and I got married in 1989. We then moved from our homes in New Jersey to Mesquite Texas due to a job transfer. Before our first anniversary we moved to a new state, bought a new car, bought a new home, and had a child. Things have calmed down a bit since then. We are now a family of four still living in Mesquite, Texas. We are Christian, involved in our community, and church.

Dennis

Interests:

• Spanish - I have been studying for several years. I am basically conversational but still have a little trouble understanding if you speak too fast. I currently teach a beginners Spanish class at my church.
• Linux - I am a major advocate of the Linux Operating System. I have it installed on my dual PIII desktop machine, my Compaq 2100 laptop, and both my kids computers. I recommend it for anyone. See my LINUX page.
• Motorcycles - I have a 1992 Suzuki Intruder 1400. I mostly just ride it to work and back but I do it regularly. It just turned 85,000 miles. In case you don't know, that is a lot for a motorcycle. I'd say I got my money's worth and more. I just recently gave it a new paint job. I bought some iridescent paint from Auto Zone. The motorcycle is now either green, purple, or both depending on how the sun hits it / how you look at it. I think it's the coolest.
• Programming - I really like writing programs. I am currently working a lot in Perl/Tk. I am writing a program for a friend who runs a food pantry ministry at his church. The program keeps a record of his clients in a MySQL database. I also like web site design. I don't really call that programming since HTML isn't a programming language but rather a Markup Language. of course there can be programming in web design. I did a lot of work in PHP and javascript for web based applications. So does all this make me a geek? You bet!
• Music - I love music. I listen to mostly Rock, Pop, and Christian. Most of that is in Spanish. Some of my favorite artists are Shakira, Maná, I play guitar and fool around with bass guitar, alto saxophone, violin, and keyboards. See my music page.
• Shooting - I enjoy target shooting. I am not a hunter. I have nothing against anyone who is. But I couldn't kill an animal, I don't do the "blood and guts" thing very well. See my How to clean your pistol page and discover the sports best kept secret.
• Flying - I am FINALLY getting a private pilots license.
• Job Hunting - see my Resumé here
• Politics - I have defected from the Republican party and became a card carrying Libertarian. In fact, I am even running for Texas State Senate District 2 in November 2006. Read about my thoughts here
• Photography - I like taking pictures. My favorites are mostly nature pictures. Have a look at my Best Of gallery.

Favorite Web Sites

• http://www.slashdot.org
• http://www.ipilot.com
• http://aviationweather.gov
• http://www.packing.org
• http://www.spanish.allinfo-about.com
• http://forums.delphiforums.com/espeakespanol

Karen

Interests:

• Kids! - Karen lives for her kids. There is nothing she wouldn't do for them.
• Teaching - Karen home-schools our children. She is a really good teacher. I say this because both our children are very smart. In the company of their peers, they always seem to know more about a very broad range of subjects.
• MCHSA - Karen is the president of the Mesquite Christian Home-School Association. She tirelessly works in setting up field trips and other activities that make MCHSA a vibrant and active group. If you live in the Mesquite area and are interested in home-schooling, be sure to visit Mesquite Christian Home-School Association.

Favorite Web Sites

• http://www.mchsa.org

Mallory

Interests:

• Bass Guitar - Mallory is learning to play the bass guitar. She likes jamming with Dad in the garage. It's a real garage band!
• Music - Mallory likes Jump5, Avril Lavigune, Hawk Nelson, and others.
• Computers - Mallory maintains her own web page. She is totally in control of the content and management. She writes the web pages and then ftps them to the server. Mallory uses Fedora Linux on her computer.

Favorite Web Sites

• http://www.kaptain.us/mallory

Christian

Interests:

• Video Games - There is no one who is more into video games than Christian.
• Thinking - Christian is destined for great things. Perhaps a lawyer or a politician. He is always the one with the hard questions and the deep thoughts. I expect a lot of him and believe he will deliver.
• Music - Christian likes Jump5 and Hawk Nelson. Christian is learning to play guitar.

Favorite Web Sites

• http://www.1001cheats.com