>>You're from Chicago!?!?!
>>
>>I knew there was something about you I liked.< s >If your Dad was a Sox fan, you must have lived on the South Side. That's where I grew up! In fact, during the winter months, when I wear sweat shirts to work most days, it's usually Bears or Blackhawks (when I'm not wearing one of the Earnhardt ones). I play some "sandlot" hockey growing up. Of course, it was on ice, 'cause it's tough to skate on a sandlot.:-)
>
>Yep, I'm from Chicago < s >. Dad's from Joliet, Mom's from Oak Park. We lived in Oak Park 'til I was 12, then moved to Hinsdale before moving to NC when I was 14. We were a big skating family, so in the winter, we'd bolt 2x6's together, line it with plastic, and fill it up with water for our own skating rink! I've still got my Hawks jersey in the closet to remind me of my youthful dream of playing in the NHL. Right next to my letter jacket from Duke, to remind me that I *did* play in the collegiate big leagues (though not as a player!).

I lived in an apartment with a pretty good sized yard next to it that sunken. The area around the edges of the yard was higher than the rest. This natural border was put to use. In the winter, we flooded the yard for a ice rink.

I only wear my Hawks jersey when I'm watching them in the playoffs on TV.

I don't think I missed not playing college ball. I started college in the fall of 1966. There were other matters at the time that took my interest.

>Now with the advent of inline skates, my son stays outside on his skates all day. I wish they'd have been around when I was a kid!

That makes too of us.

>So what got you out of Chicago and into the the South? For me, it was that Dad took a job with Duke Hospital. Traded in the skates for horses and hoops (all in all, not a bad trade!).

In the late 1970s I was running an educational film distributor. My mother-in-law, who lived in Hoffman Estates when my wife and I were married, had a business opportunity here in Cartersville that she took advantage of. We moved down in 1981 after she bought the business to work it. Unfortunately, it went under (partially because of the AT&T breakup) in 1986 and I came to work here.

I guess my interest in computers and electronics in general was sparked by my father. He was a record producer and, as a hobby, did amateur radio (a HAM). I've often said that I learned how to read a schemata before I learned how to read English. It was re-kindled around 1980, by an old friend from my neighborhood (Hyde Park) by the name of Tom Chamberlin. Tom had caught the computer bug (not virus< bg >) from his brother Mark. Years earlier, Mark had gone west to "find himself". He ended up working at a place known as MITS in Albequerque, and was there when some guys from Harvard showed up (yeah, those guys). He was with MS in the very early days. Anyway, in 1983 I finally bought myself a computer and taught myself BASIC, 6502 Assembler and Pascal. After my mother-in-law's company folded, I went to school at Kennesaw State to study computer science. I'd come to work at Shaw working in manfacturing on second shift. Eventually, I was offered a job programming.

>>Someone ought to remind the "Dukies" what happened the second time Arizona met Illinois. Ariz was No. 1 the first time they met and won by three. The second time, we won.:-)
>
>Temple has a different perspective...on 11/24, they lost 63-61 at a neutral site, then on 12/2, they lost at home, 93-68. :) Of course, stats don't mean much after the ball is tossed and the game begins...

Temple ain't Arizona.:-)

> - della
>
>Let's Go DUKE!

Della, you can put the above in you sig block in your account setup.:-)