I like to fish. That's my diversion from life when I need one... actually even when I don't need one. I live in Susanville California, located in the northeastern part of the state. I originally built a web page with the idea that I could use it to tell about me and my family. Since then, I have done a lot of web surfing, and learned how NOT to make a web site.

For a little about my family, click here.

I am a wildland firefighter by profession. I work for the U.S. Forest Service as an Engine Captain. I originally had lots of pictures of fires that I have taken over the years, but I decided that that was another subject altogether, so my career is covered on another web page. To see some fire pictures and to learn about where I work, visit this link.

In the last couple of years, I have become increasingly interested in computers. I built my first computer in 1998, and considering that I had absolutely no computer knowledge what-so-ever at that point, I was thrown into a steep learning curve. Much of what I needed to know to build a computer I learned from websites, some of which are listed below.

My webtv was smokin' from all the reading I had to do to figure out what chipsets were, how components had to be compatable with one another, and looking for the best prices for the stuff I needed. As it turned out, the nuts and bolts process of putting it all together was the easiest part, but not having any computer skills really gave me a headache when I tried to install an operating system (Win 95b) and get the hardware configured. That steep learning curve was more like a cliff at that point, but I finally did it, and used that computer for 3 years without a problem that I wasn't able to solve.

I finished my newest computer in October 2001, a Pentium 4, 1.7 Ghz, & 60 gig hard drive. Had a little trouble with my Maxtor drive, so I changed to an 80 gig Western Digital.

Now, 2004, I'm beginning to think about my next computer project. There are SATA drives now, RAID, and even 64 bit processors are starting to appear. The time is getting close for me to start building another. Since I'll be retiring at the end of this year, I'll have lots of time to devote to playing around with these things.

Probably the best thing I have added was high speed internet access. I have cable, and the download speeds run about 350k/sec. (Depends on the upload speed of the server I'm downloading from, of course.) Once you have broadband internet, you really can't see going back to dialup.

Anyway, the following sites are ones I use, or have used to learn about computers, or to download drivers.

Winsite.com
Asus Motherboards
Interesting search engine
Win 95 & 98 tips and help
Computing Net Technical Support Forums...Use Forums, they work.
Creative Labs Tech. Support...For Sound Blaster Products.
ZD Net Healthy PC
Windows 95 help
Windrivers.com...Good current pricing on memory and processors.
Pricewatch..(I use this site alot for current pricing information)
Webopedia...Find out what terms mean here.
PC Guide
Brad's Internet Help
Maximum PC
Microsoft's Knowledgebase...Start Here First with windows problems.
Modem Speed Test Page...This will open your eyes.
Motherboards Homeworld...Learn how they work and the different chipsets available.

(note: all links active as of 8/10/02)

In addition to fishing, my recreational time is spent looking. To see what I like to look for, click here.

Fishing is, like I said, my favorite diversion. I love to fish for bass, but anything that will bite will usually work for me. I have some preferred fishing spots, and, as several people found my last site while doing a search for Eagle Lake, I will give more detailed information about my only sport interest. In addition, I have started posting my fishing logs which I have maintained faithfully since 1984.

Check 'em out!

Eagle Lake
Current Fishing Log
2003 Log
2002 Log
2001 Log
2000 Log

Lake Almanor

Antelope Lake
Fishing Log

Lake Shasta


My old guestbook site went away, so I went back to a basic Geocities Guestbook... no frills... sign it!

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