This is the "About Me" portion of the website, where I try to tell you who I really am in a paragraph or two and maybe a few pics, and nobody ever reads it.

My name is Derek. I'm 35 years old and I live in Mesquite, which is a suburb of Dallas.

I've spent the last four years working as a contractor for ExxonMobil in the Windows Engineering and Design team of their IS department. I am responsible for all manner of things - from repackaging applications for users in our environment to investigating ongoing issues. Before ExxonMobil, I was a Support Engineer with Microsoft for 7 years providing end-user support for operating systems from MS-DOS 6.2 through Windows 2000 Server.

Before Microsoft, I spent four years as an active duty Marine. My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was 0313 - 03 being Infantry, and 13 being the "LAV Crewman" specialty. LAV stands for Light Armored Vehicle - they look like this:

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I got to travel some with the Marines - I was able to see Panama not long after the invasion.

At that point I was the driver on my specific vehicle;

The scenery in Panama is very pretty - we'd be driving along and then poof - there's a waterfall next to the road ahead:

Here's a buddy and me at the bar on the balcony of Noriega's beach house in Rio Hato (at least I believe it was in Rio Hato, memory fades):

I'm the skinny one on the left.

I've had a pretty short list of cars I've owned. My first car was a 1977 Lancia Scorpion - there were only about 425 Scorpions made in 77 so it was a pretty rare car.

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The black car in front of the Lancia is indeed the very same El Camino I have now.

I totalled my Lancia in 1986.

My second car was a 1965 Malibu SS with a 283/PG. When we got the car, it had new paint and interior, and the rest was original. Over the next year or so, we ended up replacing the brakes, engine, and transmission. The car was stolen from a repair shop in Garland in early 1988. It was recovered 9 months later or so; the thief had removed the VIN, replaced the wheels with IROC wheels, and removed the power steering pump. My father sold the car in Indianapolis while I was in boot camp - it was sold in Indianapolis in 1989, was Crocus Yellow, and had a Texas-issued VIN. We'd put stock wheels back on it (but '64 SS hubcaps instead of 65). If you've got my old car, please let me know. I have had pics of the car, but I haven't seen them in years.

My next car was the El Camino. When I got it, it had a really nice paint job - check it out:

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Over the next few years the paint started showing wear and fading but it didn't get really bad until I had a buddy take it into town to get an inspection... he rearended a Buick. Put a used fender on the car and it was back to driveable for a few more years.

I did a slow rebuild of the car from about 1994 to about 1999. I didn't know what I was doing so a lot of the stuff wasn't done as well as I would like - so once I finish the Chevelle I'll probably be reworking parts of the Elky.

I'm married; I have three stepchildren. Anything else you want to know? Email me.