Proud to be a Geek, Part I

OK, in the (maybe) final installment of the introduction to Doug, we will discuss the finer points of being a Geek and owning it.  ;-)   Historically, the term Geek has had a quite varied interpretation.  From a more derogatory term being confused with "nerd", "dweeb", and the like all the way to the highest esteem of "misunderstood genius".  Well I probably fall somewhere squarely in the middle of all that, but suffice to say that I consider the term Geek to be very much a term of endearment.

Sports!

Well, I said this blog would be a hodgepodge of stuff, so this is a little background into my passion for sports.  As a fan and as a participant, sports have played a big role in my life.  I've loved football pretty much all my life and to this day I'm still a huge fan and wish I could still play!  (who doesn't!?)   Growing up near Dallas, I'm a die-hard Cowboys fan, even if my interest in NFL football has waned over the years.  My absolute favorite spectator sport is without a doubt college football, and I root my beloved Texas A&M Aggies on every Saturday.

Secondary to football is now ice hockey.

Why the Interest in Trains?

[NOTE: OK, well I'm not a seasoned blogger here, and I suspect a lot of my initial blogs will end up providing fodder for the various static pages I've set up. Nevertheless, I'm gonna just post a few introductory posts to get the ball rolling.]

If there is a "million dollar question" in my life, this might be it. Even my closest friends are puzzled about this, although most are pretty used to it by now. My interest in trains has pretty much existed since I can remember. It seems like my earliest memories occurred when I was 3 years old, and three stick out: (1) my granny babysitting me at my parents house and a severe thunderstorm blew through, (2) me playing with an HO-scale Santa Fe F-7 locomotive (that almost assuredly came from a garage sale) on the kitchen floor, and (3) watching trains pass by on the tracks less than 100 yards across the highway from our house. So most of my early memories involved something train-related. In addition, I had two uncles that were interested in trains as well that influenced me later on.

Welcome

Just a couple of introductory comments about the site...

My interest in trains goes back almost forever and is only *almost* rivaled by my interest in computers and technology. I'm a true GEEK! So I've had various combined iterations of trains and electronic media over the years, none of which could be termed "significant". (and quite simply this is a "2.0" version of my past efforts.) I don't expect this page to yield dramatically different results, but I still see enough value from several standpoints that I will trudge forward. If you are a friend, or if you have similar interests, or if you need assistance with research or modeling or other facets of the world of railroading, I hope you will find some value too.

Another thing I'm gonna do a little different this time is to add some "DRD-culture" to the mix. So outside of my railroad hobbies, and my interest in computers (often work related anymore), I will also have some commentary about my favorite sports teams and other various, casual, not-too-personal bits of my life. (so, likely stopping short of politics and religion)

I will be posting some other introductory-type posts to give a little background about me, and about my specific interests, so stay tuned.