About the Host
ProfessionallyI have a bachelor's degree in Materials Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a master's degree in Metals Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. I worked for five and a half years as a materials/corrosion engineer with a medium-sized oil/chemical/coal company before being laid off in 1994. After seven months of unemployment, I found a job with a small consulting company doing similar work. After a year and a half with the consulting company, I returned to graduate school at Tennessee Tech University and earned a master's degree in chemical engineering. I am now employed with a large oil/petrochemical company doing technical service work in the corrosion and materials field.
Personally
My favorite pastimes include outdoor activities of almost all kinds. Hiking is probably my favorite activity when I have good weather and time to find good trails. I also enjoy photography and have many slides and photos from my travels. Some of these photos are in my Witness for the Right Photo Gallery. My political activities have kept me from participating in outdoor sports as I would like, but I’m hoping to become physically active again as my life settles in my new job. I’ve been avid biker in the past, and mountain biking is still a possibility. I used to enjoy volleyball a great deal and would go back to it. I’ve always wanted a little watercraft of some kind, and some kind of touring kayak is another possibility for me. When I was younger, I was active in caving.
The indoor side of my activity list includes reading and writing. This website shows my political writing, but I also write about my travels and have dabbled in fiction.
Relevance
As a working engineer, much of my career involves failure analysis. I exercise an ability to evaluate evidence and draw accurate conclusions. I then organize the evidence and write reports to defend my conclusions. As a political writer, I face a similar task. My strength is in dividing the relevant from the irrelevant, making subtle distinctions, drawing conclusions, and explaining those conclusions in a compelling way.
On the human level, I understand the frustrations of personal setbacks. I suffered a lay-off in spite of being a very good and very productive employee. I know the discouragement of watching my wallet become thinner while my file of rejection letters from prospective employers becomes thicker. I have had good bosses and bad bosses, and I understand that the boss is not always right. I don't claim that liberalism is the cause of all that's wrong in this world. However, my writing will show how liberalism is part of the problem and good conservatism is part of the solution.
My hobbies are relevant primarily because they show that I work to live instead of living to work. While I enjoy my career, I am like most people (liberal and conservative) in my desire to have a life outside work. I support conservatism not only because of its fundamental rightness but also because it offers the best chance for the average American to have a real life outside work.
On The Web
Most of my efforts have been directed towards my own website, but I have had opportunities to do other things as well. I am proud to have been the webmaster for Walt Massey for Congress in ‘98 in Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District. I am also proud to be the webmaster for Tom Lingenfelter for Congress in ‘00 in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congression District. I write the code for an online friend’s Patriot Granny’s Page. My writing has also been published in Femme Soul, EtherZone, Politics: A Woman's View (now inactive), Right Turn Only (now closed), and Right Magazine (now closed).
Other Stuff
I am in my mid-30's and have never been married. (My eyes are open for and my heart will be open to the right young lady.) I grew up in east Tennessee and attended school in Virginia and Pennsylvania and then later in Tennessee. I lived in Oklahoma City for six years and in Louisville for a year and a half. I am currently living in Texas. I have never been outside the United States, but I have visited every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and the New England states. I do not attend church, but I have a been active in many kinds of churches. When churches do what they are supposed to do, they are one of the most powerful positive forces in our country. I like to hear from people, so feel free to drop me a line at Wftr@aol.com.
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