Fun Tom Facts.
Name: Thomas Michaels.
Also Known As: The following nicknames have been used in varying degrees of frequency to either call, refer to, or mock me. Feel free to use them as seen fit. TC. T-Diddy. Tom the Tool. Jeep. Studly Boat Boy. That Guy With the Silly Hair. The Boy. Cliffy.
Birthdate: 04 August 1982, 11:56 AM.
Schoolin: I'm a Senior at Denison University. I'm a 2000 graduate of Western Reserve Academy. Yes that would be a boarding school. However, having lived 2 miles from WRA, I was a day student (read: "townie") along with 30% of the student body. Back when I was a wee tot, I went to Old Trail School.
So, what am I doing at Denison? You mean, besides partying, right? I'm an Economics major. No clue what the hell I'm going to do with it. Classes this semester are: Public Finance, Consumer Economics (aka Personal Finance), and Intro to the Theatre. I am a Tour Guide for Admissions here, which really means that I get paid to sell Denison to clueless prospectives. It really is a pretty fun job, for a couple of reasons. First, it gives me an excuse to talk non-stop for an hour. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy that. Also, it's kind of fun to meet the people who are looking at Denison, and I get the chance to show off what is--in my opinion--a pretty neat school.
What else do I do for fun? This can be pretty concisely summed up in two words: "Jeeps" and "Boats." Besides being a car nut (a.k.a. piston head) in general, I'm into Jeeps in particular. I'll elaborate. I previously owned an immaculate 1998 Wrangler, until 10 December 2001 when it was taken care of by a Taurus. By the way, here's some advice: If at all possible, try not to get in an accident. Accidents suck. I didn't cause it and I wasn't ticketed; the other driver was clearly in error. But nevertheless, I don't look forward to going through that again. In case you're curious, there are pics of it in Jeeps Online. Anyway, the '98 was deemed unrepairable and, thus, was replaced by a 2002 Wrangler. As everyone well knows, I spend quite a chunk of time washing and detailing my Jeep, and take a lot of pride in keeping it clean.
Moving onto boats. Boating has always been a huge hobby (er, obsession) of mine. It occurred to me that, during the summer, there is a distinct possibility that I actually spend more time floating than I do on solid ground. Really. My summer job for four years was also centered around boats. In 1999 I started a boat washing and detailing business, and ultimately ended up with more customers than time. For a couple of years, I owned a 1993 Wellcraft runabout, which I of course fixed up and had detailed to the nines. I found it for a pretty good deal, and it was economical to run. It was a total blast, and I enjoyed having it. I sold it last year to make way for my dream project: an old, beat up Chris Craft. I found a 1968 Commander that was in desperate need of detailing, a general restoration, and a complete repower job. It has turned out to be an absolute blast, and thus far I've enjoyed fixing it up. It's definitely a project that will take several years to complete, but it's actually doing the work that I enjoy most about it.

About Tom Online.
For those who actually are interested, this is the third version of this page. See "Site History" for more about that. As to why I have a webpage, well, I don't know. I find it kind of fun. Gives me somplace to vent and ramble on about nothing. And you get to read it. :-)
The above pic was taken from the passenger seat on Northbound Interstate 77 just south of the Virginia-North Carolina border. This is the beginning of about 1200 vertical feet of ascending into Appalachia. Very scenic drive...I recommend it.

Computer info/Screenshot:

iBook G3 800MHz ::evil grin::   Also tucked in the desk is an *ancient* Quadra 800. It's used for AIM and little else.	Screenshot. Clicky. As a rule, I only use my own pictures as wallpaper.

Voici my prized iBook. Most likely you have already heard me rant about Macs. By the way, just to dispel any rumors, Macs really are fabulous machines, and Mac OS X in particular is awesome. Don't let any bad experiences you may have had with Macs in computer labs affect your perceptions; the Macs in the labs here suck. My Mac rules. And yes, Macs run Microsoft Office, AIM (as a matter of opinion, I think the Mac AIM software is better), MP3s via iTunes (arguably the best MP3 software in existence), and even DivX. Not to mention that Macs work in a logical manner. MacOS X is a perfect example that something complex doesn't have to be hard to use. See, look... I'm already ranting. :-) Anyway, about the web stuff. I write all my webpages by hand (I used Visual Page for a while, but eventually came to realize that I find it easier and more professional to write it out). I use BBEdit Lite 6.1 for HTML editing, and for graphics editing/saving I use GraphicConverter. I also use the basic painting abilities that AppleWorks offers for the creation of most of the graphics. All the graphics and images within this site were created by me.

Tom Online. Copyright 2001-2003 Thomas Michaels. Last modified 24 October 2003 2003.     This page is best viewed with a web browser. No animals were harmed in the making of this page.