Personal Philosophy of Web Pages: KISS is part of the philosophy. I don't believe in putting a bunch of extraneous stuff on a web site just because I can. I also feel that pictures and icons are overused, which contributes to the pain associated with the WWW (World Wide Wait). I think photos belong on a separate page or pages that people can choose to access. [Getting off soapbox now.]
About Derek and FamilyI live with my wife Suzanne and three children, Teresa, Luke, and Joseph in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Joseph was our newest arrival, joining us in 2000. We moved here in the summer of 1998 so that Suzanne could do some training.
Derek spent a lot of time at the University of Saskatchewan obtaining degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. His primary technical interests are telecommunications and computer networking.
Suzanne obtained a degree in medicine from the University of Ottawa and did a residency in Internal Medicine in Saskatoon. After working for two years in the geriatric department at Saskatoon City Hospital, she began a fellowship in Winnipeg through the University of Manitoba.
We have three children - Teresa, Luke, and Joseph. They have way more energy than their parents.... Of course, a discussion about the family would not be complete without the pets. Our dog Filia is half springer spaniel and she has more energy than the rest of us put together. On the other hand, if there is nothing exciting going on, she is perfectly willing to sleep the day away. We also have a small aquarium with goldfish.
We have varied interests and it seems we are unable to make time for all of them. For this reason, we don't seem to get around to doing everything we would like. Factor in young children and time for rest and relaxation just seems to disappear.
One thing that we do seem to manage to make time for is gardening. Owning a house makes some elements of gardening necessary. Of course, we have managed to make it a more extensive and expensive hobby than just the bare minimum required.
Owning a house also means that time is taken on upkeep. We purchased a house that was built in 1903. The last number of years have seen some fairly poor work being put into it. There are a number of renovations being planned, but they are largely awaiting funds. Mind you, paint is cheap, so we can make it suit our lives a bit better, and when we do some of the small projects, we try to do it right.
One of Derek's interests for many years has been antique autos. While he has yet to complete a restoration, he am eager to get at it. He once owned a 1974 AMC Javelin AMX, but tired of it. Then he purchased a 1966 Buick Wildcat Custom coupe, which is patiently awaiting restoration. Upon getting married, Suzanne told Derek that he could stay with the hobby so long as the next car was a convertible (Derek's arm didn't need much twisting). A lot of discussion has gone into the form the convertible will take, but there is the small matter of finishing the Wildcat first (sigh). While in Saskatoon, Derek joined the Saskatoon Antique Auto Club. Now in Winnipeg, he joined the Manitoba Classic and Antique Auto Club. Derek designed and maintain (if you can call it that) the club's web site (see the links below) and has served as vice-president, president, and past president.
Derek and Suzanne like to read. It only took a year and a half after moving to unpack the library. As well, science fiction has been known to make its way onto the television set.
Email us at: derek.thille@ieee.nospam.org and remove .nospam