Came home mid August after spending a few weeks in Eastern Europe. This year I traveled to Kiev and Sevastopol. While Sevastopol is part of Ukraine, the vast majority of the people who live here are Russians. Kiev is the capital city of Ukraine and it is relative to the size of Chicago. There are almost 3 million people who live here. It's a beautiful city with a mix of traditional European and modern artitechture. Kreshatic Street is the main street in downtown Kiev. There are many wonders and sights to see in this marvelous city. They have an amazing shopping mall underground. No need to worry about cars when you cross the street because you cross the street underground.

There are many restaruants all around the city. I had sushi and seafood tempura @ a Japanese restaurant, Campai, and it was $60.00 for 2 people. Food was quite good, just as good as any Sushi bar in the States. I've heard the most expensive sushi bar will set you back $200-$300 a person. Hopefully you get a geisha girl for dessert at that price. I had a chance to taste some traditional Ukrainian food at a posh Ukrainian restaurant, my bill including tip was about $100 for 2 people. After this, I spent my next meal encounter at MacDonalds. :) Only $2 for a big mac, small fries, and a small coke. There are also many beer gardens and Ukrainian beer rocks! A pint of Oblong, the most popular brand, is about $1. At this price you can easily get drunk for less than $5. Not that I endorse this kind of behavior. :) There's also no age requirement to buy beer.

I have pictures of my trip and the friendly people that I met. It's on my Friends page. It's not complete yet.

My interest include my career. I work in the IT field but in the past I have worked as a system analyst, support engineer, and technical engineer for various hardware and software companies. In my offline time, I enjoy running. I don't run long distance any more ever since I had my bi-lateral arthroscopic knee surgery. I still enjoy playing tennis, volleyball and softball. When ever I have the time I pickup my Dean baby Z guitar and crank up the volume on my amp. This really makes my neighbors happy as hell! Other nights I check out new local bands playing at the local pubs and clubs. You might alos see me at Cubs game or checking out a new art exhibit. Local festivals are my favorites.

I'm just learning Flash MX and I set up a slide show of Jolene Blalock aka T'Pol of Star Trek Enterprise. It's rather crude for now but when I have time I'll polish it up.

There's the annual Taste of Polonia for the labor day weekend. It's a Polish cultural festival and it's only $6 for admission for an adult. Time to slam down some pierogies. The festival also features Polish arts and craft. There are 3 different stages for the music venue. The music range from rock to good old polka. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go this year, thank god it's a annual event.

Next on the cultural experienc is Octoberfest. A annual German event celebrating the marriage of Ludwig I. If you can't fly out to Munich for the original Octoberfest than Chicago is your next best choice since there are many Germans who live here. This is one of my favorite cultural experience and two things come to mind when I think about Octoberfest, BEER and BRATWURST and more BEER, ok that's three!. I am also a big fan of suarkraut and weinerschnitzel too. Someone recommended attending the Lincoln Square's Octoberfest, held during the 2nd weekend in September. The food and beer are provided by The Chicago Brauhaus Restaurant and Lounge, 4732 N. Lincoln Ave. Cost is $25 a person for some really fine German food and beer. So you might run into me if you're in the area. O'zepft ist!

I'm John, aka Phlex. I grew up on the northside of Chicago, in the uptown area. Our family lived in Chicago for a few years before moving to the suburbs, in a small town in Northbrook. I think back in the early 70's there were only one other Asian family living there. Today, there's much more cultural diversity in Northbrook.

After attending Glenbrook North HS, I ventured off to college. I decided I wanted to major in Electrical Engineering at Western Illinois. After 2 years at Western I transfered to U of I at Urbana/Champaign. I changed my major to computer science and mathematics after buying my first PC. My first PC was an IBM PC with an Intel 8088 16 bit processor. which I bought back in 1983. I knew then that I wanted a career in the computer industry.

During my senior year at U of I, I decided to spend my Christmas break in California. I wanted to see San Francisco and the bay area.

My first real job was working at Intel, Corp., in the legal department, in 1987. I worked as a Help Desk Support personnel. I managed to build all the 301 workstations and interlinked them in a peer to peer network. I also connected the workstations to communicate with the IBM mainframe both locally and remotely. I want to thank Kay Battle for giving me the oppertunity!

I regret not finishing my degree. I did manage to complete most of the core requirements for my major. They say it's never too late to get your degree and so I am contemplating about going back to school soon.

After living in San Francisco bay area for 14 years, I am back in Chicago. I just couldn't find a good place to get a Chicago style deep dish pizza. I've been living in the city for the past few years.

If you want to know more I'd have to kill ya! j/k