Hello and welcome to my WordPress blog! My name is Thomas Sandquist. I am new to blogging myself so this is my first attempt at not only setting up WordPress for my own use but also operating my own blog site in general. In my line of work I have supported clients who have used WordPress for their blogs but until recently I hadn’t needed a blog site nor was I in need of WordPress for hosting a website. So outside of working on it for clients I wasn’t much of a WordPress user.
I have worked in the IT field for the last 23+ years. My initial interest started early in elementary school with my first computer, a Commodore 64 that I used for some typing/school work but mainly video games, and continued with my first PC, an Intel based i386DX 33MHz with a 100MB HDD and 2MB of RAM (I eventually upgraded it to a 1GB HDD and 6MB of RAM). By high school I was able to get my first job working as a PC repair technician for a local computer shop and ISP. It was here that I was introduced to Linux and given my first taste of networking concepts. This included learning about how TCP/IP works, SOHO and Intermediate size LAN design and administration as well as routing concepts including configuring Cisco and other brand routers and switches. In the few years after I graduated high school I got interested in more advanced networking concepts which led me to take the CCNA course at a local technical college. I also deployed and maintained several Linux mail servers and Samba file servers for small businesses in the area over a several year period, back when having your own in-house mail server was more feasible than it is today with the Cloud. And of course I have to recognize one of the major reasons I got in to computers to begin with… video games! A long time hobby of mine, I try to enjoy gaming whenever possible, primarily on my Nintendo consoles and PC’s.
Beyond gaming and technology I do have a few additional hobbies. I’m a huge fan of auto racing. In particular I’m a big fan of NASCAR, IndyCar and F1. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend at least 1 race from each racing series over the last several years. The most recent race I attended was the IndyCar race at Portland International Raceway in Portland, OR. Naturally I also have a love of fast cars, in particular the Ford Mustang! I have had a handful of different model Mustang’s from different era’s. My most recent is a 2014 Shelby GT500 Mustang Coupe. I’ve also got a soft spot for my dog, Bubba. It’s a long story as to why I have an all black hair (more gray these days) miniature poodle, but he is the coolest dog I have ever had, all joking aside. Bubba is 18 years old, due to turn 19 in December 2020. My other pets are two birds, two Cockatiels. One of them I got at a pet store over a decade ago and the other a friend found loose at a park in the Tacoma area that I adopted (I have a soft spot for pets in general).