Frequently-Asked Questions about this site

1. Ok, just who are you guys?

Well, we were both born in the mid-fifties in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and have been camping in some form since childhood. When not putting miles on the Chalet we fill our lives with work, pets (currently two young female cats) and hobbies - not necessarily in that order!  I've been a Systems Data Analyst with a high-tech firm in Portland's "silicon forest" for the past ten years and Kristi is a Disability Analyst for a large national insurance company - lots of analysis going on here!

However, as you might suspect, I've not always pushed around electrons!  In my checkered past I've been a welder/fabricator for a large national truck manufacturer (rhymes with "eightliner"), built custom aluminum marine doors & hatches, managed a couple of small metal fabrication shops, ran a contract manufacturing production line, and worked as a cost estimator for both a heavy-haul trailer manufacturer and specialty stainless-steel job shop.  All this after I majored in Forestry at the state university - that knowledge was certainly put to good use!  Kristi has been much more stable with long-term stints at Nike Corp. & another big insurance company.

2. What's the deal with this website?  Are you some kind if anal-retentive nut?

Nope. One of my primary job functions is to construct web-based data analysis applications using buzzwordy tools like SQL Server databases and .NET technology.  I set up this domain to "putter" with - it's often easier to experiment in an externally-hosted environment where you can have 100% control - as opposed to dealing with the interdepartmental politics of an internal setting.  And since I bought a Chalet and needed a topic for a website to test stuff; this seemed like a marriage destined for success!

3. Doesn't look that impressive...what's so fancy about this website?

Actually, it's not so much how it looks as how it's constructed.  Note how the base URL doesn't change as you move around in the site: that's because I'm using a "re-entrant active-server page with database content".  In plain English that means the page is built on demand by the webserver using information in a database & sent to you as HTML  This method has several advantages; but the two I like best are the ability to use conditional statements to control access or the "look & feel" of a site and the ease of editing or creating content by simply updating a table.  I can also include a secured editing tool right in the page that a novice can use to add or edit site information without knowing a lick of HTML programming.  Finally, I use server-side includes for reusable components such as the tab bar across the top and security checking for the chat room.