Who Am I?

A Christian
First and foremost, I am a Christian. That is to say, I strive to honor Christ in all I do.

This means that I strive to be upright and honest in all my dealings. If I say I will do something, I will do my utmost to follow through. This also means that if I am in error -- if I have a wrong attitude, if I have offended someone, if I have been unjust -- I want someone to clearly point this out to me, and I want the opportunity to correct my error.

Unfortunately, many are Christians "in name-only" because it serves their own purposes. Many complain about "Christians" for being hypocrites -- and they are right. I do not associate with individuals who say one thing and do another.

I attend and participate actively at Victory Baptist Church. This includes the choir and a van route for mobility-limited individuals and some kids (we have two buses, but these kids are not near the other routes).

The Victory Baptist Church television program can be seen Sundays at 6:30PM and 9:30PM on Living Faith Television. This is on WLFG in the TriCities, which is on channel 68 for both local broadcast and Dish Network. The station is also streamed online and services a number of other areas - see their website for details.

For more information on what a Christian is, see here for how one becomes a Christian, and here for the basics of what we believe.

---

Background
I was trained in principles, standards which do not change even when society does.

Principles like, it's always right to do right -- because it is right, not just if it happens to be popular. And that it's never right to do wrong, even if you mean well.

I also believe that the Bible is always true, even when we may not understand -- if there is a conflict, it's our understanding that lacks, not God's Word. We cannot pick and choose the parts you want to believe -- God wrote the entire Bible, not just the parts we may like.

Or as the late Larry Burkett said, "Do you trust God, or do you just say you trust God?"

---

Computer Technology

I have supported computer users with both hardware and software, functioned as a network administrator, infrastructure administrator, network engineer, and programmer in several languages, and generally worked in almost all areas concerning information technology.

I work as a Network Technician at Networking and Computer Connection (NACC) in Johnson City. This role has a lot of variety, as I provide a wide range of support to our customers.

I enjoy work and I enjoy computers and technology, but as you can see here, it is not the whole of "my life".

---

Recreation

I enjoy a variety of games, including board games, video games, card games, and casual sports.

I also like doing things with friends or my family. I am not married, but my parents live about 9 miles away and I try to do something with them weekly. (My three cats are my at-home family.)

---

Good Deals

I like getting good deals. Not "cheap", just paying a lot less than the item normally sells for. Things like HDMI cables for $5 that sell at Wal-Mart for $40 or an LG Blu-ray reader / DVD burner combo drive for $125 that was running $500 at the time. See my Good Deals page for some good websites.

---

Michael Pollard
Bristol, Virginia
Michael@MichaelPollard.org

---

Other Interests

I also like:
• Transformers. The toys, the comic books, the animated TV shows (some are better than others...), the movies, etc. G.I. Joe is a closely related property; I like it, but I don't follow it as closely. The purple logo above is from a TF/Joe crossover comic.

• Video games. But not first person shooters - they make me nauseated. I like multiplayer games, but not with monthly payments. I prefer games with an element of strategy. And while I like games, I don't actually play that much. I usually either play as occasional downtime, or with others as a group activity (I can use a anti-nausea medication if needed :) ).

• Science fiction. I like Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Heroes, Doctor Who, and anything else that's written decently. Oh, and Transformers...

• Any other well-written fiction, or entertaining non-fiction for that matter.

I like "chick flicks", and I own "While You Were Sleeping", among others. "The Princess Bride" is probably my all-time favorite movie. I'm not so much for sitcoms though - they're usually mindless. I like "The Big Bang Theory" - it's a good show, despite using the name of a disproven idea. I don't like excess sexuality (with or without nudity) or juvenile humor (which is why I don't like most "comedy").

Give me a good storyline, and maybe have some reasonable technology (whether or not the theories have been proven, just not fully disproven), some action (the Mummy movies, X-Men, Lord of the Rings, or Chronicles of Narnia), and maybe some (clean) romance (While You Were Sleeping, The Net, any of Jane Austen's stuff). Hey, look - "The Princess Bride" covers all of these! Well, if you count "magic" as "experimental pharmacology"... :)

• Cats. I have three inside cats, two brothers and a sister that somebody dropped off at church when they were about 5 weeks old. They are all tabbies, one orange/white (Goldbug), one light orange/white (Creamsicle), and one with some orange, yellow, white, brown, black, and about any other color to some degree, but mostly dark (TigerKitty).

For the cat-haters: They don't cause a stink. I use an automatic litter box, a Litter Robot, that takes care of things. I just change a trash bag once a week and check the litter level every now and then. Since they're always inside, there's no problem with fleas or anything.

And my father dropped off a black cat at my house who doesn't get along with their other outside cats, but he's very friendly to people. He's indoor/outdoor, with the "indoor" being the garage. My parents have inside a kitteny Maine Coon, a gray dustmop of a cat named Bella, and an aging gold cat they call "Doodlebug." They have over a half-dozen outside cats that they take care of without actually "owning."

• Spending time with friends (as indicated above under "Recreation", usually at church or in church-related activities.

---

Disclaimers

I am not, so far as I know, related to either Michael J. Pollard (the actor), the British race car driver (at ".net"), or the photographer (at .co.uk).

And I do not meet many of the "nerd" stereotypes - I live on my own, not with my parents and not in an apartment (I own my home, thankyouverymuch), and I don't play video games, much. Though I do like technology, have several computers, collect toys, read comic books... OK, the term "geek" might apply... but one who likes chick flicks too...

If you want to meet me, since as I hinted above, I am single, you can email me. But the best way is to come to church; that's what I'll recommend anyway. You can see me from a distance and decide if you still want to meet me closer up...
And if you aren't willing to come to my church, things probably wouldn't work out anyway. The exception is if you are busy in yours as I am in mine.

If you're married or divorced (which is essentially married, according to Jesus in Matt 5, Matt 19, Mark 10, and Luke 16, and Paul in 1 Corinthians 7) forget about anything romantic. But I do have a lot of married friends of both genders, generally including both sides of the marriage.