Meet the Mods: 86AccordLxi

[87accordlxi]

Next up is 86AccordLxi. Alex has been moderator of our General forums since late 2004 and has been a familiar face around here for years. As a former General mod myself, I know the constant attention it needs. So say hi, and thank Alex for all of his hard work and dedication!

86AccordLxi -- aka Alex Paraskevas-Shepard, born November 16, 1984 in Chicago, IL. Moved to Lawrence, KS --> Independence, MO --> Salem, OR.

A graduate of the Luckiamute Elementary School, the Howard Street Charter School (only 8th grade though...), graduate of the inaugural class of International Baccalaureate Program at South Salem High School, and, most recently the Honors College at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR.

My family background is a bit tumultuous--whose isn't, these days? Parents divorced when I was younger but my life growing up was gravy thanks to my Mom who amazingly juggled work and single-momdome with amazing results . She remarried when I was 12 (and I have an awesome relationship with my stepdad) and had my little sister, Athena, when I was 13. My life would not be what it is today without her sacrifices and dedication.

As you might be able to discern from my last name (and my sister's first name), my family is Greek (and proud of it!). I've been fortunate to spend time growing up both here in Oregon and in Greece where all of my mom's side of the family lives--more specifically Athens.
My parents are both professors which means education is of the highest priority in my family which is probably the best thing that could happen to me. As a result of their ability to take sabbaticals (one year off to 'research' every 7 years, basically) I've been fortunate enough to live and go to (an American) school in Greece on couple separate occasions in addition to a couple extended trips through Western Europe. Highly recommended

After graduating with a liberal arts degree (Poli. Sci. and Int'l Studies) I, like many, spent a few months unemployed and at home --good times :-/ . Anyhow, the fates smiled upon me and I'm currently employed as a copy editor for the Legislative Counsel for the State of Oregon. Basically I edit law all day for the State Legislature. Somewhat entertaining but quite tedious at times. Mostly thankful that I actually have a job.
Currently I'm living with my high school sweetheart which is going swell, thanks for asking. She's wonderful and puts up with my car obsession pretty well (and even helped out a TON at the last big Nissan meet we had by helping organize the lunch and whatnot). Anyhow, she's got patience.

Personally, I'm addicted to message boards. Besides 3geez, I also moderate Northwestnissans.com, and I'm pretty active on a few other boards as well. We've recently started weekly nissan meets which has been very fun and last month had our big yearly meet at Golden Gardens in Seattle. 450+ car turnout!!

Many of you know my car history, but I can briefly share that again. I started with a 3g, an 86 Accord Lx-i, which had the best paint/body out of all the cars I've owned. Got it with 142k on it from the original owner, a high school english teacher. It was montreal blue metallic (b-35m as my gf will tell you haha) and pretty nice. I did intake, exhaust, tokicos/h&rs, and even picked up a dc sports strut bar from ebay (locally) for $35!! I loved the car, and still miss it at times, but after four years just got bored with it.

I, mistakenly, moved onto a mk2 gti. The make/model wasn't necessarily the problem, mainly just the specific car I bought. Oh well, lesson learned. Sold (at night) for $2900 . That's when I picked up my white coupe in my sig--great car that had a hard life. It had a few mods, a recently rebuilt motor, and mostly clean interior. I modded it as best I could on my college budget--coils, exhaust, s15 seats and some other things, in addition to the tsw's that it came with (which were thankfully replaced) and the s/t sway bars. As I posted, that car met its maker on Sept. 30th due to my oversight in leaving the car in gear coupled with the ebrake cable snapping. A sad sad day

But, my new fastback is even better! I actually have money now so I"ve spent it more wisely and on the parts I want. Better coils and suspension, better seat (sparco instead of cheap knockoff), same wheels but better tires, and I also picked up a diff as well. Lotsa fun, and hopefully soon to be boosted -- should have all the parts by next month. Shooting for modest power goals--probably no more than 200-220whp to start. My turbo limits me to 250whp or so, which is fine.

Anyways, that's me. Sorry it's long .

cliffs: not that interesting haha.

Alex

[2oodoor]

Nice to meet you virtually. You have a smorgasborg of growing and learning experiences, which makes you an interesting personality.
Thanks for your supporting role on 3geez.com. I hope you enjoy working for the State, usually they have the best retirement plans and merit raise structure, that is if you are working directly under a State operated entity. These days though that can vary between govts.. Privatization of services seems like such an attractive alternative for them and now the healthcare issues... who knows what direction that will go in the next ten years.
I too enjoy frequenting many automotive discussion forums online and am able to use the media for educational reference for work.
Best Regards

[MessyHonda]

nice to meet you Alex. you are very car knolegable...hope you see you more often

[Cheeseburger]

nice to meat u alex

[coope]

IM TO LAZY TO READ all that so Hi and welcome nice to meet u and stuff have a nice stay Peace

[Pico]

Hey Alex

[cubert]

see, now i know we have something in common..we both bought GTI's that turned out to be junk...and ended up selling them at night

[speedpenguin]

Hi there. You're only 1 year older than me and look what you've done with yourself! Mr Productive Member of Society. I live at home do martial arts...

[forrest89sei]

Very nice to learn your background!

[86AccordLxi]

Ha, just realized this was here.

Thanks for the 'welcome' :P

Alex