Where Did Your Forum User Name Come From?

[AusOakley]

This is going to get fairly long winded and deeply personal, so if you don't want to read it all feel free to skip it entirely.

The phoenix has held a special symbolic place in my life for quite a few years now. The idea that something is able to be reborn any number of times and rise from the ashes of its former self without any mention of how it may have been created/born in the first place is something that has quite honestly mirrored my life more closely than I could have ever imagined.

In my mid teens I had serious family problems/drama that would eventually lead to me being homeless. Long story short my biological mother kidnapped my half siblings and stole a truck belonging to my step dad and took off back to California from Michigan where we were living. Due to long and stressful trips to court, police questioning, and the nature of what happened, my grades fell behind and I wasn't able to graduate high school on time. I was given an ultimatum by my step dad to either finish high school or get a job and pay bills and I had a week to decide. At the end of the week after talking to friends and other family members along with councilors I had dealt with in high school the consensus was that I'd be better of taking all of the GED tests in one day and enrolling in college (my junior year of high school I had been offered a full ride scholarship to Michigan Tech to run track after I graduated). That answer wasn't "one of the options" and by the end of the day I was on the street. My belief to this day is that it didn't matter what answer I had come up with. I was a leftover of what my mom had done and now that he had custody of his biological children again I was an unwanted reminder of what had happened and had to go.

For a couple weeks I was able to stay with friends to keep off the street. The town I lived in (Alpena for you MI folks) only had one homeless shelter and it was filled with no date for when it might have open space. After my welcome was worn out I was back on the street with no job and little hope for the future. At that point it was fall in Michigan. Decent weather during the day with below freezing temps at night. I spent my days going to jobs looking for work but with no cell phone (way too expensive in those days) and no reliable way to have someone contact me the prospects were pretty grim. In the evenings I mostly stayed down by a dam downtown because it was a popular fishing spot during the day but the bottom was super rocky so people snagged up a lot. When everyone left I'd look for line sticking out of the water and try to get them un-snagged and use whatever lures or hooks might be left on them to fish for something to eat. Sometimes I'd find lures I knew were expensive and I'd sell them to a bait shop next to the dam for a couple bucks so I could buy some bread, wash some clothes, or whatever. That was more or less my routine until November.

Around that time I ran into someone I went to high school with down by the dam. We exchanged pleasantries and he told me he'd heard about what happened to me and that he thought he knew how I could get a job. His mom was the department manager for Kmart in the toy and seasonal department and they needed part time help for the Christmas season. As luck/fate/whatever would have it we went in an I filled out an application and talked to HR and got scheduled for an interview the next day. Thanks to a recommendation from my friend's mom I got the job. It was only 10-18hrs per week at minimum wage, but it was enough that I could buy some essentials to make my life less miserable while looking for a place to stay. The 20% employee discount was probably the best part about the job besides being inside and warm for 8hrs a couple times a week. Just before Christmas a spot opened up in the shelter and I had a place to stay, though one could argue that it was less comfortable than living on the street thanks to the company. The people staying there were either just released prisoners or women escaping abuse with their kids. If the people I lived with didn't steal my stuff while I was out working the staff would do it. Absolutely despise that place. Around spring time I was finally able to get into income based housing, and my first "rebirth" was complete.

That metaphor has played itself out time and time again in my life. Work hard, make a life for myself, and the world falls out from under me. Something people here may or may not have picked up about me is that I'm extremely self reliant, proud, and I absolutely believe that I can do anything I set my mind to. If I don't know it I'll learn it and master it and move on. That mindset has led to many other scenarios of "rising from the ashes". I absolutely refuse to let the world around me determine who I am or determine my fate. Failure is only an option if you allow it to be. There is always a way to rebuild, to reinvent your skill set and rise again. ALWAYS.

I was at a point at a relatively young age that I felt as hopeless as I believe the human mind can process. Not to downplay the severity of what our military men and women endure but I had the thought several times while I was homeless that being in prison or being a POW had to be better than what I was going through. At least when you are imprisoned you don't have to bear the weight of watching the world move around you and refuse to acknowledge your existence. Out of that hopelessness was born a resolve that I would say is unbreakable. You won't out work me. You won't out will me. You can't, because I won't allow it as long as I have breath in my lungs.

So that's the phoenix part of the name. The ability to continually rise from what others perceive as inescapable defeat and parents that aren't a part of the process is every bit the embodiment of the phoenix in my life.

The digital part, and the complete usage as digi7alph0enix is a reference to how technology and the internet have influenced my life. At one point in my life I taught myself HTML and javascript along with basic photoshop and dreamweaver skills to start a web and graphic design business. I used that money to move to another state close to a good friend of mine that I met online. I've actually sold everything I owned and moved to a new state based on friendships with people I met online a total of 4 times now. Part of the way my attitude plays out in my life is that I'm not afraid of dropping everything and starting over. I've done it more times than I care to recount out of necessity, so why not do it with a little planning to see some new places and meet some new people?

I also have the internet to thank for my wife and son. The two of us met online years ago in World of Warcraft when it first came out and I helped her to escape a situation she was trapped in so that we could be together. That was almost 7 years ago now.

So. I'm digi7alph0enix. And now you know why.

I'm not sure how many people will skip past this one but for anyone with a heart this is amazing story. Glad to see you come out on top again

 

[kronin323]

When I was 19 my son was about to be born. The car I was driving was a Mazda MX6. The car seat didn't fit so I had to get a new car. I went straight to Acura to look at an Integra Type R. The damn car seat didnt fit in that either. So the guy told me that Honda had just released the Civic Si Coupe with a B16 dual cam VTEC engine. So I went down to Honda and tried the car seat. It fit! So I ordered me up a blue one (they only had red and black there). I got into street racing and when I joined a Civic forum SiRacer was the obvious choice. Too bad that was the admin's user name. So I just added the 420 (let your imagination do the rest). Been using it ever since. That was in 2000. Same year I got my first Juliet. Still have both the car and the Juliet. I actually bought another new Si a few years ago I like them that much.

lol the 420 is the only part that didn't need explanation, IMO...

I had always read it in my head as "Sir Racer", doubling the "R", so now I know...

 

[AusOakley]

lol the 420 is the only part that didn't need explanation, IMO...

I had always read it in my head as "Sir Racer", doubling the "R", so now I know...

That's how I always read it too

 

[SiRacer420]

lol the 420 is the only part that didn't need explanation, IMO...

I had always read it in my head as "Sir Racer", doubling the "R", so now I know...

I'm getting a top hat, monocle, and walking cane. Sir Racer it is!

 

[Cargo]

I guess its all about what you know. Ive always read it as SI Racer because Im from the honda world.

 

[QLR1]

I've read it as SI Racer also. I knew that it couldn't be a portmanteau of SIR and Racer lol

 

[kronin323]

I'm getting a top hat, monocle, and walking cane. Sir Racer it is!

 

[SiRacer420]

Oh look it's @OakleyFrankFMJ!

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

Oh look it's @OakleyFrankFMJ!

Damn I'm sexy.

 

[SiRacer420]

Someone photoshop a c6 and FMJ watch on her! If I did it, it would look like a second grader did it.