In between his small town roots in the American Midwest to his current status as one of the Sunshine State's most disgruntled truck drivers, lies the story of Phil Rood that nobody knew. More importantly, nobody really cared either. With that in mind, I'm going to skip the details and give you the "highlight reel" of the life of Phillip John.
Phillip John was born to John and Sue in DeKalb, IL in June of 1975. He was raised on a farm outside of the town of Shabbona, IL(pop. 900). While Phil tries to fight many stereotypes associated with "hick" towns like Shabbona, one he can't deny is that he did learn to drive in a corn field.
Phil lived in Shabbona through his high school years and attended Shabbona High School. His years at SHS were spent playing sports, neglecting homework, learning to drive on the road, and serving hours and hours of detention. In 1993, he graduated in a class of 18 people.
In December, 1993, Phil got on a plane to San Diego, and found himself in Recruit Training for the United States Marine Corps. His four years in the Corps would take him across the country to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he would serve as a Corrections Specialist. Phil would also continue to serve detention, but found out that the word "detention" in the military translated to words like "extra duty" and "push ups".
Phil took great advantage of his liberty time, taking trips up and down the East Coast. One particular trip, in October of 1996, took him to Orlando, where he would first meet Christy. He and Christy would date for a couple months, but split up when they had problems with their long distance relationship.
Phil got an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in December of 1997, and moved back to Illinois. Although he had not faced an Illinois winter in four years, Phil was confident that he was still able to handle the cold months ahead. He was even looking forward to the snow he had been missing in North Carolina.
Six months later, Phil moved to Florida. He made a new home in Fort Myers and got a job that, on the surface, seemed like a dream come true; Phil worked in a warehouse full of Coors Light.
In his eight months with the Coors distributor, Phil earned his Class A license, enabling him to drive a tractor-trailer, but managment there was unwilling to put him on a truck(Phil believes this is because they didn't have a truck worthy of him). He left the company, and with it, his shattered dreams of being paid to be surrounded by beer.
At about the same time, Phil's ex girlfriend, Christy gave birth to a son named Daniel Lane. Phil and Christy began dating again. They would face problems again. They would split up... again.
In the following couple years, Phil would hold different jobs driving trucks in Southwest Florida, while he would continue to interact with Christy and her son, Lane. Everything between the two of them changed forever on August 20, 2000, when Christy gave birth to their son Austin Nathanial at 1:23 in the morning.
Phil and Christy had found a common motivation to continue working out their problems. After a few months, Phil moved out of his swinging bachelor pad and into Christy's house, where they still make their home today.
Currently, Phil works for Seacoast Supply in Naples, FL, where he delivers drywall to all types of jobsites, including high rises. He makes a decent paycheck, but regrets having to work for what he refers to as an "evil corporation" to do it. The end does justify the means to him when he arrives home and is reminded of the satisfaction he gets in supporting his family.
FACT: DESPITE POPULAR BELIEF, PHIL WAS NOT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE CHARACTER OF SHAGGY ON "SCOOBY-DOO", NOR IS HE A COUSIN TO ROCK STAR JON BON JOVI.
The Java Hut 
Christy's Hot Spot
Austin is da bomb! 
Let's go there!
That's all nice, but 
I wanna see some pictures!
I'm done here. Don't you have any cool links?
View Christy's SlamBook!
|
Sign Her SlamBook!
Christy 
Phil
Take me there!