Rockmycar is the online home of Tom Chambers — a San Diego-based journalist and booze slinger who is now going to stop referring to himself in the third person.

This site is my virtual opinion page.

I’ve been in the news biz for more than a decade. I started on an opinion page then jumped into news. I’ve worked for a number of publications in Southern California as a news reporter, opinion writer, page designer, section editor and editor in chief.

Through it all, I’ve seen massive wildfires, recalls, too many elections to keep track of, sex-abuse scandals, good ol’ politicking, local kids kicking ass and more city council and board meetings than I’ve ever had dates. I’ve been lucky enough to win scores of awards for my work and make a number of great friends.

In college I studied journalism and political science.

Originally, I launched rockmycar to store my college-era opinion pieces — mainly so I could reference them and show them off to my friends. When blogging became popular, I added one to the site and eventually it morphed into what you see here.

I’ll use this space pretty much as I see fit — though I do tend to keep my commentary focused on politics (national, state and sometimes local) and media, with some personal stories mixed in.

I don’t post as often as some in the new-media world say we all should, but I don’t like to contribute to the noise. I write when I feel I can add something to, or stir up, the debate.

I describe my political philosophy as conservative with a strong libertarian streak. To clarify (or confuse the matter), Ronald Reagan is my hero, and “Atlas Shrugged” is one of my favorite books.

In addition to the blog, I’ve tried to keep my personal archives up to date as much as possible. If you find yourself lost in the Columns or Editorials categories, you’re reading pieces that I wrote for the paper at which I was working at the time.

That said, nothing posted on this site is meant to represent the thoughts, positions or opinions of my employers — past, current and future. I’m solely responsible for what you read here.

Why use “rockmycar” as the name for the site? The story goes like this: Sometime during the mid- to late-1990s, a young man from one of those faraway countries was working at a finer American clothing retailer. One day, he attempted to say that something “rocked my world” but not being completely familiar with mid- to late-1990s teenage slang, it came out “rocked my car.”

From that point forward, other workers at said establishment began using the phrase — “That rocks my car,” “It would really rock my car if,” “You rock my car …” — and it spread to stores in the chain.

I was one of those lucky ones to catch the fever, and began saying it a little too much. So much so that my friends suggested the name for my Web site.

Feel free to comment on any of the posts, just try to keep it somewhat civil. I won’t delete your comment for calling people names or being too harsh — but anything that’s obscene, profane or libelous will get cut.

You can contact me via the contact page with any questions, comments or messages you don’t want to leave publicly. I won’t fool anyone with the promise of a reply, but you never know.

So grab a beer, a shot of Jameson and have fun reading.