Nutshell summary of who I am...
I live in El Dorado Hills, California, on the western side of the Sierra Foothills, with my wife and two cats. (We sometimes borrow a neighbor's dog.) I'lll turn 60 years old this year, and professionally have been in software development since 1966, with a head start through the UCLA Computer Club that began in 1962. My original college education was in physics and math, but in truth that was only because there was no such thing as computer sciences yet while I was a student.
Philosophically, I'd accept a label as a pragmatist or a scientist. I'm driven to seek reality and reason, and am most comfortable with things that can be measured and predicted. Politically, I'm nonpartisan, with California voter party registration "Decline To State". I serve as president of my homeowners association, representing 393 homes in my neighborhood, and probably am becoming notorious for opinion articles in local papers that try to bring a pragmaticaly analytical view to local public affairs. This includes advocacy for traffic safety, where my physics background helps to demonstrate that driving 30 m.p.h. in my own neighorhood is riskier than driving 90 in the short straight between turns 4 and 5 at Laguna Seca.
Current and past hobbies include skiing, soaring (flying sailplanes), sailing (including racing), occasional "pleasure driving" on open track days, volunteering as a docent at the California Railroad Museum, and a host of special interests, headed by history of the X-15 hypersonic flight research program. Links to a a few details...
Sailboat racing, off
Marina del Rey in Soling US 389
Flying sailplanes...
Three Grob G103s
at Crystal , mid-1980s.
Waiting for thermals to pop before launching...
This field is at the edge of the Mojave Desert, just north of the San Gabriel Mountains. As a renter I flew each of these Grobs, plus a bunch of other types.
Here's a roster of sailplanes listed in my logbook:
Schweizer: 1-26, 1-34, 1-35, 2-22, 2-32, 2-33
Glasflugel: Club Libelle
Grob: G102, G103
Scheicher: ASK-22
PZL Bielsko: SZD 50-3 Puchacz
Pilatus: B-4
North American Aviation: X-15
OK, I didn't actually fly the X-15 but Scott Crossfield kindly added a note about it in my logbook.
The X-15 is in fact classified as a motorglider according to definitions in FAA and international regulations.
I live in El Dorado Hills, California, on the western side of the Sierra Foothills, with my wife and two cats. (We sometimes borrow a neighbor's dog.) I'lll turn 60 years old this year, and professionally have been in software development since 1966, with a head start through the UCLA Computer Club that began in 1962. My original college education was in physics and math, but in truth that was only because there was no such thing as computer sciences yet while I was a student.
Philosophically, I'd accept a label as a pragmatist or a scientist. I'm driven to seek reality and reason, and am most comfortable with things that can be measured and predicted. Politically, I'm nonpartisan, with California voter party registration "Decline To State". I serve as president of my homeowners association, representing 393 homes in my neighborhood, and probably am becoming notorious for opinion articles in local papers that try to bring a pragmaticaly analytical view to local public affairs. This includes advocacy for traffic safety, where my physics background helps to demonstrate that driving 30 m.p.h. in my own neighorhood is riskier than driving 90 in the short straight between turns 4 and 5 at Laguna Seca.
Current and past hobbies include skiing, soaring (flying sailplanes), sailing (including racing), occasional "pleasure driving" on open track days, volunteering as a docent at the California Railroad Museum, and a host of special interests, headed by history of the X-15 hypersonic flight research program. Links to a a few details...
Sailboat racing, off
Marina del Rey in Soling US 389
Flying sailplanes...
Three Grob G103s
at Crystal , mid-1980s.
Waiting for thermals to pop before launching...
This field is at the edge of the Mojave Desert, just north of the San Gabriel Mountains. As a renter I flew each of these Grobs, plus a bunch of other types.
Here's a roster of sailplanes listed in my logbook:
Schweizer: 1-26, 1-34, 1-35, 2-22, 2-32, 2-33
Glasflugel: Club Libelle
Grob: G102, G103
Scheicher: ASK-22
PZL Bielsko: SZD 50-3 Puchacz
Pilatus: B-4
North American Aviation: X-15
OK, I didn't actually fly the X-15 but Scott Crossfield kindly added a note about it in my logbook.
The X-15 is in fact classified as a motorglider according to definitions in FAA and international regulations.