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What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

My username? Unoriginal. First initial, lastname. I've hung onto it since my BBS days. It was my username on Ward & Randy's, and I've never really had much inclination to change it over the years. If anyone is still archiving the old USENET groups, I'll bet you can find out more about me that you'd really care to know.

Yeah, I have a Tumblr. I have an account at Imagekind, if you like my photos.

I live in Indianapolis, Indiana at the moment.

I love meetups! I've been to meetups in:
Indianapolis IN, Valparaiso IN, Chicago IL, Birmingham AL, Baton Rouge LA, Portland OR, Atlanta GA, Asheville NC, Martha's Vineyard MA, Westport MA, Cambridge MA, Hartford CT, and Portland ME. So far.

Actually started electronic chatting in about 1973, in the military.... built my first computer in about 1984 or 5...ran a BBS when that was popular , self taught programmer.

My hobbies include photography and trains. I have an informal set of photography tutorials here.

My old nick was solopsist. I found it embarrassing after a while, then I had a heart attack, and started wondering when my kids and grandkids might someday look for me on the web. Matt, being the upright, upstanding guy that he is, changed it for me.

I've had a lot of jobs, some paid, some volunteer. I was in the US Army in the 1970's and early 1980s. Among the places I was stationed was Berlin during the Cold War.

I ran a steam locomotive for a few years at a railroad museum. Here's a video of a sister locomotive, almost identical to the one I ran. I wrote a treatise on How to boot a steam locomotive, as well.

If I have any notoriety around here, it's because I almost died from a spider bite, and enough MeFites helped me out that I had to make a post to thank them. I also took "The Last Round" at a meetup in Chicago.

Direct communication with me is possible if you grok (317) 997-5364.