Gandalf's Short History

I grew up in an area that is now known as one of the greenest cities in the US. The only bad thing was that in the winter it was in one of the areas that was also one of the coldest and whitest (snow). But I did like the out doors and spent most of my free time playing outside and climbing the mountains (hills) that were near to us. I still like to be outdoors more then being in the house.

We had a radio and then later a B/W TV which was on a whole 5 hours a day. Can you believe that? It was a giant box holding a large 12" screen. Now that was class. This is surely telling you how old I am.

When I graduated from High School, I tried to find a job, but they all said there was none available and I didn't want to work in a store so I joined the USAF. They first told me that I would have to wait 6 to 9 months and I said OK, I'll wait. At the beginning of December 1957 they said that they had an opening if I wanted to leave right away, and I said I'm ready. So I joined on the 18th of December 1957. As I had joined the Air Force, they flew us down to San Antonio, Texas. That was my first of many flights that I have taken in my life and I still enjoy them and can sleep just about anywhere.

After only 4 weeks of training in Lackland AB, I was sent to Keesler AFB, Mississippi where I learned morse code. As we had to learn to receive at least 20 words per minute (a word is composed of 5 letters/numbers) we were in the school for 6 months. Upon graduation I was sent to Sembach AB Germany. That was the first of many places that I was sent to during my career in the AF.

Upon retireing from the USAF in 1978 after 20 1/2 years I moved to the Netherlands and became a computer programer working on a large IBM machine. I worked for the company for 7 years, advancing from a trainee programmer to a system analyst working for their R&D dept. Knowing that I had reached my peak in the company and wanting to do more I started to work for a software house where I was sent to a number of different companies to assist them in development of new systems. This included teaching a new group within KLM in Amsterdam on how to use their new table top computers (IBM 8086's).

As the military had introduced me to traveling to different places and being able to meet new people and enjoy their way of living, I have continued to see other areas that i had not seen before. This is were I have learned to consider myself more of an International, not just an American.This is a reason for me to comment on the enigmas that I have observed.