: About Me

I call California's Central Valley home for now - specifically Bakersfield (home of Buck Owens & Merle Haggard). Yet, I'd never been a big fan of Country or Western music until recently.

My adult career started in the military (Army) and I've had the pleasure to travel and find that people around the world are all basically similar in their quest for understanding and of basic needs to support their families. After retiring from the Financial Services sector, I've worked in the library system and had my own business.

Reading is a passion for me, as is art and inquiry into other fields of endeavor. I have participated as a background actor in movies and commercials in L.A. and taught SCUBA diving, photography, calligraphy and billiards. And I still love to travel and go camping around the United States.

Helium.com has given me an additional forum to meet other people, share or debate opinions as well as provide for potential income opportunities.

My passion is ...

Expanding my knowledge of people & the universe

I know too much about ...

What I like and dislike and need to challenge my barriers

My parents always told me ...

to take out the trash!

My childhood ambition ...

to be a famous baseball pitcher

My favorite memory ...

My marriage to my wife of 33 years.

Why I write ...

To learn to communicate more effectively to share ideas.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

"Leaving Jack" by Gareth Crocker; "The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan; the "Colbert Report"

My first job ...

paperboy for the Sunday Los Angeles Times

My best moment ...

Too many to name just one - but I love competition and discovery!

My inspiration ...

Each person's ability to adapt and believe in themselves. I do not believe in "Hero's" per se, but in the human spirit.

• Helium Charter Member