I was born on a military reservation, because I was. My mother took advantage of my father's being in the Army Air Corps to go to the base hospital. It was probably the best available place. Both of my grandmothers were native American, but I was born White. My mother's father was a 'Cajun' but I was still white. What can I say, it was 1952 and white meant that you had better options. During my 'formative' years, my parents were careful to expose me to only the 'white' relatives. I didn't find out that most of my more distant relatives weren't white until I was a grown man.

My parents were schoolteachers, and believed that if they stayed in one school system for too long they would become biased and not provide the best learning environment for the students. This entailed moving every couple of years or so. My brother attended 22 schools before he was graduated from high school. It made him a wanderer and he never got over it. I, on the other hand, didn't attend more than 15 or twenty schools, and am well-adjusted and normal.

In my adult life I have visited 17 countries and lived at least for a short while in 43 of the 50 states. Alaska is too cold and Arizona is too hot. I have been desperately poor, comfortably well-off and almost every level in between. I've never been content. My marriage to the same wonderful woman for 25 years is as close as I ever came to satisfaction.

Growing up in poor neighborhoods resulted in my being an accomplished fighter, and insured that I would never produce children.(Blunt testicular trauma) Poor neighborhoods were the norm for teachers and their families in those days, since trash collectors normally earned more than teachers. Also, we were in Texas, and they paid less than the average state. I remember how thrilled my parents were when they finally reached the point that their combined salaries were slightly over seven thousand dollars per year.

When I discovered that I was about to be drafted, it was 1970 and the Viet Nam war had not yet wound down. I joined the Navy to avoid being sent to a ground war and was lucky enough to be 'volunteered' for a courier post. The post was created when the Naval Island at Da Nang was closed, and consisted of sailors going out and picking up dispatches that were intended for the fleet Admiral and taking them to the Aircraft Carrier that was his headquarters. A chance to see the country on a really personal basis.

When I was accidentally discharged from the Navy, but that's a story in itself, I went back to my 'hometown' in Texas. It was the last place I had lived before becoming a Sailor. I stayed there long enough to attend a local College and study Computers, and then went to work in the Petroleum Industry. I used my education to allow me to operate the power stations used on Offshore oil rigs, because it was lucrative and I got to travel all over the world.

One day I met and married a woman whom I had known, off and on, for almost two decades. When we got together, in the early eighties, we didn't remember one another. Over the years we've come to realize that we met in the sixties at a rock concert, again in Ireland when I was in the Navy, in California, and in Chicago. Seems she traveled almost as much as I did. After a couple of decades I simply do not wish to envision life without her.

She had four children who soon came to treat me much as if I were their real father, and only now, when they are fully grown and living in other places, do they seem to actually think I'm not so bad. I could not love them more, and I will never believe that any father loves his kids more than I love mine.

I'm writing at Helium because I've always written and here is a place to actually write things that someone might just possibly read. If you like my stuff, feel free to tell me. If you have constructive criticism I welcome it. If you just don't like what I have to say, tell me, maybe you're right and I'm ..... But that's just silly.

My passion is ...

Fantasy, Adventure, Science, and fiction.

I know too much about ...

too many things

My parents always told me ...

Are you one of mine?

My childhood ambition ...

Nuclear Physicist

My favorite memory ...

My wife

Why I write ...

Because I can't 'not write'.

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

classical music, the history/sci-fi channel, Temple Of The Winds by Terry Goodkind

My first job ...

A paint and body shop when I was 14

My inspiration ...

Stephen Hawking

Politics, News & Issues > US News Economy sound or economy in danger?

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Just what is the state of the US economy today? Can we believe Alan Greenspan and George Shultz when they predict a "serious economic contraction"? Senator Harry Reid obviously believes them, but why? Citigroup Inc. (C) has warned that it's profits will take a 60% hit for the third quarter, due to "dislocations in the mortgage-backed securities and credit markets," and "deterioration in the consumer credit environment." Perhaps that helps to explain the worst bear market in years. I suppose Wachovia (WB) is feeling the pinch as well, with rumored talks of a merger. Christopher Cox, (SE...

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