Toastmaker, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was an Air Force brat with my brother and we travelled a lot (US, Europe). Went to high school in Texas, Army and Vietnam in 1970, came home and attended an LAPD recruiting seminar right after discharge. Spent 12 years in the LAPD (West Valley, Hollenbeck and Harbor Div.), Had the opportunity to do some very unique and lucrative contractor work in Mexico with their newly formed Policia Federal Preventiva and lived in Mexico for a bit over 11 years. I now do some threat analysis work for an agency (no, not that one) in Wash. D.C. area.
Do you have any animal companions? If so, please describe them or say what you want about them.
Oh yeah! I am an unapologetic cat fanatic. I've almost always had one or two. I like dogs too but just not set up to properly care for a nice labrador or Sheppard. It's just me so I like the "low maintenance" aspect of my cats.
How long have you been a flight simmer and what attracted you to it in the first place?
Ever since Falcon 3.0, I've found the ability to simulate flight (even in those rudimentary days) to be just amazing and captivating. The incredible advancements in graphics and features, to me, is just mind boggling ! I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank all those FS artists who give generously of their talents !
Describe your dream vacation
Well, I've lived a lot in the tropics (Caribbean side of Mexico) so I'd really like to stay at an inn somewhere in Ireland or Scotland and hang around and get to know some folks. Maybe two or three weeks checking out the Moors !
What are you most proud of?
I've done some interesting things and been very lucky a few times. Some of them I can feel proud of but here I'm just going to say I'm kind of proud that I finally quit smoking recently !
What do you miss most about being a kid?
Ever notice how little kids seem to be able to wake up every day in a good mood? I think I miss that !
What does it mean to you to have courage?
I asked C9G if I could answer this question because I note that we seem to have less and less of it in our society as the years go by. I don't mean battlefield courage. Americans have that when needed. I mean the kind of courage it takes to be a good, attentive and caring parent. Or the kind it takes to be an honest and fair employer, or employee, or politician. I think courage means having the willingness to do the right thing when doing so is the most difficult of the options. I hope this doesn't become a "lost art" in our society.
What is the quality you admire most in others?
I think a good and active sense of humor (tempered with reasonableness) makes a person much more adaptable to various scenarios and circumstances and makes them attractive in a lot of ways.
What is important to your right now?
I'm at an age where the tranquility of a quiet life is important to me.
Who is the one person that helped to make you who you are today?
My Dad. Even though he was my adoptive father, I knew no other and he went out of his way to to show my brother and I how to be an honorable man. He taught not only by instruction but by example all my life. When he died five years ago, I felt an unusual and shocking sense of aloneness for a while afterwards.
If you could be an airplane, which one would you be, and why? (This is the question asked by the previous MOTW)
The Space Shuttle (preferably Enterprise). I'd like to be ground-breaking and adventurous but really usefull and needed.
What question do you want to be asked to the next MOTW?
What, in your sole opinion, was the most important invention of the 20th Century?
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