Getting to know you: RichB

If you've been reading this board for a while you've certainly seen some good advice next to the name RichB.



Let's get to know RichB!!!


1. Your 8 years old, it's Saturday morning, what do you watch?

2. What is your favorite gadget?

3. What celebrity would you most want to take out/hang out/etc.?

4. Age?(if you dare or care to answer)

5. Tell us about your education and/or career?

6. Ever had any so-called "MacGuyver" moments? If so, do tell.

7. Tell us about where you live.(Been to Boston twice, and loved it both times )

8. Tell us about your first kiss.

9. Tell us about your best quality (real or imagined).

10. Who is your hero?




Please take your time, you've got a whole week to answer.

1. Your 8 years old, it's Saturday morning, what do you watch?

Looney Tunes and Creature Double Feature. I think the latter was a local thing on one of Boston's UHF stations. They used to show campy sci-fi / horror films like "Yog, Monster from Space." Great stuff.

2. What is your favorite gadget?

I didn't even own a computer or a microwave until relatively recently, and I still don't own a cell phone. I must have been a luddite in a previous life. I don't know if a cable modem counts as a gadget, but after years on aol dial-up I have to resist the urge to hug the little guy every time I sit down at the computer.

3. What celebrity would you most want to take out/hang out/etc.?

Jennnifer Connelly

4. Age?(if you dare or care to answer)

36

5. Tell us about your education and/or career?

I have degrees in liberal arts and computer science. I didn't go to college right after high school. Instead I worked a bunch of boring jobs for years until I realized I'd better do something constructive. I went back to school, studied history and developed an interest in computers while writing research papers, so I studied computer science after history. When I hear young people saying that they're sick of school I can't help but think of how happy I was when I returned after ten years in the real world.

6. Ever had any so-called "MacGuyver" moments? If so, do tell.

I don't know if it qualifies as a MacGuyver moment (never actually seen MacGuyver), but when I was about 12 my older brother took his busted stereo back to radio shack and they gave him some spiel about the "transistors burning out" and talked him into buying a new one. I took the old one home, disassembled it and discovered that the little metal strip in the on/off button was bent out of shape. I unbent it and had myself a stereo that lasted about ten more years.

7. Tell us about where you live.(Been to Boston twice, and loved it both times )

I live in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, not too far from the JFK library. I grew up here, and although I've lived elsewhere I always gravitate back here eventually. I lived in Vermont for about a year and would like to move back there someday. It was a nice change from the city except when the temperature went to about minus 20 one night and the pipes in the rented farmhouse started bursting.

8. Tell us about your first kiss.

The proverbial girl next door at a cottage that my family rented one year. It turned out to be a memorable summer.

9. Tell us about your best quality (real or imagined).

I like helping people. It sounds a little corny, but I do.

10. Who is your hero?

My grandfather. He grew up poor in the projects of South Boston and became a very successful business man. He had one of the first liquor licenses in Boston after prohibition was lifted and starting with a liquor store, he wound up owning buildings overlooking the projects that he grew up in. He was a larger-than-life family patriarch and insisted that all his grandchildren get college degrees - even the youngest one who took the long route.

I vote YES! A cable modem counts as a gadget. I don't know where'd I be without mine.





Wow, I had very similar experiences. For me, I really needed that time in minimum-wage jobs to give me a real grasp on things. Like you, when I did make it back to school, I had developed a passion for educating myself. I know exactly what you're saying about young people.



Has any Radio Shack employee ever actually fixed anything?

LOL.



My parents lived in Worcester for 2.5 years, and I went to visit them twice. There was almost nothing about Boston that I didn't like. Not only Boston, but all the little towns, the history, the authors. I was there for the autumn leaves on one visit. I don't think I've ever seen a fall more beautiful than the one in Massachusettes. I hope to go back when my kids are old enough to appreciate the history and all.


Thanks for the answers!!!

I particularly loved the answer to number 2 "hug the little guy"

That's exactly how I feel. After using broadband for the last 3 years, it would just about kill me to have to go back to modem! *lol

I agree with you man... I'm happy to be studing, like I've always heard "your future is on your hands"

Let's see -- last year I returned to school and I think I was 44. Prior was like 1980 when I graduated college. The 8 months I spent last year learning computer network administration and support were probably the best 8 months of my life. You're never too old....

Wasn't it the Terminator movie, Dragon? -- "No fate, except what you create" ( or something like that)...I need to check that one. I think it's time to change my sig, so that will be my new one once I find the exact quote.

//Edit
Well that was easy enough! *lol