 |
THE OBSERVATORY About Me As if you really wanted to know ... |
| Does anyone ever read the "About Me" page on a website? Probably not many. (Okay, yeah, about 90 percent of the sites on the Web are vanity sites, entirely "about me." But who visits them?) Still, if anyone's interested, here it is ... |
 |
Navigation
Return to Observatory
About Me
HOT Links! Search GoogleExtrasolar
|
 |
I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but we
left there when I was six. I hardly remember anything about it, with one exception:
Years later when I saw pictures of the Cleveland and Shaker Heights rapid transit
lines -- now, I believe, the Red and Green Lines -- I recognized them right away.
Yes, I'm a train buff. :) After a couple of years in El Paso, we wound up in San Diego. Having lived in California almost my entire life since, I can call myself a near-native Californian. Most Californians are "near-native" anyway. Two years of college at UCSD, then a transfer to UCLA. My first quarter's grades were a perfect 4.0. I graduated with about a 2.8; you can infer my academic career. I did inhale. My major was economics, but climbing the corporate ladder was not my goal in life -- and in the mid-'70s, "entrepreneur" was still an obscure technical term in economics books. (If I'd known programming I might be filthy rich now, but I didn't learn it till years later.) I moved briefly back to El Paso; then I did something completely off the wall and joined the Navy, going to OCS at Newport, RI. In midwinter. I didn't know temperatures of -40F were possible on a habitable planet. In the Navy I liked ship-driving, but wasn't thrilled with the atmosphere and morale situation of the late-1970s. (My ship, USS Peoria, LST-1183 turned out to be a jinx ship; she losts her bow ramp -- her main reason for being -- not long before I joined her, and a few years later some guys from my own old division, CIC, sold magic decoder rings to the Soviets. I don't think it was anyone I knew; I hope not.) So I did my minimum and bailed. But I have the utmost respect for those who stuck it out -- hand salute, guys and gals! Back to school, this time at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, AKA Cow Poly. And I married, literally, the Girl Next Door, nee Paula Darbinian. Since then we've lived on the California coast, she as a community-college instructor and me as a Struggling Writer. Someday we'd like to move to San Francisco, but there's that little matter of money ... If you are moved by the travails of a Struggling Writer, and want to help us relocate to the City by the Bay, go here. For 15 years we shared our lives with our gentle Siamese, Cadbury; alas she now rests under the rose garden. We miss her. On a cheerier note I should mention my sister Julie, and bro-in-law Ron. Hi, Sis! Hi, Ronbo! And also Paula's brother -- also a Ron -- and sis-in-law Aloha. Hiya, too! And for that matter, hi to all my friends who are dutifully dropping by this site! Email me here to tell me how lame it is. Hobbies, interests, and all that? Well, some you can guess from this website; others include walking on the beach and taking train rides. Thank you, Amtrak, for the San Diegans and day-trips to Santa Barbara! I know I should have nice home-and-family pictures here, but I don't have a scanner. Maybe I'll get some scanned and put them up. Thrills.
Okay, enough of enough ... Hey, nobody made you click on this page! -- Rick Robinson
|
|||
Return to Observatory
|
|