Get to know your fellow Itinerant members

[Hippie]

I'm Rob.
I'm not really a hippie, but with the "hippie" bus and all....
I live in Des Moines, Iowa. Have a '69 PO converted microbus into a weekender camper. Other than that--bone stock.
Had a '64 Beetle for a while but parking and maintenance costs were a bit much. Love to camp, diddle with all kinds of cars.
My brother was a musician but I have no talent that way.
Going back to engineering school in my mid 40s because my back and knees have gotten bad from years of HVAC and electrical work. I was an industrial master electrician in my last gig. Worked on freezdriers and biotech equipment, too.
Married, widowered, married again to Ann now. Two dogs, no kids.
Live in a modest house with a two car garage I keep fixing up in a working class neighborhood.
Never was a jock. Like outdoor sports mostly.
And I am an oil nerd.

[hambone]

Oil nerd! Now that is funny.

[JLT]

I didn't even know this forum existed until a half an hour ago. I'll add my bit to it. I've met a few of you already, and I figure that since I'll be traveling a lot in the months to come, it's only fair that I give the rest of you some warning.

I'm John LaTorre. Age: 62. Birthplace: Upstate New York, but I didn't spend much of my childhood there. Raised in Frankfurt, Germany and various places in the Washington, DC area. My first real job was as a health inspector and educator for the Baltimore City Health Department; my second was as a hang gliding instructor. In 1978, I moved west, first to New Mexico and then to California, in the course of a twenty-year career in the hang gliding business (airframe builder, sailmaker, designer, test pilot, production manager, purchasing agent). Branched out into tentmaking. Moved to Sacramento in 1994.

I've been around VWs since I was a kid (living in Germany has that effect) and have owned and malpracticed on a number of buses.

I play musical instruments (badly) and make them (passably well). I'm an author, but have not finished -- or even started -- the two books I'll eventually become world-famous for: The Bachelor's Cookbook: Fifty Delicious Dishes You Can Eat Over the Sink and the memoir No Truth to the Rumor.

[RussellK]

I didn't even know this forum existed until a half an hour ago.

212 posts in 30 minutes! That's smokin'

[RSorak 71Westy]

Here I am readin along and thinkin I need to post, and lo and behold I all ready did....LOL OLD Thread!

[turk]

I'm a nice guy with a short fuse I guess. I am getting more discriminating with who I let it explode on. I like lots of stuff, like living, struggling, investigating, making, connecting, challenging, disputing, accepting, being, loving, cherishing, moving, stopping, changing, and humor. I have met about a dozen of you. I'm elemental I think. People have said so. I am like a dog. I run and catch and come back. My 'tennas go up when folks try to slam me with baloney. I don't take it laying down. I bark and bite. I get along with cool people though. I'm midwestern and down to earth. I've dealt with the public at large in my jobs for the past 25 years, and I still don't ever think I have anyone pegged. I take 'em one at a time and enjoy the perspectives.

[Cindy]

I have two children, one of whom is featured in my avatar. That's Emmett with his objet d'amour, the humble Corndog. Emmett is 7. My daughter Ruthie is 11. My next avatar will be of her and her Dutch rabbit, Hendrik. That is, if Sluggo wouldn't mind putting up the avatar for me. He finally had to do the current one. I am not so great with computers.

I love to read and I do it constantly; it's almost like an escape. I like quirky, honest memoirs and good old fashioned story-telling novels. I also read a lot of contemporary American poetry and historical analysis. I did my undergraduate work in creative writing, and I'm just about finished with my Masters in American history. I've got my fingers crossed at the moment, hoping to be accepted for a PhD program (in the history of American religion).

I can play the flute and saxophone, but have always wanted to play the oboe. And just last week I decided to take banjo lessons.

I used to be a catcher because I've got a real good arm. I'm allergic to cats, but I love them. I also have a thing for maps. They are in every room of my apartment.

I don't own a VW, but I rode around in Colin's blue bus for about 17 years.

Cindy

[covelo]

I am Hans. I was born and raised in Amsterdam and my girlfriend and I bought a bus in Marin five or so years ago with an exploded engine. We then taught ourselves to install a rebuilt one we bought on the Internet. That was one of the most exhilarating experiences I will probably ever have. When I was growing up my little sister was the handy one and I had never done anything mechanical in my life. The Samba (Colin and Ratwell especially) was an amazing help for us. Since we bought the bus no mechanic other than Colin has worked on any of our cars or scooters.

I moved to New York in 1989 to get a PhD in Public Administration at NYU. I had no money and lived off pizza and bagels for two months before I finally found a campus job. I left Holland because I have a degree in Architecture but no real artistic talent. America and its flexible job market have been very good to me. I am currently a vice president in a large international education research firm.

In 1997 we got tired of the winters in New York and moved to San Francisco, where we bought a small house that we sold a couple of years ago. We now live in a small rental cottage a stone's throw from the beach in Santa Cruz.

We really enjoy living in California but we do feel like we are outsiders and like to spend a lot of time in Europe. Eventually we will probably spend part of the year over there and part of the year over here.

[Xelmon]

Ach, might as well, I need some time from packing.

My name is Adam, and I was born and mostly raised in Szeged, Hungary. Due to a lot of crap going down, my mom finally called it quits, and most of my immediate family followed the middle sibling (1973 born) into the USA, via Portland, OR in 2000.
My eldest sis (1972 born) stayed back home as an anchor.

Since then we've been living here in the US, moved twice in the Portland area, and mom and dad have very good jobs now. They even bought a house back before the market went insane.

I am currently working on my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering here at PSU, graduating in 2012.

I've met the PDX Lab peeps through "Rusty", a 1977 Westy that was horribly rusted in most places. Eventually due to not being insured for lack of money on the friends part who owned it, Rusty was towed away. After piling up 1800 dollars of tow charges on a 750 dollar bus, he let it go...
Since then I've kept tabs with the locals, and been going off and on to the Lab meet.

I've been eyeing buses since I've last driven one, haven't been able to get one due to no job and living from home on my parents dime...
... However dropping ~2.5x on a Honda Civic was noooo issue. Hey, at least maintenance is rare as hell. =)

I like computer, downhill skiing, somewhat keep tabs on rallie, biking, reenacting, and miniatures if I ever get to them anymore.

[vdubzen]

ok, i'll bite too

my name is chris and i was raised on a farm in virginia outside of richmond. lived there for about 33 years then decided to start new in new mexico and have been here since.

my mom is german from augsburg, which is near munich in bavaria. my dad is from south boston virginia. i have always loved vw's, i guess that was breed into me by my mom. my first was a 72 super. it was a great car.

out of high school, i joined the marines, learned a few things and then decided to move on. i went to work in the telephone industry. i then moved over to the engineering side and am currently a project manager in the utility mapping and design field.

i was married for 13 years before we parted ways and now have a great friend that i have been with for 8 years. i have a 16 yr old son from my previous life and he has become a great kid. should be earning his eagle rank this year.

currently i am working on 4 vw's, we have a 60 karmann ghia, a 66 sportsmobile camper, a 68 bay window, and a 73 super beetle. the super is a daily driver.

[hambone]

Cindy I didn't know you were map crazy, me too. It's how I find all the cool old history in the mountains. Old maps are so beautifully crafted.

[sped372]

Maps are awesome. They don't need batteries. They fit in your pocket. Here at least there's always a free up-to-date one at the rest stop. Nobody's going to break into your car to steal a paper map.

The final trip of the year we always burn the state map in our last campfire. It's sortof a tradition. Then we get a new one next year and start all over.

[hambone]

Burning the map, that's some heavy voodoo right there. Imagine the spirits that are released, contained only in the memories of your travels. Seems like a good way to get rid of old ghosts and dust bunnies.
We always (always) make fun of Gypsie with his GPS. It seems to get him into the craziest backwoods places, but not the camp. Sometimes you can hear his rig running to and fro across ridges.

The best thing about maps is their "snapshot in time" aspect. They can speak volumes. Maps help keep me sane here in my gray meat locker.

[Cindy]

I like all maps, old and new. World maps, city maps, historical maps (like my National Geographic map of the American Civil War battlegrounds). I have an earthquake map, a map that charts religions. Someday I'd like an old map of Africa, one where the towns have colonial names. That's a window into history right there.

I go to library book sales, especially at my college. They always have some cool ones there.

Hammy--you can see images of beautiful antique maps online.

Cindy

[hambone]

If you ever see any for NW National Forests then think of me! I will pay with those pre-packaged cheeze crackers (with the little red stick)