User:CaptSolo

Background

Third generation American citizen born February 1, 1946 in a small town in North Dakota. Father's parents were German speaking citizens of Russia. Their ancestors immigrated to the region around the Black Sea during the reign of Czarina Katherine the Great. Time and circumstance played a part in my paternal grandparents immigration to America. They arrived 1913 aboard the Rotterdam III at Quebec, Canada and made their way thence to North Dakota via the Canadian Pacific Railway. I knew these people very well and often pestered my grandfather with questions about his youth and experiences. He lived to the ripe old age of 93 and his mind was sharp till the day he died. I know less of my Mother's parents. Her mother died when she was just six years of age. She was of Polish heritage and grandfather was German. This makes me a European transplant to America as are all Caucasian people who live in the USA, some of whom still know their heritage and honor it.

Growing Up

My parents were farmers and from the age of eight me and my brother worked beside them. It was hard work but a good life on the whole. North Dakota in summer is very hot and the constant work in the sun and wind burned our bodies brown. But it all seems so long ago now as I grew and received education and aspirations took me away from home. In my younger days I would still return there from time to time. There is nobody there now; just a few run down old buildings leaning and falling down, battered by storms and the ravages of time. My parents are gone too but as long as I live they continue in my memories.

Work

I trained and worked in the health care industry as a respiratory therapist. After graduation, I worked for awhile near San Bernardino, California. Then one morning I awoke from a dream in which I heard the wind rustling through prairie grasses and smelled the fragrant smells of grass and wild flowers. This experience is probably akin to an old sailor who misses the salty air of the sea. So I returned to my origins and have remained here to this day.

Computers & Elite

One day in the mid 1980's, while working in the Pulmonary Function Lab, our department head brought into the lab an Apple II computer. That was the beginning of my adventure with computers. In the lab it was supposed to be all business - a device to record patient test results. But I found myself staying long past clinic hours just to tinker with it. It had a primitive DOS via BASIC commands. I was hooked and began shopping around for my own personal computer and found it: The Commodore 64. This machine was more advanced at the time than the Apple II. In short order I taught myself BASIC and even dabbled in Assembly. I subscribed to a couple magazines geared to the C=64. Those were good times indeed, especially when I joined a local C= users group and exchanged ideas with its members. It was about this time I discovered a game called "Elite", originally programmed by David Braben and Ian Bell, two brilliant British guys. I got chills every time the game finished loading, the title SID tune began playing while the Cobra Mk III rotating in space. "Load New Commander?" Absolutely brilliant game! Space trading, combat, and adventure all rolled into one. For about a year I played no other game. So immersed at times it seemed I was alone in space in my ship and just about anything might happen.

Oolite

After the C= days I purchased several computers. Even though my C64 still functions I rarely use it anymore. I discovered emulators for it and relived the old days with them. Then one day I Googled, "Elite Galaxies". In the list there was a reference to a game called "Oolite". Hello! I installed the game, launched it, and could not believe my eyes. There before me was that trusty old Cobra Mk III all beautifully textured and polygon filled. But Oolite plays differently than Elite. The main thing is the player is no longer the center of the game. The player is placed into a scene where other things... other events are occurring. For example, one might come upon a space battle that you can avoid or participate in. It is a deeper experience all beautifully done for modern computers and it has one other advantage: It can be expanded by addition of user crafted OXP's. It didn't take me long to try my hand at authoring an OXP. Some people were making new ships or modifying existing ones. That piqued my interest but I had no experience working with a 3D modeling program. Oh well, no harm in trying, and after a month fumbling with a program called, "Wings3D", the pieces started falling into place or rather into my head. And so, among all my other activities and interests, I am still playing (near to being deadly) and have produced two ship OXP's: The Copperhead and the Accipiter

Favorite Things

Books: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
Authors: JRR Tolkein & Alf White (pen name: James Herriot)
Subjects: Science, history, and literature
Sports: Golf, Soccer, and Baseball
Pro Golfers: Padraig Harrington & Martin Kaymer
WC Teams: Netherlands & Germany
BB Teams: Atlanta Braves & Minnesota Twins
BB Player: Henry Aaron