Welcome to my web site. I am a retired engineer now living in the northern California wine country. I was raised in Wisconsin, went to college in Minnesota, and lived in Arizona before moving to California. I spent 25 years working in Silicon Valley but decided to bail out before it drove me crazy. (Yes, the stuff you read in Dilbert is real.) I now spend my time working as a volunteer. It's fun and emotionally rewarding but doesn't pay well.

My wife of thirty years, Laura, is also retired. She works at a bird rescue place and also is involved with the local chapter of the American Sewing Guild (ASG). Laura and I like to canoe and to go bird watching. Sometimes we can do both at once.

This is my first attempt at creating a web page so it may look a little ragged at first. I'll fancy it up as I learn more about html. I plan to have a photo album showing what our life is like, some pages describing our volunteer work, and maybe some of my family history, for the genealogists out there.

We are sorry to report that Mrs. Owl disappeared during the night of May 5, 2006. She was missing from the box all the next day and we feared the worst. Mr. Owl is still around but alone. Barn Owls are subject to predation from Great Horned Owls, which are bigger and will attack anything. Additionally, Barn Owls frequently are hit by cars at night. Whatever happened, she is gone, illustrating why the experts say the average Barn Owl lives only 18 months. I cleaned out the box and put fresh pine shavings in it. The six eggs will be donated to the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, which will use them for research. We hope that Mr. Owl will find a new friend and start over.

Well, new to me, anyway. I've had it for just a month. It is a Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel, 21 years old (it votes an independent, environmental ticket). It runs on biodiesel, which you may have read about. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil rather than petroleum and so is not dependent on imported oil. The car does not need to be modified; performance and fuel economy are about the same. The exhaust does not smell like French fries but at least the typical diesel stink is gone. At the moment, biodiesel is more expensive than "dinosaur" diesel. I belong to a co-op. which buys biodiesel in bulk and passes the savings on to its members.

I have never owned a Mercedes or a diesel so I have a lot to learn. I'll post news and pictures as I have time.

Last updated 11 May 2006.