Introduction
By Cliff Caplinger
Hello, I apologize for not doing this sooner as I too have been lurking for several months, enjoying and learning from each issue of MMD; we are very fortunate to have so many people, in all parts of the world, sharing their knowledge with us. I notice that the average age of the demo- graphic poll is rather low, because not enough of us "old folks" are responding, so I decided that I should introduce myself and submit my own information, raising the average a bit.
I am 62 years old and lived in the Los Angeles area for 35 years, while working for Rockwell International, as an electrical engineer; of course it was called North American Aviation when I started there in 1955. I retired in 1990 and moved 200 miles North to a remote mountain community at 6,500 ft, where neither electrical power nor telephones are available, not even cellular; quite a change, and I love it. Now, with my Satellite TV system, I can watch newscasts showing others in the traffic jams.
For electrical power, I installed a rather large solar system and haven't needed to start my generator in over 5 years, except for maintenance purposes, even though we have had some severe Winters during that time. For Internet access, I had my own phone line installed at a friend's house in Ridgecrest, 50 miles away. So once a week I drive to town and download my e-mail, bringing it home to read at my leisure. Of course I'm usually a week behind in reading MMD.
My collection of mechanical music instruments is small; an 88-note "Bond" player piano and a Seeberg Model E, both in need of restoration, which I hope to do myself, with info acquired here. I bought them both around 1965, the piano at an auction (working great) and the Seeberg from a pizzeria. I went there after seeing a newspaper advertisement for "an electric piano, not working, for $400". When I got it home, I discovered and reconnected a loose hose and it played beautifully for the next 20 years, but not anymore.
In closing, I would like to mention to Jody and Robbie that I liked it *just the way it was*. Their informative and sometimes humorous comments were always interesting and made the MMD more enjoyable to read.
I submit the following to raise the average a bit:
6/34
Inyokern, CA 93527
47.76 (guess)
Cliff Caplinger, 2B-2 Kennedy Meadows, Inyokern CA 93527 |
(Message sent Thu 27 Feb 1997, 00:29:54 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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