MrSandman

MrSandman 12/24/2004 12:09 PM

Name: Michael Birthdate: June, 1974 Best Quality: I can fix just about anything. Worst Quality: I procrastinate way too much. First Mac: iBook 466se Current Setup: 12inch PowerBook, 14inch iBook, and an iMac 600DV. The 466se iBook I started out with is dead. My dad punched the screen when AOL was acting up (he used AOL...not me). Poor thing just couldn't handle it. I dissected it to see how it worked. I just can't bring myself to sell my old Macs. I will have a Mac graveyard in a few years. What brought you to Spymac? Somebody had mentioned it in the Apple Discussion forums. I peeked in now and then... noticed the Gallery and the interesting people here, so I decided to create a profile and hang around. While it felt more like a community when I joined, you can still get that feeling here... you just have to reach out to other people. Have you made many friends at Spymac? Not many. There are people that I like, but I'm not sure the feeling is always mutual. I never really take that extra step. I mostly argue with people in the Political Corner and Sanctuary forums. There are a lot of really intelligent people here that I respect though. I may not agree with them, but I respect their point of view. Gottesfreunde and derigueurmortis are good examples; I hardly ever agree with these guys, but have a lot of respect for them. On the other hand, there are people I almost always agree with: Graviton, Sergio, Boone, atthisaddress, and RichMedia. I thoroughly enjoy reading their posts. I plan on going to the Member Forums to get better acquainted with more people. Do you have any hobbies? I like to play guitar, paint (oil), workout, fix-up my house, and mess with my PowerBook. I play guitar when I get stressed out. I'm not very good at it; I just play the same stuff over and over, but it is very soothing to me. I haven't painted in a long time, but I plan on doing it again. I really enjoy it, but don't have the space. This summer I'm going to finish my attic so I have a place to "play." I am absolutely addicted to my PowerBook. It's pretty ridiculous actually. My wife gets really annoyed when she knows I have been using it all day and then come home only to open it on the couch and check to see what's going on in Spymac world. My wife thinks I should have done something related to computers instead of what I am currently doing. It turns out that I practically do. I seem to have stepped into the role of Technical Support for most of the people I know at school. It's my fault really, afterall, I did convert them all to the Mac platform (8 people so far...and I've never seen then so happy). Do you have any pets? Pets? Boy, do I! I have 1 dog, three cats, and 2 birds. I could charge admission to vistiors - it's like a zoo. The dog is a Rot/Lab mix we received as a present. Her name is Sarah...the best dog I have ever owned. She is absolutely loyal, protective, and very intelligent. The three cats are my wife's. I really don't like them; too messy (hair everywhere). The birds great. Rocky is a Cockatiel; not the smartest little bird in the world, but he has a lot of personality. We call him Rocky because he has gotten into some scuffles with our other bird, and has the scars to prove it. The other bird, Ruby, is an African Grey. She is about twice the size of Rocky. If you know anything about African Greys, you know they are a handful. They are very intelligent, and often have an expansive vocabulary. When I come home she calls my name until I reply, when she wants a bath, she asks for one, when we are eating, she says "want some" until we share. The funniest thing she does is boss the dog around. She will toss food at the dog and say "Sarah...Stop it! No Biting, Stop it!' It's really fun to watch as the dog just sits there begging for food while the bird "disciplines" her. At night when I am closing up the house she says "ready for night-night" and when I try to get the cats out of the living room before I close it up she says "move it!, move it!". I guess you could say my wife and I are a little cooky when it comes to our pets. We get a lot of enjoyment out of them and treat them like members of the family. You can watch Ruby feeding the dog in my gallery. What is your favourite part of Spymac? I enjoy the Gallery, Political Corner, Sanctuary, and the Lounge. I use to spend a lot of time in the Sanctuary arguing about creationism vs. evolution...but I had to take a break. The Political Corner has been pretty hot lately due to the elections, so I have been reading a lot there. I go to the Lounge when I don't want to have to think about things - I do enough of that at work. What is your favourite food? Romanian and Italian. My wife and her family are from Romania. While I consider myself a good cook, and I'm not dissing my mom or anything, but my mother-and-law is a damn good cook. I can't even describe it. Romanian food is so full of flavor and spice (at least the way she cooks it), it has everything I like. She also makes pastries and desserts from scratch. Real from scratch and not the traditional "American" from scratch (out of a box). She even makes her own mayonnaise occasionally. What is one issue you feel strongly about? Teaching the sciences in school. As a scientist, I feel very strongly about this. Science teaches us so much about life and the way things work - It just seems like it needs to be introduced earlier. Successful civilizations were/are successful due to their use of science in day to day life. Whether it be learning about husbandry, the weather, engineering, you name it. All advanced civilizations were successful because of their knowledge of the natural world and how to apply it. What is the one urge you often get but never act on? I'm married... interpret that anyway you want :) What kind of music are you into? Anything but country. I find myself listening to Radiohead a lot lately. If someone gave you a few million dollars, how would you spend it? Pay off my student loans. Pay off my house. Spread the love around a bit... and save. Of course I would also but buy a top of the line Power Mac with two 30 inch displays, and a iPod photo. I might donate a decent science lab to one of the mismanaged city public schools by me too. How did you come up with your Spymac member name? I'm a sleep researcher. I am involved in clinical and basic sleep research....so I thought MrSandman was a good name. Do you belong to any other online communities? I used to go to the Apple Support forums often. I am a "level 3" there. I really enjoy helping people troubleshoot their problems. Most of what I know about OS 9 and 10 I learned there. I also recently joined the MacScripter BBS Applescript forums. I have been playing around with Applescript lately. What is your favourite season? Fall. Fall in Saint Louis, Mo. is the best time of the year. The colors, the smell, everything. Summers are hot and humid here, so the crisp fall air is refreshing. What is your favourite joke? "How do you make a hormone? ...kick her in the knee." I know, that's probably the lamest joke ever, but what can I say? How long have you been married? I have been married for about 3 years. I was lucky enough to marry the most beautiful person I have ever met. We had our first date on New Year's Eve 98-99... I asked her to marry me exactly a year later. I have never been happier. Do you have any children? We just had our first child. Her name is Emma Catherine and she was 4 months old as of November 17th. She is absolutely beautiful. All you have to do is go to my gallery and you will see what I am talking about. It scares the hell out of me knowing that she might have some of my traits... I used to get into a lot of trouble. If your home was on fire and you only had time to grab one thing on the way out, what would it be? Aside from people (daughter and the wife)...I would grab Ruby (the African Grey). I would not have to grab my PowerBook because I would have already had it on me. How much time do you spend on Spymac each day? Waaay too much. Combined total would be hours some days. Other days I just stop by. With my work, I have periods with a lot of free time. I should be reading articles during this time, but I always find myself checking out the forums. Spymac is totally addictive. Even the people that complain about the "new" Spymac post a least once a day.

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