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Since I retired and moved to The Villages (Florida) I've developed new interests and have taken some time to do some things with old interests that I never had time for while I was working.
New Interests
New Interests
♫ I played water volleyball, for two hours a day year-round until recently. It was good exercise and lots of fun.
However, like many before me, I had to retire from it. The mind says YES, but the body (and my doctors) said it is too much.
Oh well, I got 20 years in. That is a lot more than most people get to enjoy it.
Casual Water Volleyball Video. A day at The Villages playing water volleyball
♫ I'm a member of several local theater groups. I've helped with props, sound, and lighting and I have had several minor acting parts.
The funniest play I've ever seen is The Play That Goes Wrong.
♫ I enjoy finding and exploring urban paths.
Previous Interests, Revisited
Previous Interests, Revisited
☺ In my working life, I developed systems using the UNIX operating system. When I retired there was no reasonable home use version of the UNIX system so I had to use a Windows-based PC. I was never happy with Windows. I switched to UBUNTU (very UNIX-like) several years ago and I'm very pleased with it. I still keep Windows around for a few very unusual applications that only have Windows versions.
☺ While I was working, I taught many classes for my coworkers on the importance of retirement planning. I truly hope that some of it sunk in.
☺In junior high school I remember building Knight Kits from Allied Radio (bought out by Radio Shack which later went bankrupt).
Books
Books
My book interest tend to be technical books. I find that for complex subjects I like to have a paper book that I can place notes and bookmarks within as I study it. Some of the best ones for me are:
√ A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
√ Black Bodies & Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette
√ Humble Pi by Matt Parker
√ The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson.
√ The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson
Movies
Movies
My movie interest are all over the place. Some of my favorites include:
♥ Avanti!
☻ The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981) Not the (2005) version
Education
Education
Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Almost all my employment was at Bell Labs (which was owned by AT&T), doing computer research and development. That was the life! I learned allot and had a great time. But that era is done. Almost all of the Bell Labs campuses have be closed, sold off and many are even being torn down.
One of the nicest ones was in Holmdel, NJ. It was a huge plot of land with many trees and lots of open grassy areas. At one end was the Transistor Water Tower. At the other end was this all glass faced office building with a pond. The pond had an island with a quaint wooden access bridge.
In the warmer months we'd sometimes have meetings on the island or on the grass near the trees. The building itself was an advanced design for its time (built 1959-1962). It had an indoor 5 story atrium. The upper floors all had walkways next to the atrium so you could, at anytime, walk from your office and see it. The upper floors over hang the lower floors. I think this was to account for unexpected bounce tests so that the dropped object would not accidental be dropped on any floor except the bottom. The open glass elevators were something very unusual for the time this building was designed.
Previous Projects
Previous Projects
I've developed a PC based light board and a Lightweight Program to Control Sound Effects for my community theater groups.
A cheap foot operated page turner for tablet computers.
Game Rules
I play several card/board games from time to time. Since we all retired in my community we have the time to think about how games can be improved for all by making changes to the original rules. Here are several that games that we have enhanced the rules to make them more enjoyable.
Email: michaelveach43213@yahoo.com
Shortcut to this page http://www.tinyurl.com/MikeVeach
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