I like the internet, because...

... it gives me the opportunity to talk to people from all over the world, an this is like a gift!

Today is my 53rd birthday, and I am online for exactly 20 years now.

What about you...?

Kind regards from Germany!

Michael

Happy birthday, Michael. I love the internet; besides allowing me to communicate with my fellow roadfooders, it gives me access to a mind-boggling amount of information on virtually every subject imaginable. It has really lived up to its early hype as the "information superhighway".      

Thank you, nocarolina!

In the year 2001, I was able to find and contact my american father via the internet, after 45 years of not knowing this person, we met in the same year here in Germany, for the very first, and perhaps, for the last time...

In the last years, I even got contact to schoolfellows from the early 1970s, in Scotland, England, USA, South Africa, France, Hongkong, from all over the world.

Very often touching encounters, after so many years, but always very precious, I appreciate all this very much...

Kind regards

Michael

I used to play an online game called Air Warrior. It was the very first online massive multiplayer game. It was pretty simple, you got in WW2 airplanes and flew around and shot people down. What happened was, as more and more people found out about it, they formed squadrons, and planned times to go online and fly together, and worked on tactics, and planned raids... there was no structure, no "gold", no points, just people from around the world playing a silly game together. And in the bombers, you could pair up; you and another guy, or 7 other guys in a B17, could fly together, with pilot, copilot, gunners, a bombardier... the works.

Anyhow, I was playing Air Warrior, and this feeling hit me. I was in my basement, playing the rear gunner in a Stuka dive bomber. The pilot, Spjut, was a mathematics professor somewhere in Sweden. We were on opposite sides of the world, looking at the same virtual reality from different perspectives, him looking forward and me back... we were on a mission to bomb a Japanese carrier (there was no attempt at historical accuracy) that was gunned by 5 guys from England. My squad mates in the attack were from the USA, Mexico, Canada, 2 from the UK, and one from Holland. And I thought to myself, how the world was all of a sudden so small. And so much of what we call reality really is constructed inside of our minds.

Most of Air Warrior's community has been absorbed into Aces High. I never really got caught up in Aces High like I did in Air Warrior. The game is technically better, but socially not as strong. Air Warrior had legends, stories, literature. Oh, well. I was happy to be part of it when it was there. EA bought it and killed it.

I like it for all the information available at my fingertips.

Moin Mosca!

I used the net to research german military history for many years. http://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/

Meanwhile, after more than 10 years in these g/e fora, I am tired. "Food" is a very nice smalltalk besides the everyday problems, who hit us all then an now. A relief, a recreation, fun, just smalltalk.

CU in Germany, for a smoked Eel...!

Kind regards

Michael

I play in food, travel (timeshare user group), photography, Miatas. I cut back on a lot of stuff a few years ago, it was too much writing and not enough doing.

Belated Happy Birthday, Michael!  I have spent most of the day at a birthday "party" (get-together) for my daughter-in-law's mother. 
 
When my adopted son got married a couple of years ago, he married into a very interesting family.  His wife's grandmother (still pretty active at 85) was originally from England, and her second husband worked for Caterpillar designing buildings for Cat in foreign countries, so they and their children lived for quite a while in South Africa.  My daughter-in-law's mother is a school psychologist, and all of them are musical (the grandmother still gives piano lessons), so the almost-monthly get-togethers for birthdays and other holidays (for which I am also included) can be intellectually stimulating and loads of fun on many different levels.
 
To get back to the subject of this thread, I have had a computer for about 10 years.  (I got it a short time before I retired at age 65 1/2 after 37 years in the grocery business).   I had an idea at that time that I would start my own business (as a retirement project) giving travel advice to families who wished to drive (and camp) on their vacation rather than employ a travel agent to book expensive flights, hotels and cruises.  I felt qualified to give this advice, since during my lifetime I have driven and camped all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, Belize and a small portion of Guatemala, specializing in seeing a lot of unusual places that most people probably don't even know exist.  I planned to use the resources of the internet for up-to-date travel information as well as contacting the potential "customers" for my services.  It was about this time the bottom dropped out of the dot.coms, so that ended my business plans.  Luckily, I have a fairly good pension, so with careful money management, I am not dependent on this hoped-for "retirement project" for my basic needs.
 
When I was younger, I was a Boy Scout and achieved the rank of Eagle, so now I work as a Troop Committeman with a area Scout Troop.  About 8 years ago and again 2 years ago, I planned and led an 11-day trip for our Troop to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where we saw and did 40 different things.  Including all admissions, camping, food (we did no cooking in order to have more time to see and do things) and their proportional part of the gas for the trip, the total cost per person was $500, and the boys (and leaders) all loved it.  Without the internet, the trips would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to organize.  On a smaller scale, we have a Troop trip coming up next Saturday and Sunday to the Quad Cities (IL & IA) where we will see and do 8 things (Hauberg Indian Museum, Mississippi River Visitors Center, Lock and Dam Tour, Rock Island Arsenal Museum, Putnam Museum, Wildcat Den State Park, Pine Creek Grist Mill and John Deere Pavilion), camping overnight, for a total cost of about $30 to $35 (including admissions, camping and food).

Thanks 6Star!

Today we enjoyed a day trip to the North Sea Island Juist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juist

Juist is my fav. North Sea Island, cars and motorcycles are not allowed over there, my fav. time to travel to Juist is autumn and winter, when there are not so many tourist people like me around... 

We had a good seafood meal, crabs, smoked fish, fried fish, and the typical german Kartoffelsalat (Potato Salad), YUM!

Juist is just lovely, so quiet, charming, so..., a heaven on earth...

The low german name for Juist is "Töwerland", this stands for "Zauberland" (Wonderland). http://www.juist.de/

CU in Germany!

Michael

happy birthday Michael Germany!
I am going to be 53 in December & have no intensions on being on this thing on my birthday.
sorry man, to each his own but on your b'day you should be celebrating with people in the flesh. the closer the better. with a good German beer in one hand, a Cuban cigar in the other, & a pretty girl under your arm.
like I said... to each his own...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Michael.

Moin Bob!

It was my wish, to invite a few friends on my birthday, in earlier years, we used to visit concerts at such a day (ZZ TOP Dortmund Germany 1986...), nowadays, a little older, we like it more quiet, relaxed, and it feels very good.

I have never been a "Party-Guy", some good german beers, a little nice food, a fireplace, and good talking among friends, what else can you ask for...

Thanks for your kind wishes!

Michael

In the internet...

...I was encountered with very harsh so called "Flame-Wars", a person from England, threatened me with the threat "We will burn you with gasoline, Jerk!".

The man is very well popular english/irish author, I do not like to mention his name, but the threat was very serious.

Sometimes, it is very scary, how two persons, who do not know each other personally
"react" over the internet, I better stay away from all this, for my personal calm...

Kind regards

Michael

Mosca



Most of Air Warrior's community has been absorbed into Aces High. I never really got caught up in Aces High like I did in Air Warrior.
The game is technically better, but socially not as strong. Air Warrior had legends, stories, literature. Oh, well. I was happy to be part of it when it was there.

EA bought it and killed it.

oh, sorry. I thought you were describing a website called Roadfood. :)