Who is This Guy Anyway
The Old Curmudgeon Speaks
Updated January 2, 2005

Hello Again:

A lot has transpired during the 10 plus years RayzRealm (formerly John Bigboote's Area51) has been on the Infobahn. My site's theme and message Yer humble host has changed quite a bit from that default gray page with a half dozen UFO and alien links back in 1985. I originally put the page up just to see what it would look like, and to play around in HTML Shortly thereafter I added a bot of color and a picture, then began adding more and more links, not broken into any categories. Area51 split into a couple of pages, mostly health, fitness and UFO links. It has kept growing and expanding ever since.

I used to get 100's of hits every day, but in the past couple of years visitors have dwindled to a few a day, if that. There have been a number of occasions where I have thought about ending the experiment and taking Area51 off the air, but a part of me wants to keep it evolving and online, so here is the latest revision, just in time for the new year. I have been thinking of dropping the Bigboote's Area51 (I don't know what possessed me to name it that back in 95) name, but that may come later, when and if I ever decide to gt my own domain name. Now on to some older info...

My involvement with the net began back around 1983-1984, when a fellow coworker directed me to some internal computer BBS's at work and then to the Usenet newsgroups. From 1984 to 1987 I was a regular anonymous contributor to a few newsgroups, and during that time, was in contact with about 500 ongoing e-mail penpals. I lost interest in the net and curiosity got the best of me when I kept hearing all this hype about "the WEB" in 1994, The terms The Web and Internet had not yet become a household word among the unwashed masses yet.

About me:

Yes the above picture is yours truly, taken January 2, 2005. Sorry if it scared any small children or household pets.

I was born and raised in the once fabulous mill town of Lowell, Mass. where I grew up in a typical dysfunctional family, and equally dysfunctional Catholic parish.

You might say I have seen and done a lot in my 57 or so years here on the planet. After high school and tech school, Uncle Sam showed up at my door and asked me if I would like to go to Viet Nam. I was not crazy about the idea, but he insisted. I spent 4 years in the United States Navy working on airborne data systems. I got to visit...oh about 15 countries and learn all about computers, which I swore I would NEVER touch again.

Upon honorable discharge I attended Lowell Tech, back in Jack Kerouac's "Strange Dark Lowell" and majored in Business, minor in Psychology. Once again, I was faced with computers and took 2 years of COBOL, which I swore I would never touch again. During and after college I worked for a number of high tech companies, finally settling in with the one remained with for 23 years. As fate would have it, it was a large High-Tech company. I got "downsized" after they merged with another company, which has scene merged with another company (fuck all this globalism bull shit!) I have been currently working as a Systems Analyst (that's what my job description says anyway) for a small private company that does fraud investigation work for the risk management industry. So far I like it there fine.

Political leaning: Dress and lean more left, unrepentent godless Democrat / Independent.

Race: Slightly off white, French/Italian/Irish mongrel, paper trained.

Religion: Gave it up for Lent years ago, recovering Catholic/Fundie.

Occupation: It says Systems Analyst in my job description, so that's what I guess I must be.

Favorite food: Anything but seafood, but lean more toward Italian, Asian, Salads, Chicken, dead cow and pig and American comfort food.

Favorite: Music: Anything but opera, bubble gum, top 40, country/western, rap, hip-hop or Bubble gum top 40 c/w rap hip-hop operas.

Favorite Movies: Film noire, dry humor, sci-fi, spook/spy flicks, Britsh comedy, movies with really good convoluted get inside yout head and rearrange the furniture plots. I'll take great acting and a well written plot over car carashes, explosions, shoot outs, kung gu and special effects any day. If the movie was a box office smash you probably won't see me rushing out any time soon to see it, Hollywood caters to the lowest common denominator. 

Favorite TV: Most is raw sewage, but watch PBS (when they're not fishing in my pockets for donations), Simpsons and shows that tend toward the bottom rungs of the Nielson ratings.

Hobbies: I have too many interests and not nearly enough time for half of them. Some of my past and present hobbies are: reading (voracious), writing (mostly human interest, personal observation and recovery articles), weight lifting, audio, video and general electronics tinkering, computers and programming, cooking, bicycling, music (anything except rap and opera or rap operas), self help issues, holistic medicine, religion (study of the Christian faith), disk jockeying, studying human nature (well I was a psych minor) and the list could go on and on and on........

Likes, Dislikes. What floats my boat

I was always out of step with society, and still am. As I get older, I'm turning more and more away from material things. RayzRealm consists of a couple of comfy chairs, a TV, aging stereo system and CD collection, some movies, lots of books, my desk and computer stuff, cookware and of course a simple platform bed and chest. OK, I'll throw in a few (inexpensive) but nice prints. The only high tech kitchen gadget I own is a microwave oven, the rest is all manual stuff; well ok, a Mr. Coffee machine. Besides clothes (mostly jeans, Dockers, tee and sports shirts), I have a 21 speed bike an Toyota Corolla. I don't even own a house, which as I look back, wish I was much smarter with money in my youth. If I did buy a house, it would be a small, rather unremarkable Cape or cottage. Thank you greed, and the "Biff and Buffy" yuppie set for pricing us working stiffs right out of the market.

I enjoy peace and quiet; curling up in a comfy chair with a good book, some herbal tea and quiet music. Many would consider this a waste of spare time, when I could be out day trading, playing the market and making zillions of dollars. A great vacation is taking day trips around Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Most people I know say that I'm a WYSIWYG type of guy, no pretense, I say what I mean and mean what I say, no added frills. Being honest and speaking your mind does not gain you a broad circle of friends and admirers. I'm also a long time cast member of the Bill and Bob variety show

My major dislikes: yuppies, neocons, the BFEE, globalism, commercialism, reality teevee, tabloid journalism, pretentiousness, big egos, greed, self importance....all of the things that pass for virtues in the 21st century.

Peace, Ray