Guess since I've already expressed my opinion a few times, I should officially say hello and introduce myself.

I am Don ("Hello, Don"). I retired from the US Coast Guard in 1995 as a LT, with an occupational specialty in Information Systems. Prior to going to OCS, I flew search and rescue missions as an aircraft navigator out of Cape Cod MA. Go rent The Guardians and you will get a good idea of how I spent my 20s -- trying very hard to not die.

Pic of the big ugly guy available at
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I am spending my"retirement years" (I 'retired' at the age of 42) in rural Iowa, where I am one of four Program Coordinators, a job my wife describes as Glorified Guidance Counselor, at a not-for-profit corporation that gives residential and vocational services to disabled adults (mentally retarded and mentally ill).
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In my spare time (?) I enjoy tinkering on my antique diesel Benz and heading out on the rural roads on my motorcycle. And of course playing with Linux.

Another thanks to Anti for what must be a work of love. Great product. My old laptop lives!

Don

Welcome Don. Glad you are here with the rest of us antiXers. You are going to have fun with antiX!

hey don from another iowan.were not that close though,im in sioux city,which i believe is 4hrs away from you.welcome to antix __{{emoticon}}__

Welcome to antiX dieselbenz.

Have fun with antiX in your 'retirement'.

Where is Iowa? I know it is in the USA, but where exactly? What are its plus and minuses?

Cheers,

anticapitalista

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its not as a great place as where you live anti.in iowa its all cornfields and beanfields.where i live i border 2 other states,nebraska and south dakota. __{{emoticon}}__

Thanks acidburned and dieselbenz.

So Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer wasn't in your neck of the woods. Further south I guess.
You live in such a huge country of many (big) states which here in Europe make up several countries.
I read a book (a long time ago that made a great impression on me) about the native Americans by a Canadian author called Dee Brown"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". I no longer have this book, but is Iowa part of the area that she describes? I guess it is if you havea city called Sioux City within the state.

Anti:

You have the general idea but not the true picture.

Prior to living in Iowa, I lived (going reverse order here) in Jacksonville, Florida (population 1,000,000+), Washington DC and a Coast Guard base in New York City (
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). Before that, Cape Cod, Massachusetts (where the Kennedy family lives).

Acid is correct. We have miles and miles of agriculture (corn and soybeans) in Iowa. But that is why I love it here. I spent decades where you couldn't pass gas without a neighbor hearing it. In Iowa, I can ride (literally) for 50 miles on my motorcycle on back roads and never see another human being, and not too many more houses than people.

The roads are arrow straight, for miles and sometimes tens of miles. But, I can also point the motorcycle twenty miles south of my house and end up riding through long, sweeping curves and gently-rising hills.

Acid lives in a more"big city" part of Iowa. He needs to come over to my part of the state and experience paradise. __{{emoticon}}__

And as you hinted, our state is larger than some European countries!

I believe that story's setting would be just on the other side of the Mississippi River (the east border of my state) but many hundreds of miles to the south.

Where I live, there is snow up to your bum when the wind blows right. Temps of -20F occasionally. Where Huck Finn"lived" it sometimes gets cold enough to put on a jacket.

dieselbenz wrote:I believe that story's setting would be just on the other side of the Mississippi River (the east border of my state) but many hundreds of miles to the south.

Where I live, there is snow up to your bum when the wind blows right. Temps of -20F occasionally. Where Huck Finn"lived" it sometimes gets cold enough to put on a jacket.

And when it gets hot, fish come out of the creek to get a drink at the well:) I go through Iowa on my way to Seattle four times a month. I drive a Tractor/Trailer from The Carolinas to Seattle and back to Philadelphia every two weeks. I am a retired Green Beret (22 yrs).

iowa isnt too bad.i dont travell anywhere.so i cant say much. __{{emoticon}}__

anticapitalista wrote:
I read a book (a long time ago that made a great impression on me) about the native Americans by a Canadian author called Dee Brown"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".

Well I happen to be a Canadian and have a Native American heritage. I beleive your refering to the Sioux Nation, a large tribe.

eriefisher

anticapitalista wrote:Thanks acidburned and dieselbenz.

So Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer wasn't in your neck of the woods. Further south I guess.
You live in such a huge country of many (big) states which here in Europe make up several countries.
I read a book (a long time ago that made a great impression on me) about the native Americans by a Canadian author called Dee Brown"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". I no longer have this book, but is Iowa part of the area that she describes? I guess it is if you havea city called Sioux City within the state.

Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer was based on experiences of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) life in and around Hannibal, MO. Nearby cities would be Louisiana, MO, Clarksville, MO, Quincy, IL, and Keokuk, IA. Wonderful part of the Mississippi River. Samuel Clemens also piloted a riverboat up and down the Mississippi River. Perhaps even on the Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers. Lot's of tourist sites in that area.

It's west of me. I am at the exact center of Illinois. My wife is from Batchtown, IL in between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. I have fished Bass tournaments over most of those areas of the rivers.

__{{emoticon}}__

bucolicbuffalo wrote: I have fished Bass tournaments over most of those areas of the rivers.

Sounds to me like you've just about fished your bass off.

D.

dieselbenz wrote:

bucolicbuffalo wrote: I have fished Bass tournaments over most of those areas of the rivers.

Sounds to me like you've just about fished your bass off.

D.

__{{emoticon}}__