I am 56, probably one of the older players on this site and it was my 13 year-old son that got me hooked on it. For thirty years I have been plagued by headaches for which no doctor has been able to find the cause or cure for, and this game provides a distraction from that pain. So you guys are part of my therapy.
I am half-German. My mother hails from the small town of Dorfen in Bavaria. I actually went to first grade in a German school. My father--who was in the Air Force--was stationed in England at the time, so Mom grabbed me and my brother and took us to Dorfen. I wore lederhosen, did my homework on a slate, took baths in a metal tub in the keller (Boy, do I feel old!), and by the end of the school year had forgotten most of my English. Every year when Dad got his 30 days off, we went to Germany. In 1972 he got stationed at Rhein-Main Air Force Base near Frankfurt, and in '77 when he shipped back to the U.S., I stayed. I lived in Gross-Gerau and worked in Darmstadt at the Stars and Stripes newspaper. I left in '79. It was a good life and I have many fond memories of my times there.
But now I live in New York with my wonderful wife, Gail, my dog, Remi, and my cat, Kaiser, on two acres right next to the Canadian border. When my health allows it, I do chores around the home, work on wood projects and do graphic designs on the computer. I am teaching myself photoshop. I have a cheap Monoprice drawing tablet and am working up some ideas to sell on the Zazzle web site. The rest of the time I am allowing myself to be your favorite target.
