brief bio
My interests have been dominated by the scientific fields since an early age, astronomy being my "first love" back in grade school (a classic geek-in-the-making). Since I definitely wanted a cool job doing something with science, going to college was a must. Chemistry seemed like a good idea for employment opportunities and it made it possible for me to work my way through college as a laboratory technician at a local chemical plant. That went well enough for about three years until Uncle Sam insisted that I interrupt my plans in order to take a trip to sunny Southeast Asia.
Not long after returning I was able to land a technician job at the chemical plant again and soon returned to school, changing my major to nuclear engineering, which also seemed like a good idea at the time. After graduation, I went to work for a company contracted with experiments for the U.S. Navy's submarine program and was finally doing something cool with science. Since then, I have worked in an experimental power plant in northern California, with titanium casting in Oregon, and have recently completed my working career in R&D and product development with a major technology company here in the northwestern U.S.
Somewhere in the middle of my science-oriented working life, in early 1984, my worldview unexpectedly took on a whole new dimension during a sort of "thought experiment" into the force fields of the subatomic realm. It was as one of those exciting flashes of insight which results in a physical rush, and yet was so much more, and with it came a mind-blowing view of the Universe that was exciting and beautiful, and at the same time, very bizarre -- in short, that the oneness of the time-zero of the Big Bang, and its dynamic essence of creation, exists in that state even now deep in the heart of every atom, like a continuous and dynamic state of Universal First Cause.
As is typical with those who have had a near-death experience or something similar, my view of life and existence changed completely and I could not help but to want to share this exciting realization and new vision with anyone who would listen. Also with such things, comes the stigma of being thought of as someone who has "gone around the bend" a bit. Nevertheless, in that instant I knew my soul had awakened -- before that moment I had not even acknowledged the existence of that part of my being.
At the time, my philosophical explorations consisted of relativistic cosmology and the concept of a universal unified field (considered to be the 'holy grail' of science) and how the geometry of spacetime defined everything we experience. I was only vaguely familiar with the philosophical discussions concerning quantum theory that had begun in the early days, and was even less familiar with real metaphysics and the ancient teachings. Although I now think that my passions had been taking me toward this realization my entire life, my interests quite suddenly expanded into fields of study that I previously had not taken interest in.
For many years I had been putting together a paper which served mainly as a means of personal exploration, but the desire to publish had always been there and the opportunity to do so using this versatile medium was too much to resist. So, born of previous effort while lending itself nicely to continual refinement, that is the primary theme of this site.
In 1988 I got my first computer, a used 286 running DOS, and I have been hooked ever since. Besides the usual office and internet stuff, I enjoy them for planetarium, scientific, and graphics applications, as well as for fun like racing games and flight sims, strategy and battlefield sims.
Aspergersyndrome.org
Most who have known me will say I have always been 'somewhat different'. I have always struggled in social situations, often awkwardly without knowing why, but have at the same time often
excelled in scientific and artistic interests. Fortunately, most of the autistic-like symptoms are not readily apparent at this stage of my life, but they are always there nevertheless.
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My father's family is from Ostfriesland, in the extreme northwestern part of Germany, and his lineage can be traced back to the 1500s. The ancient land of Frisia, or Friesia, which goes back to before the Roman times, covered the North Sea coast of what is now Netherlands and Germany. The northeast region of the Netherlands is today called Friesland, and Ostfriesland, or East Friesland, is that corner of Germany between the Ems River and the North Sea. The Nanninga name is found in both northern Holland and northern Germany.
My great-grandfather Nanninga emigrated to the United States in 1873, arriving in New Orleans when the country was still rebuilding after the Civil War. The family traveled north up the Mississippi River to the rich farm country of Illinois, later moving to Iowa, where my father was born. My grandmother Nanninga was Swedish and I remember dinners at her home being rich in old-world manners and tradition. My father served on a U.S. Navy destroyer during WWII. After, he attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR, where he met my mother in a geology class.
My mother's family was already in Oregon by the time of the American Civil War, but had been in Philadelphia before and during the American Revolution. Following the line of her father's name, her great(x4) grandfather was born in 1738 while still in the Philadelphia harbor, his parents having just immigrating from western Germany. Research of the surname shows that many were well-known glass makers.
in honor of those who are proud to have served
The real natives of Vietnam were the Montagnards. All they needed was a grass hooch, a banana tree, and a crossbow -- they didn't give a damn who ran the country.
The Montagnards always greeted us warmly and were ready to help us with anything, including helping us once with a broken-down truck. We would often leave them candy, cigarettes, canned goods, and such, and as a thank-you, the Montagnard girls would make necklaces for us out of wild seeds. (I still have one.) To their own peril, the tribesmen supported the U.S. involvement because they absolutely hated the communist insurgents. Infiltrators from North Vietnam and the Vietcong would attempt to force them into supporting the communist agenda, but the Montagnards would have none of it.
These fiercely independent and proud people and the beautiful central highlands where they lived their semi-nomadic lifestyle are my fondest memories of the country. The only regret of my experience there is that I feel we abandoned them. I will never forget them.
Da Nhim River near the village of Duc Trong
Typhoon Articles
TRAILBOSS
Cover story -- Our unit operated in section-size groups (2 trucks per section) scattered all over the Central Highlands.
ONE WHO REMEMBERS
The Project Concern Hospital was about 100 yards outside our wire at Duc Trong. They treated the local Montagnards. An Australian nurse was killed when it was attacked by the VC in June.
