Countermoon.org

Brian Fahrlander

Overview

I'm a guy that loves to travel, fix things, and solve problems (usually with computers). I'm a fan of good ideas and people that do what's right when what's wrong is so much easier.

These days I've grown very used to poverty; I'm a caregiver for my Mom (77). And Linux side-jobs are rare, here. I'm celebit due to religious understanding: "Never betray the children". Not much could destroy the life ahead of me more than a woman being involved. Yeah, I miss'em, but I miss a lot of things from the past.

Childhood

I was an annoying ADD child, and a prodigy. My near-genius curiosity and Dad's love of the road lead to strange and interesting places. Dad had money for pate and servants, but decided instead to show us America. Good choice, Dad.

I had lots of hobbies; many centered on Dad's tour of duty in World War 2. Reading was one of them. Especially if the topic was good. For example, I was once able to identify Soviet armor and knew which ammo (HEAT, HEP or Sabot) would provide a total kill or just immobilize them. Handy information for the modern tanker, but strange and useless for a second grader! Weird. See, Dad took me with him to Army Reserve meetings, I found a book called, "Tips for Tankers on Defeating Soviet Armor" and read it like crazy. He stayed a member until he died in 1983.

My much-older siblings left behind books as they went through school. In a physics book I learned that someone actually knew where a rocket I launched would land and it seemed like magic. Another one told me how fast something had to go, to be shot a certain distance. This was golden for rocketry and/or shooting, though I never really took to guns.

I made more than 300 models from Revell Models and was on their "Grand Master Modeller" list. Big deal. I only made one or two cars, three or four tanks, and several air forces of aircraft. I made count'em: eight, 1/48 scale B-17s, for example. Each nearly as large as that enormous B-25 made by Lindberg Models. (at least I think it was Lindberg).

I flew model rockets as a substitute for R/C (Radio Control) aircraft, I was a model railroader, was a HAM and CB radio operator, made solar cells from silicon, wired computers in 1978, loved submarines, trains, and above all, airplanes.

When I was 10 days old, they took me camping at Lincoln Park. Over the next 15 years I saw 46 states and two, month-long trips to Puerto Rico. I got used to going to bed normally, but waking up in a car, surrounded by suitcases, parked at a Waffle House of some kind. I spent so much time on the road, diesel fumes actually comfort me. I'd swear my Dad knew every Stuckeys manager from Evansville, Indiana to Key West, Florida. One day I 'discovered' women and never went again.

Most people smell a scent and remember a person. I smell a scent and remember a gift shop. But then, while most kids had baseball cards and players as heros, I had real heros. These were boys who learned to ignore their fear to get a job done. And the final outcome was both important and undisputed.

Military Service

I never made it. A couple of times I tried to enter, once as a tank driver but I have bad knees and such. After 9/11 the Army raised the age limit. I almost called the recruiter, but my (fresh from the military) friend told me, "Brian, you wouldn't survive the bus ride." It's a shame he was right: it could have been my last chance to fly, even if it was just helicopters.

I respect the military; I respect what they do for the sake of the rest of us. The same is also true of police and firemen, too. It's what allowed me to be a security guard, despite to slow pace: at least I could be on guard duty. I had no illusions that it was anything more.

Family of my own

I've been married just once, and to my high school sweetheart, but nearly 10 years later it fell apart. I have two great kids, Andrea and Erica in their early twenties. Part of living in Evansville was trying to get work. It's the reason I left back in 1985, in the first place. Everywhere else I can work, it seems. As my marriage was hurting from the poverty, I started hunting for jobs elsewhere.

One night I was trying to sleep in a pickup truck, running-cheap on a job-hunting trip to St Louis. It was miserably hot. I remember thinking, "You can die if you fall asleep on a glacier. Can you die, falling asleep on a hotplate like this?" and just as quickly I thought, "I've got to find a way to do more of this!". That was 'the road calling'. I didn't leave the marriage to get on the road, but it wasn't long until I was divorced and free to go. I miss being in a family, but that ship has sailed. New things await.

Work

I started wire-wrapping hand-made Z80 computers back in 1978; as far as I know I was the only one in my town doing that at the time. Over the decades I've moved from hardware to sofware to administration. Software has less to clean up at the end of the day, and no chance for solder-burned fingers. Administration is a more challenging job that makes people happy. I've become more enchanted with making happy people, than making myself happy.

I haven't touched Microsoft in nearly a decade; I'm a Unix/Linux kinda guy, and I'm pretty good at cleaning things up there. I love the simplicity and the honesty of Linux: it's all about solving problems, not about making you pay more. Windows has more than a million viruses right now. Linux has had six, ever.

My work history is here online; I update it when I learn something is wrong or I do new things. The 5-day attempt at Ameriqual isn't listed. Too much heat and too much standing; I just couldn't do it. But I remember a time when I thought I could do anything. Perhaps if I still did, I might be married?

Nature

I love good ideas, meeting new people epecially from outside the USA so I can learn more truth about the world, outside the media's portrayal. I like to maintain traditions when I can, as there were once good reasons for them, even if they were forgotten, today. I'm a dog-person, not a picky eater, and work to get along with everyone.

And so long as the New York Times doesn't like me, I must be doing something right!