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Thread: Getting To Know Each Other

  1. #1
    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
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    Getting To Know Each Other

    I thought it might be nice to, as we all get to know each other through our hobby, to learn a little bit more about our real lives. For those willing, maybe sharing something that about ourselves that others may not have previously known.

    For me, when I was a young boy (ages 5-6) it was thought that I had an intense learning disability. My speech was poor, I was not interacting much/well with others, and I couldn't manage the use of items like scissors. They began giving me all of these tests to determine my ability to think and reason and calculate because they wanted to place me into some different educational programs.

    They determined that my learning was fine, but it turns out that I was having speech problems as a result of problems with my teeth (I had a fall when I was 5 that mangled my teeth) and intense dust allergies that caused nasal issue. Both of which affected my ability to speak. My scissors issue was because no one realized that I was left handed, struggling with right-handed scissors. Socially, I was just shy because of how I talked. They decided to send me to speech therapy and an allergist, which eventually cleared up my problems and I went on to have very good grades through elementary school. Junior High and puberty....well that's another story.

    Just one little part about me.
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

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    Senior Member NIKV69's Avatar
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    Phil I would much rather hear the DeL Taco story.

    Little trivia with myself is I got Bacterial Meningitis in 7th grade. I had a headache to end all headaches, was burning with fever and basically couldn't move. My mother brought me to the doctor who had a long staircase to get to his office. I never made it. At this point I was barely conscious and all I remember is hearing my doctor say we have to get him to Good Sam.

    Next thing I know I am lying on my side in the hospital and I hear something that I am getting a Spinal Tap. Which felt like someone shoved a telephone pole in my back. Shortly thereafter I'm told I have meningitis and of course the worst kind or something. Also that my mothers quick thinking probably saved my life because left untreated even for a short period of time you could be a goner.

    I couldn't remember anything for three days and lost a lot of weight. After another week I was allowed to leave and still couldn't go back to school for a long period of time which I didn't understand until I could barely get off the couch for a while. I made a full recovery but it was a heck of a ride!
    'My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous.' Andy Warhol

  3. #3
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    I started off terrified of flying, so much so that I wound up delaying flights on two occasions due to my freaking out. I'd shake like a leaf and get sick to my stomach the day before we flew out -I blame it on too my Dateline scare episodes. I got over it in my early twenties...and since went on to enjoy flying quite a bit, obviously!

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    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Just celebrated 30 years of marriage.
    Work in the same job for 37 years.
    Afraid of heights unless I am inside (plane, building).
    Would have been drafted in 1973 if Draft hadnt expired.
    Father was NYPD officer for 31 years.
    Cancer survivor and still fighting!!

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    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
    Work in the same job for 37 years.
    Ha quick clarification......same COMPANY for 37 years!!

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    My first flight(as a passanger, of course) was when I was about 20, Vilnius(VNO) to Moscow - Sheremetjevo (SVO) on TU-134...Back then, it were 2 Sheremetjevo airports - International and local - within USSR...
    Few years later I got a job that required a lot of traveling all around USSR...Longest flight was 9.5 hrs on IL-62 - one of the best airplanes I've ever been on, flight: Moscow-Vladivostok...
    My favorite airplane back the was TU-154, I flew on TU-154 once in a stewardess seat, since no tickets were available on that flight, but I knew someone @ airport, who put me on that flight and on that seat....

    I do work for same Co over 15 years.
    Single(separated for about 10 years)...I've even brought once, early fall, a girlfriend to Bayswaters park...I wanted to take photo's, she got kinda bored...Well, we no longer together....
    [URL="http://www.airport-data.com/photographers/gbmax:5834/"]My Aircraft Photos[/URL]

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    Senior Member megatop412's Avatar
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    Some of you know that I am also a musician and recently got the chance to head into the studio to record an album with my old heavy metal band. We had recorded some demos in the 90's and played some live shows in the midwest before breaking up. We never got signed back then, so when a label expressed interest in a one-album deal, we made the record we had dreamed of making 15 years earlier. I cannot tell you how gratifying that was. AND, we got James Murphy to guest solo on it, how freaking cool is that.

    I am also a solo artist and write and record acoustic/hard rock/speed metal originals in my attic studio. I usually keep the airplanes and music separated in my life, they keep each other balanced out and interesting.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by megatop412 View Post
    Some of you know that I am also a musician and recently got the chance to head into the studio to record an album with my old heavy metal band. We had recorded some demos in the 90's and played some live shows in the midwest before breaking up. We never got signed back then, so when a label expressed interest in a one-album deal, we made the record we had dreamed of making 15 years earlier. I cannot tell you how gratifying that was. AND, we got James Murphy to guest solo on it, how freaking cool is that.

    I am also a solo artist and write and record acoustic/hard rock/speed metal originals in my attic studio. I usually keep the airplanes and music separated in my life, they keep each other balanced out and interesting.
    You did trick me in....

    Music...well, it's a big part of my life...I'm a record - LP collector. I did work a couple years for some small indie label in NYC in 96-98...Yngwie Malmsteen's Magnum Opus was released on that label in US.
    I've heard James Murphy...Speed Metal? I think, Marty Friedman/Jason Becker Cacophony 2 albums are a must in every metalhead's collection.
    My #1 is Deep Purple(solo, related).
    I do listen a lot of music - from classical to disco to heavy metal...
    Lately got into jazz - pop jazz, vocal jazz...A couple months ago I was @ Sarah Brightman concert @ Radio City Music Hall, NYC - what a voice....

    Anyway, if we meet, we could talk a lot about music...
    [URL="http://www.airport-data.com/photographers/gbmax:5834/"]My Aircraft Photos[/URL]

  9. #9
    Senior Member ANITIX87's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil D. View Post
    For me, when I was a young boy (ages 5-6) it was thought that I had an intense learning disability.
    When I started Kindergarten, the district put me in ESL because my parents are from Greece and Switzerland, I spoke no English (only French/Greek at home), and I didn't know "American traditions" (the school's words). My parents both speak fluent (if accented) English and 6 months later I was out of ESL and then spent the rest of my elementary/middle/high school years in gifted/honors programs. I know it sounds conceited, but I speak better English than 99% of Americans despite it being my third language, because I learned it through school and books, rather than through speech, colloquialisms, and "spoken" language.

    Quote Originally Posted by NIKV69 View Post
    I made a full recovery but it was a heck of a ride!
    Are you sure you're recovered fully? Sometimes I'm not entirely convinced your head is totally right...

    Quote Originally Posted by jerslice View Post
    I started off terrified of flying, so much so that I wound up delaying flights on two occasions due to my freaking out.
    I love flying (and aviation, obviously) but I have a crippling fear of it. In 1996, I flew on N93119 on the day she crashed, coming home from ATH. In 1998, I flew on HB-IWF on the day she crashed, coming home from ZRH. Every since then I can't shake a debilitating ominous feeling. I also get severely airsick so that's always in the back of my mind and doesn't help calm me. Once the plane takes off, I'm fine, unless the flight hits rough air, and then I get sick.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
    Afraid of heights unless I am inside (plane, building).
    Me too! This is very common, I find.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gintaras B. View Post
    I've even brought once, early fall, a girlfriend to Bayswaters park...I wanted to take photo's, she got kinda bored...Well, we no longer together....
    I brought my ex-girlfriend to Bayswater (and the Mounds, and Panera) all the time - Nick/Mark/John/Sergio/Manny/Phil all met her at some point - and she was always at least willing to humor me, even if she didn't have the same interest (she even bought me my 50D and my 100-400L). It's nice to find in a girl, and you and are I both going to have to find that in our next lady-friends!

    Quote Originally Posted by megatop412 View Post
    recently got the chance to head into the studio to record an album with my old heavy metal band.
    One of my bucket list items is to get into a studio and record a piece of classical music I wrote many years ago. The Lehigh Philharmonic performed it when I was at school there, but I want a good, professional recording done.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gintaras B. View Post
    Anyway, if we meet, we could talk a lot about music...
    Same here. Let's form the Official NYCAviation Orchestra!


    Some more interesting tidbits about me:
    I was born in Lansing, Michigan.
    I speak fluent Greek, French, and German. I can get by in Spanish.
    If money were no object, I would be a member of a professional orchestra for a living (right now, I'm an engineer working in train control systems)
    Some people want expensive cars, or expensive homes. If I ever hit it big, I will only make one purchase - a full-size, 9-foot Steinway grand piano.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member Cary's Avatar
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    Here are some tidbits people might not know about me. I am Asian. I like turtles.
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    Senior Member gonzalu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cary View Post
    Here are some tidbits people might not know about me. I am Asian. I like turtles.
    Isn't it Oriental?
    Manny Gonzalez
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  12. #12
    Senior Member Cary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gonzalu View Post
    Isn't it Oriental?
    Northwest Orient..al.
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  13. #13
    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gintaras B. View Post
    My #1 is Deep Purple(solo, related).
    One of my favorite bands with one of my favorite guitarists (Steve Morse). Their new CD "Now What"? is excellent!! Actually bought the CD rather than download from Itunes!!
    Progressive rock, hard-rock, jazz/fusion are my three music loves!!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
    One of my favorite bands with one of my favorite guitarists (Steve Morse). Their new CD "Now What"? is excellent!! Actually bought the CD rather than download from Itunes!!
    Progressive rock, hard-rock, jazz/fusion are my three music loves!!
    Steve Morse is great guitarist(How many times Guitar Magazine voted him #1 in a row? I think - 5)...First time I've heard Steve Morse, it was on 2 Kansas albums. "Now What" - prolly one of the best albums since Perfect Strangers. But I don't want CD, I want LP.
    Most of my DP collection - LPs.
    Prog? Porcupine Tree? Rocket Scientists? Transatlantic? The Flower Kings?...can't even remember them all...I like very much Steve Hackett...too many too to list...
    [URL="http://www.airport-data.com/photographers/gbmax:5834/"]My Aircraft Photos[/URL]

  15. #15
    Senior Member Gerard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gintaras B. View Post
    Steve Morse is great guitarist(How many times Guitar Magazine voted him #1 in a row? I think - 5)...First time I've heard Steve Morse, it was on 2 Kansas albums. "Now What" - prolly one of the best albums since Perfect Strangers. But I don't want CD, I want LP.
    Most of my DP collection - LPs.
    Prog? Porcupine Tree? Rocket Scientists? Transatlantic? The Flower Kings?...can't even remember them all...I like very much Steve Hackett...too many too to list...
    Porcupine Tree and Transatlantic excellent!! Dream Theater for Prog/Metal.
    Saw Morse 1st time with Dixie Dregs back in late 70s at the old Lone Star Cafe in West Village. Forgot how many times saw them over the years. Also have seen Morse w/Kansas, Solo, Purple and last year with
    Flying Colors (the Mike Portnoy, Neil Morse collaboration kinda Prog/Pop, quite good). Actually met him once backstage, friends of mine knew the late Dregs keyboardsist T. Lavitz!! Steve is a very nice guy AND
    quit the rock scene many years ago to fly as a commercial airline pilot!! Not sure but I believe he flew Regional airlines!! Flying is still one of his passions!!

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