First off - even though I have been a member of this board as a whole for a while, it struck me that a fair bet of the Australian population on this site posts only in the ASL area. I know a couple of you, and have not really been all that in touch for a good while.
So in light of this, and as sort of a point of reference I felt it might be important to introduce myself to those of you who don't know me, as well as provide an update for those that do.
First off, after spending the better part of the year getting paperwork together, and submitted, &tc.. I am proud to say that I will be relocating to Oz basically in December. There is still a little work to do here to get that done, but the paperwork and authorisations are all in.
I can honestly say that my perceptions of Australia from whence I began as a staff member at the former partner site to this place, and the reality that you and others have shown me were two entirely different things. I appreciate very much, the cultural education that I have received -and no doubt will continue to receive. An example of this is - in the 80's they used to have an ad on the tellie here -Paul Hogan was selling Fosters -- their slogan was: "Foster's - its Australian for beer." -Well actually in reality it is probably -if Australians ever think about Foster's -which I don't assume they do - but a more apt slogan might have been ".. its Australian for urine (well the 4 letter word for it -
) "
Military Hobbies/Gaming et al: This is sorta my resume -- a huge part of my hobbies are devoted towards military history. I did not realize this but too long ago, but I take them seriously, sometimes more seriously than some people whose livlihood comes from that same topic.
I collect:
>1:6th scale figures, mainly from WWII, but also from any period that interests me; I don't have much in the way of modern figures (there just is way too damned many of them out there anyway).
> various scale plastic models, but generally 1:72nd scale aircraft, 1:700 scale waterline ships, 1:35th scale armour.
> various scale wargaming miniatures, but mainly 1:2400th scale warships, and 1:285th scale armour - mostly WWII.
> wargames, I guess one could call me old(er) school, although not old-est school. I started playing the things in Junior High (about 13 or 14 years old I think - possibly 12). My first game was War at Sea, my second was WS/IM - both bought at a drug store (chemist). I have played most of the old AH stand-bys, and really enjoyed SL, through CoD. I got into ASL right about the time I started with regular employment - I never found the time to learn it, and ulitmately sold it all off when a former partner made me feel guilty for having 'toys' (which is how I became a Power-Seller on Ebay basically... haven't sold anything there in years, however). Lately I have focussed on GMT and AP stuff, and am mainly focussed on series' -which was a holdover from the days where I had decided I was too old ot learn many different games -and would try to get some sort of continuity in my 'gaming-life'.
-Other Hobbies:
> Ice Hockey - apparently this is some sort of therapy, also an indulgence to keep my activity levels up, as I am a diabetic that basically has doctor's order to play (damn- well if you say so Doc
)...
> Photography - I've been told I am pretty good, not beating my own drum so much as to comment on how uncharacteristic it has felt for people I don't even know - at my former job, come up to me and start talking about my shots I have had posted around my cubicle ( yes I was imprisoned in one of those bastards
) I got osme shots up in a gallery at my website- but since this is not me pimping my webpage, I'll leave that off for now.
> Computer gaming - I'm big on Tiller designs -probably because his stuff initially reminded me of one of my favourite Civil War games ever - Terrible Swift Sword ( about Gettysburg- put out by SPI about 1976 or 77). I don't play much online, and frankly my participation had been erractic to downright unreliable in the past year or more, apologies to all affected if any ever read this. I also am big into EA's NHL series...
- Future plans: In the process of formulating a military hobby related business plan. I guess one can call this the "market research phase." (Ok I technically, just made that up). I'd had a handle on it in the States, but there are some different factors in Australia.
Ok - kinda long - I oughta save the url and just link to it :/
