My Interests

Volunteering

  1. Coach, IGNITE Community Accelerator, Albuquerque, NM, 2018-2019
  2. Volunteer, Lutheran Family Services, Refugee & Asylee Programs, Economic Development, Albuquerque, NM, 2018-2019
  3. One of 14 volunteers in 2018 to build a solar-powered electrical system for the SECMOL School in the Himalayas, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. See great video of what we did here.
  4. Mentor, many aspiring entrepreneurs
  5. Reading Assistant, 5th grade, Algodones Elementary School, Algodones, NM, 2014-2015
  6. High Altitude Investors Angel Network, Colorado Springs, CO
    1. Member, 2008-2015
    2. Member, Selection Committee, 2008-2015
  7. Colorado Springs Technology Incubator
    1. Member, Board of Advisors, 2001-2006
    2. Member (ad hoc), Selection Committee, 2008-2009
    3. Mentor, 2008-2015
  8. Judge, Colorado College Entrepreneurship Competition (CCEC), "The Big Idea," $50,000 First Prize, March 2013
  9. Member, Board of Directors, Puchowitzer Society, 2004-2008
  10. Volunteer, Southern Colorado AIDS Project, 1996-1998
  11. Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra
    1. Member, Board of Directors, 1992-1997
    2. Member, Executive Committee, 1994-1995
    3. Chair, Marketing Committee, 1994-1995
    4. Member, Marketing Committee, 1995-1996
    5. Member, Artistic Affairs Committee, 1992-1994
    6. Member, Financial Committee, 1993-1994
  12. Member, Colorado Springs Strategic Planning Oversight Committee, 1992-1993
  13. Member, Fairfax County (Virginia) Chamber of Commerce, High Technology Council, Education Committee, 1989
  14. Member, Arizona Task Force on Engineering Excellence in CAD/CAM, 1983-1984
See my professional volunteering here.

International Travel

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."

                                                                                                       . . . Helen Keller


 "Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled."

                                                                                                       . . . Mohammed


"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read just one page."

                                                                                                       . . . St. Augustine


"Traveling: It leaves you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller."   

                                                                                                       . . . Ibn Bettuta


"Travel is the only thing you [can] buy that makes you richer."

                                                                                                       . . . anonymous


I have visited 98 countries on all seven continents. Here is a world map showing (in green) the countries I have visited. Press here to see a list of these countries. 

Here are some personal travel records:

  1. Five continents in 10 days (November 25 - December 4, 2003): N. America, Europe, Africa, S. America, and Antarctica.
  2. Four continents in 3 days (May 5 - 8, 2015): N. America, S. America, Africa, and Asia.
  3. Ten countries in 16 days (May 26 - June 11, 2006): Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Netherlands.
  4. Nineteen countries in 2 months (May 9 - July 9, 2006): United States, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Spain, France, Andorra, and Japan.
  5. Thirty-three different hotels/homes in 9 weeks (May 7 - July 11, 2006): 
  6. Wrangler (Colorado Springs, CO, USA)
  7. Park Inn (Erfurt, Germany)
  8. Novotel (Berlin, Germany)
  9. Kasyno Hotel (Jarocin, Poland)
  10. Gwarek Hotel (Staszów, Poland)
  11. Westin (Warszawa - Warsaw, Poland)
  12. Hotel Horizont (Баранавічы - Baranavichi, Belarus)
  13. Almaz Hotel (Мінск - Minsk, Belarus)
  14. InTourist (Брэст - Brest, Belarus)
  15. Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Каменюки - Kamianiuki, Belarus)
  16. Lion's Castle (Львів - Lviv, Ukraine)
  17. Hotel Uzhgorod (У́жгород - Uzhgorod, Ukraine)
  18. Club Hortobágy (Hortobágy, Hungary)
  19. Annabella Hotel (Balontonfüred, Hungary)
  20. Habakuk Hotel (Maribor, Slovenia)
  21. Mercure Imlauer Nestroy (Vienna, Austria)
  22. Pension Standard (Prague, Czech Republic)
  23. Schuttersmuble (Eschenbach, Germany)
  24. NH Airport (Frankfurt, Germany)
  25. Hotel du Moulin (Bourscheid-Moulin, Luxembourg)
  26. San Sebastian Hotel (San Sebastian, Germany)
  27. Siddiqi Residence (Sheffield, UK)
  28. Boadilla Palacio (Boadilla del Monte, Spain)
  29. NH Amistad (Murcia, Spain)
  30. Confortel Aqua 4 (Valencia, Spain)
  31. Oliva Nova Golf (Oliva, Spain)
  32. Sansi Diputacio (Barcelona, Spain)
  33. Cal Daina (La Cortinada, Andorra)
  34. Parador de Alcañiz (Alcañiz, Spain)
  35. Boadilla Palacio (Boadilla del Monte, Spain)
  36. Steigenberger Airport Hotel (Frankfurt, Germany)
  37. Marriott (Nagoya, Japan)
  38. Nikko Hotel (Tokyo, Japan).
  39. 42,000 actual air miles in one month (November 17 - December 16, 2003): Cape Town to Frankfurt to Newark to Charlotte to Tampa to DC to Newark to DC to Frankfurt to Cape Town to Buenos Aires to Ushuaia to Buenos Aires to DC to Denver to Colorado Springs. [Note: the Earth's circumference is only 25,000 miles]
  40. 18,000 actual air miles in 3 days (May 5 - 8, 2015): Albuquerque to Houston to São Paolo to Johannesburg to Doha to Kuala Lumpur.
  41. Slept on all seven continents: Completed on 8 December 2003 when I camped overnight on Antarctica. 
  42. Visited every country on the mainland of the Western Hemisphere: Completed on 23 January 2017 when I visited Honduras. Note: I have not yet visited French Guiana (which is not a country, but an overseas department of France) nor Greenland (which is not a country, but an autonomous division of Denmark). They are both on my bucket list.

 

Press here to see a list of my list of favorite accommodations (mostly eco-lodges).

Press here to read my international travel blog.

Domestic Travel

 

  1. I have visited every state in the United States, completed in 1999 when I visited Arkansas.
  2. I have lived in 9 states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

 

Family

Members of my family:

  1. My wife since 1976, Ginny.
  2. Our daughter Marsha (born 1980). Graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder (BS, anthropology and fine art), Regis University (BS, nursing), and Frontier Nursing University (CNM). She was a paramedic at Denver Health, an RN in labor and delivery at Denver Health, an RN in the ER at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, NC, and now a certified nurse midwife at Women's Healthcare Associates. Married Ryan Saunders, a U.S. Navy Corpsman stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, November 2014. They brought us two grandchildren, Owen Saunders, born May 17, 2016, and Holden Saunders, born January 18, 2019.
  3. Our son Michael (born 1983). Culinary arts graduate of the Culinary Institute of Colorado Springs. He is co-founder of Market Collaborative/Market Coin, a fintech/tech company that provides a cost-effective means for hosting private food events in public areas and facilitates the processing of gift cards; Mondo Market, a Denver purveyor of gourmet foods (in the Stanley marketplace); and Offtoa, Inc., an on-line service for entrepreneurs.
  4. Our ocicat, Bali Hai.

 

I am very proud of my maternal grandfather, Morris Slobodow, who immigrated to the United States to give his descendants a better education and future. In his memory, I established the Morris Slobodow Endowed Scholarship at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, to assist new immigrants in their quest for freedom and educational opportunities in this great country.

Eating

We live in an extremely diverse world. Every region and every culture develops unique cuisines based on availability of indigenous ingredients. What one culture considers "standard," another considers strange, and vice versa. As I have traveled around the world, I have attempted to partake in as much of local cuisine as I can. See a description of some of the more exotic foods I have consumed here.

Poker

 

  1. I have played in monthly low stakes dealers' choice and Texas Hold'em poker games since 1978.
  2. I have played in weekly and bi-weekly low stakes Hold'em and Omaha H/L poker games online with friends since early 2020.
  3. I lose consistently but I sure do enjoy it.
  4. I did win the city-wide Colorado Springs 2007 Annual Amateurs Only Poker Tournament.

 

Writing

I love to write. See my writings.

Teaching

I love to teach. For me, there is no greater pleasure than to assist others in the learning experience. See classes I have taught.

Reading

These are some of my favorite books:
  1. After the Empire by Emmanuel Todd
  2. Ancient Futures by Helena Norberg-Hodge
  3. Conservatives without Conscience by John Dean
  4. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
  5. Flatland (fiction) by Edwin Abbott
  6. Founding Myths by Ray Raphael
  7. How Far Will You Go? by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell
  8. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
  9. In Other Words by Christopher Moore
  10. Kite Runner (fiction) by Khaled Hosseini
  11. Little Bee (fiction) by Chris Cleave
  12. Love You Forever (fiction) by Robert Munsch
  13. Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter
  14. Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff
  15. Nature's Strongholds by Laura and William Riley
  16. The Forest People by Colin Turnbull
  17. The Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  18. The Mountain People by Colin Turnbull
  19. The Plot Against America (fiction) by Phillip Roth
  20. To Engineer is Human by Peter Petroski
  21. Wordplay by John Landon

Music

See a list of my favorite music here.

Movies

See a list of my favorite movies here.

Quilt Watching

Ginny is an avid quilter; I love watching her quilt, and seeing the results. Here are 4 examples.

Triking

I ride a recumbent tadpole trike, which I ride 1-2x/week averaging around 25 miles at a time. I was the proud owner of an Australian-made Trisled Gizmo until April 2021 when it was destroyed by BikeFlights LLC during their shipment of the trike cross country. Now I am quite happy with my new HP Velotechnik Gekko fx26. 

Puzzles

I spend a few hours almost every evening working either on the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle (usually completed by Monday) or on logic puzzles. My favorite book of logic puzzles: Mensa Math & Logic Puzzles by Tuller and Rios (Sterling Press, 2000).

Wildlife Photography

I love photographing wildlife from around the world. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Cars

I enjoy looking at cars, and driving them as well. Here is a list of the vehicles I have owned.

Deck Building

For 32 years, I have designed and single-handedly constructed multi-level, cantilevered, decks. The effect is that they seem to float over the landscape rather than being planted on the ground. Two examples are located at our previous homes:

  • First photo: 10303 Dunn Meadow Road, Vienna, VA (click on the address to view the deck in Google maps. The largest and lowest level of this deck is obscured at 10 o'clock by the tree.) 
  • Second photo: A much older photo of the same deck taken from below; it shows the lowest deck not seen in the first photo.
  • Third photo: 770 Nebula Court, Top of Skyway, Colorado Springs, CO (click on the address to view the deck in Google maps.)
  • Fourth photo: Another photo of the same deck.
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