By demand 2/12/12

Who am I and what is with the name "strtwlkr says"?

I am a retired USPS letter carrier and I walked the streets for 21 years. That combined with my wicked sense of humor lead to my "name". I use that in my email address and I am known on the playa at Burning Man as strtwlkr. In the early days of e-mail we did not use vowels in order to shorten words. It just stuck.

That explains the name, but who am I?

I am a Buddhist, a veteran of both the Army and the Navy, a former Air Traffic Controller, a life member of Mensa and have traveled the world. I was raised in the South, but now live in the West. I claim affiliation with very few organization, but do belong to the Reno Herpetological Society and recently became a volunteer Solar System Ambassador for NASA/JPL. I am married with three grown children and three grandchildren who do not live with me and two dogs who do.

For years I have resisted the requests and demands of friends and family to start a blog. From 1998 until 2008 I wrote a daily email newsletter called the Desert Home Companion which had a following that amazed me, with readers in 25 states and 5 foreign countries. In that correspondence I offered jokes, current events, educational information, but day after day it was my personal accounts of what was happening in my life that gained the most interest.

It was during the production of the DHC and by request of its readers that I began writing stories about my life. I have lost count but believe that I have produced nearly 70 short stories. If I get enough requests from readers of this blog to do so, I will release one each week in either random order, or in the case of sequential story segments, in the order written.

My wife Anna and I are held captive by two female Border Collies. Ten year old Mikki who was known in the DHC days as Colour Sgt Mikki of the Highland Regiment of the Border Patrol due to her tireless defense of her yard against all dogs, cats, birds, leaves and other "floatie" things which "might" land in her domain. Joining her this past December is the perpetual motion machine Jessi. I call her that because she moves in her sleep and never stops moving when awake. Jessi was born 10/05/11 which makes her just 4 months old. It will be a challenge to see which of us comes unwound trying to keep up with this girl. She craves human contact and is sweet and loving, but makes me rethink Valium for dogs at times. Or maybe for me...

Also in our "pack" is Anna's 86 year old dad who fortunately for my sanity lives at a local assisted living place with a bunch of people his own age and just as deaf and forgetful. They can tell each other the same stories over and over and they just keep nodding and grinning. Life is good for them and they are safe, warm and well cared for. Many others are not as fortunate. We see to his wants and needs for shopping, medical appointments and going out to eat, as well as manage his bills, etc., so he doesn't have to worry and won't get taken advantage of by predators.

The future of this blog depends upon your interest as readers and how much positive feedback I get. If the spambots make it their business to make my life difficult, the experiment will be over. If we have a mutually enjoyable exchange here, then I will do my best to provide something for you to read.