User:NYerkes

Hello to all,

I was born in Northeast Florida long ago though much of my earlier years still seem like yesterday. I was fortunate to grow up in a somewhat interesting family some of whom were historically significant. My father though not historically interesting was an electrical engineer who was partially educated MIT and The University of the South. Through him I developed a life long interest in science and learning how things work. My mother, a Registered Nurse and my grandfather, an NYU educated physician and surgeon who chose to return to rural North Carolina and work for whatever people could afford to pay both helped develop my life long interest in medical science and social justice. On the historically significant side an aunt and uncle I was close to were both pilots during the Second World War. My aunt was a WASP (Womens Air Service Pilot) who was rated in multiple high performance aircraft including the P-51 Mustang and the P-38 Lightning. My uncle, a minor air racer prior to WWII, was a combat glider instructor and later a combat glider pilot who was involved in the only glider assault in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. They helped engender my life long interest in aviation. I regret not having made recording of their experiences while they were still living but I still have good memories of what they said about their experiences. Others include a brother an electronics engineer who is considered one of the top experts in his field. A cousin and good friend who while working at Texas Instruments as an engineer in the early 1970s developed a method of layering integrated circuits that is in wide use today. Interacting with these people helped shape my interests and love of learning.

When I was a teenager had the privilege to work abroad on another uncle's charter yacht based in Villefranche sur-Mer, France. I graduated from high school while working aboard his yacht. Had I not wanted to attend university I would likely have remained there.

When I first attended university I studied philosophy. I also took a few writing courses. I left in my senior year to enter the military. After discharge the Veterans Administration recommended I study engineering which later became computer science with a good mix of accounting. I later learned that IBM used to hire philosophy graduates to work as systems analysts before there was a computer science degree so the switch wasn't as radical as it seemed. I actually worked in the field during the dark ages of mainframes and the TRS80 Model I. A friend with a far better education than mine and I both burned out after spending 18 hours a day for months trying to work around the limitations of the TRS80. We even slept in the office several times. I left and later went to work in management with a major Southeastern newspaper. My friend became a teacher of mathematics. Neither of us touched a computer again for years.

Several years later I returned to school and made another career change this time becoming a registered nurse. I am still involved in the medical field though I now work to develop online information and promotions for medical tourism in Thailand as well as a few a few other commercial endeavors.

I am married to a Thai national, another nurse who later studied auditing. I have lived in the Kingdom off and on since 2001. We will likely continue to reside here. Rather than living in the Western enclaves we live in an ordinary middle class Thai neighborhood. For me the experience has been great. I have learned more about Thai culture and history by developing friendships with Thai nationals than would have been possible living in other circumstances.

I enjoy learning and have a wide variety of interests. Particular areas of interest include aviation, medicine, genetic genealogy, genetic anthropology, history, currently Thai history, a general interest in science particularly new developments, photography, videography, politics and law. My wife often tells me I read too much.

Projects I Am Interested In

I am interested in adding to the knowledge aviation and of different aircraft particularly those operated by the Royal Thai Air Force and The Kingdom of Thailand

I plan to create an new article on the Boripatra fighter bomber which was developed and produced by Siam in 1921

I plan to create an article on the history and recent rebuilding of Wat Yang Kuang, a 13th century Buddhist temple sacked and destroyed by the Burmese army during an ancient war.