Hi, I'm Jason. I top post. A lot. It's possibly my most annoying habit. OK, not really. Lessee...
I'm 41. Married with 2 kids (twins, one boy, one girl, just turned 5). I'm a salesman by nature, a chef by training. Currently I combine both worlds, selling food to chefs. It's a living. It also makes it so I don't have to work 12 hour days anymore. Which is nice. I love working in restaurants (and have worked in a couple great ones here in So Cal) but when my wife got pregnant, I looked around me and noticed that every other guy was single or divorced. Working 12 hour days 6 days a week is not conducive to having a home life. So I chose family. No regrets, although I am currently contemplating opening my own place. If anyone has an extra few hundred grand lying about collecting dust, let me know. I live in southern California, about an hour north of Ray. I've been to a signing at Mysterious Galaxy, but don't remember meeting anyone from the list. Rip has never come to visit me. I've been reading Ray's works since the first one hit book shelves in the early 80s. I've been on this list, off and on, for about 15 years (Jesus! That's actually true! I should get a pin or something!). I don't read as much fantasy/sci-fi as I used to, but then, if anyone on this list has two five year olds, they can attest to the fact that two kindergartners actually kills massive quantities of brain cells. I'm frankly amazed I can read at all, or even form coherent sentences. I've had two interesting things happen to me that I shall now relate: 1) In 1988, I was arrested and held on suspicion of espionage in East Berlin for 12 hours. I think I was cleared because of the pictures in my camera of my buddy and I in Amsterdam. The US Government would definitely NOT condone our actions there. :) It was really an innocent mistake - I had no idea that you weren't allowed to photograph the guard towers on the (now gone!) Wall. 2) More recently I was walked off the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos by armed MPs. Apparently, bluffing your way onto a military base just to make a sales call is frowned upon in this day and age. Who knew? Other than that...I play basketball, climb mountains (three 14k mountains in CA thus far, hopefully Kilimanjaro next year or 2013), and cook. :) On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 4:08 PM, Richard Williamson <[email protected]>wrote: > I lived in the UK for 8 years, still have punnets of friends there > (like tons, but not so much). > > I'll no doubt visit again, and when I travel, I always announce it. > > I'm like, famous for that. > > :/ > > irp > -- > (like 'rip' but not as serious) > > On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 19:02, Dave Williamson > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hmmmmm > > > > Maybe a distant cousin rip? That'll do, huh? Well, you're on my > > Christmas Greetings list as you bear the noblest of surnames. > > > > Plus, if I make it across the border I can hand you a card personally > hahaha. > > > > Dave Williamson > > > > On 6 November 2011 23:44, Richard Williamson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Dude. > >> > >> Privileged to know you. > >> > >> Between us, we've been everywhere. Pretty cool, that. > >> > >> (and, for the record, Dave and I have conversed quickly off-list, and > >> we are probably not closely related :) > >> > >> rip > >> -- > >> Richard Williamson > > > > > > > > >
