WELCOME TO
TorchTorchBOB'S



A PAGE DEDICATED TO THE UNASHAMED, SELF GLORIFICATION, SELF ADMIRATION OF ME!


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Best viewed full screen with my computer, on my monitor, with my settings...
...second best with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or better.

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Personal Information


New York State FlagNew York State FlagFull Name: Robert Allen Curran
Date of Birth: Friday 13th
Place of Birth: New York
Favorite Color: Azure
Zodiacal Constellation: Virgo

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Hair: Long
Eyes: Blue
Nose: One

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Get the Real Resume

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Before you get any further along, I would like to get on my soapbox and preach the importance of mathematical skills.  The study of mathematics helps to develop the mind's ability to logically process information.  In other words, math teaches you how to think.  Sadly, mathematics seems to be falling into the realm of a lost science.  With that thought in mind, the following information is presented in a manner to assist you with your own personal development.

Physical Dimensions

  • Height: .958333 Fathom
  • Chest: .207 Rod
  • Waist: .00494274651 Stadium
  • Weight: 10.5 Stones
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My Myers-Briggs Personality Profile is ENTJ.
I always considered myself as ISTP, an opinion shared with many of my personal friends!

For more information about this subject, go to any favorite search engine
and search on "Myers-Briggs" or "Jung".


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How smart do you think you are?

If you've ever wondered what your IQ is, you can take an online test and get a fairly good estimate.  The address provided in this link is for the Classical Intellegence Test.  There are several IQ test sites on the Internet, but this one seems to give a fairly honest test and evaluation.

You're probably wondering what my results were.  Well read them for yourself here.

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What I Like To Do

In my precious few moments of spare time; rappelling, snow skiing, sky-diving and tennis never enter my thoughts.  However, I do like to garden; play guitar, bass guitar, banjo and CDs; write music & poetry; go dancing (country/western if you please); play volleyball; fly real airplanes; build & fly radio control airplanes; build & fly model rockets; cut & polish stones into jewelry; and go camping. Other activities I find of great entertainment are photography; woodworking; ham radio; bicycling; electronics; and model railroading.  I like to keep busy!  So how do I find time for all these hobbies?  Time management!  And if that doesn't work, then I just do whatever I feel like doing at the moment.  Actually, many of my hobbies overlap, allowing me to do more than one at a time.

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Favorite daughter (only daughter):  Cindy.  Born by her mother, my ex-wife, she is continually developing into a bright and curious young lady with an enormous love of life.  She shares many of the same interests that I have, and like me, will have too many hobbies for her soulmate to keep up with.

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Back To Me:

Favorite Foods:  Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Chocolate

Favorite Drinks:  coffee, iced tea, Mudslide, Orange Dream, Golden Cadillac, Creme de Menthe, Coffee Liquor and Grasshopper

Favorite Shooters:  Oatmeal Cookies, Girl Scout Cookies, Windex, Apple Pie, Nuts & Berries, Buttery Nipple, Gingerbread Snap and Creamsicle      (Need some recipes?)

Favorite TV Shows:  "CSI", "NCIS", "Two and a Half Men", "Gardening By The Yard"

Favorite Movies:  "Real Genius", "Cherry 2000", "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Blazing Saddles", "The Unforgiven", "Camelot"

Favorite Magazines:  QST, Model Aviation, Model Railroader, Model Airplane News, Mad

Favorite places & sights to visit by airplane:  Chorman Airport, Farmington, DE;   St. Michaels, MD;  Herrington Harbor, Rose Haven, MD

Favorite things to do in an airplane:  Snap Roll, Spin, Hammerhead, Aileron Roll, Forward Slip, Short Field Takeoff

Wanna see what it looks like to do a loop?  Click here.

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Goals In Life:
To retire! Work takes too much of my valuable time!

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Memberships:

Animated Dancers ARRL (American Radio Relay League)

Academy of Model Aeronautics

Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)

EAA Chapter 1362

Charles County Amateur Radio Club

Charles County Radio Control Club

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Good Sam Club

The Blue Crab Fun Bunch

The International Aerobatic Club (IAC)

IAC Chapter 11

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More Favorites:

Favorite Authors:  J. R. R. Tolkien, Don Martin, Dave Berg, Tony Hillerman, Dave Barry

Favorite Musicians:  Junior Brown, Keith Emerson, Earl Scruggs, Alvin Lee, Joe Satriani, Stu Hamm

Favorite Recording Artists:  Brooks & Dunn, Steppenwolf, ELP, John Prine, Neal McCoy, Tanya Tucker, Metallica, Madonna, Boston Pops Orchestra, Dwight Yoakum, Moody Blues, Alan Jackson, The Chieftains, The Pogues, George Strait, Merle Travis, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood, Lorrie Morgan, Walela

Favorite Songs:  "Neon Moon", "Grazin' In The Grass", "Smooth" by the Kentucky Headhunters, "Slow Blues In 'C'"

Favorite Composers:  Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky (okay, so I like my classical music dark and brooding, so what?)

Favorite Native American Artists:  Walela, Pam Tillis, Andrew Vasquez, R. Carlos Nakai, David & Steve Gordon, Redbone

Favorite Music:  Almost anything except Rap and Opera (except a very few Rock Operas).

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Other Places I've Lived:

Yes, it's true!  I have lived other places than New York.  In fact the last time I lived in New York, I was in Kindergarten.  But that was the second time I lived in New York.

Colorado State FlagColorado State Flag I lived in Colorado twice also.  I don't remember much about my first time, except how much trouble I got into for playing with my mother's lipstick.  Hey, to a 2 year old, it looked like a cool toy.  My second time of living in Colorado was much more memorable.  I lived there four years and completed most of my elementary school education there.  I still have dreams of moving back someday, it truly is God's country.  I go back to visit from time to time as my sister still lives there.

Canadian FlagCanadian Flag I also spent a year of my formative years (read "learning to speak years") living in Canada, eh.  Combining my New York accent and my Canadian "eh" syndrome left my Colorado school teachers with quite a challenge.  I'm sure they swore I had a learning disability or speech impedement.  My folks were assigned to Embassy Duty then.  My few memories of Canada are deep snow, cool summer evenings and my first exposure to model railroading by way of a layout in the attic.  My folks went by the old house a couple years ago and said it looks almost as it did over 30 years ago.  One other memory, the Changing of the Guard Ceremony.

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Special People in My Life:

Hatti - for all of her love and companionship.  She is the keeper of my heart.
Carl Blessing - for being a friend, elmer and an inspiration.
Pete Valentine - for getting me started in my career in the magic world of electronics.
Lee (RIP) & Dee - for being friends through thick and thin.
Paul & Cathy - another great set of friends and good hearted people.
Jessie Sarfaty - my long lost newly found high school chum, I still think of you often, especially when I'm listening to, or playing, Neal Young's "Needle And The Damage Done".
Debbie Morgan - high school long-distance sweetheart from Congers, NY.  Sorry I never made it to Havre de Grace after graduation. I've regretted it ever since.  Where are you?
Kim B. - for being a great listener, wise sage, and all around caring person.
Toni T. - for being a great listener, supporter and for just plain caring.
Vicki Shipley - for being my surrogate sister and close friend since 7th grade.
Tyson Malmberg - for being my best man and best friend since 6th grade.  If you would only move back to the right side of the river!

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Other people I know can be found here.

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Back To Me!

Most of my life, I've been working in the electronics field.  Virtually all self-taught, I am a firm believer in self education.  Experience can be an excellent teacher, and armed with a textbook and the materials to experiment and test what the book presents, one can amass great quantities of knowledge.  That's not to say that formal education isn't worth anything.  In fact, I am a great believer in formal education also, I just couldn't afford it.  As I have gotten older though, the luxury of such education has come my way in bits and pieces.  I can now say that I have been formally trained in video production, audio recording science, audio engineering and audio conservation.

I am presently employed at the Smithsonian Institution as an electronics technician for the National Air & Space Museum's Exhibits Department.  Could I have found a better job?  I get to use almost all of my technical skills and training, and work at some of my hobbies.  Well, that's what I do as a full-time employee.

During the fall, winter and spring, I also sometimes work part-time for the Maryland National Capitol Park and Planning Commission as a Line Dance instructor.  The pay doesn't even come close to covering my expenses, but, I enjoy doing it so I guess it all works out okay.

I'd love to get into a small bluegrass band or folk group, but in reality, I don't have the time to devote to such a thing.  The few times I have played and performed though, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

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Other Places I've Been To Or Thru:

Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, California, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mexico

Places I'd Like To Go:

Nebraska, Montana, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Zealand, Alaska

Places I'd Like To Visit Again

Tennessee, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Wyoming, Utah

What I Use To Go To These Places:

A 25-foot, fully self contained, Mallard camping trailer, pulled by a Ford F-150.

Places I'd Consider Living After Retirement

Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina

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Guestbook?  We don't need no stinking Guestbook!
Get off your lazy butt and use your email!
Send it to: 
bobc(at)smart(dot)net

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URL:  http://www.smart.net/~bobc/bobs.shtml
Webmaster:  Bob Curran
Last Revised:  May 23, 2006