A Brief Autobiography of Fred Koschara
If you are looking for my resume, please click
here. It shows my experience in the computer and
electronics industries: I started out working on an assembly line in a
factory doing electronic assembly. Four and a half years later, by going from
one contract position to the next, and assuming greater responsibilities at
each step, I had risen to the level of engineer. My first employment as a
programmer was incidental to the job I was doing at the time; however, it
wasn't long before software was just about all was doing.
There are some other things on my resume, but (so far) it's primarily one of a
computer programmer.
I really never intended to be a programmer, but I keep doing it because that's
what people pay me for - and the income is rather seducive. When I was five
years old, I decided I wanted to be an astronaut. I'm still working on it,
but now I don't expect to do it within NASA or any other "public sector"
space program, either in the U.S.A., or abroad: For one thing, I no longer
have any desire to work take a government job, for philosophical reasons. In
addition, there are several factors that I believe make it impossible for me,
as a private citizen, to have any hope of going to space as part of any of the
established programs:
- Any politically controlled space program cannot have the managerial
stability necessary to effectively accomplish the major technological
achievements required for general civilian access to space, except
perhaps by dictatorial decree - in which case general access would
probably be denied by similar decree.
- Space programs that are run as not-for-profit operations have no
economic incentive to succeed, and are likely to continue to be
nothing but an expensive play toy as long as taxpayers can be
convinced to support the effort - then either discontinued or
curtailed as much as is needed to quell the public outcry.
- Civilian access to space will probably be denied as long as the
military establishment has a significant voice in astronaut selection
- except in rare publicity stunts where a "harmless" individual - such
as a school teacher - is selected to make it appear as though efforts
are being made to provide more widely available direct participation
of the general public. When such occurrences happen, it will be done
as an effort to enhance funding for the efforts through a greater
appropriation of tax monies.
The net result of all of this is I believe the only way I will get to space is
by establishing a privately funded, for profit, space program, running it as a
business operation, and putting myself into the role of a test pilot within
the effort. After 50 years of government-run space travel, only a dozen men
have walked on the surface of another planet, and only a couple hundred humans
have been outside our atmosphere. This is a totally unacceptable rate of
progress: Now is the time for private enterprise to come along and say "Look,
guys, this is how you do it!"
Please visit the L5 Development Group
Web site to see how my efforts in the commercial space industry are progressing.
The L5 Development Group Web site used to be at
"www.L5-Development.com" until the domain name was hijacked by
"Social
Rejection". Rather than paying an arbitrator $750-$2000 and wait at least
a month for the dispute process to be completed which might have gotten
the name back, I decided to use the new, easier to remember, domain name.
I heard (some time in ?1999?) that New Hampshire has more personalized license
plates, per capita, than any other state in the country. That didn't really
surprise me: It is a state of strong personalities, and for most of them the
"Live Free or Die" of the state's motto is an essential part of their
existence.
Although some states allow for up to eight characters on a license plate, New
Hampshire, like most other states, only provides room for six. I look at it
as a challenge: "You've got 6 spaces for letters, numbers and punctuation to
tell the world anything you want to about yourself. What's it going to be?"
For me, the message was "I THINK" on
the car I drove most often. (I originally put this message on my car with a
"vanity" plate in Massachusetts, so the New Hampshire one was actually a
'clone' when I did it.) What does it mean???
- I THINK, therefore I am
- Sometimes I THINK too much
- I THINK all the time
- I THINK. Do you?
or, it seems,
- I THINK, therefore I'm dangerous
Sometimes a person will ask "What do you think?" If I happen to be
busily thinking about something of particular importance, I'll tell them the
subject on my mind. I've also been known to respond with a question of my
own: "About what?"
Having a message for the world to see on my license plate doesn't seem to be
enough, which was part of the motivation for me to continue getting T-shirts
made with my own sayings on them. (Actually, getting T-shirts made predates
my having a personalized license plate, but you get the message - or at
least, that's the intent!) Now I've got a collection of around 180 T-shirts,
and I wear one nearly all the time: They are a good way to get a conversation
going. Besides, I've got things to say to the world, and what better way of
letting the people around me know it than to put my thoughts on display for
all to read?
I think I've struck a chord with my T-Shirt Philosophy, because people come up
to me everywhere I go and say they like [the message on] my shirt. After
hearing that enough times, it occurred to me that perhaps I should put
together a catalog and start marketing my designs. It's online at the
FredLines™
T-Shirts Web site. Each shirt has its own Web page, some of which have
the story that goes with the shirt included. Eventually all of them will, but
that's a project which is taking a bit of time to complete, wedged in between
everything else I'm doing. I've also got a printed version of the catalog
that lists all of the shirts by title. When I've got enough of the stories
written, I'll be getting T-Shirt Philosophy published as a coffee table
book, so that people don't have to sit at their computer or wait for Web pages
to load to be able to appreciate the anecdotes and insights behind the shirts
I wear.
I could go on for pages about the philosophic ideals by which I try to live
my life. As a matter of fact, I will go on for pages. If you're
interested in seeing some of the issues I'm concerned with, be sure to check
my Philosophy pages for my thoughts about
driving, taxes, and what's wrong with America, among other things.
Like everyone else, I've got hobbies and habits to
distract me in my "copious" spare time. They help to keep my sanity, but
there are times when I have to wonder if I put my attention into them to avoid
having to deal with something that should be a more pressing issue: I'm not
perfect, and I suppose procrastination is one of the faults I should work on
more of the time. I'll get to that, one of these days.
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