Name: Louis John Padgug
Born: April 9, 1955
Birthplace: Houston, Texas USA
Current Home: Roseville, California USA
Life Partner: Kathy
Military Service: Four years in the U.S. Air Force - processed and printed aerial reconnaissance film at Shaw AFB, South Carolina and Zweibrucken AB, Germany.
Education: BA Geography, California State University Sacramento
Occupation: I retired at age 51 from the County of Sacramento in March, 2007 with 28 years of service. For the last 24 years with the County, I worked at Sacramento International Airport in both Airside Operations (fueling aircraft, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, Emergency Medical Technician, security, and Training Officer) and Landside Operations. I temporarily unretired to take a seasonal Park Ranger position at the John Muir NHS in Martinez, CA. for two months in 2010 and again in 2011. I also volunteer at the airport information booths and at the California State Railroad Museum.
Hobbies: Travel to exotic destinations. I've been to all 50 U.S. states, 113 foreign countries/kingdoms/territories and all seven continents. I've visited 226 of the 429 U.S. National Park System Units (Parks, Monuments, Historic Sites, Battlefields, etc.) and 62 of 280 California State Parks. I also lived in Japan and Germany for 2 years each. Other hobbies include photography, collecting vintage cameras, model building and numismatics.
Other Interests: Star-gazing, history, 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, antiques, classic movies, archaelogy, outdoor adventure activities (I'll try anything at least once), the Civil War, music, world religions, art and architecture (ancient to modern buildings, lighthouses, bridges and old movie palaces from the 20's and 30's).
Member:
Air Force Association
American Numismatic Association
Sacramento Valley Coin Club
Society of Paper Money Collectors
California State Railroad Museum Foundation
Lincoln Highway Association (California chapter)
Mutual UFO Network (Former Field Investigator)
Former Pets (RIP): Dog - Mingo, Cats - Cowley, Cosmo & Nova, Parakeet - Casey, Numerous Tropical Fish
Favorite Books: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Favorite Movie: Dr. Strangelove
Favorite Musician: Jimi Hendrix
Favorite Contemporary Artists: Los Lonely Boys
Favorite CD: The Future - Leonard Cohen
Favorite Night Club: Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago
Favorite Artists: M.C. Escher & Albrecht Durer
Favorite Inventor: Nikola Tesla
Favorite Sculptor: Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Favorite Art Style: Art Deco
Favorite Architects: Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Morgan (designed Hearst Castle and nearly 750 other commissions), Mary Colter, Timothy Pflueger and Frederick Law Olmsted.
Favorite Teams: San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants & Sacramento Kings
Favorite Stooge: Larry
Favorite Quote: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Second Favorite Quote: "Truth is stranger than fiction, Judgie-Wudgie." - Jerome "Curly" Howard from Disorder in the Court.
My Quote: "I'll drive a sports car and listen to rock music until I'm 95; then I'll switch to a turbo-charged wheelchair and listen to the blues." ;-)
Greatest Accomplishment: I haven't eaten at McDonald's since 1977 in Friberg, Germany. ;-)
Greatest Physical Accomplishment: I made it to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park at age 60.
Greatest Fear: I fear that reality as I know it is really someone's dream, and when they awake, I won't exist anymore. ;-)