Hello,  I apologize for not doing this sooner as I too have been lurking
for several months, enjoying and learning from each issue of MMD; we are
very fortunate to have so many people, in all parts of the world, sharing
their knowledge with us.  I notice that the average age of the demo-
graphic poll is rather low, because not enough of us "old folks" are
responding, so I decided that I should introduce myself and submit my
own information, raising the average a bit.

I am 62 years old and lived in the Los Angeles area for 35 years, while
working for Rockwell International, as an electrical engineer; of course
it was called North American Aviation when I started there in 1955.
I retired in 1990 and moved 200 miles North to a remote mountain
community at 6,500 ft, where neither electrical power nor telephones are
available, not even cellular; quite a change, and I love it.  Now, with
my Satellite TV system, I can watch newscasts showing others in the
traffic jams.

For electrical power, I installed a rather large solar system and haven't
needed to start my generator in over 5 years, except for maintenance
purposes, even though we have had some severe Winters during that time.
For Internet access, I had my own phone line installed at a friend's
house in Ridgecrest, 50 miles away.  So once a week I drive to town and
download my e-mail, bringing it home to read at my leisure.  Of course
I'm usually a week behind in reading MMD.

My collection of mechanical music instruments is small; an 88-note "Bond"
player piano and a Seeberg Model E, both in need of restoration, which I
hope to do myself, with info acquired here.  I bought them both around
1965, the piano at an auction (working great) and the Seeberg from a
pizzeria.  I went there after seeing a newspaper advertisement for "an
electric piano, not working, for $400".  When I got it home, I discovered
and reconnected a loose hose and it played beautifully for the next 20
years, but not anymore.

In closing, I would like to mention to Jody and Robbie that I liked it
*just the way it was*.  Their informative and sometimes humorous comments
were always interesting and made the MMD more enjoyable to read.

I submit the following to raise the average a bit:

6/34¶
Inyokern, CA  93527¶
47.76 (guess)

Cliff Caplinger, 2B-2 Kennedy Meadows, Inyokern CA 93527