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I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me


Oh my, the world wants to know about me ? Really ? You're sure? I mean, you're not bored already ?
Well, OK, then read on. But be warned: I am extremely opinionated, quite outspoken, and have been repeatedly called a stubborn German (which I take as a compliment, since I do not consider myself a typical German). If you want to argue with me, you better have your facts and arguments straight and ready!
Geez, you are still reading ? Alright, alright! I guess you really want to know more. Where to begin? How about at birth? That happened in Germany, too many years to count them ago, in a small town southeast of Hamburg, called Lüneburg. It is a real gem among the northern cities in Germany and can give Heidelberg a run for the money, but it is not really ready to take an onslaught of tourists. That's where I went to school; that's where I was in the military. Here is a nice video of that part of the world:
I studied in Hamburg (careful, nerd alert) physics, computer science and astronomy. Got some degree in all of them.
I went into a research career in astronomy, which brough me to the USA in 1984, to Baltimore. I had a good time there, but the Challenger accident put a damper on everybody's timetable and a reorganization at my work place left me in a less than desirable position. The family left in early 1993 back to Germany, but there I was never really as happy as I had once been as a young boy and student. Yes, I got into new, different fields, like environmental science and Microsystems technology, and through work-related moves and travel, saw quite a bit more of Germany than I used to, but true job satisfaction wasn't obtained. It just wasn't astronomy, anymore ...
In 2001 I got divorced and remarried (an American), and these two events later ended up costing me 50% of my money, each. My advice to you: if you have money, and want to marry, insist on a prenuptial agreement!
My second wife, who is from Southern California, got homesick after 2 years in Germany, and plans were made to return to the USA. One wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork that took! Anyway, late February 2005 we moved to SoCal. And now I found out that this country had changed dramatically since 1993, and that included the areas that were of importance to my work experience. Almost all jobs I was after now required citizenship. I guess I'll get that eventually. In the meantime, I found somewhat unexpected pleasure in teaching my field, astronomy, and that's perfect consolation for the failure of my second marriage. I love to talk, anyway ... and sometimes I even have something to say.
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    Otto the Great's Reasons for being on MySpace
I would love to find friends here with whom I could communicate concerning mutual interests, or who could help me in networking with the right people for my line of work, and those would be, among others, in research, the scientific aspects of civil space programs, or in academic management.
I'm not here on MySpace for dating, OK ?! If that happens, well, fine. But I think I know where to look for that, if I needed to ...
And, if you want to be my friend, then I need to be interested in being your friend, too !
Finally, if you think the past US president is a good one, then please do not contact me, either ! I reserve judgment on the current one, but at least he started out much, much better ...
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My Interests

I'd like to meet:


My Father (but he's unfortunately dead since almost 35 years),
John Edwards, Bill Clinton,
Angela Merkel,
John Fogerty,
Enya,
Steven Hawking,
Allan Sandage, (again, met him in an earlier life),
Michael Schumacher, Steffi Graf,
Petra Verkaik ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), Miriam Gonzales, Denise Milani ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ).
If anybody can provide free lunch or dinner invitations with any of these people, I'll be very (eternally) grateful!
    Otto the Great's Video Clip Selections
Another Lüneburg clip:

Just watching this car driving gets the adrenalin level up!

My Blog

The greatest Scientific Discovery of all Times

I would like to invite opinions about people's thoughst on what the greatest scientific discovery ever was (and I would appreciate if you were serious): No. 1 on my personal list is the Uncertainty P...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:49:00 GMT

Science, Philosophy, and Religion

Since a long time I have been interested in questions of origin and meaning. I have just begun to listen to a lecture series called "Philosophy of Religion" by James Hall, and am fascinated by his ap...
Posted by on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 11:51:00 GMT