I currently live in Sioux Falls, SD but was born and raised just to the south in Nebraska. I am a retired senior forecaster (meteorologist) from the National Weather Service. Hobbywise, I have lots of interest in astronomy, reading about history, baseball, hiking, walleye fishing (in Lake of the Woods Ontario), and of course, chess. I learned how to play chess in the 5th grade, and played throughout high school and college. Then job career starting and racing bicycles took precedent and I fell away from chess. Thanks to chess.com, I re-entered chess in 2010! For the curious, my avatar picture is of Devils Tower in northeast WY, taken in late September on a rainy day.