Local-Boy,

Yes, I'm a fan of the Myst series of games.  Good brain teasers.

My family history in Alaska is pretty wide.  I grew up a little south of the Salcha area, halfway between Fairbanks and Delta Junction.  My father came to the state when he was a teenager (he's originally from west Texas).  Grandpa (mom's side) was originally from California, but after the war he went to Alaska and built a couple of homesteads.  There he met my grandma, who had roots going back to the gold rush days.  I've got family running all over the Kenai peninsula, plus a few in the North Pole / Fairbanks area.

It was actually the military that took me away from Alaska.  I married early in life but without too many job prospects.  I felt honor bound to provide a good living for my wife and future family, and decided to join the Air Force based on my dad's advice.  He said that since I wasn't gay the Navy wasn't an option, and since I was smarter than both jarheads and grunts, it should be the Air Force for me.  I retired a couple of years ago after spending 10 years on active duty and 10 in the Air Guard.  Even though every generation of my family has served in some capacity since the Revolution, I was the first to make a full career out of it.  As for my job, I was an EOD technician for most of it.  If you know what that is, then you know where I've gone and what I've done, so I'll leave it at that.

Thanks for the welcome, everybody.  Much appreciated.