Me

Q:  What's your name?
A:  Richard Factor

Q:  Why "RIKLblog?"
A:  RIKL is an old nickname, a combination of my name (Richard, frequently shortened to "Rick", and WA2IKL, my ham call letters for the past almost-50 years).  It's pronounced "Rickel" but spelled Rikl.

Q:  Why a blog?  Yours is number 37,030,119, by the way.
A:  I like that number!  And who knows, I may find something of interest to say.

Q:  Tell us something about yourself.
A:  I'm 60, tall, reasonably robust, live in suburban Northern New Jersey, and can see my toes.

Q:  Do you like music?
A:  Yes.  Music is very important to me.

Q:  Books?
A:  Yes.  I like science, science fiction, spy books, and humor.  In the latter categories, I'm especially keen on the SF classics such as Heinlein, Asimov and Vance, unaccountably thrill to both LeCarre and Clancy, and guffaw to Dave Barry and P.J. O'Rourke.

Q:  What's your favorite color?
A:  Blue

Q:  Favorite Beverage?  Food?
A:  Ice water, chocolate.

Q:  This blog is going to be a long-term and time-consuming effort.  Do you like to write?  Do you have literary pretensions?
A:  Not especially; I prefer having written.  I do enjoy words and I like to neologize.

Q:  Oh?  Do you do crosswords?
A:  Not for myself, although I am pressed into service on occasion.  I'm reliable with science and geography, pretty good with unknown musical groups, fair at dead politicians and long-resolved crises, and absolutely hopeless with actors and pop culture.

Q:  Irony or sarcasm?
A:  Irony.  I also like the occasional zeugma.

Q:  Does this blog have a subject or theme or even any point?
A:  I think it will, although it's a bit soon to predict.  Ask me again in a month or so.  I often find myself disagreeing with conventional wisdom and with both (or all) sides of many arguments.  Perhaps I'll reflect on these issues.  I have the usual collection of ideas for saving the world and might enjoy having them ignored by a much wider group than just my friends.  And of course there are always updates on my science projects, such as the host website for this blog, www.PriUPS.com.

Q:  Why should we pay attention to you?  Are you an expert on anything?
A:  Like everyone, I have my areas of knowledge.  I'm pretty good with electronics and some physics.  I'm terrible with squishy human stuff.  Also, like everyone,  this lack of expertise won't prevent me from declaiming on subjects about which I know nothing.

Q:  Such as politics?
A:  No.  I'm unlikely to be political in any partisan sense.  I don't identify with any party.  If someone threatened to chop down my antennas, I might agree to be a Libertarian until I could wrest the ax from him.

Q:  Well, this nascent blog sounds like it will be fun!
A:  I sure hope so.  My blog hero, Andy Tobias, has been doing this five days a week for about a decade, long before anyone knew it was a "blog."  I've just gotten through my first day.  Wish me luck.

Q:  Good luck.