Hi from up north!

[atomic17]

not sure why i didnt do this earlier but w/ever

I live in Canada, am billingual but cant spell in either language (please bear with me on that). I love building stuff and working with my hands. I have good memory too, so i spend a lot of time surfing the internet or in my garage. Ive won my schools science fair twice (2 for 2... better than most sports teams)

I stopped following sports when our local hocey team really started losing regularly (last year? Here hockey is a religion, not sure in the US how active the worshipers are.)

I love electronics and do design hobbyist electronics (my latest project is a ultra-low-cost regulator for micro-energy systems), but i also like (read know) chemistry and mechanics. I also studied blacksmithing and metallurgy a little, and thusly i know the theory involved. I also enjoy being outside gardening or building outbuildings, though i defer to my brother on maths.

I enjoy automotive related work too, and cant wait to buy a used pickup to work on.

im in decent, though not spectacular shape.

Im pretty frugal, so i dont think i help the economy much.

As far as politics go, first a lesson on Canadian politics 101:
Here in Canada, we dont actually vote for anyone. Almost no one does. The candidats are all bad, so we instead vote against candidates. For example, at the last election, a lot of people voted for the weak liberals not because they supported unnecessary taxation on their products in the name of our environment, but rather because we didnt want the conservatives to have a majority.  It gets even worse for municipal elections; we had the choice of :
A witch-
mixed nuts-
the pylon/yeti-



did i miss anything?

[Ghostrider247]

Welcome from Georgia 

[Todays Survival Show]

Good intro. Congratulations on your science fair victories in high school.  When I tell my son this he will be amazed.  It's his goal to win a science fair.  Astronomy actually.

[CX]

Welcome atomic.....looking forward to seeing you around the forum, i reckon your skills and enthusiasm will be invaluable.

CX.

[ravenwolf31]

Greetings from da northern kin just south of you! I am from Minnesota!

[40Cal Joe]

Glad to have you from up north. Canada wins the gold in hockey this year at the Olympics, home ice advantage. 

[atomic17]

okay, so
1) thanks for the welcomes everyone
2) i find the best way to win a science fair is to trawl either www.instructables.com or www.wikipedia.org for a project thats simple, easy to understand or build, and has some real-world value. For example, i won this year off my Stirling engine. Not only was it fun to build and did it look great to have a working model on hand, but the fact that full sized versions could cheaply power our cities definitely was a big corner stone. Other key points are to know your subject (im sure im not the only one who takes sadistic glee in asking difficult questions) and to choose an exiting subject. No offense, but astronomy is a bit boring and not very down to earth. although i have a friend who made it to the provincials off astronomy related, it takes a great presentation and more importantly an understandable topic. Being politically correct is also a great plus. i will come up with more as i go, but those are the essentials i go by to help me choose a project.
3) Seeing as are Olympians arent wearing the Saint Flannel its not that important who wins. Our honor isnt as much at stake.

[Rosesandtea]

Hi and welcome.