Post by GooRoo on Dec 6, 2003 7:35:57 GMT -8
I am a sixty-one year young male who developed an interest in the game of Gruntz because my wife purchased it, and showed it to me. (Implied, I am married ... in fact I have been for almost forty years, and we have twin daughters nearing thirty-eight years young.)
I am a retired computer programmer, who worked in Assembly language on IBM mainframes for System/360 through 3090 computers. The Operating Systems I worked on ranged from BOS (Basic Operating System) through MVS (Multiple Virtual Systems) via TOS (Tape Operating System) and DOS (Disk Operating System). I have done some programming in C and C++ for the Amiga (marketed by Commodore Business Machines), and briefly for the Intel-based computers.
I am a Life Member of the United States Chess Federation ... forever to be a class C player (rated 1511), with classes B, A, Expert, Master, Senior Master and all of the International titles above me ... much better at it than I am. I play
two to four times a week, and work out zero to two times a week on the (stationary, at this time of the year) bicycle and some weight lifting to maintain muscle tone. (Arnold Swarzenegger has nothing to worry about.) 
The workouts are in lieu of the days when I am not invited to substitute in a foursome.
I am qualified to be a Mensan, but never joined the group. The first meeting I attended as an invitee, there were about 40 people there also. Of all the attendees, I discovered that I was one of only two people who were gainfully employed! The rest were too full of themselves to work for anyone else!! Of course, now I am no longer one of the "gainfully employed", since I am now retired ... more like "gainfully unemployed". My situation means I have a lot more time to devote to hobbies, such as the game of Gruntz.
I enjoy puzzles of all kinds, and have discovered that I have a problem with sticking too closely to "the box". Gamer has proved that to me time and time again with his Gruntz Custom Levelz ... especially "Salta! Salta! Salta!".
While Paul, Guenter and Gamer create Gruntz puzzles, I tend to merely create Gruntz Levelz ... not too terribly puzzling. Except that I tend to create non-linear puzzles, meaning that the solver is not assured of preceeding from sub-puzzle "A" to "B", "C", D"", etc. until the WarpStone is brought to the King. Generally, the most puzzling part of my Custom Levelz is to determine when to do something, not how to do it! Also, I am "graphically challenged", and have often looked to Gamer for help in that area ... either directly, or by reviewing the puzzles he has created.
When I first came on board the Gruntz Forum, "Mad Lady" acted as the distributor of new Gruntz Custom Levelz, having compiled an "address book" of Gruntz Fanz. Her situation changed, requiring her to spend less time with Gruntz, and stated her need for a successor. I offered, and she accepted. So I am now the person to whom new Gruntz Custom Levelz are sent when they have been (BETA) tested and are ready for release. Usually, when I receive a new CL, I play it through to taking the Warpstone to the King, then send it out to everyone who has indicated a desire to receive new Gruntz CLz as they come out. (Then I go back into it and try to achieve a "PERFECT!" score.) Sometimes, an error slips by me because of this ... and I find that a "PERFECT!" score is simply not possible. When that happens (if I have the time to do so) I try to determine what needs to be done to allow the puzzle to be solved perfectly ... sometimes even make the correction(s) and send the CL back to the original designer for approval.
This is not an autobiography, but it gives you some idea about who I am, what I do, and maybe some insight as to why I do the things I do ... in Gruntz.
I am a retired computer programmer, who worked in Assembly language on IBM mainframes for System/360 through 3090 computers. The Operating Systems I worked on ranged from BOS (Basic Operating System) through MVS (Multiple Virtual Systems) via TOS (Tape Operating System) and DOS (Disk Operating System). I have done some programming in C and C++ for the Amiga (marketed by Commodore Business Machines), and briefly for the Intel-based computers.
I am a Life Member of the United States Chess Federation ... forever to be a class C player (rated 1511), with classes B, A, Expert, Master, Senior Master and all of the International titles above me ... much better at it than I am. I play
two to four times a week, and work out zero to two times a week on the (stationary, at this time of the year) bicycle and some weight lifting to maintain muscle tone. (Arnold Swarzenegger has nothing to worry about.) 
The workouts are in lieu of the days when I am not invited to substitute in a foursome. I am qualified to be a Mensan, but never joined the group. The first meeting I attended as an invitee, there were about 40 people there also. Of all the attendees, I discovered that I was one of only two people who were gainfully employed! The rest were too full of themselves to work for anyone else!! Of course, now I am no longer one of the "gainfully employed", since I am now retired ... more like "gainfully unemployed". My situation means I have a lot more time to devote to hobbies, such as the game of Gruntz.
I enjoy puzzles of all kinds, and have discovered that I have a problem with sticking too closely to "the box". Gamer has proved that to me time and time again with his Gruntz Custom Levelz ... especially "Salta! Salta! Salta!".
While Paul, Guenter and Gamer create Gruntz puzzles, I tend to merely create Gruntz Levelz ... not too terribly puzzling. Except that I tend to create non-linear puzzles, meaning that the solver is not assured of preceeding from sub-puzzle "A" to "B", "C", D"", etc. until the WarpStone is brought to the King. Generally, the most puzzling part of my Custom Levelz is to determine when to do something, not how to do it! Also, I am "graphically challenged", and have often looked to Gamer for help in that area ... either directly, or by reviewing the puzzles he has created.
When I first came on board the Gruntz Forum, "Mad Lady" acted as the distributor of new Gruntz Custom Levelz, having compiled an "address book" of Gruntz Fanz. Her situation changed, requiring her to spend less time with Gruntz, and stated her need for a successor. I offered, and she accepted. So I am now the person to whom new Gruntz Custom Levelz are sent when they have been (BETA) tested and are ready for release. Usually, when I receive a new CL, I play it through to taking the Warpstone to the King, then send it out to everyone who has indicated a desire to receive new Gruntz CLz as they come out. (Then I go back into it and try to achieve a "PERFECT!" score.)
Sometimes, an error slips by me because of this ... and I find that a "PERFECT!" score is simply not possible. When that happens (if I have the time to do so) I try to determine what needs to be done to allow the puzzle to be solved perfectly ... sometimes even make the correction(s) and send the CL back to the original designer for approval.This is not an autobiography, but it gives you some idea about who I am, what I do, and maybe some insight as to why I do the things I do ... in Gruntz.
...Ha! Ha! Scared ya', didn't I?