I'm happy to see all the new members join.  Welcome!

I have not been too active lately, so here's a bit of self-intro.

I'm Larry Kestenbaum.  I've been a member of BP for its entire
history, though I haven't always devoted full attention.  I have also
had the honor of meeting Ken and several other list-members in person,
during a visit to NYC some time back.

Me, I have a CV as motley as anyone.  Economics B.A., law degree,
unfinished HP Master's from Cornell, job history as university
lecturer (including HP Law, computer security, data management in
social science research), consumer advocate lawyer in electric utility
rate cases, janitor specializing in vacuuming vast carpeted areas,
fundraising mailing list entrepreneur, DOD-funded computer lab
manager, unloader of trucks at a department store, consultant on local
designation of historic properties, manager of the shutdown of a huge
obsolete library of data on magnetic tapes, creator of a popular
political history web site, chair of a local historic district
commission, and elected official in various capacities.

For the past five years I have been County Clerk & Register of Deeds
here in Washtenaw County, Michigan (county seat: Ann Arbor; population
340,000).  In that capacity I'm in charge of elections, deeds, vital
records, campaign finance recording, circuit court records, etc. etc.,
with the help of about 45 staff.  It's a full time job that pays in
the extremely low six figures.

I came into office by defeating my entrenched predecessor in 2004; I
was unopposed for re-election in 2008.  I'm the first Democrat and the
first college graduate to hold this position in seven decades.

Almost every year, we welcome a class of HP grad students from nearby
Eastern Michigan University (where I used to teach HP law), who
research specific buildings in our 180-year collection of land
records.

My web site is PoliticalGraveyard.com, started in 1996.  It's
essentially a hand-built database of U.S. political biography from
colonial times to the present.

I live in a modest, 914-square-foot 1953 ranch house along a busy
former state highway in Ann Arbor.  Previous owners removed all but
two of the original steel casement windows.  I regret to say that we
ripped out the original steel kitchen cabinets at my wife's
insistence.

Despite the fact that the house sits atop a small rise which is almost
the highest topographic point in the 25 square miles of the City of
Ann Arbor, the basement often got wet when it rained.  Last summer, we
had new footing drains, a sump pump, and 4-inch vertical I-beams
installed to reinforce the foundation.  The basement is now guaranteed
dry for the lifetime of the house or of the contractor, whichever is
less.

Now, I am working on refitting the mostly-unfinished basement to house
my library, and I am grateful for all the advice provided by list
members, who, as Ken pointed out recently, happen to have some spare
time these days.

Best wishes to all.

                                             Larry Kestenbaum

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>