Rod Zumbro's Home Page

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Rod's Strand of the World Wide Web

Sarah, Grandpa Rod and Hannah (Summer 2006)

Welcome to my home page!
I'm enjoying being fully retired, with time for seeing grandchildren, taking classes, using the computer, keeping fit, enjoying arts and music performances, seeing movies and reading books, and traveling to new places. Susanne and I have been blessed with 12 adorable grandchildren (seen below, grouped by family), and much of this site is devoted to them. We try to see them as often as our busy schedules, and theirs, permit; all are within a few hours' drive.

They've grown a lot since these photos were taken!
Eleven of our grandkids are now teenagers, and one is in her twenties!

Video editing and movies
My interest in videography and video editing started in 1992 when Melissa, our first grandchild, was born. We had bought a camcorder for that occasion, and ever since, I've been videotaping the grandkids and our travels, then editing the videos into finished productions. If you have any interest in video editing, I recommend Pinnacle Studio, the best inexpensive video-editing software that I know about; it's made by Pinnacle Systems. Pinnacle Studio is easy-to-use, yet full featured and powerful. Click here to see examples of movies that I've created with Pinnacle Studio.

Computers and the Web
I bought my first PC in 1983 (just two years after the introduction of the IBM PC) and am still a big fan of computers. In fact, I spend a fair amount of time every day on my home PC. I started using the Internet in 1994, and I remain fascinated by how it has grown and by the enormous capabilities and efficiencies that it has brought into our lives. In the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip (Dec. 31, 1995), Calvin said, "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy ... Let's go exploring!" Well, I believe that the Web is a magical place, and I hope to continue exploring it for many years to come.

Lifelong learning
Susanne and I are enthusiastic supporters of our local lifelong-learning institute, where we take interesting courses during daytime hours that are attended by people with similar interests and taught by excellent instructors, with no homework and no exams. Our Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is an independent, non-profit organization that is affiliated with nearby George Mason University and located only 10 minutes from our home. Susanne and I have served on the institute's board of directors (nine years for Susanne, six for me), but now we're enjoying not being involved in helping govern the institute. In 2005 I created OLLI's first weekly newsletter (OLLI E-News) and edited it every week for eight years (through July 2013, after which I retired as editor). Our institute's membership currently totals more than 1,100.

Exercise and nutrition
When away from the computer, my efforts to stay in shape include strength training, which I've been doing on-and-off since high school (an excellent site for weight-training information is Dave Draper's IronOnline, written by one of Arnold's contemporaries who remains active in the 'iron game' in his 70's). I also try to do some form of aerobics frequently, a practice I started in 1968 after reading Dr. Ken Cooper's Aerobics. As for nutrition, in mid-2013 after a lifetime of eating the 'standard Western diet,' heavy on meat, cheese and other dairy products, I switched to a whole foods/plant-based diet as suggested by Dr. Colin Campbell's book, The China Study (as a result, my cholesterol figures drastically improved).

Cars ... Corvettes
I enjoy cars and have owned several nice sporty coupes: a Toyota Celica GT, a Mazda MX-6 and the unique Subaru SVX (no longer made). Then, in 1997 at age 57, I decided to follow the advice, "Life is short; buy your Corvette now." I bought my first true sports car, a brand-new, beautiful, silver Corvette coupe (a "C5," the fifth-generation of Corvettes). Seven years later, in late 2004, son Steve and I flew to Bowling Green, Kentucky where my brand-new, blue, 2005 "C6" (sixth-generation) coupe was delivered to me inside the National Corvette Museum. Nine years after that in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Steve and I picked up my seventh-generation 2014 Corvette Stingray – a stunning coupe with Laguna Blue exterior and 'Kalahari' (butterscotch color) interior. Driving a Vette is always a fun experience.

Cats
For many years, we had a sweet pussycat that we loved. Her name was Elizabeth. We had not planned to ever get another, but we decided to do so in October 2012, and we now have an amazingly precious tabby that we named Muffin. We absolutely adore her!

Updated: September 19, 2014