Welcome - Congratulations, you have somehow stumbled into my home page. My name is Robert Quartus Felix and I hope you enjoy my novice attempt at a web presence. You can contact me at rfelix@messiah.edu with any comments (fair or otherwise). I have worked for Messiah College, in the Computing Services department, since graduating from the college in 1985. Messiah College is a 4-year liberal arts college situated in south-central Pennsylvania. It is located around the small village of Grantham in a nice rural setting, nestled amid trees and fields, yet not far from the state capital, Harrisburg.

Grantham - Grantham, Pennsylvania (not to be confused with Grantham England, the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, one of my heros) is a small community in south-eastern Cumberland County. It boasts a square, though people have missed finding it on their way to campus as they were probably expecting public buildings or a fountain, instead of the two-way stop sign. It used to be that while college was in session (as most of the students live on campus) the population of Grantham was doubled. That may no longer be true, however, as like most other areas, developments and housing projects have been added over the years and so the population has increased. When I was young, my family lived in one of the older houses, right on the square of this quiet town. We joked about the gangs of Grantham, which were merely a group of unruly kids and wannabes acting up.

Harrisburg - About nine miles (as the crow flies) north-east of Grantham is the capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. Of course, (in case you didn't know the road situation in PA) it takes a bit more travelling than that to get there. Harrisburg is just on the east shore of the Susquehanna river while Grantham and its environs are on the west shore. This east/west shore division is an interesting phenomenon and it is quite common to find citizens that stick to their side of the river. I must confess a degree of this when I have to cross over to the bewildering, bustling, unfamiliar east shore. I suppose Harrisburg was chosen to be the capital because it was near (relatively) to the center of the state, somewhat in the middle between its largest two cities, Pittsburgh at the western edge and Philadelphia on the eastern edge. It ranks about fifteenth in population for cities in the state. Because of it being a center of government, the area seems to be over-run with state workers, as they creep further and further away from the city for their habitation.

Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania is one of the Middle Atlantic states, between the lower Atlantic states and New England. While it does not touch directly on the Atlantic Ocean, it does have several important port cities: Philadelphia (on the Delaware River), Pittsburgh (on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers) and Erie (on Lake Erie). It is bordered by New Jersey (east), Delaware (south-east), Maryland (south), West Virginia (south-west), Ohio (west), Lake Erie (north-west) and New York (north). Much of the lands were given to William Penn (hence the name, Penn's woods) in the late 1600's by Charles II of England. It is now primarily an industrial and agricultural state, and has lots of open forests throughout. I rather enjoy the weather that hits Pennsylvania. A little too hot, at times, in the summer and a little too cold, sometimes, in the winter. And you don't often know what to expect from a winter or summer before it gets there. Since I rather enjoy getting snow, I was disappointed that we were not blessed in that way much at all this winter. Yes, I know, lots of other places have had more than their share.

Messiah College - Messiah College got its start as a Bible school and missionary training ground in about 1909. While originally located in Harrisburg, it moved to Grantham in 1912. It later grew from being a high school academy to a four year college, giving degrees in a full range of liberal arts and sciences. Currently it enrolls about 2500 students. As most of the students live on campus, over the years there have been quite a few residence halls and apartments added for student housing. It is almost a continual experience to see one part or another of campus in a construction project. There are several unique and interesting buildings spread out about the college that I enjoy. At one point I had been in most all, if not all, of them. But over the recent years my list of unexplored buildings has been growing.

Old Main - One of the more interesting, and oldest, buildings on campus is Old Main. It was constructed in 1911 for the college's move to Grantham. It was not completed by the time classes started in the fall and alternatives needed to be found to make use of the unfinished building and other nearby homes. This paradigm seems to have been the college's normal operating procedure in several subsequent building projects. In the beginning Old Main provided almost all of the college space, and over the years has survived numerous renovations and changes. Now it currently serves as the administration building, housing primarily staff and faculty offices, as well as the buisness and academic offices. It is in the basement of this building that I have my office, along with a coworker in the Computing Services department. We are both afforded windows and appreciate them. Wish we could say the same about the running water we have occasionally with heavy rains.

Computing Services - My work for the college is for Computing Servies where I attempt to manage the administrative software and system. Mostly I enjoy the programming aspects of this task and try to do as much of that as I can. I also enjoy working with my department, which also encludes (but certianly not limited to) academic computing, training, pc and communication support. This is a group of very talented, hardworking and fun-to-work-with people. These are a few of my coworkers and their home pages:

Jon Anderson Rebecca Bole Gregory Daub

Tammi Gearhart Allen Stoner Les Weiand

Michelle Wyatt

One of the major vendors of computer software that we use and that I work extensively with is from the company, Sofware Research Northwest. While we purchased generic systems from them, there is plenty of work in maintaining (upgrading) and in adding little hooks and features (as well as some custom code).

Links - I have found some useful links since learning how to surf: TIAA-CREF, Switchboard, Cookbook, and Teleport.

Personal - My name is Robert Quartus Felix. My email address is rfelix@messiah.edu in case you want to contact me. Don't ask about the Quartus, unless you either know your Latin, or want to search through the book of Romans. I was born on June 6 (yes, D-day) in 1963. At 6:00, in the evening, in case you wondered. And no, I was not the fourth son. I have one brother (older) and one sister (younger). As well as one mother and one father (both older), which is not nearly as common these days, as it was then. I also have one wife and one son, but they came along later. I was born while my parents lived in Grantham, though I arrived at the hospital. My grandparents had moved into the area so their children could more easily attend Messiah Academy, which they all did. When I was six, my parents moved out of Grantham, into the neighboring county of York. A move of about 1 mile.

Schooling - After our move, I attended the public school in Northern York County, mixing in with the children of Dillsburg, the main town of that district. And technically (according to the post office) our place of residence. After uneventful years in grade and middle school I finally graduated on to high school. For most of my time there, I attended Vo-Tech and was planning on a career of cabinetmaking and carpentry. But in my senior year, for unstated reasons, I hurridly switched to college-prep and began plans to attend college. After graduating from Northern (oddly enough, the ceremony was held in Messiah College's auditorium) I decided to apply, and was accepted, at Messiah to study mathematics. I had rather liked that subject in high school, although I abhored computers. It's strange how things will change. By the time I graduated from Messiah, I was double majoring math and computer science. I had found I could do computer things better than the math stuff. At least better than that integral number stuff. (I prefer the logic side of math.) One of the friends I got to know in college is Bruce Bundy, now a missionary from our church in Spain.

Family - Shortly (14 days) after I finished college, I married a woman, Susan, who I was dating for several years. I had met her at Messiah. They don't call it the 'Match Factory' for nothing, I suppose. Actually, she was a friend of someone that I was ... Well, you get the idea. Alas, it was time for me to move away from home. Finally. I don't know who was happier, me or my family. We found an apartment in nearby Mechanisburg and started our life together.

Irving College - The apartment complex we first lived in was fashioned from old buildings from what used to be Irving College. It was named for one of it's first trustees, Washington Irving and it was one of the first institutions in America to offer degrees in arts and sciences to women. I believe it closed shortly after World War II. We liked seeing and feeling the evident history of the buildings and researched about it some in the local library. Also, we have been collecting postcards of its buildings and grounds when we run across them at flea markets and shows.

Home - When the owners of those apartments decided it was time to renovate again (or whatever did happen) we moved back closer to the college, to an upstairs apartment in an old farm house. We liked being more in the country, near the orchards and away from the bustle of the town. And the ice cream stand next door. But when we wanted to add to our family, it was time to move again. Didn't want to disturb people around us with a crying child. My parents were willing to sell us their house and we happily purchased it. Then began a series of remodelling projects that is moving slowly and will probably never get finished. Of course, it has stalled for lots of reasons. The birth of our son, Zachary James, in 1993 is one of the major examples. But we like our house, in its wooded, three acre lot and plug away at progress. It is a wood frame, two story house covered in aluminum siding. Since it is close to campus (less than a mile) I bike to work, or walk when the weather is bad.



Computer - I had not planned on getting a computer for home, since that's what I do all day. But a child and a wife (as well as myself) wanting to write pointed otherwise. It gives me a chance to do some work from home (phone calls evenings and nights about a process or report that is not cooperating), to play some (mu*ing, email and other stuff too), as well as catalog lists of books and other collectables. I am slowly learning about pcs. Rather slowly, as most of my work is done on a mainframe at work (well, something larger than a pc). I have found a few favorite mushes for my flights into vr. Two of which are Mysthaven and Fantasia. I have gotten to know a few people from vr and email over the years, and some of them I have met in real life. Some I have really liked and some I have really disliked. And some that I can't decide about. Here is a partial list of them: Kyt, Krissy, and Belle.

Church - The church that I belong to is in the Brethren in Christ denomination. Yes, the same organization that first started Messiah Bible School. The congregation I attend is the Grantham Brethren in Christ Church and, as of now (subject to change in the next year or so) is located in the middle of the Messiah College campus. The church has begun work on it's new structure on the edge of campus, and hopes to move there the beginning of next year. For several years now I have been helping as the assistant treasurer for the church. I really like the fellowship with members there and the challenging messages and support provided there.

Softball - Another thing I participate at within the church is the softball team. Over the last eight years or so, we have rarely had a season where we've won more than 6 games (out of a 30, or so, game schedule). But it's a lot of fun, though I'm not terribly adept at it. This year we are going to play in a different league. From what I hear, one that stresses competition less. We could use that. This year we will actually have two teams from our church. What a difference from years ago when we'd have to forfeit some games because we didn't have enough players show up. A sizable number of youth ballplayers are finally here. They are and will be muchly appreciated.

Travel - When I can't avoid it, or when I want to (not often) I do some travelling. While most of our trips are shortish, we do manage to go to eastern Ohio to visit my wife's brother's family and to North Carolina to visit my brother. While my wife likes to travel almost anywhere, I'm a lot more selective on where I wish to visit. One place that we agree on is the North West. My sister and her family are living there currently. Fortunately, since Software Research Northwest, a company that the college buys software from, is located near Seattle, we have had several opportunities to visit in the area. We really enjoy the small, rural island, Vashon Island, in Puguet Sound, where SRN is headquartered. MapQuest is useful in planning routes.

Hobbies One of my hobbies is building with plastic bricks, such as Lego(tm) and Mega(tm). In the past I had created pencil and paper drawings of these bricks to use in classification and inventory. Currently I am in the process of converting these to computer drawn versions. You can check how my progress is going by checking my brick pages.

Writing poetry and stories - You can look at a few of my poems or you can look at some from others on pages maintained by Fern.

Book collecting and reading - I rather enjoy reading books and tend to collect copies of works and authors I like reading. Here you can find a list of some of the authors whose works I have accumulated over the years. Below are some links to literary matters that I have found useful:
Links to authors of mystery stories
Pam Brown Books (Children's books)
The Unofficial Edward Eager Page
The Erle Stanley Gardner Page
The Oz Encyclopedia

Glassware collecting - I collect a pattern of depression glass called Patrician or Spoke. There are several online glass and antique places that I check for pieces I need. Some of them are: DG Shopper, Internet Antique Shop, Old Parsonage, Simple Pleasures, Classics Depression, Cheshire Cat, Depression Delights, Robin's Nest and two others, DGFS1 and DGFS2.

Puzzles and Games - I try to listen to the Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle on NPR whenever I can.
I have written a bird search puzzle that can be found here.

Music - Some of the music I enjoy is Hearts of Space and folk music such as from Elysium.

Stamp (and some coin) collecting - I have been a sporadic collector of US stamps over the years. I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff, as duplicates or unwanted, that I would like to get rid of. Please email me if you want a list of the stuff I have cataloged that I would like to sell, if you are interested. Several stamp related sites are J. E. Stewart Philatelics, World of Stamps, a stamp related list and Chuck Hendricksen's philatelic e-mail links.

A couple of coin related links are A-Mark and Coin price list.

Vampyre matters -