Marc Evan Borromeo Nonnenkamp’s Story

Welcome to my Bookstore:

	The Borromeo Family of Cebu	BUY FROM AMAZON.COM
	Volkswagen: a Car for the People – a Success Story – 2nd Edition	BUY FROM AMAZON.COM
	Scale Model Collectible Cars – with Official Corgi Toys Catalogue Illustrations	BUY FROM AMAZON.COM
	The German and the Austrian Navies – Volume 2: Second Edition:	BUY FROM AMAZON.COM
	The German and the Austrian Navies: Second Edition	BUY FROM AMAZON.COM

Born in the Empire State of New York

Please see my 5 new books titled “The Borromeo Family of Cebu” (available for $17.99 paperback and $9.99 as an Amazon Kindle e-book), “The German and the Austrian Navies: Second Editions in Color Volume Number One and Volume Number Two / Die Deutsche und die Österreichische Marine: Band Nummer Eins und Band Nummer Zwei” (available for $59.99 and $57.99, respectively), “Scale Model Collectible Cars” ($19.99) and “Volkswagen: a Car for the People / Volkswagen: ein Wagen für das Volk” Second Edition in Full Color ($40.99) now for sale on www.amazon.com in the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, China and Japan.  Here is the link to the latest media release for my books on the German and the Austrian Navies: http://www.prnewschannel.com/2012/01/24/complete-listing-of-every-german-naval-vessel-to-ever-sail-also-explores-importance-of-sea-born-trade-to-european-world-history/.

I was born at the City Hospital in Elmhurst (Borough and County of Queens), New York City at 3:09 PM on June 15, 1962. My mother was born in Surigao City, the Philippines. She is the eighth and youngest child of my maternal grandparents, Judge Andrés Borromeo y Reynes (born November 10, 1880 in Cebu City, the Philippines and died January 3, 1923 in Manila, the Philippines) and Anunciacion Rallos de Borromeo (born 1885 in Carmen City, Cebu Province and died on July 30, 1938 in Cebu City). My maternal grandmother’s father (my great-grandfather Filomeno Rallos) was the Mayor of Carmen City, Cebu Province from 1898 until he was assassinated in 1901.  His younger brother Florentino Rallos was the Mayor of much larger Cebu City (the second largest metropolitan area in the Philippines after Metropolitan Manila) from 1899 until 1908. Whereas the Borromeo family name originated from Italy, the Rallos family originated from Spain.  This article has received more than 5,723 page visits since November 2007 – we thank for very much for your interest!  I am now on this site,  www.facebook.com and 6 additional networking sites along with more than 1,540 members of the extended Borromeo-Reynes-Rallos family, 229 members of the extended Nonnenkamp family and 635 friends & subscribers plus former classmates & coworkers.

Ich bin am 15. Juni 1962 in Elmhurst (Landkreis Queens) in Neu York geboren. Meine Mutter kommt aus den Philippinen, und ist in Surigao (Insel Mindanao) geboren. Sie war das achte und das letzte Kind meiner Großeltern. Ihr Vater (mein Großvater mütterlicherseits) war einer der berühmtesten Richter in der Geschichte der Philippinen. Der Richter Andrés Borromeo y Reynes (1880-1923) diente als Landesrichter für Surigao und Agusan (1914-1923), im Nordosten von Mindanao.

Mein Vater kommt aus Deutschland, und ist im Wilhelmshaven in Niedersachsen geboren. Er war der zweite von fünf Söhnen. Sein Vater Wilhelm Johannes Nonnenkamp (mein Großvater väterlicherseits) diente bei der deutschen Marine, und zwar auf dem Linienschiff “Braunschweig,” auf dem Segelschulschiff “Bremen” und zuletzt auf dem Panzerschiff “Deutschland.” Sein Vater (mein Urgroßvater) Heinrich Nonnenkamp (1866-1936) arbeitete bei der deutschen Reichsbahn in Oldenburg. Heinrichs Vater (mein Ururgroßvater) Wilhelm Nonnenkamp (1842-1933) diente als Musiker beim großherzogtumlichen oldenburgischen Heer.

My mother Hermenegilda Amor Victoria Rallos Borromeo Nonnenkamp (1922-2015) was born in Surigao City, the Philippines (where her father Judge Andrés Borromeo y Reynes held office in the Court of First Instance), grew up in Cebu City, the Philippines and later emigrated to the USA where she earned a degree in Interior Decoration from the Gold Hill Studio in Monrovia, California. After this, she went on to earn additional degrees in Commercial Design from the Scott-Carbee School of Art in Boston, Massachusetts and in Fashion Design from the The Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City (now known as the Parson’s School of Fashion). It was in New York where she met her fellow classmates Shelby Griswold Schavoir (her best friend) and Vanna Passera Lamicelli (my Godmother). In addition to this, my mother held a real estate license in Northern California from 1978 until 1987.

Von 1962 bis 1964 haben meine Eltern und ich in Laurelton (Springfield Gardens) im Landkreis Queens gewohnt. Seit 1963 oder so ist Laurelton ein sogenanntes “Schwarzenviertel.” Von 1964 bis 1967 haben wir in Eltingville auf Staten Island gewohnt. Da gibt es immer noch viele Bewohner italienischer sowie ukrainischer Abstammung.  Die Italiener in Nordamerika stammen hauptsächlich aus Sizilien und Neapel, d.h. aus Süditalien.  Inzwischen sind auch viele Leute aus Asien angekommen, zum Beispiel, aus Indien und China.  Im Jahre 1965 haben meine Eltern und ich eine Reise nach Hawaii, Japan, Honk Kong und den Philippinen unternommen.  Im Jahre 1967 haben wir dann eine Reise nach Westeuropa gemacht, wo wir Deutschland, Belgien, Luxemburg, Frankreich, Monako, Spanien, Andorra, Italien, den Vatikan und die Schweiz besucht haben. Als wir zurück nach Amerika gekommen sind, sind wir von Neuyork nach Kalifornien umgezogen. Zuerst haben wir eine Wohnung in Oakland (östlich von San Francisco) gemietet, und dann haben wir im Jahre 1968 ein neues Haus in Newark gekauft.  Bevor unserer Europareise haben wir uns einen neuen Volkswagen, Fließheck Baujahr 1967, gekauft und in Bremerhaven in Empfang genommen (“European Delivery Program” auf englisch) und dann durch die genannten Länder gefahren.   Auf dem Wege zurück ist der Wagen dann von Bremerhaven nach Neu Jersey verschifft worden und wir sind dann von dort zur U.S. Westküste gefahren. Unseren 1962 Volkswagen Käfer haben wir leider in Neu York verkauft.

In Newark, Kalifornien haben wir unseren Deutschen Schäferhund auch gekauft. Er lebte von Oktober 1968 bis September 1980, und hieß “Helmkors Roland von Bremen,” oder “Rolf.” In Newark haben wir bis Oktober 1974 gewohnt. Dann sind wir nach Danville, Kalifornien umgezogen. Danville liegt etwas nordöstlich von Newark.

Shortly before my birth, my parents moved from Elmhurst to Springfield Gardens (Laurelton), also in the borough of Queens In New York City. We then moved to Eltingville, Staten Island (the borough and county of Richmond in New York City) in 1964. In those days, Staten Island was still very sparsely settled compared to today (roughly 25,000 inhabitants compared to well over 450,000 in 2006). I took my very first trip to the Philippines (the birthplace of my mother) in 1965 and to Germany (the birthplace of my father) in 1967. After returning from Europe in the Fall of 1967, we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in California. We lived in Oakland from 1967-68 and in “The Lake” (a Transamerica Company development) in Newark from 1968-74. We then moved into the “Whitegate” development in Danville from 1974-79. Our final residence in Northern California was in the “Blackhawk Country Club” community in Danville. My father Wilfried Erich Nonnenkamp was an international banker from 1960 until his retirement from the Bank of America in 1994, at which time he was their Vice President and Letter of Credit Manager. He was born in Wilhelmshaven, Germany as his own father (my paternal grandfather Wilhelm Johannes Nonnenkamp) served aboard the so-called pocket Battleship “Deutschland.” Wilhelmshaven has been the largest Naval Base in the German-speaking world since the time of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1888.

Formative Years in the Golden State of California

I graduated from the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Newark, California in 1974, from the Los Cerros Junior High School in Danville, California in 1976 and from Monte Vista High School (home of the “Mustangs”) also in Danville in 1980.  While in Newark (1968-1974) my parents and I lived in “The Lake,” a Transamerica development.  Neighbors included the Fitzgeralds and the Wares, the Inamdars (from Bangalore, India) and the Chus (who purchased our home when we moved to Danville in 1974).  Our first year in California was actually spent in Oakland, where I attended Kindergarten at Lakeview Elementary School.  Other good friends in California included Trudi Butler (in Oakland), the Perrys (in Newark) and the Cruzes (in Fremont).

My friend and former classmate from Los Cerros Junior High, Robert Kevin “Bob” Olsen, now resides in Danville with his wife Donna Barton (whom he met in college in 1982, and who now teaches at Stone Valley Middle School in Alamo) and their young 10-year old son Kyle.  Bob has his own tax practice, located in the “Clock Tower” commercial complex in downtown Danville.  Los Cerros alumnus Ben Burress is married and works as an Astronomer for a non-profit organization in San Leandro, California.

Other friends from Monte Vista High include Class of 1981 alumnus Dean Langston (my mother worked with his late father Glenn Langston in real estate from 1977 to 1987), who has his own mortgage company in Danville called “Commerce Capital.”  Other Monte Vistans with whom I am in contact include Class of 1981 alumna cheerleader Josephine “Jo” Humphreys Tavares, who is married with two children, working as Reservations Manager for the Tucker Hotel in Hamilton, Bermuda, her elder sister Barb Humphreys Mahar (married and living near Seattle), Don Prehn (now in Boise, Idaho), Dave O’Brien (a former MVHS football player now married and living in Fremont, California), Kevin Bell (another former MVHS football player now married and living in Union City, California), Mike McDonald (married and living in San Ramon, California), Greg Gabor (now living in Utah), Rudy Leuver, Bryan McFarland (another former MVHS football player), Eric Pinckard (in Danville) and Steve Kuzmack (married and living in Carlsbad, California).  Scott Rice (Class of 1980 alumnus) is married with three children and working as a Computer Programmer in Austin, Texas.  Before MVHS, Scott attended Stone Valley JHS which is in Alamo between Roundhill Country Club and Walnut Creek.  Mark Tank (Class of 1980) is married with three daughters, and living in Great Falls, Montana where he served in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Monte Vista.  John Soled (Class of 1980) is married with three children, and resides in Gilroy in the South Bay Area.

While at Monte Vista, I studied German language for four years with Mr. Felix Pallavicini (a native of Hungary with an Italian surname – not unusual in the old Austro-Hungarian Monarchy), and scored extremely well in the annual A.A.T.G. (American Association of Teachers of German) national tests.  While in the East Bay suburb of Danville, my parents and I lived in “Whitegate” from 1974 to 1979 (directly up the street from Monte Vista High School) and in Hidden Oaks at Blackhawk Country Club from 1979 until 1987.  Neighbors in Whitegate included the Vosburghs (who moved back to Rhode Island), and Leo and Rita Steimer (Leo owned a number of commercial tractor trailers).

This first phase of Blackhawk is located just beyond Diablo Country Club, itself the oldest in the area.  Our former next-door neighbor, the family of Hans K. Geilhufe, still reside there after 36 years.  Hans and his wife Jeannie have four children who are now grown up and on their own.  Other neighbors in Hidden Oaks included Rick Overstreet (another fellow Monte Vista graduate who liked to play tennis), Glenn and Christine Burkett (who owned two wonderful Samoyeds named “Pascha” and “Assalla”) and Dale and Barbara Meyer.

I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in May of 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in German Language and Literature and with a Minor in the History of the Western World (my first two years of college were spent at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill).  Friends while at DVC included fellow classmates Rick Castleberry (from Walnut Creek), Bob Sharpe (from El Sobrante) and Juergen Hall.

M.B.A. earned in the Old Dominion of Virginia

In 1987, I moved to Virginia. It was there that I graduated from the Mason School of Business of the College of William and Mary in Virginia at Williamsburg with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Corporate Finance and a Minor in Economics in May of 1989. My Summer Internship in 1988 was completed with Vereins-und Westbank, A.G. in Hamburg, Germany.  This bank was eventually taken over by Bayerische Vereinsbank of Munich, Germany, which in turn merged with the Bayerische Hypotheken-und Wechselbank (also based in Munich).  The new bank was named “HypoVereinsbank.”  This has since merged into “UniCredit,” a massive European bank based in Italy, and with branches all over Italy, Germany and Austria.  Good friends in Germany include Frank Mueller (of Glinde near Hamburg), Jens Hansen (also in Hamburg), Axel Berger (in Brunswick) and his elder brother Stefan Berger (in Berlin).

Friends and fellow alumni from the Mason School of Business include Class of 1989 alumnus Edward George “Ted” Kaufman (a VP with Scott & Stringfellow-BB&T in Norfolk, Virginia), Class of 1989 John Shelby Spaulding (proprietor of a cross-country trucking company in Jacksonville, Florida), Class of 1989 Douglas F. Parker (with G.E. Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut and married to Class of 1990 alumna Nandita Agarwal), Class of 1989 Gary Gaylord (with I.B.M. in suburban Washington, D.C.) and Class of 1989 John Lynch (Senior Analyst with Evergreen Securities-Wells Fargo Bank in North Carolina).

I then moved to Atlanta, Georgia where I worked for the Resolution Trust Corporation (R.T.C.), which has since been merged into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (F.D.I.C.). The latter is an agency of the federal government of the United States which “insures” depositors’ money at commercial banks. The R.T.C. was temporarily established to liquidate many savings and loan institutions that went bankrupt during the 1980s and 1990s.  Friends from my days in Atlanta include Bob Eichelberger (retired from RBM Mercedes-Benz of Atlanta), Roland Smith (a tennis buddy who was Southeastern Sales Manager for Medco-Merck) and Hope Snyder (now married and with two children in Austin, Texas).

From the Peach Tree State of Georgia to the Copper State of Arizona

Toward the end of my time in Atlanta (1991-1994), I left my seven-year stint in commercial banking for the career that I still have to this day – that of tax accounting. I started this career as a Tax Preparer in a retail office of H&R Block Tax & Financial Services in Atlanta in 1993, and then in Tucson, Arizona where my parents retired in 1994. I was made Assistant Supervisor of the 13-employee Sears Tucson Mall Office in 1996.  Good friends in Arizona include Bob & Maria Roth (both now deceased), Ursula Basetti-Sani, Bob & Pauly Skiba, Nick & Jerre Carter (both now deceased), Jim & Jody Obear, Ron & Betty Stareck (Ron has since passed away), Gary & Penny Vroegh (the owner of Stuttgart Autohaus), Bob & Judie Moon (now retired in the Idaho Panhandle), Bobbie Coritz, Larry Klages and Chris Jansons (who restored my 1973 VW Super Beetle Sedan).

Fateful Return to the “Big Apple” of New York City

In January 2000, I accepted a position as Tax Accountant with the Provident Financial Management Division of American Express Tax & Business Services in New York City (in 2005, both American Express TBS and Provident itself were purchased by RSM McGladrey, an H&R Block Company).  Provident still has two offices in metropolitan Los Angeles and one in San Francisco, California.  The New York City office where I worked was moved to Long Island after I left New York for New Mexico, and there was one more branch office in Charlottesville, Virginia.

My first office was the Carnegie Tower in Midtown Manhattan, right next to the world famous opera & music house of Carnegie Hall. It was here that I worked on tax returns for larger clients, including for music-industry celebrities & actors and the businesses they owned (corporations, partnerships, employee benefit plans and non-profit organizations). In October 2000, we moved our office into #7 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. It was there that our office was totally destroyed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Nobody in our building was killed, but I did have two coworkers who were injured on that fateful day. They were hit by falling glass as they exited our building. One of them lost her fingers, but by the grace of good fortune total strangers in the vicinity picked those severed fingers off the ground and took them to the ambulance where she was treated. In the end, the doctors were able to re-attach the fingers and she was able to use them again after difficult therapy. The other girl later told me she ran away like crazy, because one of the first things she noticed on the ground was a severed human head. I remember hearing from someone else who worked in the Merrill Lynch tower (at World Financial Center across the street from World Trade Center) that he witnessed people jumping to their deaths from the high floors of the World Trade Center. It was truly a tragic day.

#7 World Trade Center was located directly North of the North Tower (one of the two 110-story “twin towers”), and had 47 floors. I worked upon the 19^th floor. As a Tax Accountant, I had been working overtime for weeks due to the corporate tax extension deadline of September 15. Monday, September 10 had been a humid day, and I was just tired after work on that day. I was moving slower that evening and the next morning (the fateful morning of September 11, 2001). I was taking more time to enjoy my dinner, and to relax in front of the television set after dinner. The next morning, I can say the same of taking more time for my breakfast. I was certainly not late getting out of my 17^th story apartment in Forest Hills (Queens) and to the subway station, but that morning the trains were also running late and slow. Initially, my train was slow due to the train in front of mine having brake problems. Then, we were slowed down in Manhattan due to the attack on the World Trade Center (albeit none of us, including the train operator, were aware of this). My train was re-routed the Eastern side of downtown, near Wall Street. I never went to Wall Street, as I worked on the Western side of downtown in the World Trade Center.

I can remember running (and cursing like many others that morning), because all we could think of was being late for work due to the inefficiency of the New York City subway system. When I finally entered a standing room only train headed for Wall Street, I can remember people looking at a lady who was rambling on about how “it was the worst thing I ever saw in my entire life, and I’m just glad I got out of there alive.” At the time, nobody on the train knew what in the world she was talking about.

When I exited the train at the Wall Street subway station and came up to the street level, I could hear sirens and there was a smell of burning in the air. The subway exit was right next to one of those old Episcopalian Churches in downtown Manhattan, Churches more than 200 years old amid the modern skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan. I remember seeing paper like confetti descending upon the pavement and the ground, a strong smell of burning, hearing sirens, and the ground itself littered with millions of pieces of shredded paper. Then I finally walked past the cemetery and the spire of the old Church, and saw both of the huge twin towers engulfed by massive fires at their respective tops. The fires were so black and so massive I knew this could be no mistake. It was foul play of the worst kind, but I had no idea what caused it. Security in the seven-building World Trade Center complex was among the tightest of any office complex on the planet. We had to show our badges before entering our own buildings every time, regardless of the fact that many of the security guards recognized us as employees. These strict measures were in place due to the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

I made an attempt to walk toward my own building that morning so I might report to work (as did numerous other workers that fateful morning). Before I got far, a plain clothed policeman approached me, flashed his badge and asked other office workers and myself where we were headed. Alone I replied that I worked at #7 World Trade Center and that I was trying to get to work. He responded immediately that none of us were getting to work that morning. He told us that if two buildings had already been attacked, others were likely to be unsafe as well. He said he had no desire to take any of us away in body bags, and that we should go back whence we came. He told us we should then walk North (i.e., away from downtown Manhattan). Needless to say, all present obeyed him.

The scenes I witnessed that morning were unreal. Some people taking home movies of the burning buildings. Others talking on cell phones, describing what they were seeing. Still others lined up in front of public telephone booths, desperately trying to reach those important to them. The streets, which would have been full of motor vehicles on any normal day, were almost void of cars and packed full of pedestrians. New Yorkers are normally among the most hurried, abrupt and rude drivers on the planet. On that fateful day, they were patient, kind and helpful to entire strangers. People were packed at bus stops, desperately trying to board a bus to anywhere. Buses were packed full, like one often sees them in Third World countries. Taxicabs were the same, literally with people hanging out of the windows.

I walked over to City Hall and for a few minutes remained on the narrow lawn in between the wrought iron fence and the sidewalk, along with hundreds and perhaps thousands of other people. I finally decided I was not getting to work that morning, and proceeded to walk North along Broadway. The streets were packed with people on foot, with millions of us leaving lower Manhattan. Every single subway station in downtown and Midtown Manhattan was out of service.

When the first tower crashed to the ground, I was perhaps 10 blocks North of that fateful event. I remember people, especially women, screaming. I heard a stampede of people start behind me, and then thought to myself that I should run as well. The next moment, I thought to myself that was a crazy and dangerous idea, and that I should stop running and find shelter in the nearest building. This I did, and fortunately people ceased their stampede. When the second tower crashed to the ground, I was perhaps 20 blocks North of downtown. People did not react as badly as they did when the first tower collapsed.

I remember walking past a parked car on Broadway. The doors and windows were all open, the primitive mono radio was tuned to a news station and the volume was up full blast. The commentator said that the Pentagon had just been hit by an airplane. At that moment, I thought the world had just entered a Biblical Armageddon. I still had no idea that the World Trade Center had been hit by jet passenger aircraft, as I had no access to any extended news coverage.

I walked as far North as the Southeast corner of Central Park, which is located at the top of Midtown Manhattan. Around 59^th Street, I turned Eastward and headed toward the Queensboro Bridge. It was the same situation on the bridge; packed with pedestrians on both sides heading away from Manhattan, and a small but steady stream of mostly law enforcement and medical vehicles heading into Manhattan and eventually South toward downtown (New York Police Department or NYPD, the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms or ATF, New York Fire Department and of course many ambulances). I remember seeing a freight truck stop on the bridge, the driver jump out, and he opened the rear freight door of the truck so that pedestrians might come on board for a free ride to Queens.

On the Queens side of the bridge is very densely populated Long Island City. I noticed some city buses, and like other people I made every effort to board a bus (knowing not where the bus was headed). All public transportation was free that day; no bus driver or taxi driver charged their passengers any fee whatsoever. It was just people helping other people, mostly strangers. I was fortunate enough to board a passenger bus bound for Flushing, a part of Queens to which I normally would not go. It was standing room only on this bus, and I remember hearing another passenger jokingly say “so we’re going to Flushing today!” Like me, this fellow was just happy to get on any bus. Fortunately, I did not have to take the entire bumper to bumper ride to Flushing. I recognized Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, exited the bus and was able to ride the subway for free part of the way home to 67^th Avenue in Forest Hills. The subway was guarded by policemen that day, who allowed passengers to enter the stations at no charge.

It took me a good four hours to get home that day, and when I did get home and turn the TV on, only then did I realize that terrorists had flown two passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. I tried to use the telephone, but the lines were out of commission. I signed onto my Internet e-mail account, and was then able to notify everyone on my recipient list (about 60 addresses) what had transpired and that I was fine. On that fateful day in history, I received a reply from pretty much everyone. Later, I was finally able to use the telephone to call my parents in Arizona, other friends, coworkers and relatives in the New York area.

Our American Express office was completely destroyed that day, because all seven World Trade Center buildings plus one additional building were lost. 3,000 people had been killed and 6,000 had been injured in New York, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Many small businesses directly affected by the terrorist attacks on America were unable to recover. My own office was “out of commission” for three weeks until American Express found us new quarters located on the Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. Our cross street was 48^th Avenue, so I was never very far from landmarks such as Rockefeller Center or St. Patrick’s Cathedral that I was able to visit during my lunch hour.

Return to the Southwest

In October 2002, I moved from New York to New Mexico where I reside and work to this day.

My nephew Matthew Atega Tan and I commenced the groundwork for this website in 2004, and we started using a global web counter in 2007.  I began working with a New York literary agent in 2009, and my first book (on Volkswagen A.G. of Germany) was published in 2010.  24 editions of my books were published by 2015 (11 paperback and 13 e-book) – these on Volkswagen, the German and the Austrian Navies, Scale Model Collectible Cars and on the Borromeo Family of Cebu City in the Philippines.  “Volkswagen: a Car for the People” was featured in a review by Glen Smale of “Vehicle Engineer International” of the UK in 2011.  “The German and the Austrian Navies: Volumes One and Two” were featured in a 2012 review by Walter “Winn” Price of the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation of Washington, D.C. and “Scale Model Collectible Cars” was featured by “Jaguar World Monthly” magazine of England in November 2012 – thanks to Editor Jim Patten.  “Scale Model Collectible Cars” is also featured in the February 2013 issue of “Hemmings Sports and Exotics” magazine – thanks to Editor Jeff D. Koch.

Our 2 websites have received more than 776,956 visitors from 194 countries (speaking 153 languages) in 11 years.  My 11 book titles (3 on Volkswagen, 5 on the German Navy, 2 on Toy Cars and one on the Borromeo Family of Cebu City) have received at least 41,024 “likes” on all known Internet sites.  Our monthly financial and economic update blog has over 32,675 visitors and subscribers from 120 countries (50 US states).  We try to prepare out subscribers for the emerging global social and economic crash (likely the largest social crash in thousands of years of human history) and we manage a successful investment fund which shorts the Dow Jones 30 Industrials Futures Index, the US Bond Market and which has varying positions on different currencies such as the US Dollar, the UK Pound Sterling, the EU Euro and the Philippine Peso.  Full time fund managers and part time fund consultants include our good friends Rusty Nonnenkamp Leopoldshagen, William Frederick Nonnenkamp Benecke, George Afferden, Tony Remedios Cruz, John Cupo, Frederick Perry, Scott Woodward, Jose Rael and Leopold Steimer.