Ruhrfisch

Rührfisch (literally 'stir-fish') is the German word for a magnetic stir bar (or 'stirring flea' if you speak the King's English). Since English does not use umlauts, I left the umlaut off (ü → u) to get Ruhrfisch. In German Rührfisch is not the same as Ruhrfisch, which would be a fish in the river Ruhr. Since I like rivers (and fish), that is OK too.

In April 2009, without even knowing it, I discovered I am a "pimpin' mack daddy".

A favorite quotation of mine, by John Ruskin. This is how I try to act here and elsewhere.

"It is a good and safe rule to sojourn in every place as if you meant to spend your life there, never omitting an opportunity of doing a kindness, or speaking a true word, or making a friend."

An English haiku I wrote on a stir bar, inspired by my user name:

A white bar, spinning

magnetic core, teflon skin;

not much of a fish.

I have been a registered editor since July 8, 2005. On December 14, 2007 I became an administrator on Wikipedia. I am not the world's most active admin, but you can check my actions as a user and an admin here:

Ruhrfisch (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA). I am open to recall as an admin.

I have been a major contributor to twenty-eight Featured Articles and four Featured Lists.

I am the principal author of ten Featured Articles:

  Larrys Creek (this was Today's Featured Article on October 19, 2007, and was formerly a Good Article)

  White Deer Hole Creek (this was Today's Featured Article on April 13, 2009)

  Plunketts Creek (Loyalsock Creek) (which was formerly a Good Article)

  Cogan House Covered Bridge (over Larrys Creek, this was Today's Featured Article on December 13, 2011)

  Forksville Covered Bridge (over Loyalsock Creek, this was Today's Featured Article on January 13, 2011 and was formerly a Good Article)

  Hillsgrove Covered Bridge (also over Loyalsock Creek)

  Sonestown Covered Bridge (over Muncy Creek)

  Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 (formerly over Plunketts Creek, this was Today's Featured Article on June 22, 2013)

  Ganoga Lake (this was Today's Featured Article on July 18, 2012, and was formerly a Good Article)

  Clemuel Ricketts Mansion (on Ganoga Lake, this was Today's Featured Article on December 1, 2010, and was formerly a Good Article)\

and a main author of or major contributor to eighteen Featured Articles:

  Presque Isle State Park (along with Gerry D, Niagara, Tomdonohue1, Finetooth, and Trey)

  Joseph Priestley House (jointly authored with Awadewit, this was Today's Featured Article on April 18, 2009)

  Black Moshannon State Park (along with Gerry D)

  Worlds End State Park (along with Gerry D, this was Today's Featured Article on December 21, 2012 (the supposed "End of the World", and was formerly a Good Article)

  Leonard Harrison State Park (along with Gerry D, this was Today's Featured Article on October 19, 2010)

  Stigand (Ealdgyth is the principal author and listed as co-nominators Ning-ning for copyedits, and me for two peer reviews, this was Today's Featured Article on September 27, 2008)

  Colton Point State Park (along with Gerry D)

  Cherry Springs State Park (along with Gerry D, this was Today's Featured Article on June 11, 2009)

  BP Pedestrian Bridge (along with TonyTheTiger and Torsodog, this was Today's Featured Article on May 22, 2010)

  Nansen's Fram expedition (Brianboulton is the principal author and I made the maps, this was Today's Featured Article June 23, 2012)

  Upper Pine Bottom State Park (along with Gerry D)

  Lock Haven, Pennsylvania (Finetooth is the principal author and listed me as co-nom for my photos and maps)

  Jay Pritzker Pavilion (along with TonyTheTiger, this was Today's Featured Article on April 3, 2010)

  Waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park (along with Gerry D)

  Quehanna Wild Area (along with Auntieruth55)

  Harris Theater (Chicago, Illinois) (along with TonyTheTiger, this was Today's Featured Article on November 8, 2010)

  Ricketts Glen State Park (along with Gerry D)

  Exelon Pavilions (along with TonyTheTiger, this was Today's Featured Article on December 10, 2010)

I am a main author of four Featured Lists:

  List of Pennsylvania state parks (along with Gerry D and VerruckteDan)

  List of municipalities in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania (along with Gerry D)

  List of municipalities in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania (along with Gerry D)

  List of tributaries of Larrys Creek (I am the principal author, no one else is this crazy ;-) )

I have helped write six Good Articles, all of which are now Featured Articles (see above)

I have been a major contributor to forty-six articles on the Main Page in the Did you know section.

I have uploaded twenty-three images that have appeared on the Main Page twenty-four times: eleven of my images (plus six images I just uploaded) have been featured in DYK, and three of my images (plus four I only uploaded) have been in Today's Featured Article (one of my images of the Priestley House was in DYK, then TFA).

I will never, never, never, never, never have an image that becomes a Featured Picture. ;-)

I do have two Quality Images on Commons!

I help out with Peer Reviews when I can. I do reviews at Good Article Nominations and have passed four (of eight) to date: Ernest Shackleton, Columbia River, Johnson Creek (Willamette River), and Skye - all are now FAs.

I also have an account on Wikimedia Commons, which I use for images I make and take (maps and photographs), and an account on the German Wikipedia (both as Ruhrfisch too).

I am honored to have received the following awards and barnstars:

I have made or made substantial contributions to articles in the following areas:

• Chemistry Related
• Children's Literature
• Rivers
• Germany
• Places in Pennsylvania
  • Creeks
  • Railroads
  • Native American Paths
  • Protected Areas
• Pennsylvania Miscellany
• Places in Ohio
• Places in Tennessee

I like to make maps based on the free U.S. Census Bureau maps available online. I have made maps of:

• All 67 Pennsylvania Counties (with Municipal and Township Labels)
• All 88 Ohio Counties (with Municipal and Township Labels)
• All 63 Pennsylvania Counties with more than one Public School District
• All 100 North Carolina Counties (with Municipal Labels)
• All 5 Rhode Island Counties (with Municipal and Township Labels)
• All 64 Lousiana Parishes (127 maps total, as each parish map is in two versions, with and without district labels, for all but Orleans Parish)
• Locator maps for all incorporated places, townships, and Census-designated places in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania (53 maps total), Sullivan County, Pennsylvania (13 maps total), and Hancock County, Ohio (29 maps total)
• Watershed maps for Lycoming County, Larrys Creek, and White Deer Hole Creek
• Stream maps for Plunketts Creek and Lyre River
• Metropolitan Statistical Area maps for Fort Wayne
• Railroad maps for LVRR and UCIR
• Historical Maps for Big Runaway, Daniel Hughes, and Susquehanna Boom
• Locator maps for 49 U.S. States and the District of Columbia:
  AL | AK | AR | AZ | CA | CO | CT | DC | FL | GA | HI | ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY | LA | ME | MA | MD | MI | MN | MS | MO | MT | NE | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA | RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT | VT | VA | WV | WA | WI | WY Plus I fixed the colors on VerruckteDan's DE map

I am an avid photographer and add images to articles when I can. Please see the subpage (link above) for some of these.

Here are some of the images I have made for use on Wikipedia that have been used elsewhere. I only include uses by media that seem notable.

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1. a) My photograph of a natural gas drilling rig was used as the cover image of the Fall 2010 Citizen's Guide to Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania by the National Sea Grant Law Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

   b) The same photograph was used (with my permission) in the October 28, 2010 print issue of the Hummelstown, Pennsylvania weekly newspaper The Sun.

   c) Public Radio International used it in its September 27, 2011 story the "Natural gas boom may be making people sick"

   d) It was also used by the RAND Corporation in its April 27, 2012 article "Could Coal Mine Drainage Be Used for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction?"

   e) The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch website used it in its October 17, 2012 article "Exxon deal heats up Canada shale play".

   f) It was used on page 145 of Sergey Govorushko's 2016 book "Human Impact on the Environment: An Illustrated World Atlas" published by Springer

2. My panoramic photo of Fairfield Township is used (with my permission) by the Coalition for Responsible Growth and Resource Conservation on their web page
3. My photo of Steamtown National Historic Site was used in National Parks Traveler's September 14, 2008 article "Attendance Shortfalls at Steamtown National Historic Site Prompt Calls for Privatization"
4. a) My photo of a fracking gas drilling tower was used in the National Wildlife Federation's September 15, 2011 article "Environment: The Trouble with Fracking"

   b) A cropped version of the same photo was used in the San Antonio Business Journal article by James Aldridge on September 18, 2012 in "Japan eying North American shale gas to meet country’s power needs

5. My panoramic photo of Bald Eagle Mountain was used by The Conservation Fund to illustrate a grant they made to preserve part of the mountain
6. My photo of the statue of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden in Karlsruhe is used by Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on Charles Frederick
7. My photo of Durrwachter Alumni Center at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania is used by Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on the university
8. My photo of a game in the 2007 Little League World Series is used by Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on Little League Founder Carl Stotz
9. My photo of the Clinton County, Pennsylvania courthouse is used by Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on Clinton County
10. My photo of the Presque Isle Light at Presque Isle State Park was used by Russ Rowlett of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's website on Lighthouses of the United States: Northwestern Pennsylvania
11. My panoramic photo of the Pine Creek Gorge was used by the Pennsylvania State University's Pennsylvania Center for the Book Summer 2008 article by Urja Davé on PA's Grand Canyon: More than just sightseeing
12. a) My photo of a cardiac operating room was used by New Jersey 101.5 news anchor Kelly Waldron's April 23, 2012 story Surgery Just Over a Week Away – Kelly’s Journey

    b) The same photo was used by Inc. (magazine)'s Paul Spiegelman in his March March 15, 2013 "Company Culture" blog post Why You Should Care About Hospital Culture

    c A cropped version of the same photo was used by Inc. (magazine)'s Gene Marks in his February 27, 2013 "Under the Wire" blog post 9 Great Things About the Looming Sequester

13. My map of the state of Louisiana was used twice by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on its Press Room: Evolution on the Front Line page
14. Yet another of my gas well photos was used by the Audubon Society's Alisa Opar in her March 11, 2010 article "Report says Proposed Fracking Law Won’t Stop Industry, House Investigates the Controversial Practice"
15. My dental panoramic X-ray was used by Scientific American's Kyle Hill in his May 22, 2013 blog post Why Portland Is Wrong About Water Fluoridation
16. My panoramic photo of the two branches of Swift Run in Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area is used at the top of the official Snyder County, Pennsylvania website here, and in their Best Kept "Secret Places" to Visit in Snyder County, PA guide.
17. My photo of the Pine Creek Rail Trail bridge over Little Pine Creek in Waterville, PA was used by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in its Plan the Keystone Pennsylvania Rail Plan on page 168 of Chapter Two. (Thanks to Mitchazenia for letting me know)
18. My photo of Lurie Garden in Millennium Park in Chicago was used by Lakeshore Magazine in its Spring 2016 article "City in a Garden"

• A page of resources I use.