One great thing about living in the part of the world
where I do is that
you routinely run into giants of the computing age. As an example, any
Computer Museum event you attend affords you the opportunity to not only
see Gordon Bell, but to actually go up to him, shake his hand, and talk to
him about the computers he designed! Now THAT'S cool!
Years ago I used to be a member of the L5 society, and talk about events
with interesting people in the space program within touching distance.