When I said I thought he would be easy to find, I meant that he would have come to the attention of many authorities before.

A couple of guesses. None of these is a ditch I'll die in.

Seems to be protesting perceived infringements on his individual freedoms, is not an idealist protesting something like abortion.

Problems with INS, and probably IRS. Might be on probation, as he undoubtedly has had chronic problems resulting in his anger. That may be behind the "limitations" remark. Some government folks have run across him before.

Whoever is limiting his freedom has recently taken and action or made a decision which further limits him.

Relatively low-paying job, lives alone or effectively alone. Has a workshop which is not visited by anyone else.

Feels misunderstood, and is probably brighter than his job would indicate.

May be older, but it's a puzzlement why he has turned to violence at an older age. And, bombers tend to have a lot in common besides the bomb.

Another puzzlement is the chance he takes with mailboxes. Takes a bit of time to do what he does, and he's vulnerable to being seen when he does.

Crude, unsophisticated devices. Not a machinist, or sophisticated do-it-yourselfer. I made a couple of similar ones in high school, blew up my sister's sandbox and quit. His aren't detonating as effectively as they could for some reason. A 6 inch galvanized pipe could do a lot of damage. Is using commercial rather than home-made powder.

May not have much powder in them, or more likely may not have the nipples secured well enough. The Unabomber drilled holes through them and the pipe and inserted pins so his bombs would blow up instead of unthreading the nipples.

What the hell, it's sort of fun to think about. And, I could be entirely wrong.

Arf