Twenty Random Things About Me

Old buddy Roger tagged me via a Facebook note, which was a new experience. I mean, I haven't spent the time over there to really figure out how Facebook works. Blogger's easy - it's all about me, me, me (and you!). On Facebook, it's a cacophony of everyone talking all at once. Not that this is bad, mind you, but it's a bit of a new thing for me.

So I'll do my Twenty Random Things bit here, and inject it into Facebook tomorrow.

Roger lays out the rules:

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 20 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 20 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

OK, here you go:

1. I turned down a job offer from Cisco Systems back in 1990. I would have been employee #250 or so, and the stock was at an adjusted price of, oh, a penny a share. Business acumen: I doez not haz it.

2. I've visited every continent except for Antarctica.

3. I was baptized Presbyterian, and grew up Episcopal. And I've been thrown out of (asked to leave) Easter Evensong service at Westminster Abbey. Really.

4. I had an Internet stalker. The fun sort, not the creepy sort. Sadly, the site no longer seems to be there.

5. At State U, I was in the Astronomy Club, and ran the observatory one evening a week. Yes, I was a nerd. I also worked at a beer store, delivering beer kegs to the Fraternities. I may have been a nerd, but I was a popular nerd on a Friday night. "Beer man's here!"

6. When I was 14, we drove from Maine to Los Angeles and back one summer, camping across the country. Best. Summer. Vacation. Ever.

7. My hardest Electrical Engineering class was Fields and Waves, about light, radio, and that sort of thing. It was taught by Professor Field. I kid you not.

8. I know how to play the bagpipes. I will only play them if JayG sings ...

9. I first loaded Linux on a computer in 1993, 0.99 kernel version. 25 floppy disks in the install. I named the computer KGBVax, and you can still see it in old email archives.

10. I've visited (set foot in) 26 different countries. I didn't have a passport until I was almost 30, so it's all been in the last 20 years.

11. I read a lot, but I don't read fiction. I used to read a lot of Science Fiction, but haven't read any fiction of any sort for years.

12. Writing - and other forms of communication - is important for my job; unsurprisingly, I'm pretty good with words. Even so, I hate Scrabble.

13. I have University degrees in History, Economics, and Electrical Engineering. Pretty clearly, I sometimes have trouble making up my mind.

14. I was teaching a class when #2 Son was suddenly "about to be born". I was completely unprepared for this, because #2 Son wasn't due for another week and there had been no signs of impending labor. The Doctor induced labor - I think because the due date was December 31 and he didn't want to be on call that evening.

15. I can lay bricks, and build a wall that will not fall down. Dry stone, too.

16. I've built two wine cellars.

17. I used to have a snow plow for by Ford F250. A BIG snow plow. The truck was pretty old and not too reliable, but boy was it fun to plow with.

18. My favorite teacher in Elementary school was a former Marine, and veteran of the Pacific Theater of World War II. Unfair or not, he got better behavior from us hellion boys than the other teachers. We were simply in awe of him.

19. I remember where I was when I heard that JFK had been killed. Yes, I'm that old.

20. I once turned a boxed-in dead space over our stairs into a linen closet, in our first house.

I don't think I'll tag anyone, because (a) it seems that everyone is already tagged, and (b) the Songs Of Your Life meme was enough writing, and I'm worried that people won't talk to me any more. Feel free to do one if you want.