MainAn undefined number of things about me
I was born in 1960 in Middletown, Ohio.
The earliest memory I can put a date to is August 22, 1965. I know because I can remember sitting on the front porch of our house on Thomas Drive in Franklin, Ohio and having my mom ask if I knew what tomorrow was. I didn't. It was my birthday and I was turning five.
I have an earlier memory in which I am probably in a crib with a blanket over the top and a vaporizer running. I was an infant.
I remember having a dream involving a monkey and a gumball machine sitting near the door of a house we rented on Crystal Ave. in Middletown. We moved from Middletown around the time I was four -- probably 1964. I don't remember anything else about that apartment (the lower level of an old house, really). I had this dream about the time I was 4, give or take. I can still see the gumball machine and I sometimes wonder how close my vision of that is to the actual front-door area of that house. I don't know what's up with the monkey, but he was scary.
I have a brother, Jimmy, and a sister, Millie. They are both younger than I am.
I have three sons.
I work in IT.
I graduated from Franklin High School in 1978 and Miami University in 1983.
I have a BS in Mass Communications.
Growing up I fell in just about every body of water I got near.
I do not get angry with my children when they fall in water; I figure it's genetic.
If I could have one super power I'd like to fly.
If I could have one supernatural power I'd like to be able to see into the future. Right now I can see far enough into the future to know when someone is going to come to my office. But, I'm sort of at the end of a corridor and if anybody enters the corridor they're probably on their way to see me. Basically, I can see about 20 feet into the future. I need to see at least a day or two.
In 1982 (I believe) a guy ran his pickup truck into the door of my VW Beetle; I spun around and hit another car. The squad had to cut the other driver out of his car using the jaws of life. I don't remember any of the accident but, as it happened, the car my car got pushed into was driven by the boyfriend of the sister of one of my sister's friends. The boyfriend called his girlfriend following the accident and told her he was OK but that the driver of the VW had been killed.
Years after the accident I ran into an old neighbor. He said I looked a lot better than I had last time he'd seen me. I asked him when that was. He'd placed the call to the squad after the above accident. He'd seen it and was certain the driver of the VW had been killed.
I thanked him for making the call. I should really put him on my Christmas Card list.
I have reached the time in my life when I'm afraid my friends' parents are going to start dying.
I wrote this About entry on August 17 but didn’t post it until September 1. A good friend’s mother passed on August 19th.
There was something else in this spot originally. Prior to the 19th it was funny.
In high school I was voted class clown.
I college I came in second in an all-campus beer chug.
Neither of the last two items look good on a resume.
I rarely drink alcohol these days.
Someone once said that "On the Internet all men are 6'4" tall and 225 lbs." I'm just over six-feet four-inches. Getting down to 225 might be a trick.
Someone once said, "... on the Internets ..." That man is not doing the nation any good.
I have two prolactinomas that wreak havoc with my hormones. Without health insurance I would have to pay about $850 monthly for medicine to keep things in order. I pay a $45. copay. I'm not complaining, but what do people without insurance do?
I'm not convinced there is a god. I'm certain there is no hell.
I'd be very surprised if I were to wake up in hell. But probably for only the first two thousand years or so. After that it'll be like, "Oh well. Another day in hell. I'd best get busy shoveling brimstone."
I used to shovel coke at the Coke Plant at the Middletown Works of Armco Steel. If there is a hell and they have any sort of HR department it only makes sense that I'd get a brimstone-shoveling assignment. (And if I don't we'll see what the shop steward has to say about it.)
I have a Southern Baptist background so I've got that "once in grace always in grace" thing working for me. I was saved in 9th grade and can pretty much do whatever I want and still be toward the head of the line at the Pearly Gates.
I pray every night before I go to bed.
I am currently Catholic. I did not vote for the current Pope. For what it's worth I don't really believe he is infallible.
It think it is interesting that despite what I believe (the likelihood that there is no god -- at least as he is currently portrayed) I have trouble letting go of the things I was brought up with.
If a person is doing good things simply because he is afraid of going to hell otherwise, he may not be such a good person.
I think I'm a good person but recognize the fact that I could be a jerk. Do the jerks of the world sit around thinking things like, "I'm a jerk. It's a wonder people even talk to me." ?? Probably not. I imagine they sit around thinking, "I'm a good person. I deserve good things."
So, maybe I'm a jerk.
I prefer white cake with white icing.
I prefer vanilla ice cream.
OK, I prefer chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream or cookies and cream. I feel less guilty eating vanilla. And it is certainly one of my top three flavors.
I don't like chocolate ice cream or strawberry too much.
Peanut butter belongs on bread or bananas. Not in cookies, fudge, protein drinks or pie. In a pinch I think creamy could be used to repack a wheel bearing. A jar on the nightstand in the bedroom may not be a bad idea; peanut butter will keep there better than whipped cream.
I was invincible until I was 24 or so. I was definitely out of college. About that time I spent two weeks in the hospital with FUO ... fever of unknown origin. When I was admitted my temp was just under 105 degrees.
The first nurse I met was named Wilma -- I told her that she might as well start liking me because by the end of my stay I was going to be her favorite patient.
A cute blonde named Chris took blood from me a lot. (This is still part of the Hospital stuff.)
Meal planning was done a day in advance. I really wasn't in the mood to eat much and chose very small meals. Then one day I woke up feeling pretty good -- and I was ravenous. Of course, the meal I'd ordered the day before consisted of almost nothing and didn't do anything to fill me up. My friends Darrell and Sherry called, said they were coming to visit, and asked what they could bring. Pizza! I said.
I had two pieces and was stuffed.
After Darrell and Sherry left I threw it up in the toilet.
Somebody brought me a Mr. T piggy bank that I still have twenty-years later. I taped a word balloon to him that said, "I pity the fool that tries to take any more blood from this boy."
In college, once, I was feeling puny and went to the doctor. He took a look at me and said, "I can't believe you're walking around with your throat looking like this." He gave me some very good drugs.
A year later a group of us were playing a pickup softball game on campus. I felt a little weak and sat down. Then I felt better and got back up. Then, weak and back down. I finally went home and for fun stuck a thermometer in my mouth. I was pretty sure the 103 degree reading was wrong (wouldn't I feel worse?) and I went to the health center. I was running 103 there too and was told to go home and take it easy.
At my present age, anything over 100 makes me want to lay on the couch and watch war movies.
In 1982 I parachuted out of an airplane. I did it again a couple of months later.
I took flying lessons for a while in 1984. While practicing stalls I threw my hands up off the yoke. When the stall was over the instructor asked, "What was that all about." I told him I was pretty sure he wasn't going to let us crash, but I wasn't sure what I might do."
I moved to New England in 1986. I was there 18 months and lived in Hampstead, New Hampshire and Lowell, Mass.
I have a list of people I would kill if I knew I wouldn't get caught. You know, and I had a couple of extra hours. And there was nothing good on TV.
I’ve named servers in our data center after: Amanda Tapping (Carter), Tony Shaloub (Monk), Diana Rigg (Rigg), my son Jack (BigJack) and Jennifer Garner (Sidney).
My dreams came true three nights in a row once. This happened just after a fly bit me on a finger and the finger swelled up in a weird sort of way. The next three nights were the nights my dreams came true - one of them was very detailed. About a month later I was in the hospital. I’ve always wondered if the bug bite was the cause.
There are 10 kinds of people. Those who understand binary and those who don’t. Yea, it’s an old joke but I didn’t know how else to end this.