42 Things about me

A good friend of mine started his own personal page today and one of the things he posted was a "42 things about me" list. I thought it was rather clever and like all clever things, deserving of being ripped off and copied. ;o) In no particular order, here are 42 things about me that you may or may not already know.

1. I am an only child which has been good and bad. The good is that it taught me to be comfortable alone. The bad is that I'm so comfortable alone that I don't feel the need to make many friends.

2. By the age of 12 I had moved from Rock Hill, SC to Gaithersburg, MD back to Rock Hill, SC to Knoxville, TN to Kent, WA to Lakeland, FL and back to Rock Hill, SC.

3. Since the age of 12 I have moved several more times but never more than a 90 minute drive from Rock Hill.

4. My family ran a pawn shop from 1940 until my mother's death in 2001. I met some interesting characters while working there, but I think it made me a more interesting character.

5. 2001 was the worst year of my life... and it is not even close. It started with Dale Earnhardt's death. Then, I married the wrong woman. Then, my mother was diagnosed with cancer WAY too late to do anything about it. Then, my mother died which is the single most painful thing I've ever experienced. And to put the cherry on top, that was the year of the 9/11 attacks.

6. 2002 started out looking like it was going to suck as bad as 2001 when my wife and I separated, but things improved dramatically when I met my current wife a couple of months later.

7. My mother was married 4 times, to 3 men. My dad got 2 tries at it. Each marriage lasted 7 years. She took the 7 year itch thing to new levels.

8. It took me 7 years, 3 schools and 3 majors, but I graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science in 1997.

9. I was there for the very first regular season game in the history of the Carolina Panthers. It was an away game at the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons and the tickets were a birthday gift from my mother.

10. I was there for the very first regular season win in the history of the Carolina Panthers a month later.

11. I love sushi and hate canned tuna.

12. My favorite part of most vacations is the chance to visit really good restaurants in new places.

13. I have been trying to write the same novel for 20 years and have made very little progress.

14. I've been trying to learn to play the guitar for 23 years and made even less progress than I have on the novel.

15. I am tone deaf, which might explain #14.

16. My big toe on my right foot is paralyzed, but my thumbs are double jointed.

17. I was certified to scuba dive before I was old enough. The instructor issued me a temporary card and waited to mail in my paperwork to PADI until after my birthday.

18. I got the bends when I was 16 and spent 5 hours in a recompression chamber. That sucked.

19. I learned to shoot a rifle when I was 13 years old and have been hooked on guns of all kinds ever since.

20. I shoot in IDPA matches because it is fun and because it helps me test my skills under pressure. Granted the timer does not put as much pressure as a life and death encounter and the targets don't shoot back, but is the best I can do without roaming a war zone or some of the less desirable neighborhoods in Atlanta.

21. I once left work and drove to Atlanta with my mother on a whim to take her to her first Braves game. It was during the NLCS. We got tickets from a scalper and saw John Smoltz get his first Save. It was a very good day.

22. Most of my happiest memories of my mother revolve around baseball.

23. I am almost never unarmed. If I legally can, I will carry a concealed handgun. If not, at least a good pocket knife and/or pepper spray. It is not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

24. I separated my left shoulder while snow skiing in college and it reminds me of that occasionally without warning.

25. I have cartilage damage in both knees and they remind me of that if I take them for granted... or there is a good storm on its way.

26. I have broken my right foot, twice and each of my toes multiple times each.

27. My DVR has changed the way I watch TV to the point that I cannot imagine not having one anymore.

28. I have far too many interests and have to actively make an effort to limit the number of hobbies I have so that I do not get overwhelmed by them.

29. I got to meet R. Lee Ermey at the NRA Annual meeting in 2010 and he is pretty much exactly like his character in Full Metal Jacket.

30. My most prized possession is a Star of David necklace that I never take off. The chain was a gift from my wife, the gold was my mother's high school ring... melted down and the diamond is one from my dad's wedding ring.

31. There are 3 people in this world that I would take a bullet for. The rest of you are on your own.

32. I am finding it is harder than I thought to come up with 42 interesting facts about myself.

33. I tried for 5 years to learn to play golf and never really improved. I finally quit for the good of the game and concentrated on the shooting sports instead.

34. I never order a steak more cooked than medium rare and if I need steak sauce it means the steak sucks.

35. I hate to fly. I hated to fly before the TSA started molesting passengers, but that sure didn't help matters.

36. I have been known to write a poem or two in my life, but don't tell anyone.

37. My earliest memory is actually a very realistic dream I had when I was 3 years old. I have forgotten nearly every dream I've ever had, but I still remember that one 35 years later.

38. I had a brief racing career in the SCCA but it was an even more expensive hobby than shooting or golf.

39. My favorite movie is Tombstone.

40. My favorite TV show is Justified.

41. My favorite song is a bluegrass remix of Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice by The Gourds, but my wife HATES it.

42. My favorite book is The Hitchhiker's Guild to the Galaxy, which explains my affection for the number 42.

What I won't write

I was listening to the Tech Stuff podcast the other day and the topic they were discussing was "social media faux paus". It really got me thinking about what I see some people write on their blogs or Twitter or Facebook. There have been quite a few documented cases of someone posting on facebook that they were leaving their house and then someone broke in while they were gone. There have documented cases of people posting something stupid like a picture of themselves with no shirt on, drinking and getting fired from their job or not getting a job they just interviewed for. I don't think most people realize that once you post it out there for your friends to see, EVERYONE can see it. Yes, there are privacy settings on many of these sites, but most people don't use them or don't use them correctly. So... off the top of my head... here are some things you should never post on the internet.

1. Any plans that say when you will be out of your house. You might as well advertise that your house is unoccupied from x time to y time so the thieves know they don't need to rush. They can take their time and be thorough so they can get all the good stuff. If you want to talk about your vacation on your blog or facebook that is fine, but do it once you get home. Posting that you are 1000 miles from home at the moment is only an invitation to thieves.

2. Anything about your work. I don't post about work except in the most general terms like "I got a new job!" or "Just go layed off." or something like that. I don't even like to name the company I work for, just in case something I say could be interpreted to be a company statement. A public site is no place to complain about work or your boss. Lucky for me, I love my job and have a great boss... ;o)

3. Don't post anything that you wouldn't want your employer or a future employer to see. Many companies have become very tech savvy and they will search for you when they receive your resume' on all the common social network sites. If they see something they don't like (e.g. too many pictures of you with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Jim Beam in the other) they won't even call you in for an interview. Also, your current employer could do the same search and even if they can't fire you for it, they can certainly hold it against you when raises and promotions come up.

4. The same rule as #3 goes for your spouse or significant other. If you are on that site, what makes you think they aren't on it too. Facebook or Twitter probably isn't the place to vent about the fight you just had with your spouse. They are going to read it so you might as well get ready for Round 2!

5. Don't "friend" people that aren't smart enough to not say things that will get you in trouble. I had a friend who wrote something rather provocative on my wall on Facebook. It was something that many of my other friends would have been pissed about and could have made me look bad since it was on my wall. I deleted the message and sent him a private message telling him the next time he did something like that, I was going to "de-friend" him. He's behaved since then. If your friends are going to get you in trouble (or tell everyone you are 1000 miles from home right now), it is time to find new friends... at least online.

Anyway, those are just a few of the things that I could think of that I think you need to keep off the internet. The big thing is to think before you post and remember that once it is out there... it is out there forever.