100 Things

I realize this is supposed to be done when you first start writing a blog, not like 2 years later. But, I've always been on the slow side, and I've never believed that I could come up with 100 things about me that anyone would find even remotely interesting.

I'm still not sure about that, but I've managed to make a list anyway.

For what it's worth, here are 100 of the most fascinating things about my fascinating life. Enjoy!

1. I was 3 weeks old when John F. Kennedy was shot.
2. My mom saved the newspapers from that week and I still have them.
3. The town I was born in is best known as the place where the first atomic bomb was exploded.
4. Some people say that pretty much explains why I am the way I am.
5. I've been interested in politics since an early age.
6. The first political rally I ever attended was for George Wallace when he ran for president.
7. I was 1 year old at the time.
8. The only reason we attended was because it was a big deal to have a presidential candidate in our little town.
9. My mom said I started crying as soon as Governor Wallace started speaking and I didn't stop until he stopped talking.
10. I've never been to another political rally.
11. I watched the Senate's Watergate hearings more than most adults.
12. I was 11 years old at the time.
13. I still have an audio cassette tape I made of President Nixon's resignation speech.
14. The Nixon Library is the only presidential library I've ever been to.
15. Some day, I want to go to all of them.
16. My favorite president was Abraham Lincoln.
17. My second favorite was John Adams.
18. The current president is my 43rd favorite president of all time.
19. I've been to 14 other countries.
20. Three of those - Switzerland, Kenya, and Bahrain - don't count because I was only in the airport in each of them.
21. Ten of the rest were for work/business trips.
22. Only one, French Polynesia, was for fun.
23. Ed and I went there this year and spent time on the islands of Moorea and Bora Bora.
24. That was the best vacation ever.
25. Ed and I have lived together for 3 years.
26. We've been happily "together" for a lot longer than that.
27. We can't remember exactly how long it's been because we got off to a slow start.
28. I wasn't very comfortable with admitting that I was gay.
29. I put Ed through a lot in those early days.
30. I'm glad he put up with me then and that he still does.
31. I had the same girlfriend for 2 years of high school and the first 2 years of college.
32. Two weeks after we broke up, she was engaged to marry our high school band director.
33. I played the trombone in high school band.
34. We won the state's high school marching band contest my senior year.
35. I've never touched a trombone since.
36. I have one brother and one sister.
37. I'm the oldest.
38. Two of my grandparents, both of my parents, my brother, my sister, and my sister-in-law are all school teachers.
39. I'm an engineer.
40. I have no idea why I became an engineer.
41. I think it might be because a high school math teacher once told me that I didn't have the aptitude to become an engineer.
42. From that point on, I never made less than an "A" in a math or science class.
43. I really don't like math or science.
44. I love sports, but I'm a terrible athlete.
45. Baseball is my favorite sport.
46. One of the highlights of my life was attending Game 1 of the 2001 World Series.
47. That was 6 weeks after September 11.
48. I admit that I had a lump in my throat when they played the Star Spangled Banner that day.
49. That highlight was surpassed a few days later when we got to attend Game 7 of the World Series and our team won!
50. It was a come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the ninth inning.
51. I still get goose bumps when I think of that.
52. Another highlight of my life was getting a personal tour of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC.
53. We got to stand on the floor of the US House of Representatives just feet away from where the president delivers the State of the Union messages.
54. We also got to visit the Speaker of the House's private balcony overlooking the National Mall.
55. I want to visit Australia some day.
56. Eight months after graduating from high school, I was living and working on a tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
57. I spent eight months there.
58. My first job out of college was on a project team building radio equipment for a NASA mission to Mars.
59. The spacecraft crashed and burned just when it got to Mars.
60. It wasn't my fault. I swear.
61. Spare equipment we built for that project was used later on a subsequent mission to Mars.
62. That mission was successful.
63. Something I touched is actually sitting on the surface of Mars right now.
64. I've never worked on anything cool like that since.
65. I was laid off once.
66. I had just bought my first house 6 months earlier.
67. That was a scary time.
68. I went back to work for the same company 1 year later.
69. Eight years after that, I quit that job and went to work for a start-up company.
70. Two years later, the start-up company failed.
71. I've been back working for the original company ever since.
72. I really don't like changing jobs.
73. I've had a dog for all but one year of my life.
74. The first dog I got "on my own" was a basset hound named Max.
75. Max was my good buddy for 13 years.
76. Max's daughter is still living with us.
77. She's almost 14 years old.
78. We have 4 pets all together, 2 dogs and 2 cats.
79. The cats hate me.
80. I have no idea why.
81. The dogs like me.
82. I'm feeling old.
83. I took a FORTRAN programming class my first semester in college.
84. We actually wrote programs using punch cards.
85. I had never used a "personal" computer until my first job out of college.
86. That really wasn't as long ago as it sounds.
87. I remember getting our first color TV when I was just a tyke.
87. No wonder I feel old.
88. I don't have any tattoos.
89. Or piercings.
90. I wear glasses.
91. I tried wearing contact lenses, but they made me want to claw my eyes out.
92. I lost 30 pounds two years ago.
93. I gained 5 of them back.
94. I love to read.
95. I rarely find the time to read anymore.
96. I like all kinds of music.
97. I listen mostly to current pop, country, and "music from the 70's, 80's, and today."
98. My favorite TV shows are Scrubs, Lost, 24, and The West Wing.
99. I watch way too much TV.
100. I actually can't think of a single other thing to add to this list.

Comments

[Buckaroo]

Todd,
very interesting! & you thought it'd be hard to come up with this list! {We actually have a lot more in common than you think}

BTW, really enjoyed meeting you two this weekend!

Take care and enjoy the 3 different fireworks displays tonight!

[Scott C]

Todd,

Thanks for sharing. It is nice to learn more about the person behind the blog. I enjoy your blog, and Ed's and like to see how you each see the world. You two remind me of my partner Manny, and myslef. Thanks again.

Scott

[Beth]

Thanks for the list. Great reading!

[Beth]

Thanks for the list. Great reading!

[Scott-O-Rama]

Todd- Great list! Thanks for finally creating one. I hope we didn't put too much pressure on you to create it.

#4 made me LOL. We share #18 in common!

[Scott-O-Rama]

Todd- Great list! Thanks for finally creating one. I hope we didn't put too much pressure on you to create it.

#4 made me LOL. We share #18 in common!

[Scott-O-Rama]

Sorry for the dulpicate comment. It didn't seem to go through the first time.