My 25 Random Things

Here's a Facebook "thing" that's actually worth the effort:

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 (or more) people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

1. I recently discovered that the anniversary of my first date with my wife is either Feb 4th or 11th. Because it was a Saturday just before Valentine's Day in 1984, we both remembered it as being Feb 7th. However, upon checking an actual 1984 web calendar, we found that there was NO such date as Saturday, Feb 7, 1984.
   
   
2. When I wear a tie, I always use a windsor knot.
   
   
3. Of the four, my favorite child is the one that I'm with at a given moment.
   
   
4. I actually enjoy boiled meat (seasoned with lemon juice, salt and pepper).



5. If I had to compile a list of the toughest men I ever met, my father would have ranked in the top five.
   
   
6. My mother takes it as a compliment when she's compared to the mom in Everybody Loves Raymond.
   
   
7. If a nuclear bomb went off and I only had time to save one movie, one book and one CD before climbing into the fallout shelter, my list would include: The Birds, 1984, and Evanescence's Fallen.
   
   
8. My wife and I have agreed that if Tricia Helfer proposes marriage to me or Benjamin Bratt does likewise to her, neither of us will stand in the other's way.
   
   
9. Once, after dating my wife for about a year, I was driving while giving her a detailed explanation of my position on a particular topic. I caught her disinterestedly rolling her eyes when she didn't think I was looking.
   
   
10. It kinda bugs me when out of left field people ask me how far I jog each day and, after I tell them three miles, they reply, "Oh, is that all?"
    
    
11. In the late 70's, while my friends and I were playing an early version of paint-ball using BB guns (and no eye gear), I got shot in the neck. Surprisingly, that didn't end the game and, yes, we were very stupid.
    
    
12. I bought my first car in 1980. It was a blue 1977 Buick LeSabre with a Pontiac engine and cost $2700. I loved that car.
    
    
13. My least favorite car was our 1993 Ford Tempo whose transmission failed at 62,000 miles. We had it repaired at American Transmission for about $900. The original estimate was $1600. That was reduced after I asked the mechanic to put the pieces in the trunk so I could have it towed out and dumped in the lake. After getting it fixed, we immediately traded it in for a Plymouth Neon and gladly accepted the dealer's offer of a $3000 trade-in on the Tempo. I lost ten pounds due to the stress incurred during the entire debacle.
    
    
14. My brother is 18 months younger than I and people often thought we were twins. We shared the same bedroom, closet and clothes drawer for 17 years. If I wanted to look stylish, I wore his stuff.
    
    
15. The only movies I've ever REALLY cried at were Brian's Song (of course) and Ride the High Country.
    
    
16. Every time I've been at the drug store in the last three months, I have tried on and priced a pair of reading glasses. However, I still can't bring myself to pull the trigger.
    
    
17. When asked the eternal question: Who's hotter Ginger (Tina Louise) or Mary Ann (Dawn Wells)? I always reply: Batgirl (Yvonne Craig).



18. I smoke cigars outside in the summer. My "usual" is a Genuine Counterfeit Cuban Robusto from JR Cigars (about 2 bucks each). I order them online because the owners of the only JR Cigar retail outlet nearby are extremely rude.



19. While working in a restaurant, I once refused to take Chuck Berry's American Express because we didn't accept credit cards. The total came to eighteen dollars and he paid with a hundred dollar bill without bothering to count his change.



20. In my Senior year of high school I actively campaigned to be voted as "worst dressed" by wearing a thermal shirt every day. I came in second to a guy named Jim who was embarrassed to have won.



21. I initially asked my wife out after we ran into each other at the library. She wrote her number on one of those pieces of scrap paper that are kept by the card catalog drawers. I lost the piece of paper and couldn't find her parent's listing in the phonebook. So, I sat at a phone and started what I thought would be a series of trial and error attempts to reconstruct her number from memory. I got it right on the very first try.
    
    
22. My favorite beer is Michelob Ultra. NOT because it's low in carbs. It's the only beer I actually enjoy the taste of.
    
    
23. Two of my children are named after family members, one is a name my wife picked because she had always liked it, the other was mainly to keep the lettering pattern of their first names consistent.
    
    
24. It's a major decision for me to choose between using a small sized binder clip or the giant traditional paper clip when trying to group a small stack of papers that is a tad too thick for a normal stapler. I hate the industrial sized staplers.
    
    
25. If I were single today, I would ask my wife out on a date.