Okay, So I’ve been tagged by one of my fellow Starting With Marketing students and friend, CuzinTim!

I’ve read Huddson’s and CuzinTim’s Posts.

It is not going to be easy, but here goes:

1. Be Happy! Life is too short to be a GRUMP! Remember, there is always someone who has it worse than you!

2. I’m very outspoken! You either like me or you don’t ! But, at least, I let you know where I’m coming from!

3. I have always had a very vivid imagination!

4. I went to parochial school for 9 and1/2 years.  I heard so much mention of Hell and Satan, that once, when I was in grade school and went to bed for the night, I woke up from a nightmare, scared to death and claimed I had, in my sleep, come face to face with Satan, himself.

5. When I was very young, I went through a phase of wanting to be a doctor. I would sit out on the fire hydrant in front of my grandmother’s with my white doctor’s shirt on and my play stethoscope,  reflex hammer and thermometer and give people a checkup as they walked by.

6. Now, this will date me, for sure! There used to be a show on TV called Gunsmoke, with James Arness, as Matt Dillon. He played either a sheriff or  a US marshall in the days of the Wild West in the the western US. I think I was about 5 or 6 at the time. I  wanted to be Matt Dillon so badly, that I used to dress up like a cowboy and my mom says I insisted that everybody call me Matt. She said I would only answer to that name, for a long time. Then, I actually got to meet James Arness, when he came to a local shopping center! How cool is that?

7. I love animals! I have almost always had animals. Growing up we had: dogs, cats, birds, turtles, hamsters, lizards, and snakes. Even now, I have a Yellow Lab, a Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot and a Cockatiel. I actually feel closer to animals than I often do to people, especially dogs. Think about it! Dogs live in the moment and have no agenda! And the best part about them is they give you unconditional love!

8. Having grown up in southern California, and always having been close to the ocean, being near it is when I am happiest and most at ease. I couldn’t live inland. I lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains for a little over a year. As beautiful as it is there, I always missed the ocean.

9. When I lived in the Sierra Nevada I worked for the Department of Forestry. Part of our job was to fight forest fires! The worst fire I ever had to fight was a crown-fire southwest of  Lake Tahoe. At one point, my crew and I were nearly surrounded by flames. Our crew chief, a man with many years experience, was keeping an eye on the developing situation, while we tried desperately to clear debris from the forest floor. Suddenly, he stiffened and said “Get your stuff and follow me!” Dude, I was ready to get out of there, ten minutes before that! We barely got to a clear and relatively safe area, when the wind shifted. Where we had just been, was completely engulfed in flames! Had we not moved, I would not be sharing this with you right now! Moral of this story: Having narrowly escaped death, I gained a new perspective on life!

10. I love to travel! Been to the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Sierra Nevada, Baja California, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton, Mount Rushmore, Bay of Fundy, Niagara Falls. In the mid-seventies, when you could still hitchhike, I hitched from San Diego, CA, up through Oregon and Washington and all across Canada to Saint John, Newfoundland. On the way back, I passed in and out of Canada and through the northern tier of US states.   That was a cool trip! I was gone for 4 and1/2 months.

11. I’m somewhat of an adrenaline junkie! I like doing things that a lot of others would consider too scary or risky!

12. Life is Short! Go for the Gusto! Experience ALL it has to Offer!

13. I love to surf! Been doing that now, for 40 years. Talk about being close to nature and God! At least, at my favorite spot! In the past there have been days when I was alone or nearly alone and the sounds you hear are mostly natural. The water, mostly and the wind.  Out there, I have gotten to see and experience things most people couldn’t even imagine.

14. My brother and I used to have a 16′ Hobie Cat (catamaran sailboat). I used to love to see how long I could sail that boat with the sails and mast nearly parallel to the surface of the water in Mission Bay, in San Diego.

15. I love downhill skiing. My daughter and I have gone every year since she was in the fourth grade. She is now 23. She snowboards and I ski, using snowblades, 99cm shorties and no friggin’ poles. They’re a blast! I love to show off on them and do crazy stuff like 360s and small jumps.What a great way to bond with your kids. Find something you both like and do it together, year after year. She surfs with me sometimes, too!

16. When my daughter was around 14, we were white-water rafting class 3 and 4 rapids on the Kern River, in Central California. The air was about 85 degrees F, or about 29 degrees C. The water was about 40 to 50 degrees F, or about 5 to 10 degrees C. Anyway, as we went over one of the rapids, my daughter, who was right behind me in the boat, fell in and disappeared. We felt her go under the raft. Talk about scary! I was frantic! She soon surfaced and we were able to get her back aboard before she got too hypothermic. While she was under the water, I just kept thinking what was I going to tell my wife about losing our beautiful child! Thank God, that one turned out all right! Whew!!

17. Couple things on my bucket list! Skydiving and climbing up the backside of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley! Never heard of Half Dome? I encourage you to Google it! It’s an immense Granite outcrop left behind by the glaciation of Yosemite Valley.

18. I’m mechanically inclined. I have had several ideas for devices of one sort or another. Usually, though, I never seem to act on them. Take, for example, when they started advertising ‘the club’. It is an anti-theft devise that you attach to the steering wheel of your automobile to keep someone from stealing it. Thieves began sawing peoples’ steering wheels and removing the club and taking the car, anyway! So I said to myself, why not make a device that attaches to the brake or clutch pedal, making it inoperable. Nobody is going to saw  off a pedal! That would be stupid and self-defeating! Before I took action, someone else did. I paid about $50.00 dollars for one, for my truck. Damn, I could have made some serious cash for that one!

19. I have a strong belief in the power of the subconscious!  A perfect example: Years ago, when I decided to get into Land Surveying, I took several semesters of  college Math, at night, to prepare. One late night, working on my Algebra homework,  I remember having a problem that I tried and tried and just couldn’t  get the answer. I was really tired at the time, and fell asleep, sitting at my desk. A little while later, when I awoke, I had the answer. While I was asleep, my subconscious mind went to work on the problem and solved it for me! Weird, how that works!

20. Do you swear at your computer? I have to admit, I’m guilty of that myself ! It’s kind of weird, though! Most, if not all the time, the reason something is wrong always comes back to GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out! The computer is working just fine! I’m the one who messed up!

21. I’m very distractable! Sometimes it makes it difficult to get started on a task that urgently needs attention! There always seems to be just one more little task begging for my attention, that keeps pulling me away from the task at hand.

22. Years ago, I was working with a couple of guys that both grew up in the Central Valley of California  and apparently were used to eating spicy foods. One day at lunch, they opened a rather large can of jalapeno peppers and were eating them like candy, one after the other. Up until that time, I had never  had anything very spicy, in my life. They asked me if I would like to try a jalapeno! I was game! I said sure! I took one, bit off a good-sized piece and instantly my nose was running and I swear to this day, tears literally squirted from my eyes. I couldn’t speak! I could hardly breathe! I felt like someone had just lit my tongue on fire! The best part, looking back on this hellatious episode was that my two companions were laughing so hard that I thought they were going to fall out of the truck.

23. I love Mexican food! If it’s nice and spicy hot, that’s all the better! Remember, my first jalapeno was a long time ago. I can and do eat and enjoy them, now! In fact, one of my favorite Mexican eateries, a place called Jorge’s, here in Encinitas, serves up their food with Habenero salsa. Now, that is some hot stuff! Jalapenos check in at around 3000 Scoville units. Habeneros are around 300,000 Scoville units. When I add a full container of their salsa to their excellent chicken soup, my lips are often burning, by the time I have eaten the soup.

24. I love Chinese and Thai food, also! Italian, you bet! French,oui! German,not so much! No offense to the Germans. As far as that goes, from what I’ve heard about English food, probably not. Sorry guys! Blood pudding? Cajun,Yeah baby!, Barbecue, Oh Yeah,Steak and Chicken and Baby-back Ribs! Seafood, What’s not to like about: New England Clam Chowder, Lobster and Broiled Swordfish and there’s always, again,on the Mexican side, Ceviche and Fish Tacos! Can’t say I don’t like to eat!

25. I’m definitely a people person! I like talking to people! I like to sit and watch people, like in a busy place, where you see all kinds of people. Airport, the zoo, train station,  anyplace where you’ll find a diverse group passing by. I also like helping people.

Well, I didn’t think I could come up with 25 things to say about myself! I surprised myself! I did it! Hopefully, you will find my stories interesting! Let me know! Leave a post! I’d love to know what you think!

Mike

Now, who am I going to tag??? And the candidates are: Trudi Harrison, Roger Neumann, Kerie Hinchliffe, Teddy Kasche and Malcom McKinnell

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