Things About Me

Updated June 2021 

1. I'm a born-again Christian.

2. I spent 22 years in the Army. I retired in December 1993.

3. I was born in California but now live in Texas.

4. I've been married and divorced more than once. I'm currently divorced/single.

5. Politically, I consider myself an independent leaning toward democrat.

6. I have several dogs and cats. I love animals.

7. I have a wicked sweet tooth, which is responsible for my weight. Lately I've had it under control.

8. I've had LASIK eye surgery but still wear glasses.

9. I live in a house that I'm buying.

10. I'd no longer like to have a man in my life. I'm pretty set in my ways and am enjoying the single, retired life.

11. I haven't taken very good care of my teeth.

12. I thought I was a cat person until I got my first dog, Rosie, a miniature dachshund.

13. If I had a lot of money I'd give a lot of it away to close friends, immediate family, and charities.

14. I have suffered with depression all my life, but have found medication that makes me feel like a relatively normal, happy person.

15. My first car was a 1965 Chevelle Malibu. It's the only car I ever named. It was named "Ernie," after the Sesame Street character.

16. My current car is a 1997 Saturn SW1. I bought it new. It only has about 43,000 miles on it. (I don't drive much.) Update: Got rid of this car and got a 2011 Jeep Patriot (used).

17. Sometimes I enjoy drinking beer. I used to hate it.

18. I've always wanted to own a 1957 Thunderbird with the portholes.

19. I almost never answer the phone. I don't like talking on the phone.

20. The ring tone on my cell phone used to be "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls. (listen)  I thought it was funny.

21. I have quite a sense of humor. (See #20.)

22. I enjoy listening to K-LOVE, a nationwide Christian radio station.

23. I'd like to do more gardening.

24. I once tasted Cray computer juice (the liquid that Cray uses to cool their computers).

25. I used to own a motorcycle and would like to again. It was a Honda V30 Magna.

26. I have this strange fascination for bugs. I should probably have been an entomologist.

27. I'm most definitely a night person.

28. I've been stationed in Germany four times.

29. I speak a little German and less Russian.

30. I really enjoy creating web sites.

31. I very much hate housework, especially washing dishes.

32. I'm an ordained minister. Really.

33. I don't celebrate Christmas. The reason(s) can be found here. Ditto for most other holidays.

34. I can spell.

35. I procrastinate.

36. I enjoy working with power tools.

37. I painted the entire inside of my house myself, and I refinished the kitchen cabinets and wainscoting.

38. I have two associate's degrees, one in liberal arts and one in advertising and graphic design.

39. I did poorly in high school, but I graduated.

40. People who treat their pets badly, including ignoring them, annoy me to no end. Their actions should, in my opinion, be illegal.

41. I have a low tolerance for stupidity.

42. The 2008 presidential race stressed me out like no other. Now I've decided to involve myself less in political stuff. Update: The 2016 election, and the next four years, stressed me out even more.        

43. I've never owned a computer that ran Windows. I went straight from DOS to a Mac. Update: I bought a cheap laptop that runs Windows. I used it to crunch numbers for seti@home, which no longer exists. Now it just sits over there, ignored. 

44. I've smoked off and on during my life, but was never addicted. I don't smoke anymore. The last time I did was over 25 years ago.

45. I don't believe there is a literal hell.

46. I regret that I was never smart enough to save any money.

47. My favorite color is green. Orange runs a close second.

48. My favorite drink is water. (But the tap water in my town tastes awful. Yes, I've tried filters.)

49. My favorite soda is Diet Mountain Dew. Diet Dr. Pepper runs a very close second. Update: I mostly drink Diet Pepsi, now.

50. My favorite group is Steeley Dan.

51. My favorite female singer is Phoebe Snow.

52. I don't have a favorite male singer. Update: I think I'll choose John Fogerty as my favorite male singer.

53. I'm the founder of the Umbrella Hat Society. Please join. It's free and it's fun.

54. I'm a font/typeface junkie. (I wrote this shortly after downloading "500 free fonts" from the web and spending quite some time going through them, installing some and then printing them.)

55. I've owned a total of 11 cars and one motorcycle (so far). Update: Add two more cars. My current is a 2020 Jeep Renegade.

56. I prefer Leno over Letterman, although I don't watch either. Now I watch Nightline. UPDATE: I've quit watching Nightline since they moved it to a later time slot.

57. I drive better than most people. I really do. I used to teach the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course.

58. I flunked U.S. history in high school and had to retake it during summer school. I got an "A" in algebra.

59. I suffer from chronic fatigue. It affects almost everything I do. (Or don't do.) I recently learned about the "impossible task." Google it.

60. I saw Ernest Borgnine in an airport once.

61. I don't like it when men shave their heads. White men just don't look right with shaved heads. They look like giant thumbs. Partially bald doesn't bother me.

62. I prefer to wear my hair long, but sometimes get it cut short. Update: My hair has been short for several years now.

63. I've seen all of the main Star Trek (The Original Series) characters/actors live with the exception of William Shatner.

64. I have a male pen pal who is in a Texas state prison. UPDATE: He has been transferred to an Arkansas prison. Update: I don't write to him much anymore. 

65. I quit buying "gossip magazines" after Princess Diana's death. I won't even buy "People Magazine."

66. I throw too much food away. Usually fruits and vegetables, because I don't get around to eating them before they go bad.

67. I saw the comedian Gallagher live once, when I lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I sat in the sixth row. Since I was familiar with his act, I took along a large plastic dropcloth to avoid the mess.

68. I saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" in Crawford, Texas (the western whitehouse), on July 28, 2004. President Bush was in residence at his Crawford ranch at the time.

69. I've driven a British car with right-hand drive, and it had a manual transmission. I found it surprisingly easy to drive. This happened many years ago when I was in Germany and dating an English soldier. It was a 1973 Triumph 2000.

70. I've been to Paris. I went many years ago to see the Paris Air Show. I got a wicked migraine headache which ruined the whole trip.

71. I've been to London, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Old Sarum.

72. I finally quit working my job in retail, which I hated.

73. I worked customer service for AT&T Mobile for about three months.

74. I have no interest in sports, but I used to love watching Joe Montana play football.

75. I've been on my own for so long that I no longer know how to shop for groceries to feed more than just myself.

76. I met Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1989, when I went to see the first annual Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic bodybuilding competition in Columbus, Ohio.

77. I'm a Trekker. I went to a Star Trek convention in Boston in 1979 and saw the actors who played Scott, Bones, Sulu, McCoy and Uhura.

78. I saw Leonard Nimoy in Boston in a play called Vincent, about Vincent Van Gogh. It must have been in 1981.

79. I recently joined the National Rifle Association. I have since quit, because they're idiots.  

80. I now have a second prison pen pal. He was an acquaintance before he was prosecuted. He is in a federal prison in Colorado. Update: He's been released so I don't write to him anymore.

81. I had a 40-pound tumor removed from my abdomen in January 2012. It was a benign ovarian cyst. I have pix on my Facebook page.

82. I no longer watch any of the nighttime talk shows. And I've quit watching Nightline since they moved it to a later time slot.

83. I'm planning to cancel my satellite TV service. I already have an antenna to use with my TV for the local channels. Anything else I want to see I can get over the Internet. But I'm procrastinating because I'm so addicted to television. I'm trying to break that addiction. I don't think there's a rehab for TV addiction, is there?

84. A racoon (possibly two or three of them) has been coming into my house overnight through the doggy door to eat the cat food I leave out for the cats. I've taken pictures and video of the raccoon. You can see the video here. And another video here.

85. I didn't watch Breaking Bad as it was airing, but I binge-watched it on Netflix once it had ended. It was an incredible show. It and "Lost" are in my number one and two slots for best TV show ever.

86. I met Beto O'Rourke and voted for him to become Senator, but he lost. :-(

87. I finally did cancel my satellite TV service, but that only lasted about a year. I'd cancel it again but my Internet service sucks and I wouldn't be able to watch the streaming services (Netflix, for example) without a huge amount of frustration. I have HughesNet satellite Internet and it sucks. It's the only option I have where I live.

88. I've done a lot of work in my front yard - planted several things in raised planter beds - and I've found I have quite the "green thumb." I really only did this so I'd have less to mow. LOL!

89. My mom passed away in January, 2021. It was actually a blessing. She was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and had wasted away. 

90. The raccoons don't come around anymore. I don't like to think about what happened to them. Before they left they did a LOT of damage to my home, which I repaired thanks to my homeowner's insurance. I miss them whenever I have leftover food to throw out. I'd rather feed it to them than throw it out. 

91. I've been diagnosed with diabetes. I'm currently taking meds to control it. 

I'll add more later. I'm trying to get up to 100.