Driven to Develop

Randy tagged me with this meme so here goes…

What I was doing ten years ago

I had always believed that I was supposed to become a doctor; an orthopedic surgeon, specifically. But in 1998, I realized that it was not what was in my heart and I had to go a different direction. Unfortunately, at that time, the direction didn’t much matter to me so long as it was away from medical school. I was working at a buddy’s ISP (Internet Service Provider) and slinging drinks at a local bar. It was fun for a time and I am where I am today because of my experiences but I can’t say that I always made the best decisions. I’m just thankful that I had my family and friends around for support and that they were there when I was ready to move my life in a more positive direction.

Five snacks I enjoy

1. Granola
2. Starburst jelly beans
3. Mixed nuts (but not the cheap crap with all those peanuts)
4. Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips
5. Whatever is closest to my keyboard

Five things on my to-do list today

(This one is a really hard one for me since I have my to-do list split into contexts - I’m a GTD guy, what can I say)

1. Call Lewisville Shoe Repair re: boot resole
2. Call Adam Keys re: lunch next week
3. Hang up all tools over workbench
4. Upload starting codebase to Google Code for presentation
5. Locate host service for CodeRush screencasts

Five favorite recipes

1. Italian Egg Scramble
2. Man-Mac
3. Sausage & Peppers
4. Genius - 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration
5. Thermite - sorry, not handing this one out

Five jobs I have had

1. Bag boy at country club
2. Graphic artist and typesetter at college newspaper
3. Skiptrace
4. Veterinary technician
5. Grocery clerk

Five bad habits

1. Talking to myself a little too loud
2. Snore (like it’s my job)
3. Monitor touching when explaining/reading code
4. Knowing I’m right
5. Reminding people around me of #4

All the places I’ve lived

1. Chicago, IL
2. Louisville, KY
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Medina, OH
5. Hillsborough, NJ
6. Oxford, OH
7. Denton, TX
8. Flower Mound, TX

Five Random Things

1. I sweat like a person twice my weight.
2. I placed at state in 8th grade Science Olympiad.
3. I went by the name “Michael” for a while.
4. I collect antique fountain pens.
5. Nutmeg is toxic if injected intravenously.

Five people I’m tagging

1. Tom Opgenorth
2. Brett Bim
3. Chris Koenig
4. Jason Portnoy
5. Joe Ocampo