Jean Asked Me Some Questions

and here are my aswers.

1. What time did you get up this morning? Sometime around 6am. Jean and I were able to coax Aaron into our bed and let him restlessly toss and turn until 8am when it was time to do the Easter basket thing.

2. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal with brown sugar. I sometimes supplement this with a fruit shake made of bananas, strawberries, raspberries, apples and some apple juice.

3. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I bounce around. One that I've got in my car right now is Stone Temple Pilots No. 4. I like the 9th track. It's atypical of my usual tastes - it has a bit of a country sound to it.

4. What kind of car do you drive? Honda Accord with a 'custom' paint job.

5. Favorite sandwich? Burning Bridge from Gandolfo's

6. Favorite item of clothing? Jean would argue that I could never narrow it down to just one item with all of the clothes I have. I just think she's jealous. I like a new pair of dark green cargo shorts Jean bought for me at Costco.

8. What color is your bathroom? Yellow.

9. Where would you retire? Ohh, so many places to choose. Anywhere along the western or eastern foothills of Californian Sierras, anywhere along the Appalachains in NC/TN/VA/WV/MD/GA, North Central New Mexico, East of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Central Colorado . . . should I continue?

10. Most memorable birthday? My 21st was the first to come to mind - I was on my mission in Norway and some very nice members/friends had a party for me. From what I remember, they even got me some of my favorite Norwegian sodas, a cake, etc. These days I'm happy to take any birthday.

11. Favorite sport to watch? College football and in particular, BYU football.

12. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning. I've never been able to stay up late without the sandbags pulling my eyelids down.

13. What is your shoe size? 10 1/2

14. Pets? 2 Beta fish. As Jean has said below, they are survivors. They have also survived our kids feeding them and one incident where the plug on the bottom of the tank cracked leaving the fish with only an inc or so of water. They survived, but one of them had a bulging eye for a couple of weeks. I think they have brain damage.

15. What did you want to be when you were little? A B-52 pilot. At least I've heard a tape recording from when I was 3 or 4 saying that's what I wanted to be. I still think it would be fun to be a pilot. Maps/GIS and aviation are closely related.

16. What are you today? A map nerd. I do Geographic Information Systems and I love it.

17. What is your favorite candy? Reese's peanut butter cups and Zero candy bars. Watermellon-flavored jolly ranchers are a close third.

18. Your favorite flower? Do boys have favorite flowers? Tulips are nice. How about pansies?

19. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? I'm looking forward to a parents-only trip to Catalina Island with my wife. No kids for 4 days. Will we go crazy?

20. What are you listening to right now? Aaron and Rachel knocking plastic bowling pins around with plastic balls. I can also hear Jean in the distance taling with her mother.

21. What is the last thing you ate? Mac and cheese.

22. Do you wish on stars? No, but I like watching them.

23. What faith are you? I'm LDS. Just got done watching conference.

24. Who was the last person you spoke with on the phone? The wife. She let me know the DVD that I was to pick up from a Red Box on the way home from the Priesthood Session of Conference (April 2008).

25. Hair Color? brown with two or there gray hairs.

26. Name of your favorite school teacher? Mrs. Kommando from high school. She was my art teacher. Just a really nice lady that showed a genuine interest in her students and their creations (I liked to throw pots). I have a couple from the college years - Dr. Morgan (Meteorology), George Golightly (Map Analysis, Remote Sensing), Dr. Bott (Religion).

27. Chocolate or vanilla? Yes.

28. When was the last time you cried? A full on wailing and gnashing of teeth cry? When I learned my dad had been taken off of life-support. I'll occassionally get teary-eyed when I see something patriotic or think about people who serve selflessly.

29. What is under your bed? Food storage and a baseball bat.

30. What did you do last night? Attended a session of conference, finished off a Python export script for the USAF's Air Combat Command's GeoBase Office and spooked myself out by watching I Am Legend with Jean.

31. Favorite smell? Any smell I encounter on a hike or a camping trip - when I'm away from the city. Fresh air (with Terry Gross, just kidding).

32. What are you afraid of? Departing from this life as early as my father did. I want to be around as long as I can to share my life and experiences with my wife and kids (and grandkids one day - but there's no hurry; I'm pretty busy with the three that I have). I can also get a little spooked about the condition of the world - moral decay, threat of terrorism, dwindling resources, etc. I want to provide and protect my family, but these concerns can get me depressed if I think about them for too long, so, on to the next question.

33. How many towns have you lived in? Do you really want me to count? I think I'm at 20.

34. Do you make friends easily? I used to, but computers erased my people skills. Jean would probably say that first impressions aren't my strongest attribute. She and her roommates used to think that I was high on myself - that was of course before they really go to know me. Actually, I tricked her.