Sunday, March 09, 2008

Ten Random Things And A Few Other Things

I usually pass on meme's, mostly for reasons of time, but a new reader tagged me and when I tracked back to her site to find multigeneration native Floridians, kids playing in the mud, and a yellow lab pup named "Tebow" ...


Well, it was all too much like the lifestyle around here for me to refuse the invite.

Since long time readers know so much about my quirks through my daily postings, I will attempt to drag up ten random, trivial things that I have never mentioned because they are:

A. About me alone and not related to any tale or adventure.
B. Mostly boring trivia.
C. Both A and B are correct.


So, Ten Random Things about me are:


1) I'm named (first name) after my beloved Yankee grandfather. He was a sweet man who smoked Swisher Sweets and the sight or smell of them brings him back to me instantly.



2) My middle name is shared by my son, my dad, and my southern grandfather. It's very Floridian, very unusual, and all due to the day upon which my grandfather was born in St. Augustine, in 1907.



3) I can still wear my high school blue jeans, but I've switched allegiance from Levi's to Wranglers ... and if I'm completely honest, a pair of 34's is a lot more comfortable than my high school 32's.



4) When I was a teen/young adult, I never thought I would get married, much less have kids. I saw myself as a lifelong bachelor with no ties. It turned out differently and it's pretty sweet.




5) I dated my wife for 6 years, long distance mostly, as I roamed with the National Park Service. Big Cypress, Smoky Mountains, Castillo, Fort Matanzas, Fort Pulaski ... we had huge long distance phone bills ... all before the cell phone era of course.



6) I like pushups and I do them almost daily. I own the "Perfect Pushup" (not a bra by the way) and I give it a thumbs up for making pushups even harder and therefore, better for you.


7) I used to have hair down to my shoulders, and might still if I had as many follicles as I did back then.





8) A six pack of beer lasts me approximately 3 or 4 weeks ... one ... maybe two per weekend.



9) When the kids were little, I picked up one of their McDonald's happy meal toys in the yard and was amazed at it's cleverness. I think it was a french fry pack that turned into a little plane or something. I started collecting Kids/Happy meal toys ... even ordering kids meals for myself. I don't get many new ones these days, but up in the attic is a huge rubbermaid tub full of happy meal toys ... most of them still in the bag.



10) I worked as security on a Peter Bogdonavitch production back in the '80's. It was a movie called, " Illegally Yours" starring Rob Lowe and Kenneth Mars. It was filmed mostly in the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. Since I was a law enforcement Ranger and had worked their before, the NPS sent me back for a special deployment. It was pretty fascinating to watch the daily workings of a movie production. The movie was a huge flop.

Bonus trivia: I hate, hate, hate daylight savings time.

Okay, WAKE UP! ... IT'S OVER!



A few other nonmoi things:

We received 6 inches of rain during Friday's amazing weather. The real pond has a foot of water covering 2/3's of the bottom area. I'm expecting major tadpole action soon.

The garden pond filled with rainwater almost to the top and the spadefoot toads responded by diving in. I pulled 3 out yesterday.

It is 28 degrees here this morning. An oak fire is crackling behind me as I type.

The garden pond wiring is in and the trench refilled.

My lettuce, carrots, and turnip greens are about 3 inches tall. Today the first tomato plant goes in the ground.

The blueberry bushes are loaded with blossoms and even green fruit.



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are a man of many facets, just like a well cut diamond.

threecollie said...

With you on the time change as you already know...

Deb said...

I agree on Daylight Savings. I was just getting used to the idea of waking up with the sun. But on the other hand, I'll be able to go out for a walk (or ski) after dinner.

It's 28 degrees at noon as I write this. I think spring is on its way!

h said...

Daylight Savings Time is a Yankee Conspiracy! Give us a HINT on the weird middle-name. Like an initial.

The only thing I can think of for 1907 St. Augie would be "Flagler".

Moultrie Creek said...

A bit more deja vu . . . Illegally Yours was filmed in the house brother Bill and I were raised in - after we had sold it. My husband and I were stationed in Germany when the movie was finally released and someone in the family sent us a tape copy they had made. The video tape must have gone through one too many x-ray machines on its way to us because it arrived without sound. Actually, that turned out to be a good thing. Since we weren't concerned with the [nonexistent] plot, we could focus on looking for people we knew. That turned out to be most entertaining.

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

The happy meal thing really surprised me. I never saw that coming.
I, too, pledge allegiance to Wrangler jeans.
...And The ditches actually have water in them now, too!! YEEAOU!

kathy a. said...

my husband is not much larger than when we met, but has moved from levi shrink-to-fits to wranglers, and maybe up a size. at some point before i met him, his hair was down to his waist; he has hidden those photos from the kids, and now has very short hair. also, less of it.

my middle name is my mother's maiden name, and i've never met or heard of anyone outside the family with that name.

respectfully disagreeing with you on daylight savings time. it is the most wonderful thing, when there is light later in the day!

MamaHen said...

A very interesting meme and I would have NEVER thought the happy meal thing either; boy, you're weird. ;D Love that new title photo, BTW.

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
Yeah, I'm a real sparkler ...

3C,
Yes, I read that this am!

Deb,
28 is positively toasty for you guys.

Troll,
D.
Keep it to yourself.

Moultrie,
St. Augustine was still a local town back then and the movie making really did cause a stir.
Neat coinkydink!


HTeen,
Those toys had a lot of complex design. They caught my interest for a few years ... can't explain it really.
I was dipping in a flooded ditch just today ... tadpoles, fish, crawfish, snails.

Kathy A,
Oh, vive le differance! I know DST must be good for some folks, I just don't like it.
We can agree to disagree :)

R.Powers said...

Edifice,
Truly weird!
LOL!
Glad you like the photo!

Thunder said...

Hey man, glad to hear your ponds are getting filled again! Beijing is a pretty dry place and they also have been prepping me for the posibility of sand storms this summer. If we get one I'll have to wrap the camera on a ziplock and try to get some photos!

billg8tr said...

FC I knew you when you had hair down to your shoulders, many other things, like how long a six pack would last. I am pretty sure I remeber your middle name. too. Reading your site always sends me to nostalgia land, which is why I do it daily. I am always sending the link to someone. I sent the dog picture to my wife and she thought it was sooo cute. Keep up the good work.
Billy

h said...

Duval

R.Powers said...

ThunderD,
I was just reading a news story about the lengths China is going to be sure Beijing has enough water for the olympics. Pretty Draconian stuff.

Billy,
Hey! Thanks, glad you are enjoying PF. We have a lot to be nostalgic about.

Troll,
No.

Thunder said...

FC - Oh you have no idea, we'll talk when I get home!

R.Powers said...

ThunderD,
10-4