Humble Tidbits of Vacuity

OK, first and foremost, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've just been ridiculously busy at work and on the go with soccer practices and games on the weekends. It's been unreal.

So, since I had some time...and I was way overdue for an entry...and I was tagged by my friend Doug and douglas.nerad, I figured I slap one up here. So here ya go!


Four Jobs I Have Had (current job excluded):
I’ve only had 2 jobs.

1. The summer that I was 16 (1986), I worked at Woolworth’s stocking shelves, mopping floors, unloading trucks, etc.

2. Then in Nov ’86, I started working at a market research firm and I’ve never left. But…during my 21 years, I’ve had many different jobs there. I’ve been a telephone interviewer, a supervisor of telephone interviewers, a project manager, a call center manager, an analyst, and am now currently in the IT department maintaining our data collection software system.


Four Films I have Watched Again and Again:

1. Star Wars – In 1978 or 79, it was playing at the neighborhood theater. Admission was $1.00. I went almost every single day (and sometimes twice) for the entire summer.

2. Shane – a 1953 Western starring Alan Ladd. Every time it would come on TV, my dad and I would watch it. I own it on both VHS and DVD.

3. Hero at Large – a 1980 John Ritter movie, in which he plays a struggling actor who foils a robbery on his way home from a PR engagement where he was portraying Captain Avenger. Click the title for a more in-depth explanation of the movie. I saw this movie on something called ON-TV (precursor to Cable) when I was a kid and just loved it. I’ve seen it several times since then and just recently got it on DVD.

4. Dirty Dancing – In 1987, this movie came out and I had a new girlfriend (who would later become my wife). We saw this movie at least once each weekend during the time of it’s theatrical release. Not counting Star Wars, this is the movie that I’ve seen the most times in the theater.


Four Places I Have Lived:
Doug listed cities here, but the only city I’ve lived ever lived in is Cincinnati. So I’ll name the 4 places in Cincy that I’ve lived.

1. Childhood home – enough said

2. Apartment #1 – where I lived after moving out. We had to pay for heat, but it wasn’t necessary as the people below us constantly had their heat at 90 during the winter. Had a gun pointed at my head by some Russian guy who lived across the parking lot. There were a group of us sitting outside on the stoop and he thought we were being too loud.

3. Apartment #2 – moved here after being evicted from #1 because we violated the no pets rule. This was a rather uneventful few years, except for the fact that I got married while living here and found out my wife was pregnant while living here.

4. Current House – The apartment was too small if we were going to have a kid. So we got a house and we’ve been there since 1996.


Four Shows I Love to Watch:
While I do watch a lot of TV, there aren’t too many shows that I feel I need to see. At the moment, I can only think of:

1. House – I really enjoy his disdain for people. This is a show that is set to record every Tuesday night.

2. Life – a new show on NBC. I don’t know how long I’ll stick with it because it seems to be another show that has this running mysterious subplot. So far, it’s been wonderfully episodic and I’ve been able to ignore the running subplot, but when the show brings that storyline to the forefront is when I’ll stop watching.

3. Big Bang Theory – new sitcom on CBS. I haven’t laughed this hard at a sitcom in a long time.


Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:

1. French Lick, IN – My wife’s dad has a time share here. As I understand it, French Lick used to be a real swinging scene. But it’s not like that anymore. French Lick makes me sad, because it is clearly and quite obviously a has-been that just hasn’t come to the realization that it’s a has-been. (The link goes to my June 2005 entries. Read all about my vacation June 10-17)

2. Smoky Mountains – this is where we vacation most often. But unfortunately, even though it’s ridiculously crowded and annoyingly touristy, we stay in Gatlinburg because it’s just outside of the “main” entrance. We could stay in Townsend (which is WAY more subdued), but it would be and extra 15 mile drive to get to the stuff we usually do.

3. Hilton Head – quite possibly the best vacation I’ve even been on in my entire life. Woke up, went to the beach, ate lunch at the beach, back to the room for dinner and the rest of the night. The kids had a blast on the beach and in the ocean. I had a blast because there was no real pressing need to DO something. The beach was doing something enough.

4. Orlando – speaking of ridiculously crowded and annoyingly touristy, we’ve been to Orlando and Disneyworld. My wife’s grandfather, aunt and uncle and cousins live there so we stay with them. Her aunt works for Disney, so we get into the parks for free. If I ever had to pay to stay there or go to the parks, I’d NEVER do it. Ever.


Four of my Favorite Foods:

1. Pizza – And just plain cheese. Maybe, if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll go with a bacon topping.

2. Ravioli – Again, just plain cheese ravioli. In plain marinara sauce.

3. Hamburger – Plain. No cheese, no nothing. Just the bun, the meat, and the bun.

4. Fried Chicken – like from KFC or something like that. Breasts or Legs. Thighs are just way too difficult to deal with.


Four of my Favorite Drinks:

1. Diet Coke – I used to drink Coke all the time, but on a lark, I gave it up for Lent. I’m not Catholic or religious or anything, so Lent means absolutely nothing to me. I just did it for fun. Gave up Coke and switched to Diet. Ended up losing 15 pounds.

2. Water – a distant, DISTANT 2nd place to Diet Coke.

3. Lemonade – I seem to ONLY drink this on a summer day after mowing the lawn.

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
Wow, this is actually difficult to answer. I hardly ever think about where I’d RATHER be. Certainly there are times when I’m looking forward to leaving work and going home, or looking forward to going to the bookstore or whatever. I don’t think I’ve EVER said something like, “Man, I wish I were in El Paso right now" or "It'd be good to be in Vale again."

I don’t have 4 places, but right now…at this very moment…I’d rather be at Barnes and Noble.

This post was hand-crafted especially for you by Kevin at 3:17 PM |