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[note for non-Facebook users: this is copied from a post I did on Facebook. The latest trend on Facebook is to post 25 things about you that people might not know. I did 26.]
1. I've always had an almost phobic fear of people I don't know. This fear has become less as I've gotten older, but it's still there. I couldn't bring myself to order a pizza until college (when it became necessary to survive), and I still do everything I can at work to avoid calling people I don't know.
2. The Office is my favorite show, and I have seen every episode, most of them several times. I think I have only watched it live one time, and that was only because we had my family over to watch it. What did people do before DVRs?
3. I have never watched an episode of Law and Order, CSI, Survivor, The Bachelor, The Amazing Race, American Idol, or Dancing With The Stars. The current shows I watch are House, Scrubs, Lost, My Name is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. That's probably too much TV.
4. I apparently give off the illusion of knowledge. I'm really not smart, I just have a good memory (most of the time). Granted, I'm good with computers, but that's about it. I just tend to remember things that I've heard or read (although Tammy would probably dispute this about when she asks me to do stuff).
5. I love Chef Boyardee mini ravioli, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and macaroni & cheese with chicken fingers. I could rotate these three things out for supper each night and be perfectly happy (although horribly obese).
6. I've done such a good job at making myself like diet soft drinks that regular Coke tastes kind of weird now.
7. I got a full scholarship to the University of Montevallo when I was in 4th grade, and I probably would have ended up using it if I hadn't later gotten a free ride to Alabama.
8. My brothers and I each have an imaginary business (well, mine is real...theirs is imaginary) that has been one-upping each other for about 20 years. RAKCO will always be better than D.E. Sale and M.E. Services.
9. My pretend girlfriend when I was in elementary school was Valerie (after the Monkees song, I think). She looked just like Scarlet from G.I. Joe.
10. 99% of my friends and family have no clue what I do at my job. It's probably better that way. Here's a hint: I don't fix computers.
11. My most common nickname for Tammy while we were dating was Stewie, because of her last name (Stewart).
12. The big smile Katelyn gives me when I get home from work is the highlight of my day. It's even better when she claps.
13. I don't know anything about cars. I'm sorry if that makes me less of a man, but I don't expect a mechanic to be able to program computers.
14. The most catchy nickname people currently have for me is Rikipedia. See #4.
15. Despite all my efforts not to, deep down I really do generally care what other people think.
16. Back in elementary school, I was in a fashion show for Parisian and a local TV commercial for McDonald's.
17. On average, I use my cell phone less than once a week (to make or receive calls...I've used it to tell time ever since the battery in my watch died).
18. I talk to myself/think out loud in the car to and from work almost every day.
19. I only dated four girls in my life. I met the first one online in the pre-internet equivalent of a chatroom. I got to know the second one really well while helping her get over my best friend who had broken up with her. I got to know the third one mostly through playing cards. Tammy and I first met because we were on the same flag football team, but we really didn't get to know each other until much later. We were actually on a mission trip when we decided to go on a date when we got back.
20. The car that was to be mine when I turned 16 was a chartreuse 1970's Ford Pinto. But my brother's Camaro was stolen, so he got a replacement car, and several months later, his car turned up in Tennessee. So I got the Camaro instead. I need to send a thank-you note to the car thieves...they even repainted it for me.
21. I've only been to the emergency room once, and it was in college when I sliced my hand open during a drama skit at a church somewhere in Lamar County. Of course, the story I usually told was that I got into a fight with some guys who whistled at Tammy, but whatever.
22. I can't whistle or blow a bubble with gum. But I can hug myself behind my head, so I guess that makes up for it.
23. I don't see grammar and punctuation as rules; to me they are more like a set of recommendations or guidelines.
24. I compulsively track my money. I don't know how people got along before you could check your credit card and bank transactions online. I do it every day.
25. I hated the academic part of both high school and college. I'm not sure you could pay me enough money to get me to go to grad school. Seriously, you'd probably have to guarantee me in writing that my salary would double, and I'm not even sure that would be enough.
26. It really bothers me that I've essentially lost touch with so many friends from high school and college (reading Facebook profiles does not count as being in touch). I know that it's a pretty normal thing to happen, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.