Through the rise and falling apart, we discover who we are.

I've been tagged by lunchfly2415 to blog 10 random things about myself.  Should be a nice change-up from the usual blog content of late.  Here goes...

 

1.  When I was a kid, I was terrified of thunderstorms.  I used to get nervous at just the sight of dark clouds in the distance.  I think it was the sound more than anything.  Now, I absolutely love them.

 

2.  I was on my high school bowling team.  It was just getting started when I was a freshman, and I didn't make the basketball team, so I went with bowling instead.  My senior year, I had a 180 average and a high game of 266.  I took 2nd place in my region as a junior, allowing me to go to the state finals where I got annihilated.

 

3.  I have a scar on the left side of my chin roughly 1 inch long.  I got it in first grade when I was pushed into a friend of mine from behind and his teeth hit my chin.  The doctor didn't give me any antibiotics and it got badly infected (I won't give you the nasty details of that) which left a much larger and more noticeable scar than I should have ended up with.

 

4.  I have a degree in civil engineering, but my job has nothing to do with it.  In fact, my employer doesn't hire civil engineers, so my job title is "general engineer."  Technically, I'm a "testing engineer."  I test small-scale equipment to see how well it can withstand heat, cold, humidity, rain, solar radiation, blowing sand & dust, vibration, compression, corrosive environments, etc...

 

5.  I'm from an area that's big in iron mining... my high school mascot was named for a type of iron ore.  That'll intimidate our opponents...

 

6.  Other than the US and Canada, the only other country I have been to is Germany.  I went for a class trip in high school.  We spent 8 days there and went to Cologne, up along the northern coast, Berlin, and Weimar (location of the Buchenwald concentration camp).  I'd love to go back.

 

7.  I was afraid of dogs as a kid.  Even now, it takes time for me to get comfortable around large dogs I'm not used to.

 

8.  I love Pepsi but hate root beer.

 

9.  I have a thing for bridges... must be the civil engineer in me... or that's the reason I went into civil engineering... something like that.  Anytime I can find a cool bridge to photograph, it feels like a genuinely golden opportunity.  One of the coolest things I've gotten to do in quite awhile was the opportunity to go to the top of the Mackinac Bridge back in '03.  This bridge spans 5 miles and connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  I got to go to the top of one of the suspension towers, 520 feet above the surface of the water, something that is normally reserved only for people who make large donations to the bridge authority.  I was working with a bridge contractor and went to a meeting for the Michigan DOT being held at the bridge, and the tour was an incentive.

 

10.  I'm an only child.  I thought that was great as a kid, but now that I'm older, especially lately, I kinda wish I had some siblings.

 

I tag... you, anyone who feels like doing this!