Does this mean I’m “It?”

ZappoMan Fitness Blog » Blog Archive » Tagged

So, my bro “tagged” me in what looks like a chain… blog… or something. But hey, I’m game. So here we go… WARNING! I go verbose.
Jobs I’ve held:

• First job ever was at Roses in VA. I was the lowest of the low. Sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms, moving heavy things in the stock room while grazing. hehe. bad times.
• Jack of all trades at the second-run movie theater called the Crossings Cinema in Hopewell, VA. I took tickets, ushered, cleaned up the theater after each show, worked the concessions, even the ticket booth a couple times. Did this for 2 years or so. Best. Job. EVAR. Partly due to the tremendously cool boss I had.
• HFS employee at the UW during the summer when they held conferences using the dorms in the summer. My stint happened during the area’s hosting of the Goodwill Games in 1990, so I got to clean up rooms after tons of foreign athletes. The stuff they left behind…. Of course, the best part was all the fun and friends.
• Radio Shack salesdork. Had to earn some money, got a job at Radio Shack in Greenwood, Seattle. It was a small store, and it wasn’t long before I was part-time manager when the Manager was taking the weekend or whatever. Radio Shack sucks.
• Media guy for UW in the hospital. I was the guy that carted TVs and projectors and whatnot from classroom to auditorium and stuff. Even had to video tape med classes. This was where I read most of Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. 🙂 This was a great job. Low pay, but low work as well. 🙂
• Sammich maker at Arby’s. After we moved to Oregon for my wife’s career, I picked up a job at the Arby’s across the street from our apartment complex. It was fun, for the most part. Got sick of it after a while, though.
• Seasonal Stock-boy at Fred Meyer. Had to get there early and fill/reset shelves of toys and housewares and such. I was glad when the season was over and my job disappeared.
• Mac support rep for Supra Modems. I helped idiots install and use their modems, and the Faxcilitate software we packaged with them. It was fun for a while, too… until the company really started growing, then getting bought by Diamond Multimedia, then having a kid that required me working from home… time to move on.
• Stay at Home Dad. People say how great I was at it, but it’s hard, and I’ll never say that I was that great. Am. Whatever. I’m still doing this, of course, but I also get paid for things…
• Front line support rep for Real Networks. Got this with a little help from the big bro, who was a semi-bigwig there, not that he GOT me the job, but at least I had reputation by relation. I might have impressed my boss during the interview with my dedication by coming in for the interview even though I was really sick, and even wretched into his trash can. I was able to work from home, and come in weekly or so for staff meetings and a little local work. Unfortunately, I got in right as RN was getting a really bad reputation. I also lost the job in short order, since they expanded and outsourced. I could have kept it, but keeping it would have required working in the office full time, and that wasn’t going to happen.
• A couple years pass, and I score a job through an online friend who knew someone looking for someone with support experience. I’m still with FlashTalk, as the Director of Training and Support. Not that it’s saying much, given how small the company is. I’m SO working from home, that I’ve never even MET any of the other FlashTalk people in person. Even my interview was over the ‘net. 🙂

Movies I can watch over and over:

• The Fifth Element. I would have never pegged my sister as a fellow fan of this movie.
• The Transformers. Duh.
• The Neverending Story (only the original. the sequels suck)

Guilty Pleasures:

• Lazer Tag. I have way too many taggers, but since I run a club and loan them to people, I think I can be forgiven.
• Transformers. I’m not a completist, but what I call a “mold completist” which means I have a strong desire to own at least one of any unique Transformers toy made, barring the unending search for all the old ones. This means whenever a new line of toys comes out, I buy one of everything, just about. I have a LOT of Transformers. I haven’t counted for a long time, but probably over 1000 by now.
• Food. I eat too much, and I eat bad things. I know this. But without a gourmet chef that can make even the healthiest of foods taste like it has 1500 calories, there’s really no comparison between a juicy steak and a block of tofu.
• Computer/Playstation stuff. Even though I use my computer all day for paid work, I also use it all day for messing around. When I’m not looking at the CRT, I’m playing my PSP or my PS3. I have more games than I could ever finish in the free time I have, and I keep getting more.

Places I have lived:

• When I tell people I’m an Army Brat, and list off the places I’ve lived, it goes like this: Kansas, Texas, Germany, Texas, New Jersey, Washington, Virginia, Washington. Then I can tack on Oregon and Washington since leaving the Army Brat life.
• Probably the most interesting was my first apartment on my own. It was a shitty little one bedroom in the U-district. It wasn’t until I discovered them myself that my dad told me that when he came to check the place out before I lived there, he could tell from the smell that it was infested with cockroaches. I didn’t find any in my food, but then I didn’t keep food around long, either. It was the classic situation, though. Turn on the light in the kitchen, and you could see them scurrying for a hiding place. 🙂 Since then, I’ve lived with my wife-to-be, and then wife, Ingrid in much nicer digs. 🙂

Shows I enjoy:

• The Closer
• Stargate
• Eureka
• Robot Chicken

Places I’ve been on Vacation:

• By far the most exotic was when I was invited to speak at the III Encuentros de los Oficios del Cuero in Spain. At the time, I was President and Webmaster for the IILG (from which I have become estranged, but that’s another story). The IILG is an Internet Leathercrafter’s Guild I co-founded in the late 90’s. Anyway, apparently I was needed to talk about using the Internet as a resource for leathercraft and art. They flew me over, and put me up for a few nights, and I got to experience Cordoba, Spain. It will take a lot to beat that one.
• I’ve been to a couple places in California in the last few years. Some bay area visits as part of a group of Palm Gurus called the Palm OS USer Council. A couple visits to LA, one for a Transformers convention, one for the departure and return of the cruise Ingrid and I went on, and finally, most recently, for the family vacation to Disneyland and other parks early this year.
• I’ve also been around the WA/OR/Canada area a bit for the yearly, whole family vacation.

Favorite Foods:

• Sushi. I can’t go a week without Sushi. I get moody otherwise. It is my comfort food in all possible ways. After a week of idiots needing support for computers they have no business sitting in front of, nothing brings up my mood better than a nice big plate of Nagiri Sushi and some roll Sushi. Rainbow rolls, caterpillar rolls, california rolls, salmon, tuna, eel, shrimp… My mouth is watering just writing about Sushi!
• Pizza. Pepperoni and Black Olive pizza. I don’t even care where it comes from as long as it’s fresh. It’s all good in its own way.
• Steak. Medium Rare. Love it.
• Ice cream sandwiches. The perfect balance of chocolatey cake and vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

Web sites I visit Daily:

• Gizmodo – gotta keep up on the nifty gadgets and technology
• TFW2005 – to keep abreast of all things Transformers
• Lazer Tactical Action Game Message Board – where most of the people in my circle of tagging friends online post
• My sites. I update something somewhere almost daily.

Body Parts I’ve injured:

• Hmm… well, I have a scar on my chin from an unfortunate skateboarding accident that required stitches. I have another on one of my fingers, but it didn’t need stitches.
• Had to get a hydroseal repaired after my vasectomy, but that’s not really an injury, per se. TMI?

Awards I’ve Won:

• I was never one for the trophies and awards, really. I learned early on that there’s always someone better, who wants it more. Brad. 😉 I think I got honor roll a few times.

Nicknames I’ve been called:

• By assholes: Ear, Gobstopper, Goob, nerd, dork, etc.
• By myself: Flux. Though I don’t really go by it anywhere with regularity.

Pick four other bloggers:

• Gearbits
• Mashby
• Rohdesign Weblog
  
• Rossi World
  

Now… to finish that CybCon 2007 report. Dangit…