1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You post the questions and your answers on your blog.
4. You can include this explanation and offer to interview other people too.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.

My Interview with BoB tHeCoW

1. How old were you when you embraced your geekiness?

   Wow, I don't know. I guess I started using "Geek in Texas" sometime after I moved to Texas in 1988. My dad was a college math professor, so I used to get pretty good tutoring in math. I took a computer class as a junior in high school. We used a teletype machine to access the computer at the university, and punched Holerinth cards to create Fortran batch jobs that the teacher took to the school district offices to submit. In college, I intended to major in computer science, but realized after the third year that I only needed 4 more hours of credit to get a BS in math, so I took an easy math class and finished after 3 1/2 years with a double major. I guess I've kind of been a geek ever since then.

2. If you could have any dream job anywhere what would you be doing?

   My previous job was pretty stressful and we all worked a lot of hours. All that work really paid off in the long run, but I really prefer my current job. It's much more laid back, a little more low-tech, not much travel, and a reasonable number of hours. As for the "anywhere" part, I'd probably rather be a little further north. This is my 20th summer in Texas, and I'm still not used to the heat. I much prefer a climate where there are four seasons, about 3 months each. I also really miss the mountains. So I guess my dream job would be doing about the same as I'm doing now, but in a cooler, more mountainous place.

3. How many people have you met irl after first meeting them on the internet? How often would you say their personalities matched up?

   This has to go all the way back to my late teenage years when CB was popular. I grew up in Salt Lake, and there were a group of us that hung out on Channel 23. We even had a place we called "the circle" up on the side of the mountain where we hung out. It was at the top of a new subdivision on the side of the mountain. They'd paved the roads, but didn't have many houses built yet. It was up there pretty high, and we could see the entire valley. We could even see cars driving around the subdivision, and we could give them directions to come up and find us. Anyway, during that time, I got the chance to meet quite a few people in person that I'd only talked to previously. There were some surprises, but mainly based on looks, not personality. When you talk to someone a lot, you tend to get a picture in your mind of what they look like. So I tried to avoid making that mental picture.

   Flash forward to when I was living in Oregon and started running a BBS on a TRS-80 Model III with a 300 baud modem and homemade software. Ward Christensen created the XModem protocol. I incorporated that into my BBS and gained the ability to share software. That was the beginning of computer networking for me. Later I moved to North Carolina and discovered Fidonet. By 1986 I had my node number. Netmail, echomail, Seadog, Fidoterm, ARC, Policy, and modems that started getting faster and faster. I met several of the people from Raleigh that were in Fidonet, but I was the only node over in Chapel Hill. When I moved to Texas, I got a new node number. I wrote quite a bit of software - EZPoint, Msg, Flea. The local Fidonet group used to get together on a monthly basis for a "Pizza Party" on a Saturday afternoon. We'd alternate between a Dallas and a Fort Worth location, so a lot of us got to know each other IRL. I'm still a member of Fidonet to this day. The BBS is gone, but BinkleyTerm still runs constantly and connects to my echomail "feed" every night (hi, Paul).

   There's a Usenet newsgroup called dfw.singles. Some of the regulars there would occasionally meet up at a restaurant or bar. It was a sad day when Amy moved to Arizona. She did such a good job organizing the events, finding good locations, and motivating people to show up. I met a few people through Yahoo Personals too. Some good experiences, some bad. But that's a whole different blog, I think.

   And I've met a few people from 360 too, and those have all been good experiences. I guess with pictures and some heartfelt blogs, you get to know what a person is like pretty well. I've even recognized the people I've met from here before they introduced themselves.

4. How would your ex girlfriend describe you?

   She'd probably say I'm a jerk, an a$$hole, and an anal retentive bastard. Oh wait, that's the *other* ex-girlfriend. Ooops. So, we're talking about Lucky Lisa. Here's her testimonial:

   A wonderful friend that will always mean the world to me! Cute, funny, smart, witty, and the best movie partner around! Luv ya Geek! Hugs!

5. How many dvd's do you have? Yes you have to count and which are your top 5?

   Whew. I'm glad I had some time to do the counting. I guess I've become a DVD collector. Instead of seeing new releases in the theater, I wait until it comes out on DVD and buy it. The pictures below are of my cabinet, which supposedly holds 200 DVDs (I've got more than that crammed in there), and the shelves in the living room, where I've been storing the overflow and the box sets. I really enjoy buying the TV show box sets and watching them on my own schedule, commercial-free. The total I came up with was 593. It breaks down like this:

   • 309 movies (not counting "bonus discs")
   • 284 discs of TV shows:
     • 6 SouthPark Seasons 1-2
     • 34 "24" Seasons 1-5
     • 20 Sopranos Seasons 1-5
     • 20 Seinfeld Volumes 1-5
     • 4 3rd Rock from the Sun Season 1
     • 4 Frasier Final Season
     • 8 Grey's Anatomy Seasons 1-2
     • 3 Home Improvement Season 2
     • 14 House Seasons 1-3
     • 2 Jeff Foxworthy Season 1
     • 12 Joan of Arcadia Seasons 1-2
     • 20 Northern Exposure Seasons 1-6
     • 1 The Office Season 1
     • 8 Melrose Place Season 1
     • 41 Friends Seasons 1-10 plus Final show
     • 40 Everybody Loves Raymond Seasons 1-8
     • 23 Felicity Seasons 1-4
     • 24 Will & Grace Seasons 1-6

   Top Five? That's a tough one. I just looked them over and picked ones that jumped out at me. I ended up with six, and couldn't pick one to eliminate. So sue me. If you were to ask me the same question next month, I'd probably pick different ones.

   1. Pulp Fiction
   2. The Breakfast Club
   3. Office Space
   4. The Pursuit of Happyness
   5. Hair
   6. Crash

(Click image then "ALL SIZES" for a larger view)

The Friday Five:

1) Do you listen to music? If so which kind(s) do you listen to most frequently?

I like the oldies, soft rock kind of stuff, with a little newer stuff mixed in. I like just about anything except rap.

2) Is the radio on or off in the car when you drive? (if you don't drive, do you listen to an IPOD etc when you travel?)

Always on. My car stereo plays AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3, and it's usually on XM channel 26 (Flight 26).

3) List 5 of your favorite songs:

Hmmm, only 5? That's tough, and it changes daily.

1. Anything by Elton John
2. One by One - Enya
3. Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
4. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
5. Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

4) Do you sing or play a musical instrument? If so which one(s)?

I sing, albeit badly. But only in a large group where I can blend in, or when I'm alone.
I took piano lessons for many years as a kid, and played the clarinet all through junior high, high school, and college. Haven't touched either for quite awhile though.

5) Jade would like to know what you would name your band if you had one. Why?

Probably The Sounds of Silence because we'd sound better when we weren't playing!

With apologies to the beautiful Charli, this is from another Friday Five...

1. How many television sets do you own? (and how many are HD/flat screen/plasma etc?) Anyone have a home theatre system? game systems? dvd players? other peripherals?

Five or six altogether:

1. A tiny 5" black and white that can run on batteries or from a cigarette lighter.
2. A little 19" in the bedroom, connected to both a DVD player and a VCR.
3. A 25" Magnavox in a box in the garage that only has a coax connector, so it's become worthless...
4. A 27" in a console that's connected to a DVD player but neither is being used now because it's been replaced by #5 and I haven't het figured out what to do with it. I learned a couple of days ago that the house of a lady at church burned down this week, so if she needs it, I'll give these to her.
5. A new 42" LCD flatpanel widescreen HD TV that's connected to an up-converting DVD player by HDMI, my mixer board, and a computer.
6. There's also a TV card in one of the computers so it can double as a Tivo/TV/DVD Player.

2. Do you own a cell phone? How old is it? Do you get new phones regularly?

Yes, I've been a Sprint customer for about 10 years, and during that time, I've only had two different phones. The one I'm using now is about 2 1/2 years old. I upgraded because the battery in the other one stopped holding a charge and replacements were no longer available.

3. What are the top 5 gadgets that are your 'must haves'?

1. I feel lost without my cell phone.
2. I have to have a computer and internet access too, or I feel disconnected.
3. The Magellan Roadmate 2200T has fast become a must-have in the car.
4. I love XM radio for road trips where you'd normally not get any radio stations.
5. DVD Players. I rarely watch live TV anymore, but I buy a lot of DVDs of TV shows so I can watch them commercial-free on my own schedule.

4. Are you one to jump on the newest trends? watch them for a bit then jump? or wait until it's more proven technology (and the price lowers)?

Yeah, that last one, I think. I'd been planning to buy a widescreen TV for a couple years, and have been buying only WS format DVDs. I've watched the prices, and finally decided it was time about a month ago.

5. For your internet: do you have dialup? dsl? cable? are you wireless?

I used to work for a company (Efficient Networks) that developed DSL technology when it was brand new, so I hopped on the DSL bandwagon as soon as it was available in my area - about 6 years ago. As one of the early subscribers, the phone company hooked me up to a fiber optic connection. Now, they no longer do installations on fiber, and I'm too far away from the CO for copper. Because of that, my neighbor across the street can't get DSL, so I share. :-) There's a directional antenna in my front window that points to his upper window and we've got a high-gain antenna sitting in his window sill. He gets as good a connection over there as I do in my back bedroom. Two access points - one for the "cross street" connection, and the other piggybacking off it using a different SSID and WPA key for my little in-home network.

Julie tagged me with this (grrrr).  It doesn't really seem that "odd", but here goes:

1. Height?  5'12" 

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?  What? No!

3. Do you own a gun?  Yep, a Daisy BB gun - lucky for the squirrels I'm a lousy shot!

4. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?  No. Parents love me.

5. What do you think of hot dogs?  I think that's sad. At least give them some cold water.

6. What's your favorite Christmas song?  Anything but "Gramma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". BTW, I'm a direct descent of Joseph Mohr, who wrote "Silent Night".

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?  Coffee!

8. Can you do push ups?  Yes, but probably less than 25.

9. Is your bathroom clean?  Absolutely. My maid service was here Friday.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?  My watch is all I really wear regularly.

11. Do you like painkillers?  Nope, don't really like any drugs.

12. Do you have A.D.D.?  Nothing's been confirmed.

13. What is your favorite boy name and girl name?  Gary, Amanda

14. Middle Name?  Alan

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?

    Will I be ready for Christmas in three weeks?

    Work tomorrow morning. Arg.

    Why am I doing this silly thing when I should be going to bed?

16. Name the last 3 things you have bought:

    Lunch today at August Moon

    Milk

    Pomegranates

17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:

    Coffee

    Iced Tea

    Water

18. Current worry?

    Julie is moving to Colorado?

19. Current hate?  Christmas shoppers/Christmas shopping

20. Favorite place to be at?  My nice warm comfy king-sized bed

21. Least favorite place to be?  Work

22. Where would you like to go?  Iceland

23. Do you own slippers?  Yeah, but usually go barefoot instead

24. What shirt are you wearing?  None right now

25. Do you burn or tan?  Burn first, then tan

26. Favorite color(s)? to wear?  Blue, green, brown

27. Would you be a pirate?  No.  Water is fun, but not for days at a time.

28. What songs do you sing in the shower?  None, even I can't stand my singing.

29. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?  Snakes

30. What's in your pockets right now?  No pants, thus no pockets; but normally keys, wallet, money.

31. Last thing that made you laugh?  "A Christmas Story" last night. My favorite Christmas movie! The kid with his tongue stuck to the flag pole just kills me!

32. Best bed sheets as a child?  None that I remember.

33. Worst injury you've ever had?  Right knee mashed between two car bumpers Thanksgiving 1979.

34. How many TVs do you have in your house?  Four, but only two of them hooked up.

35. Who is your loudest friend?  Probably Paul

36. Who is your most silent friend?  Laura

37. Does someone have a crush on you?  I hope so

38. Do you wish on shooting stars?  Yes

39. What is your favorite book?  Fatherhood by Bill Cosby

40. What is your favorite candy?  Butterfinger

41. What song played at your wedding?  Wedding? What wedding? What did I drink last night?

42. What song do you want played at your funeral?  C'est la Vie 

43. What were you doing 12 AM last night?  Sleeping I think (whew!)

44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?  Huh? Where am I? 

I'm not tagging anybody.  If you want to play, consider yourself tagged...

This seems to have originated over on Frozen Fire's blog. Kinda silly, kinda goofy. I've seen a few other people posting theirs, so I figured I'd throw mine into the ring too.

I'm such a lemming.

From Sens' blog

I'm Geek
I'm an American, and an imported Texan
I'm 45 years old
I'm the father of a 19 year old daughter that I raised from age 6
I've never been married
I'm a Christian / Protestant / Presbyterian
Open minded, but practical and pragmatic
An engineer by trade
A seeker of knowledge
I love water
I am Geek

Who are you?

Borrowed from Missy...

What are your favorite/least favorite sensory experiences?

Rules-Once you have been tagged you have to write a blog with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs!!

Haha, I've never been one to follow rules. So I'm not tagging anybody. If you're reading this and you want to play, then feel free to consider yourself tagged.

So, I guess this is the latest thing. I did "Five Weird Things About Me" in January, and I did "Six Weird Things About Me" in April. Now "Eight Weird Things About Me", huh? What's next? Wait, let me guess. "Ten Weird Things About Me". Me first. Tag, you're it!

One - I like writing my blog about what I like writing about. There's no rhyme or reason. I try to stay away from the stolen jokes that are pasted in, and instead opt for a little more original content. And I prefer reading that type of blog too. BTW, this is probably the last time I'll let myself be tagged. So there.

Two - I'm having a very happy day today. Everything's going right. I'm going to blog more about that later.

Three - Can't I just steal the other six things I wrote about before?

Four - I didn't get to talk to my dad on Father's Day yesterday. I left a couple messages, though.

Five - I hate buying food that spoils. Unless I'm fairly sure I'll use it up before it goes bad, I'll either not buy it (bread) or buy only a little (one apple). I just hate throwing away spoiled food.

Six - I'm a caffeinne addict. But I'm trying to get better. In the past, I'd grind beans and brew a pot, usually finishing it off before heading to work. And I'd have a few more cups at work. And guzzle a couple of fraps (Vanilla or Coffee, please) during the day. Not to mention the Coke or iced tea at lunch. I found that I'd get a headache on Saturday afternoon if I'd been lazing around and didn't make a pot, so I've been trying to wean myself slowly. I'm down to half a pot at home and one frap a day, anyway.

Seven - my car's safety inspection expired at the end of May. I just noticed that at lunchtime. Shhh, don't tell.

Eight - I've become addicted to Google Earth. I want continuous, real-time updates. I want to take my laptop outside using the Wifi connection, drop trou and moon the sky, and be able to take a screen capture of it. I want a live viewing of the traffic 5 miles ahead of me showing on the dashboard display in my car. I want to see if there's still snow on the ground in the mountains near my parents' house.

Michigangal43 tagged me, and somebody else did a couple weeks ago, too. (Who was that?) This "Six Weird Things" list that's going around is an awful lot like the "Five Weird Things" I did back in January. So I'll change it up a little bit, and repost it. If you haven't already done this, consider yourself tagged. The task is to "List 6 Strangely Curious, Unusual, Possibly Different Things about Yourself".

Six Weird Things About Geek

1. 
   

   My stomach grumbles when I've eaten, not when I'm hungry. Really, I don't see what's so weird about this, but people tell me that it's weird. I just call it digestion. Maybe it's because I don't burp. I don't know why, I just never have. I have all those other good body functions like hiccups and yawns and sneezes. I'm an expert farter, but I've never belched in my life. I guess it's gotta come out somewhere, huh?

   
   
2. 
   

   I fold my towels "just so". I've seen other people say they do this, too. Bath towels in thirds lengthwise. hand towels in half lengthwise, then in half. Washclothes in half. Folded washcloth goes on top of folded hand towel. Both of those go in the middle of the folded bath towel, which is then folded in thirds so the smaller two are inside. And the collection goes in the pantry with the ends facing backwards. There are three stacks in there. One containing complete sets for the master bathroom (mainly green), one containing complete sets for the guest bathroom (mainly maroon), and one containing "spares". Sometimes you need a towel to mop up a mess. Sometimes some female wants a whole separate towel just for her hair. Go figure.

   
   
3. 
   

   I don't like to kiss. Well, that's not exactly true. I do like to kiss. But I just don't get turned on by a 30 minute slobbery French kiss like some people do. There are other body parts that cause more pleasure for me when rubbed together. Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking (mainly) about things like backrubs and foot massages.

   
   
4. 
   

   I'm a single dad. That's a little weird in this day and age given the preference of the courts towards women. I got sole custody of my daughter when she was 5. Now she's 18 and out on her own. Fly birdy, fly!

   
   
5. 
   

   I'm a tree-hugging geek. The Geek part should be obvious. The Tree-Hugging part is a little less so. But I recycle everything I can: paper goes to the elementary school's collection container; aluminum goes to the church's recycling program; glass, tin and plastic go to the city's "blue bag" program, coffee grounds and table scraps go to my Red Wigglers. The city comes by twice a week to pick up garbage, and I have a bag for them to pick up about once a month. I drive a hybrid gas/electric car - actually I'm on my second one now. It's a Honda Insight, and I originally bought a 2000 model because it had the highest MPG rating of any car ever sold before (or since) in the US. It had EPA ratings of 62 city and 70 highway. I traded that in for a 2003 model and this newer one is a CVT, so the mileage is a little less. I think it's rated at 55 city and 62 highway or something.

   
   
6. 
   

   I hate needles. I've been through First Aid and CPR classes both as a youngster (Boy Scouts) and an adult. I've been trained in the use of fire extinguishers and portable defibrillators. In my lifetime, I've seen a few nasty car accidents, and I've stopped bleeding and treated shock. I've acted as ambulance driver when someone at work got their hand caught in the box compactor. But put me in a room where people are donating blood, and I'll go white in the face and need to sit down. Really, it's all in my head, because I can make myself light-headed just thinking about it. Back in the day when my parents got married, a blood test was required, and the story I hear is that my future dad passed out. I guess I inherited that trait from him. This was obvious when I was a little kid and my mom went to give blood. My reaction was not good. The first time I had a cavity, the dentist drilled without drugs because I preferred the temporary pain to the use of an injection. Okay, I've written enough about this, I'm feeling a little dizzy.

   
   

Pretty weird, huh?.

From Missy's blog - capture your desktop and post it with the title "You Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine".

Okay, I like kittens.  So sue me. 

Well, Brandi tagged me, so I'll give this "Five Weird Things" a shot. Like a lot of other people, I won't be tagging others. If you want to play, feel free, but most of the people I know have already done this by now if they wanted to.

Five Weird Things About Geek

1. 
   

   My stomach grumbles when I've eaten, not when I'm hungry. Really, I don't see what's so weird about this, but people tell me that it's weird. I just call it digestion.

   
   
2. 
   

   I fold my towels "just so". I've seen other people say they do this, too. Bath towels in thirds lengthwise. hand towels in half lengthwise, then in half. Washclothes in half. Folded washcloth goes on top of folded hand towel. Both of those go in the middle of the folded bath towel, which is then folded in thirds so the smaller two are inside. And the collection goes in the pantry with the ends facing backwards. There are three stacks in there. One containing complete sets for the master bathroom (mainly green), one containing complete sets for the guest bathroom (mainly maroon), and one containing "spares". Sometimes you need a towel to mop up a mess. Sometimes some female wants a whole separate towel just for her hair. Go figure.

   
   
3. 
   

   I don't like to kiss. Well, that's not exactly true. I do like to kiss. But I just don't get turned on by a 30 minute slobbery French kiss like some people do. There are other body parts that cause more pleasure for me when rubbed together. Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking (mainly) about things like backrubs and foot massages.

   
   
4. 
   

   I'm a male single parent. That's a little weird in this day and age given the preference of the courts towards women. I had sole custody of my daughter from the time she was 5. Now she's 18 and trying to get out on her own. Fly birdy, fly!

   
   
5. 
   

   I don't burp. I don't know why, I just don't. I hiccup and yawn and sneeze and fart and all that, but I've never belched in my whole life.

   
   

So there you have it.