Tagged

Looks like I've been tagged by Sara. I might be able to come up with six things about myself, but I don't know whether I can come up with six people to tag. 

1. My boss gave a little class last week on how to present effectively. He said we should stay true to our own style and personality. One of the personality traits was introvert versus extrovert. Extroverts can stand up and start talking with little preparation, often walking among and feeding off the audience. Introverts prepare carefully for presentations and practice them, sometimes for hours before presenting. After I spoke at church one time someone told me I was a natural speaker. I thought, Sure, after I just spent six hours writing this 20-minute talk and the past two hours practicing how to deliver it naturally. I am an introvert. 

2. I like to drive. I enjoy the adventure of going anyplace. I look forward to getting away from the everyday and doing something different. Driving usually means new adventures, getting away, and avoiding the ordinary. Flying has a bit of the same feeling, especially if I'm going to Japan or Italy. But if I can drive, flying deprives me of the adventure of getting there. I'd rather drive two days and feel like I've really gone someplace--and seen the in-betweens--than spend two hours flying there and feeling like I just went next door. When I bought an old GMC pickup from our neighbor several years ago and drove it over about 90 miles of dirt road along the old pony express trail, I thought it would be fun to drive every mapped dirt road in Utah. But that wouldn't be possible in one lifetime. One time I drove on that dirt pony express trail in our Astro Van on Presidents' Day in February. When I stopped to put chains on the tires to get over an icy pass, I found a 16-penny finish nail in the sidewall of a tire. I pulled the nail out, and air hissed out, too. So I stuck the nail back in, put the chains back inside and drove the remaining 90 miles of dirt road to Wendover and then back to Salt Lake on I-80. That was fun. 

3. Foods. There aren't many I don't like. There are some. I don't like the little fish eggs in some sushi. There's a lot of authentic Chinese food that I wouldn't mind if I never knew existed. Chicken feet aren't the worst. If my eating senses went on cruise control, I'd probably eat beef steak, baked potatoes and asparagus every night. But I also love real ramen--the best ramen in the United States is chaashu tonkotsu ramen at Santa in San Mateo, California--Italian, Greek, and seafood. My favorite seafood includes scallops, king crab, salmon, and halibut. I was on a quest once to find the best fish and chips in North America. There's a place on the pier in Victoria, British Columbia that's really good. I was also on a quest once to find the best barbecue in America. When I was in Atlanta once for a trade show, just before the Olympics were there, I decided to try all five BBQ joints listed in "Parade Magazine" as the best in the city. I made it to only three, but Fat Matt's Rib Shack was the best, and I stopped there every time I went to Atlanta. I even ate there three times one week. Last summer we bought a small smoker. BBQing is a great hobby that comes with great rewards. We've tried salmon, turkey, baby back ribs, and brisket. Ribs and brisket are the best. 

4. The outdoors are inspiring and invigorating. Mountain biking, hiking, camping, fishing, sitting, smelling the evergreens, anything you can do outside that isn't an extreme sport is great. Someday I'd like to road bike down the coast highway through Washington and Oregon, but road biking is a little bit scary with all the traffic and little room for bikes on most roads these days. 

5. I like to tease kids, mostly challenging what is obviously true. I don't know why. Sometimes I tell myself it teaches them to be on their toes. For example, if they have a book, I might say, "That's a nice shirt you're reading." They have to be thinking and willing to defend what they know. But that's not really why I do it. It's just fun. And they're gullible. It's not fun if they're too gullibe, though. They have to catch on at some point. I usually make the stories more unbelievable until they finally catch on. When I was about 17 I dated a girl in American Fork. I remember visiting her at her home once with my friends, and we started telling her wild stories about the rules at Murray High, something about going to jail for impersonating teachers and more. The more she believed us, the wilder our stories got. She never figured out that we were making it all up. She was too gullible. 

6. I need to lose weight. About 60 pounds. I love Dr. Pepper. It's been my favorite refreshing drink since I was a young teenager. Randy and I used to ride our bikes to the Cottonwood Mall, stop at the Walgreen's store there, and buy a quart bottle of Dr. Pepper and half-pound Hershey chocolate bar with almonds. All the people at Hart's quick stop know me from my daily visits. And the 7-Eleven down the street. And the Phillips station on State Street. Pepsi, too. Novell had soda machines in the halls, with a can costing 50 cents. I almost always had a can of Pepsi on my desk. When it got a little warm, I'd dump it and buy another one. I used to say that if I quit drinking Pepsi, Pepsico stock would crash. Last June I decided that if I am going to lose weight I need to quit drinking sugared soft drinks. And if I'm to quit drinking the sugared drinks I need to give up the caffeine drinks. At first I thought I'd quit slowly, allowing myself one 20-ounce bottle a day for a few weeks. The first day I drank one bottle. The second day I drank half of a bottle. The third day I drank the second half of the previous day's bottle, but I didn't enjoy it. That was then end of that. I have still been drinking caffein-free, sugar-free drinks, but none of the loaded stuff. Now I need to cut down on the fats and carbohydrates, and I need to exercise a lot more. 

THE RULES

1. The player lists six facts or habits about himself or herself. Try to find six you haven't already posted. 

2. At the end of the post, the player tags six people and posts their names, and then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment to let them know they have been tagged and to request them to read the player's blog for the rules. 

I don't know six people with blogs who haven't already been tagged.