Curses! I've been Tagged!

Arrrrrgh! I've been tagged. Tags are painful, and yet... fun. No I'm not a sadist. Tags sometimes make you think about things you wouldn't otherwise well... think about. A female of passing acquaintance, good 'ol Kelly ( :-p ) tagged me. So, here goes.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning of the post. Each player answers the questions about themselves in their post. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing ten years ago? Ten years ago I was living in Bangkok, Thailand. I had just moved there the first week of March. My friend Thomas and I were offered assignments on contract with the US Dept. of State to support their Y2K modernization program to be based at the US Embassy in Thailand. It was 3 years of fun, amazing travels in Asia, and lots and lots of hard work in strange climates and interesting cultures. - Blizzards in Mongolia, Dust storms in India, Monsoons in Thailand, Military Coup d'etat in Pakistan (while I was there), Rioting and Deposing of Prime Minister Sujuarto in Indonesia (while I was there), and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

2. What are five things on my list to do today? It's 9:20 PM as I write this, so I hope I got them all done, but some of the the things that were on my list were... 1. Get the contract modification executed by my customer; 2. Conduct an orientation for a new consultant we've brought on to a contract we have; 3. Continue search for a talented SQL/.NET Developer we can bring on; 4. Discuss the project plan (milestones, actions, deliverables, personnel assignments, timeline, etc.) 5. Think really hard about exercise and diet while successfully avoiding doing anything about them. Those don't sound like much fun, but I like them... it's what I do. But the best thing of all on my list was talking to my kids on the phone and hearing them talk about chasing fireflys. That made my day!

3. Snacks I enjoy? Just about anything chocolate; Cheese and crackers (I'm not picky, I just love cheese); Chex Mix (original); Mom's pineapple upside down cake (the best ever!!!); Grandmomma's banana bread (man that's good eatin'); Carrots and Peanut Butter

4. Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire? Pay off all of my family's debt out to at least the 1st Cousin level. Setup trusts for my kids education and life after school. Buy some land and build our dream-house. Take the family on a long kick-ass holiday! And finally... buy a business that's already up and running and manage that... because it's easier than starting from scratch like I'm doing now.

5. Three of my bad habits? Suffering ignorance poorly. Being less patient than I ought. Not exercising (although I'm really working on this last one... sort of).

6. Five places I have lived? 1) Germany - Born in Frankfurt am Mein. My father was stationed there with the US Army. Though, I only lived there for 6 months until my father's orders returned us to the USA. 2) Lived in Ft. Riley, Kansas when my father was there with the Army (he was in Armor and I got to ride the tanks. How cool is that?!) 3) Laguna, California: Think beaches and Disney!!! What a great location for a 10 year old! 4) Thailand. I've talked about it throughout my blog. It's a wonderful place, full of wonderful people, and a lot of really rich crooks.... uh... I mean politicians. Sad that such an interesting and friendly culture could generate such disgusting profiteers for leaders. 5) Huntsville, AL: No one in my family is a native-born Huntsvillian, but we all seem to come back to it time and time again. I've lived away from it more than I've lived in it, but no place other than my home in Thailand has ever felt so comfortable to me.

7. Five jobs I’ve had? 1) Dishwasher at Quincy's Steakhouse when I was 16. (my first real paycheck job). 2) Projectionist at the Madison Twin movie theater - fantastic job except for the haunted bathroom upstairs next to projection booth 3) Manager of Walden Software in Alexandria, VA; 4) Regional Contract Manager for General Motors Asia Pacific - fun job, loved the work, salary not so much. 5) VP at my current company where I'm also part owner... building a business from scratch... I'm gaining more grey hairs by the hour! ;-)

8. How did you name your blog? Seemed appropriate as a foreigner living in Thailand. I was culturally outside and looking in with a different perspective. Definitely in possession of a different point of view than what the locals apply.

So now I tag...
1. Nude Memphis - because he's an entertaining, and perspicacious individual

I can't tag more because all my bloggy friends have already been tagged by others. So I'm asking him to tag 4 extras on my behalf! :-D

Maybe I need more friends!
.