Thanks Dwight: Eight Random Things 'bout me

TechBlog maven Dwight Silverman "tagged me" with his My first tag! 8 random things about me post.

Unfortunately, his timing couldn't have been better as he caught me this week out of the area (in Austin, Texas on business) and away from my blogging platforms despite the number of free Internet connections in my hotel room and training facility.

So, I'm just now sitting down to knock this one out having arrived safely back home.

Eight "Random" Things 'bout Claus

1) I almost never, ever drink alcoholic beverages...but when I do, prefer sake, Samuel Adams or Heineken. 

2) I secretly enjoy watching "chick-flicks" and generally cry like a girlie-man to Lavie's pleasure and entertainment.

3) Like Jim Thompson, I was an editor of the high-school creative writing magazine and had many stories and poems published. I also won a number of area writing competitions in my high-school days.

4) If I could pick anywhere in the world to live and money, language, or family considerations wouldn't be a limiting factor...I'd move to Hokkaido in a heartbeat.

5) The only true regret I only carry in my life is backing out of the U.S. Air Force Academy selection process I was undertaking as a high school senior.  Mid-way through the process I withdrew for various reasons that seem very weak now. That is the only thing I have done that I honestly and deeply regret doing and I always will.

6) The very first "real" vehicle I ever drove was at around age 15 and was our neighbor's jeep in the middle of a wide grassy local baseball field.  It was done under their adult supervision and permission and would forever cement my love of manual shift transmissions.

7) My father and I built a MG-TD "kit-car" as a father/son bonding project during my high-school years.  I saved up enough money to buy a reconditioned VW chassis/engine and he bought the body kit.  Somehow we survived the process, although in hindsight it would have probably made the Teutul "American Chopper" father/son team blush at times with our stubbornness and communication issues.  We survived and the car was pretty classy (and well built) in the end.  Luckily, only one hole was punched in the garage wall by myself in the process.

8) Nothing gives me greater pleasure at work than being asked to look at a workstation that has been found infected with a virus/trojan/malware/etc. and have the time to hunt it all down, investigate it, clean it, compose detailed notes and observations and then develop a response to ensure it doesn't happen again.  Unfortunately, time and security is usually of the essence so I usually just do a data-recovery for the user, then wipe and apply a fresh image and move on after restoring the data back.

Passing the Torch

So here's passing on this "Eight Random Things" meme like a good sport to four more folks I respect and whose viewpoints I find fascinating and rewarding to follow.

Edie Goodwin - Texas Goodies Blog and frequent TechBlog wanderer.

Alex Eckelberry - Sunbelt Software Head Honcho and Cool Guy.

Mike, Nicki, and Josh - a.k.a. the Japan Years crew.

Alvis - a.k.a. my dearest daughter...who want's nothing more than a little bit of attention on her new blog from her daddy.

--Claus