My friend Wenmei, our “Team SF” genius, asked me to keep the 7 things “IT” blog tag rolling and normally I never do those things but why the heck not. I have a feeling this is a lot harder than I imagine to think of 7 wierd things about yourself and list them. Here’s my try:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder - self diagnosed (look it up). Upon realizing this, my wierd way of forcing myself to relax is to actually buy something - it could be a pack of gum or a car, but for some reason it is my way to force myself not to worry. I also watch movies, scuba dive, fly fish and fly radio-controlled planes to distract my mind from things - I concentrate intensely when I have a distraction or task to focus on. I think many people use this an an excuse for mediocrity but I instead use it as fuel to always be productive; it’s not magic just my “curse” and I’ve learned to deal with it in a positive way.
2. Slightly compulsive tendencies - wierd things bug me and I’ve been known to be a half mile from home and have to drive back to make sure the door was locked because I couldn’t remember hearing the deadbolt sound. Otherwise it would’ve drove me crazy all day. Every time I get home, I lock the deadbolt behind me. If someone closes the door on a vehicle, I can tell if it was fully closed and if not, it bugs me until they open and re-close it.
3. Work best under pressure - I set deadlines upon myself because I learned I perform best when under immense pressure. I still show signs of stress but I get into “hyper mode” and can accomplish enormous amounts of work once I get myself in this mode. I did the same “self governance” throughout school and made myself believe I’d be in serious trouble if I didn’t get straight A’s - I somehow “scared” myself into performing and was my way to always stay on top, regardless whether other’s expectations were not that strict.
4. Love remote-controlled toys - my first “official” job was bookkeeping and weekend cleaning at my family’s business when I was 12 years old. I remember around that time that ShopKo opened their box store in Missoula near Rosauer’s and I spent my first paycheck on a remote controlled car. Ever since then I was hooked and love R/C. I now have cars, planes, boats and helicopters and many of my buddies are now “hooked” too.
5. Anti-dentite (not actually: Seinfeld humor ref) - well also at an early age, the burdon of scheduling doctor’s visits was placed upon me and I let it slip in lieu of more important things, like skateboarding and playing with computers. Thankfully I’m a healthy person but I haven’t visited a dentist in 17 years. I will be in 2007 though and likely need some work on one molar - my first visit since 5th grade.
6. Former tow truck driver - one of my family’s businesses is a towing company and for years I split my time between managing our truck leasing company, dispatching and driving tow trucks and running my snow plowing business late at night. I quickly learned to multi-task and deal with people. Although a wierd upbringing for an Internet software professional but one can imagine all the challenges you face in an arctic storm in Montana on a mountain road and having to think on your feet and solve problems. I was standing in the middle of an Interstate waving down 50-ton semis sliding towards me and flagging down speeding motorists to protect an accident site and recovery crew since I was 10-12 years old. I recall one recovery where we had to link together 5 spools of cable for a vehicle that slid down the side of a mountain 1/2 mile and couldn’t be air lifted out. I drove the plow truck and plowed the roads and helped set up our recovery vehicle and then proceeded to march down the side of the mountain with bundles of cable, linking each one. I then hooked onto the vehicle and sat inside of it, at the end of a single cable mind you, and steered it around trees and stumps back up the mountain, stopping every 200 feet to pull out another link of cable. That recovery was in the news as it was Mount Sentinel just above the University of Montana campus. My fearless ways and need for quick thinking prepared me well for IT consulting and entrepreneurship.
7. Pepsi addict - I force myself to kick the habit from time to time to convice myself I’m in control but in all honesty, I love my little blue friend. As you may imagine I work some intense hours when I attack a challenge, especially software-based, and of all the vices one could have, I figure Pepsi is fairly mild. Now you know why I should keep my dental visits annual - I’m learning.

Thanks Wenmei for the challenge and I must say, it is actually a difficult task. I welcome others to try the same because it’s not that easy to write 7 wierd but interesting facts about yourself.

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