10 Random Facts About Me *Please Join In*

[gospelman]

Cool stuff on here so far!

1. I'm a follower of Jesus of Nazareth first and foremost.

2. Remember paperboys? I was one when I was 14.

3. I bought my first motorcycle when I was 14, to deliver papers. I still ride, and would rather ride than just about anything else.

4. When in high school, I worked in the housekeeping department at a local hospital. One of my jobs was cleaning the morgue after autopsies.

5. It took me seven years to graduate from college, because I was working full time most of the time.

6. I began taking Karate lessons when I was 19 (in 1973). I am now a 6th degree Black Belt.

7. I play guitar, mandolin and drums (though no drums for several years).

8. I was 33 before I got married, but I'm still married to the same wonderful woman. We have two beautiful and intelligent daughters.

9. I've been in the radio business for over 30 years. A case of arrested development, I guess. But I'm blessed that I've been able to make a living at something I love. For a good part of my career I was a morning news anchor/reporter. I got to meet a lot of famous people, but best for me was meeting Roy Rogers.

10. I've been smoking a pipe since I was in college. I think it's in my blood, because when I was a lad I remember my great-grandfather always had a pipe going. He smoked Grainger (a blend I've never tried).

 

[jhuggett]

These are some amazing posts. Makes me feel like I've lived a boring life. :lol:

Natch I bet you have some serious stories about your travels.

As for me:

1. Some of my fondest memories as a child are of fishing with my grandfather. When I was 12 years old we took our last trip together though. Not long after putting the boat in the water he asked if I wanted to drive. He pointed to an outcropping on the horizon and said, "Head for that." Five minutes later he was gone. Died of a massive heart attack at 67.

2. I did pretty good in school up until my senior year when I got expelled for cutting class. I only needed 1.5 credits to graduate going in so I decided to screw off a lot. Went to work in the printing room and printed all the passes I needed and had a validation stamp so I thought it fool proof. It wasn't. Blew my shot at West Point.

3. Joined the military anyway and even though I qualified for any job the military had to offer I choose to join the Army Infantry. My dad, although he was proud of my scholastic achievements, seemed to always put more merit into people who worked physically hard.

4. I worked for a counter drug unit for a couple of years. One time while conducting close range surveillance on some folks, one of them came right up to me and urinated on my leg. Never knowing I was laying at his feet in a ghillie suit.

5. For a long time I had aspirations of becoming a chef. Decided they work to damn hard and it would ruin my love of cooking.

6. I did work in and around law enforcement up until about 8 years ago. Shortly after getting my first internet connection I went crazy over computers and read everything I could get my hands on. Still work for a law enforcement agency but now I do their network security.

7. I hold a CISSP.

8. Although I enjoy almost any kind of food imaginable I have never been able to eat liver. No matter how it's cooked! :lol:

9. I enjoy the outdoors but it seems as though I never spend any time away from the city. Except when I visit family in Montana. Washington is a beautiful place but even the most rural places seem crowed to me.

10. When I started BoB I didn't think it would stick around for more than a few weeks. :scratch:

 

[Buck]

6. I own many expensive highgrade pipes and a
very well stocked tobacco cellar yet I still prefer plain old Navy
Flake in a Stanwell.

A preferred pipe brand and preferred tobacco is always best.

IMO a lot of fellas (ladies?) arrive at this point at some point in their
lives. I arrived there myself about 10 years ago so my interest
in PAD & TAD is very, very low today.

I like my "state of pipe smoking" a lot so I think I'll stay here awhile
longer. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Number 6]

1) I am a former Marine and a current USAF reservist. I did artillery in the Marines and do NucBioChem defense for the Air Force.
2) I work in IT and am entirely self-taught in this field.
3) I used to be a reporter and news editor.
4) I am a libertarian. (Note the small l. I'm also not doctrinaire; I'm more of a Wil Wilkinson type libertarian than a Randian or a Rothbardian)
5) I'm an agnostic and a Unitarian. And no, I probably don't want to discuss religion-nothing good comes of arguments in which people disagree on first principles. I prefer to respectfully disagree and stay friends.
6) I spend 8 years (HS and college) being educated by Jesuits. As if that isn't bad enough, I majored in Philosophy and Poli Sci.
7) I play drums. Poorly.
8) I love cycling
9) I can sing the theme song from Mr. Ed from memory. How's that for random?
10) I am married to an amazing woman and have a 4-week old daughter.

 

[Benjamin Button]

Great topic and I'll give it a go...

1. I've set foot in 33 out of 50 of the U.S. States...my goal is all 50 before I turn 50, hah.

2. I partially completed my undergrad degree at Savannah College of Art and Design and I am currently a graphic designer, but well versed in painting, drawing & sculpting.

3. Both of my parents are still together after 35 years and they are my inspiration for what a healthy relationship should be.

4. I don't have wisdom teeth. I was born without them. My dentist called me a product of "evolution".

5. I once snuck on to the set of the movie, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" while it was filming in Savannah. I hung out on the set all day carrying a clipboard to look important and ate with the cast and crew and saw Robert Redford from afar.

6. I sleep with my eyes open.

7. I have been with my girlfriend for over two years and we together live with her 7 year old son. His real father is in prison for non-payment of child support and for dealing crack. He has not been a part of his life for the past 7 years and I am the first father figure he has ever had. I love every second of it and treat him as my own son. She has raised him for 5 years alone while working her ass off and not relying on state support. Her father was in a motorcycle accident when she was 8, in a coma for a year and has permanent brain damage to this day. Her mother died when she was 19. This girl is my rock. She is the most amazing human being and refreshed my faith in the good Lord and how He can help us through anything. She is an amazing person.

8. My parents bought me my first two pipes when I was 6 years old. A corn cob and a Dr. Grabow briar. I wanted to be a sailor for the longest time and always asked for a pipe off the wall of the drug store when I was young. I tried smoking them when I was 15 (secretly) and had no idea what I was doing so the experience was none too thrilling. Now, I can really appreciate it and wish I still had those pipes.

9. The number 9 surrounds my life. My birthday is 9-9-1980. If you add up all those numbers it equals 9. No matter what way you add them. ( ex. 9+9+1980= 1,998. 1+9+9+8=27. 2+7=9) It always equals 9.

Same goes for my social security number when added up. Very strange. Often my addresses where I live, rooms I stay in, my current girlfriends birthday (2-16-1980, do the math), dates, etc. All 9.

I'm convinced this is going to be my year.

10. I have an affinity for history. It's almost a strange fixation with things past. I will watch the history channel for hours and love anything having to do with my own family history or my cities history. I have an obsession with the Cilvil War and want to do a road trip to some of the battle sites.

 

[Anonymous]

9. The number 9 surrounds my life. My birthday is 9-9-1980. If you add up all those numbers it equals 9. No matter what way you add them. ( ex. 9+9+1980= 1,998. 1+9+9+8=27. 2+7=9) It always equals 9.

Same goes for my social security number when added up. Very strange. Often my addresses where I live, rooms I stay in, my current girlfriends birthday (2-16-1980, do the math), dates, etc. All 9.

I'm convinced this is going to be my year.

This could be your theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1G9wLGit4k

 

[Bub]

Here is my stuff:
1. While I like computers and the internet, my list that was completed a couple of days ago disappeared when I hit a button. Just goes to show you that there is always more to learn.
2. Speaking of learning, I have a PhD in pharmacology and have published articles in peer reviewed journals. Speaking of learning, I wish that I could remember what I knew back then. I also wonder if its still true.
2. My interest in pipes started in the 60's with Charatans, GBDs, and Comoys. Unfortunately, they were purchased on a student's budget. If I knew what I know now I would be living off my pipes rather than a dwindling IRA.
3. I also felt like an outcast. We moved from the mid west to the east coast when I was in the sixth grade. I put on a lot of weight and peaked out at 215 with a 42 inch waste. At graduation I was down to 175. Exercise has always been important for me. I still try to lift myself out of bed in the morning, lift my own wine glass and push myself away from the diner table.
4. I am married to a lovely woman who is a great companion but worries about everything. Our son (Paul) has started an internet business selling knives and leather knife sheathes. You can check them out at http://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/
5. I have a soft spot in my heart for animals. Currently we have a golden retriever (Ollie) who is my smoking buddy. If you check out Paul's web site, you will find out how he came up with his "no dry humping policy".
6. I lived in Calgary, Alberta, had a block heater for my car, but never stayed at the Banff Springs Hotel. I did smoke a Cuban cigar in the car while driving back to Calgary from Banff in the middle of winter. I am just beginning to get my sence of equilibrium back.
7. I like jazz, blues, folk music and wine. Not necessarily in that order.
8. I traded too many pipes to buy a Castello pipe that I talked about earlier. After two smokes, I am glad that I did.
9. I like going out with Ollie, smoking a pipe, looking at the stars and feeling insignificant.
10. If this post disappears again, I am not writing another one.
Bub

 

[Winslow]

1.I was born and raised in Northern Illinois but will move South when I retire.

2.Worked since I was 10,started with a paper route....worked for the telephone company as engineering tech for 28 years until they closed,got a job with Post Office as maintenance tech 14 years ago.

3.Served in USAF as a data processing drone.

4.Have always liked History,Civil War,firearms,fishing,target shooting with surplus military rifles.Motorcycles when I was younger.

5.Always liked to drink too much,it got out of hand when I was in my forties and I went to AA and got sober after some time trying to control it myself.

6.10 years married to my Godfathers daughter from Staten Island.Her father and my father were best friends and shipmates on a destroyer in Halsey's fleet during WW2.She is the brake on my wild side,without her influence I am too wild.

7.My wife is slowly going blind from a hereditary eye disease[Retinitis Pigmentosa]
She still has a small amount of vision left but uses the cane all the time.

8.My wife is deeply religious,I am more with spirituality.We have a prayer room in our house thats like a little chapel where we go to pray and meditate.

9.I was a fanatic for working out and bodybuilding,before I got married all I used to do was work,work out,and go to AA meetings.I still exercise 3-4 times a week but 3 hernia surgeries from 30 years of lifting limit what I do.

10.I was never a big cigarette smoker,,,,always played with pipe smoking until the internet came along and away I went.I can smoke in the house,thank God!I have about 50 pipes alot of Ardors and Radices plus a dozen meers.

Winslow :sunny:

 

[frankluke]

here goes,

1. i am romani / gypsy.

2. i didn't go to high school and have been working since i was 12.

3. i grew up very poor but my parents gave us a good life.

4. i am a moderator at a different pipe forum.

5. married at 18 and have three beautiful healthy children.

6. nicky scarfo used to give me and my brother candy when we were children, my uncle worked for him.. (nothing bad)

7. rad davis is my favorite maker, i have about nine of his pipes and hope to one day be the top davis collector.

8. i have a large collection of habanos and a walk in humidor.

9. i played poker for a living before the boom.

10. my friends and i were they first to sell yankees suck t-shirts outside of fenway ('94)

 

[howellhandmade]

1. I went through the class C international pistol coaches' school at the OTC in Colorado Springs.

2. I've performed Beethoven 7 over 40 times.

3. I'm allergic to cats. And horses. And seafood. Really bummed about the last one.

4. The coldest I've ever been was hunting ducks in -23F.

5. Four winters ago I made a guitar.

6. I lived in New Zealand for almost a year. Now I understand cricket.

7. I didn't realize there was a gentlemanly point to quit smoking a cigar. If I get a RA Special Selection I'll smoke it until I need a roach clip, then let it burn like incense.

8. My first car was a 1977 Pontiac Bonneville. My first wife kept driving while blinded by the sun and crashed it into a cemetery.

9. I'm left-handed.

10. Great. Now I'm late for work.

 

[HistoryMajor]

Cool thread!

1. I've performed juggling at the Edmonton International Street Performers' Festival, and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.

2. My favourite music artist is Bruce Springsteen. I once drove to Tacoma, Washington to see him perform, and then he came here like 8 months later and I went again.

3. I'm studying history and political science at the University of Alberta.

4. I'm an atheist.

5. I drive a Zamboni for a living. As of yet I haven't crashed it.

6. My only regret growing up was that I quit learning to play piano. I played the trumpet in high school, but it just isn't the same.

7. All of the shelf space, desk space, flat surfaces, and floor in my room is stacked with books. My reading interests range from the gonzo journalism of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, to science fiction and fantasy.

8. I love tobacco in pretty much any form. Despite having parents that are extremely anti-tobacco, I've managed to enjoy the hobby since I turned 18. The most inspiring thing that I've learned from being a smoker is how amazing the community solidarity is - the social interactions that smokers have hanging out are incredible, and I don't think they can be repeated by any other group.

9. I ski raced for 7 years. Yeah...the spandex kind of ski racing

10. The most amazing place I've ever been was on the roof of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. I was lucky enough to go for a school trip in grade 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_the_Duomo%27s_dome,_Florence.jpg

 

[Centurian 803]

1. In High School I was voted most likely to end up in prison.

2. I grew up to be a police officer (36 years and still cruising). I was associate minister at an A/G Church for 18 years (no, I'm not that old. I did em both at the same time). I'm lead Chaplain for my department now.

3. I love rainy days when I can sit on my front porch, read and listen to the rain fall. My taste in books is pretty catholic. I prefer mysteries but also read history and science, science fiction and fantasy and biograpy. Love Stephen King's short stories far more than his novels. :study:

4. I played guitar in a rock band, played mandolin and a little fiddle in a bluegrass group and now dabble with the tin whistle.

5. I love all kinds of food but, like Jason, cannot abide the taste of liver. Once I ate two servings because I was having dinner at a friend's house and that was what his mom fixed. I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I ate what I was served. After congratulating myself on getting it down I heard her say, "Oh, you must really like liver. Here have another piece."

6. I am a published writer although I haven't written much in years.

7. My wife of twenty-six years is my best friend in the whole world.

8. I have a Harley Davidson FLHTPI. Of course, it's a retired police bike. I belong to the Blue Knights Tennessee III Chapter in Knoxville.

9. My favorite form of relaxation is to sit in Smoky's (my local B & M) and enjoy a pipe while listening to the guys talk. ipe:

10. Despite what I do for a living, I'm pretty much an introvert.

 

[Trout Bum]

What a great thread! Thanks to everyone who shared.

Alright, 10 things about me:

1. I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. And believe me, it was wild and wooly. I am a 4th generation Alaskan, and, since it has only been a state since 1959, that is very rare. My mother's side of the family is from Alaska, my father's from Colorado, where I live now. (You just can't beat 300 days of sun a year!)

2. I am told that I am an exceptional cook. I worked in kitchens while ski bumming, while in college and just after, from steak houses to a four star hotel on the National Historic Registry (it was the Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado -- they filmed the Shining there...). I rarely use a recipe or a measuring device of any sort -- unless baking, which I could be better at. I especially like cooking Italian, but also can cook any type of seafood, bbq, love to make homemade soups, Chinese food, and of course Mexican (my green chile is flippin' killer, IMHO...).

4. I have skied naked in a snowstorm, fly fished naked with a dry fly and caught a 16 inch rainbow, rock climbed naked all except for a chalk bag and climbing shoes, and have recently cooked an elaborate breakfast in the buff.

5. I have launched a 50 foot cliff, on 210 cm skis, in a raging snowstorm, while tripping on high grade LSD, and stuck the landing. (not naked)

6. I have, at one time or another, mostly in my younger days, lived out of my car, in a tent, on a boat, in a treehouse, in an old abandoned cabin, in a simple hut in the jungle, and out of a backpack. Looking back, those were some of the best times in my life.

7. I backpacked, solo, for six months, starting on the Yucatan Peninsula, through Belize, Guatemala, and finally Honduras. I did this just after I graduated from college. I explored many remote Mayan temples and ruins, studied Spanish, got to know myself in a way one only can when traveling solo in foreign countries, became a PADI certified scuba diver, swam with sharks, smoked the most amazing joint ever -- a three footer rolled by a British guy in the middle of a Guatemalan cafe, and met many remarkable people from all over the world. An incredible trip, on so many different levels.

8. In Alaska, I have: commercial fished in Cook Inlet and Bristol Bay, been a certified National Weather Observer and lived in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (Alaska grade "Middle of Nowhere," if you know what I mean), worked in a cannery one summer, bungie jumped illegally off the highest bridge in the state, recently completed a Master's degree in Education, was lucky enough to have fly fished many very remote streams only because my buddies were bush pilots, have had many bear encounters, have mushed a dog team on the historic Iditarod Trail (not the actual race, but just for fun), and eaten more fresh salmon, halibut, crab, clams, scallops, and moose than you could shake a stick at.

9. I am empathic, highly intuitive, and can "read" most people quickly and easily.

10. I believe in the power of a positive mental attitude, I believe in a loving God, I believe in smiling and nodding at other people passing by for no reason what so ever. I stretch every morning.

 

[Centurian 803]

Hey Trout Bum. I am impressed. You sound like the kind of guy who'ld be fun to hang around with. But remind me to skip breakfast!

 

[Anonymous]

...swam with sharks, ...

I thought this would be followed by "naked" :lol!:
Now THAT could be dangerous!

 

[HistoryMajor]

4. I have skied naked in a snowstorm, fly fished naked with a dry fly and caught a 16 inch rainbow, rock climbed naked all except for a chalk bag and climbing shoes, and have recently cooked an elaborate breakfast in the buff.

Sir, my hat comes off to you!

 

[pipeclubsi]

1. From Slovenia, the country no one knows. A great celebrity hideout.
2. Always watched too much TV, but learned a lot from it.
3. Totally love music and collect stuff from around the world, from ethno to metal. People don't understand how I put on CD 20 different genres at the same time, but I don't see the problem if all the music is good to my ears.
4. A bit of a nonconformist, slightly antisocial, withdrawn, but friendly and honest.
5. Addicted to chocolate, 100 g per day min. Never touched real drugs in my life, and never will.
6. Love movies, but can't stand most of today's idiotic production suited for small children and mentally retarded.
7. Don't like sports, to do, to watch, anything to do with sports. BBQ is a closest thing to sports I do.
8. I believe locking up aggressive and lying politicians, religious leaders and journalists would bring peace to Earth (bar fights would stay).
9. Love classic elegance, when women looked like women and men looked like men.
10. Always drive a VW, used to have a Karmann Ghia.

 

[Number 6]

Trout Bum- In the (paraphrased) words of Bill Murray, "I want to party with this guy!"

 

[Number 6]

Pipeclubsi- IRC (Iwan Reiss and Co.) tobacco is pretty common, but I don't know how available it is where you are.

 

[pipeclubsi]

It wasn't IRC, but something with G or C, perhaps also T... It was in 1995, so I really can't recall. It could be an Eastern European mark, not known to us. But it smelled so fine.

I have one more man to ask about his tobacco. I pass him on my way to work, his tobacco smells nice as well. A bit dense aromatic thing, but very nice. He is an old, blind, bearded man, sitting outside a bar (smoking ban in force here) and drinking cold beer at -10ÿC (14ÿF). His son is a known concert promoter and I worked with him a few times.