The game of 'Tag' in the 21st Century
OK, apparently there's this meme thing going around where people are tagging one another to find out five things that most readers wouldn't know about the blogger. I think it's a pretty cool idea and now that I've been tagged by three people (Andrew Connell, Chris Kinsman, and Alan Griver--thanks guys!), I guess it's time for my five things. Since I constantly mention my sports fanaticism and my "holy trinity" of the Baltimore Orioles, Tennessee Titans, and Georgetown Hoyas, I'll leave that one out (though learning about Andrew's love of the Jags makes me think there's a trip to Jacksonville I'll need to take to catch a Titan-Jaguar matchup). I'll take a crack at stuff that is probably less likely to be obvious about me...
- Sold Software at 11 Years Old - I wrote games for the Tandy computers that were at our middle school and sold them to fellow classmates. Some were simple (like Russian Roulette) and others were pretty impressive IMHO (like Kaboom). Eventually, I moved on the Commodore 64 and I called the "company" Eggbertvision. I spent half my time writing code and the other half typing up price lists. We never went public, but I made more profit than a lot of dot-coms that did.
- Believer In Fate - My wife and I lived less than a mile from each other in New Jersey until I was 8 and she was 6, but we never met until 20 years later and 3000 miles away. Even then, after we met at a party, I didn't get her number and had to track her down on the internet and send her an e-mail. It was 1998 and I was way ahead of my time (both the tracking down and using e-mail--though truth be known, I also found her phone number and was just being a wimp).
- No Shortage of Sheepskin - I've mentioned in this blog that I have an MBA, but only a few people know I have four advanced degrees. I have a BA in Physics from Ithaca College, a BS and M.Eng in Electrical Engineering from Cornell, and an MBA from Wharton. It's no wonder I didn't pay off educational loans until a couple of years ago. Of course, my father is a PhD and my brother is an MD, so I still get flack for not being "Dr. Khaund". I guess I still have a degree to go.
- I Found Nirvana - I've always said that the album Nevermind changed my life. On the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, I ducked out of work early, drove to where he used to live, and walked the grounds with a bunch of the other mourners. It may have looked weird that they were all dressed in black while I was wearing a J.Crew sweater and (as I later realized) a Microsoft badge, but it was a pretty memorable experience.
- The Indian Nuke Laloosh - I have a wicked fastball that was once clocked as high as 87 MPH (the same velocity as Barry Zito, the $126 million man). Of course, the reason I haven't even made $126 from playing baseball is that I often go through bouts of control issues that evoke memories of Rick Ankiel. That experience includes a tryout with the Chicago White Sox when I was 19 that started great, but went awry (buy me a beer and I will tell you a story).
I guess it's my turn to tag people. Yag actually already pinged Doug & Bob, whose entries I'd love to see. It amazes me that no one has tagged Korby Parnell or Josh Ledgard, unless I didn't see where they posted it or they are just ignoring their requests--in which case, I will continue the campaign. While we're at it, I'd love to see what Jim Newkirk has to say (though I don't know if he'll bite) and we need to get Scott Densmore blogging again. To make sure we sneak a non-Microsoft person in here, let's see if Keith Pleas would take the time to share some insight.
