Tagged - Getting to Know Me

Now I've been tagged by the GEEKGRL I suppose because I made the comment that the bloggers of the female persuasion sure seem to like this tagging stuff. It seems like GEEKGRL has been tagged a zillion times over the past year about a zillion different topics and it has almost always been by the ladies out there. The dudes, on the other hand, not so much tagging action but every so often one breaks through the gender barrier and is let loose on the blogosphere and so here goes…

Jobs I’ve Held
High school years (actually beginning in Jr. High – I got an early start):
Never held a "real" job prior to graduating H.S. but worked a lot as a general labor grunt due to my size. Jobs included –
Moving lots of boxes and furniture
Bucking hay (lifting 75 pound bails of hay and throwing them up onto the bed of a trailer)
Walking beans (trudging through bean fields cutting weeds with a machete)
Clearing irrigation and drainage ditches of trash and weeds using a yo-yo (metal blade on the end of a wooden handle)
Mowing lawns, trimming trees and shrubs and hauling yard waste
Roofing with wood shakes (and working for cash under the table along with adults who were transients and drunks)
Clean up at an oil rig supply and service company
Clearing weesatch and mesquite trees using an axe
Hand digging trenches for lawn watering systems
And I almost forgot – hanging drapes and curtains

Pre-college:
Unites States Marine Corps – Mechanized Infantry (0313)

During College:
Psychiatric Technician (during undergrad)
College instructor for undergraduate courses (during grad school) – Stress Management, Introductory Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Theories of Personality and Psychotherapy

After College:
Director, Psychosocial Rehabilitation (basically I'm a VA psychologist who works with vets who are homeless and unemployed. I run programs whose focus is to get them housed and employed and we also try and address the myriad of disasters they have experienced that has left them homeless and unemployed. I guess you could say I'm not so much the kind of psychologist that lives by the motto "I'm ok, you're ok" but more the motto "get a job"…ok, but maybe with a little more sensitivity.)

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over
Glory
Cold Mountain
Lonesome Dove
Unforgiven
1492
Tombstone
Saving Private Ryan
Thin Red Line

I'm basically a huge fan of westerns, war movies and movies portraying historical events. If you can combine a war in the west that is historically accurate you have me for sure.

My Guilty Pleasures
Now I can't say that in public!
For the most part guilt is not a useful emotion, you do things that you should and don't do things you shouldn't. Everything that falls between you try your best and if it goes well, great…if it goes poorly, lesson learned…accept responsibility and move on to the next adventure.

Places I Have Lived (in order)
Vermillion, SD
Yankton, SD
Texas City, TX
Galveston, TX
Victoria, TX
San Antonio, TX
Wichita Falls, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Atascosa, TX
Stonington, CT
Albuquerque, NM (again)
San Diego, CA (boot camp)
Camp Pendleton, CA (infantry training school)
29 Palms, CA (first duty station)
Okinawa, Japan (second duty station)
Camp Pendleton, CA (final duty station)
Albuquerque, NM (again)
Rio Rancho, NM
Vermillion, SD
Dallas, TX
Rio Rancho, NM (again)

Shows I Enjoy
CSI
The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
(I actually hate TV and wish there were none in my home but the GEEKGRL is a TV addict so I compromise)

Places I Have Been on Vacation
As a kid: Who knows, LOTS of camping trips…oh, once to Big Bend National Park, Lincoln National Forest several to South Dakota to visit family (and accrue many of my hours as a farm laborer), Family lake cottage in Minnesota (Lake Carlos) Nashville, TN to visit family friends

As an adult: Portland, Or Arizona (all over!)Most of the National Parks in the southwestern US, including: Grand Canyon, Meteor crater, Petrified Forest, Death Valley, Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake, Volcanic National Parkland: Redwood National Forest, Sequoia National Forest, Climbed Mt. Taylor and Wheeler Peak Lots of backpacking in the mountains in New Mexico and a couple in Colorado with the GEEKGRL

Favorite Foods
Food…period, but if I have to be somewhat specific, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Mongolian, New Mexican (yes we have our own cuisine mostly centered around the Hatch Green Chili)

Websites I Visit Daily
All kinds of Blogiddy Blogs
New Mexico Outlaws message board
Beginner Triathlete (my training logs)
Yahoo Mail

Awards I’ve Won
In general…as an adult, I had tons of little things for various activities as a kid:
American Psychological Association Division 18 Early Career Achievement Award
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
Golden Key National Honor Society
Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honor Society
Letters of Recognition: National Red Cross and Governor of South Dakota
Distinguished University Graduate, Summa Cum Laude, University of New Mexico
Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Academic Performance, Summa Cum Laude, University of New Mexico, General Honors Program
University of New Mexico General Honors Program Freshman Stipend for Outstanding Academic Achievement
Dean’s List every year I was in college

Sports...
U.S. Marine Corps National Rugby Team - 1988
South West Challenge Series (Tri & Du series) 3rd place Clydesdale – 2005
South West Challenge Series (Tri & Du series) Clydesdale Champion – 2006
South West Challenge Series (Tri & Du series) Clydesdale Champion – 2007
3rd place Clydesdale Oklahoma City RedMan iron distance – 2006
2nd place half-iron Aqua Bike at Buffalo Springs - 2006
1st place Masters Clyde Buffalo Springs 70.3 – 2007
2nd place age group male 40 – 44 Mountain Man 70.3 – 2007
20 + 1st place finishes at regional triathlons and duathlons (past 3 years)
10+ 2nd and 3rd place finishes at regional triathlons and duathlons (past 3 years)

Body Parts I Have Injured
Seriously? (I'll exclude injuries and just go for broken bones and openings that required stitches)
Broken 5th metatarsal left foot
Broken 3rd metatarsal right foot
Stitches to close gash in bottom of right foot
Osgood Slaughters left knee
Fractured right femur
Double fracture right hip
Cracked ribs twice on right side
Broken 5th metacarpal right hand
Broken thumb joint right hand
Broken each finger twice and I think it was my right ring finger and left index finger and pinkie that have been broken 3 times
Stitches to close left index finger
Stitches to close left wrist (no it wasn't a suicide attempt)
Broken left forearm (not sure which bone) twice
Broken right forearm (not sure which bone) once
Stitches to close axe wound in back
Stitches to close lower lip right side
Stitches to close upper lip left side
Stitches to close cut on top of head, only once I believe

And, no…these were not the result of one or two major car accidents or anything, they are all individual injuries I've had over the years. I've always kind of been a full contact kind of guy.

Nicknames You’ve Been Called
Zipper – reference my injury list…my dad called me this when I was a kid because "you were always being opened and closed"
Grizz, Bum, Pigman, Myles, Sweet Baboo.

Whew!
Hopefully now the Bigun can feel better about me as a nemesis because while a little paranoia can be good I wouldn't want him to become crippled by it.

Who to tag? Honestly I've fallen down on my blog reading these past couple weeks so I can't say that I know who has and has not been tagged but it seems like NUMEROUS people have been.

I'm re-tagging Bigun because he has remained stubbornly silent after having been tagged…so I'm saying this one don't count it's a reminder.

Johnny Tri

Spokane Al

Sea Monster

Run Bubba Run

Eminently Biological

Geeze, 5 isn't very many…so many bloggers, so much curiosity.