Day 8: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Me (Darthregis)
As you’re probably all well aware, I have a pretty crappy memory for most things (yet some things I remember vividly). Anyway, I may put something up here that you may already know or that I’ve mentioned before.
1) Alright, I already made mention of this in my previous post. In particular, the Wintersleep video. They’re from my hometown, which is Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I don’t live there any more and haven’t for about 10 years. They say, “Home is where the heart is,” and Halifax is definitely home.
2) I was in the Canadian military for four years. I left in March, 2001 to prepare for moving to Western Canada. No, I didn’t get called back after the 9/11 attacks and no, I didn’t go over to Afghanistan. I’ve had a few of my old cronies and friends go, and I’ve had at least one that didn’t make it back. Oddly enough, during Basic Training (aka: Boot Camp), Bryce and I often got mistaken for one another by our instructors – even if we don’t really look alike, at all. He was also an engineering student as I was at the time, so I couldn’t help but think that some change in my circumstances could have put me in a similar situation.
3) As stated above, I’m an engineer. And not a very good one. I’ve forgotten mostly everything I learned at school as I found myself in a job that didn’t really require those skills. With that said, I think the engineering background has made me good at my job.
4) I lived in Germany for 3 years. My father was in the military as well and got posted there. They had facilities for families and civilian contractors as well, so I went to an English school, shopped mostly at Canadian stores, etc. We, of course, had access to German facilities as well. We also traveled throughout a good portion of Europe, with France a mere 30 minutes away and Switzerland two hours away. Notable places I visited: Berlin, Munich, Paris, D-Day beaches, Zurich, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Vienna, London, Edinburgh. I only wish I was older when I lived there, so I could a) appreciate the history and culture more, b) appreciate the beer more.
5) While living in Germany, I was on a swim team. And I managed to make it to the yearly European Forces Swim League championship, which was held at the Olympic pool in Munich. I was back-up for the medley relay team and sadly, I never got to swim. I regret that.
6) Another Germany story! About a month or so after moving there, while horsing around, I managed to break my left arm. It looked something like this:
I was supposed to be in a full-arm cast for four weeks and then a forearm cast for two weeks. The bone didn’t set properly in the first four weeks, so they re-broke my arm and I had to do the whole thing over. Ten weeks in a cast, baby!
7) I made a feeble attempt to be a DJ at my University radio station. You had to put in a bit of volunteer time while learning the equipment and such. That fizzled out and turned into a couple of 2am – 8am shows with friends (Brokentree and Pach’s husband partook in that as well). I was also a guest on a couple of afternoon shows with some other friends from my old high school and was also supposed to be part of a pre-recorded sketch series. That also fell apart.
8) I love golf. And playing golf. I need new clubs. I also need to play more often to get better. I just don’t make the time, nor do I find that many people wanting or willing to golf with me. Maybe I’m just not asking the right people. I don’t know. But it’s fun to get out and ruin a nice walk every now and then.
9) A few years back I was friends with the developers of The Silver Lining, a Kings Quest based independent game. I spent a lot of time on their forums, etc. But the game took forever to get released. I didn’t really get fed up waiting, I just stopped using forums a lot less. If you ever liked the [Whatever] Quest adventure games, I recommend you download this one. There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in this one. And lots of heart, too.
10) I was Best Man at Pacheco‘s and [Enhancement Shaman]’s wedding. [ES] and I have been good friends for awhile and I must say that it’s been one of the greatest honours of my life to be a part of it.
Also, Best Man Pro-Tip: Don’t write your speech at 4am the day of the wedding while completely drunk out of your mind.
For Pach and her hubby!