Tagged (7 things about me)

Chris Bradford at Austin Contrarian tagged me back in December. It hasn’t fallen off my radar, and I’ve been meaning to get to it this whole time. I’m supposed to tell seven things about myself and tag seven other blogs to do the same.  (I probably won’t tag others.  Is that lame?)  It seems like a good opportunity to break from the usual seriousness of the blog…

1. Speaking of Texas, I’ve only been there once – the 2005 World Series in Houston. I had some great BBQ, but the friendly Houstonians were as memorable as the game. Many saw me with my jersey, smiled, and said, "welcome to Houston" when I was expecting, "go back to Chicago…" I now try to extend the same hospitality to visitors I see on the street – except Packers fans. (Sorry, I just can’t.  Someone wearing a Packers jersey could save my life, and I’d still probably cling to that rivalry.  Goes back to my two years of being a F.I.B. in Milwaukee…)

2.  In my past life, I was a structural engineer.  I worked for mostly public clients, none of whom impressed me at all.  This heightened my distaste for bureaucrats.  Rather than refocusing on private clients, I went back to school to study real estate development.  Studying economics in preparation for masters-level business classes opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the world.  This exploration continues here….

3.  My first job was at Little Caeser’s Pizza.  It was fun for awhile back in my high school days.  I honestly don’t have any stories of disgusting things we did to people’s food.  But, I will say the tuna salad for sandwiches was not always fresh, and the quality of the ingredients decreased quickly while I worked there – especially the sausage and “butter” spread for Crazy Bread.

 4.  I love food.  Just about any kind of food, especially spicy food.  My favorite culinary ethnicities are Mexican and Thai, although I haven’t yet been impressed by any such restaurants in New York.  I’ve had some good food in New York, but I really miss Chicago style hot-dogs, Italian beefs, and pizza (deep and thin).  You really can’t find that stuff anywhere outside of Chicago.

5.  I am color blind. So, if something on this site looks weird to you, it’s probably because it looks normal to me. Let me know – I’ll fix it for all you normal-sighted folks.  I usually don’t mind the disability – in fact, I enjoy having something somewhat distinct about me to befuddle my friends.  It also gives me the excuse to strike up conversations with strangers.  “Excuse me, what color is that stop light?”  (I see “2” in that group of dots, but they say normal people see “5”.)

6.  My first child, a son, is due March 9, 2009, which may effect the frequency of posts for a bit.

7.  I blog under “psuedo-anonymity” to prevent the false perception of conflicts of interest regarding my current development projects, which may make things at work more complicated.  Although, readers who have emailed me directly know my full name, and those who friended me on facebook know even more about me. (if you friend me, just put in the note that you’re a reader so I know it’s not spam)

Any questions?