1. Where was I 10 years ago?

10 years ago, I was just forced out of the Guard in February.  I started a new job a new job at First Dakota National Bank in Yankton, SD.  This is my first real IT job, and it forced me to wear suits every day to work — no matter if I was working under someone’s desk or in a meeting.  It was not necessarily the best working uniform for an IT professional.  I was also mid way through adding all the weight as I was about 300 pounds by this time.

2. What was on my to-do list today?

My to-do list for today was church, have lunch with my visiting parents, find and buy my HS daughter’s homecoming dress.  Nothing says excitement as dress shopping on a strict budget.  Finally, I had hoped to do a Youtube video on marathon tapering.

3. What would I do if I were a billionaire?

If I was a billionaire, I would get abdominoplasty to correct the remaining loose skin.  I am not really that vain, but billion(?!?!) dollars that would be a pittance.  I would also get a gym membership with pool access and new bike that way I could perhaps get into doing triathlons.  Other than that, I don’t have many more plans as I dream low — sure a boat and a jet ski would be fun, but what would I do with the other $999,900,000.   The church and other local charities would definitely get a large part, including my alma mater Dordt College for scholarships.

4. Five places I’ve lived

• Sioux Center, IA (’72-94)
• Vermillion, SD (’94-’99)
• Fort Dodge, IA (’99)
• Badger, IA (’00-’03)
• West Des Moines (’03-04)
• Polk City, IA – I know this is 6, but I wanted to be thorough.   Note: I skipped all the places I lived with the National Guard like Ft. McCoy where I lived for nearly 2 months in ’06.
  

5. Bad Habits

Too numerous to count, but as for those I would discuss here, here are a few:

• Over self-justification – I think I always have to be right — especially in terms of networking and IT knowledge.  I am working on it.
• Self-centeredness – Although I try to live a life of service to others, I fall way short from time to time.
• Over-estimation or volunteer for things I know I do not have time to do — as one who hates to say no or “I can’t do that,” I often end up offering services where a forethinking or sane person would beg off since someone else would could do a much better job than I.
• Lack of clear list of things to do most days — most days I drive really hard to accomplish the easy fruit off my list, so I can drive on to the next one.  Maintaining that list though is often very much the last thing I want to do, so work is often who has talked to me recently.  Long term projects I have to really work at to maintain the wave of consistent work to goal.