I’ve been Tagged by gentle reader for the eight things about me meme. The rules are as follows:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I have not written much about my life on this blog, so I think these will all be new items.

1. My brother is my Uncle- not really, and it sounds weird and almost illegal, but- I met my brother’s niece (by marriage) so after we got married her uncle became her brother-in-law, so my brother kind of became my uncle and no, there is no blood relationship and it is legal in all 50 states so you can all lower your eyebrows.
2. I was using the Internet before there was a World-Wide-Web. I started with a Commodore 64 and a 300-baud modem and once dialed in the only access was via telnet or ftp to Unix servers.
3. About 5 years ago I couldn’t jog to the end of the driveway, but January 1st of that year I did, and then went a little farther the next day, and farther the next, and in October of that year I ran in the Twin Cities marathon. Over the next couple of years I finished 2 more marathons. I then gave it up since the training is so time consuming, especially for us slower runners.
4. I’ve always been interested in the world and everything around me, from the skies to the backyard. I get hooked on something and read everything that I can about it. I can look at the sky and name many stars, and drive down the road and know what each of the trees and flowers are that I pass. I usually get bored after a certain point and move on to something else.
5. Since I got out of high school I regretted not learning to play the piano. Early last year I finally decided to start lessons and I have really been enjoying it. I have no plans to ever entertain anyone other than myself. Note- It is never too late to learn something new.
6. I’ve worked in Information Technology most of my life, for the days of punch cards and a mainframe that filled a room half the size of a football field, to this day when my laptop has more power than that room sized mainframe.
7. In a couple of weeks, I will have been married for 31 years.
8. Like most, I enjoy traveling. I went through a time when I didn’t like the lengthy car trips and preferred to fly if possible, but have since learned to enjoy seeing the country from the road.

Seems like most have already done this, so I’m on a quest to find those who haven’t so that I can tag them. I have enjoyed reading everyone else’s lists.