Going To California

Had a good weekend. Delicious dinner Saturday night with friends and Brendan finally got back from his 6 weeks on Sea Term. Glad hes back and hopefully we can get a snowboard trip in before winter ends. This week i will be in Redding, CA for business. Its about 2 hours south of Oregon so not sure what to expect. Not looking forward to this 6 hour flight!

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25 Random Things About Me (just couldn’t resist)

After reading everyone else’s “Random 25 Things About Me”, I started thinking of things that I would put down on a such a survey, and now I cannot resist.  As much as I hate these stupid “chain surveys”, this one is completely under my control and I don’t need to answer stupid questions like “have you ever eaten an entire box of Oreos?”

So here goes!

1. My name is Joseph Leonard.  My paternal grandfathers name is Leonard Joseph. My maternal grandfathers name was Joseph Andrew . Everyone wins!
2. I am 50% Irish and 50% Czech.  Ireland and the Czech republic are the #3 and #5 top alcohol consuming countries in the world (respectively).  This is a bad combination.
3. I sucked my thumb from the time I was born until roughly the age of 7.
4. When my mom was pregnant with my younger brother Brendan, I insisted that my parents name the baby “Laura”.  I don’t see why gender should matter.
5. If you are ever lucky enough to see an old home video of me as a child, you will only be able to pick up about half of what I said. Most of the time I spoke at such high frequencies that only dogs could hear.
6. I do not like chocolate. I never have. I am strange. Get over it.
7. I got sent to the principals office every single year from 3rd grade until my senior year of high school.  I was homeschooled K - 2nd so when the “principal” came home from work I would receive spankings that normal schools cannot administer.
8. I have the hairline of a 40 year old and the facial hair of a 14 year old. Neither of which are attractive to girls in their 20’s.
9. All of my friends know that I am somewhat of a geek. So when I graduated college, I took a job at a software company teaching people how to use our financial software. Take that world!
10. I taught myself how to play guitar probably around 7 years ago. I don’t practice enough to get really good but its one of my favorite things to do to relax.
11. I find most music on the radio today to be unoriginal and boring. I mostly listen to classic rock and oldies stuff.
12. One of my biggest weaknesses is procrastination.  If I am unsure about something, I will put it off hoping it will go away.
13. I am seriously researching buying a condo or small home in the next 2 years. I hate throwing away money in rent every month.
14. I am very OCD about my computer. I always empty my Recycling Bin, leave about 5 shortcuts on my desktop, and my digital music collection is perfectly ordered.
15. I have never seen any of the Godfather movies.
16. My favorite comedy movie has to be Dumb and Dumber. On any given day you have several opportunities to quote fitting lines from this movie.
17. I have been to 25 states. I don’t count airports.
18. All three cars I have owned have been standard transmission (and have all had moon roofs).
19. My summer job for about 7 years was landscaping. Every summer I miss doing that kind of work and hate being indoors – not so much during the winter months.
20. My senior year of college I went on two disaster relief trips. The first was to Jean Lafitte, Louisiana with a Quaker relief organization (no I’m not a Quaker). The second was to Birmingham, Alabama with Habitat for Humanity.
21. Because I often talk too much or without thinking, I try to live by Abraham Lincoln’s words: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”  I follow this about 10% of the time.
22. I love little kids and I really look forward to being a dad some day. Just not yet…
23. I crack my knuckles several times a day without realizing it – its only when people complain about it that I notice. Oh and I can crack my back too – sounds pretty gross.
24. I can do the best Gollum impression of anyone you know.  I usually start doing it after I watch Lord of the Rings, but don’t ask me to just do it on the spot.
25. After trying the “glasses look” for 2 1/2 years, I am getting contacts today.

I’ll probably keep thinking of things I should’ve added for the next week.