Things You Don't Know About Me.

My friend Anna tagged me to play along in a "blogging game" (for lack of better terms) in which I'm supposed to share some bits of information about myself that might otherwise go unnoticed.

As I'm a bit unclear as to precisely how many things I'm supposed to list here for the amusement of my readers (all 3 of you), I'm just going to go for it and stop where I find an appropriate place. As per my norm, I'm procrastinating on a development assignment and I've got some good tunes on Winamp anyway.

What the heck. Here we go.

1) I'm a fan of the blues, bluegrass and country music, plus I know the words to almost all of Jimmy Buffett's songs. I don't particularly enjoy rap, hip hop or R&B.

Ok. So my music tastes probably won't shock anyone, but the fact that I've been known to sing along with Jimmy from time to time may be surprising. It doesn't even take a Margarita to get me started.

2) I tend to take on too much, and feel I'm rushing through life.

Who doesn't feel that way?

3) I consider myself to be one of the most open-minded people I know when it comes to culinary decisions.

I've eaten the Goober Burger. 'Nuf said.

4) In college, I was (and am) a member of Phi Delta Theta.

I consider it one of the better decisions I made during my course of study down in Georgia. I met some great folks, had plenty of fun and developed leadership skills that I use today. I also credit Phi Delt with getting me through undergraduate amid some pretty turbulent times in my personal life which made me want to quit school desperately.

5) I've broken my left arm in 4 places, my right elbow and the big toe of my right foot.

Ok. The left arm was broken at the age of 13 while riding downhill on a bike and doing something pretty stupid. (I was standing up, hands off the handle bars and doing about 25mph when I hit the pothole). My right elbow was broken while playing basketball -- a friend jumped on my back and another onto her back. I couldn't carry all three of us and came down pretty hard. The big toe was also a basketball accident on a separate day -- another friend came down on me.

6) I don't enjoy basketball.

Do you have to ask why? Every time I play, I wind up injured.

7) Discounting the 4.5 years of undergraduate study in Georgia, I've lived in Richmond for almost all of my life.

I was born in Asheville, NC, and lived there until the end of 1st grade. I remember when there were only two Allen's in "Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen" law firm, and when the bag delivery kids at Ukrops accepted tips.

8) I first kissed a girl at the age of 7.

True story. I'm not sure why I did it, but I did.

9) I drive a pickup truck. Never in my life do I want to own or drive a van of any sort. Death is preferable.

People carriers are for soccer Moms, delivery men and parents who carry far too much kid junk around. I mean, the kid can make do without the stroller, special diaper bag and awkwardly sized toys, just like children have made do with far less for thousands of years.

10) I really enjoy gardening and I made my own tomato sauce last year.

Ok, so making the sauce had more to do with who was with me at the time as it was a chance to do something fun with her. The garden part has always been a hobby of mine; in fact, high school aptitude testing showed that I was supposed to be a farmer of some sort -- programming came second.

11) I plan to shave my head rather than have that ridiculous bald white guy ring of hair around back of my head.

That day isn't quite here, but I know its coming. I'm not taking pills and I will not use the creams for hair loss, and I will go down gracefully. I'm not going to fight it.

12) I don't have that many friends who blog.

Circuit City Officially Being Liquidated?

Given the nature of earlier reporting on the subject, I suppose there is a chance that the news circulating about Circuit City's demise could, in fact, be incorrect; however, also given that the sources for the more recent reports, it officially appears that Circuit City is to be liquidated.

• http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/16/news/companies/circuit_city/
• http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE50F1VW20090116
• http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irmWZmMlki7isG4T9NmoHzSlAMJwD95OB3BG6

Without a doubt, this is definitely a sad day for the 35,000 employees of Circuit City, all of whom will be out of work as soon as the liquidation process is completed.

Circuit City Story Withdrawn

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has pulled their original story as pure speculation, which indicated that Circuit City was to be broken up and sold in pieces . Unfortunately, this is not how the information was originally presented, but it appears that -- for now -- my original post was incorrect.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/CIRCGAT15A_20090115-130809/179162/

Richmond.com was also pulled into the blunder as they, too, have created a post on the subject. So I guess the moral of the story is to treat RTD stories like Microsoft Service Packs -- only be an early adopter at your own peril.

Circuit City to be broken up and sold in pieces.

A Richmond Times-Dispatch article published only a few minutes ago delivers news of a severe blow to the Richmond economy: "Circuit City to be broken up."

Obviously, this crushing news impacts the lives of thousands of workers in Circuit City retail stores, and I feel terrible for the hundreds of workers in the corporate offices in Richmond as well. Hopefully many have already left, or will quickly find work once they do.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/CIRCGAT15_20090115-122410/179100/

As a consumer, I'm also quite concerned at what will become a much smaller market in consumer electronics with the exit of Circuit City. Those who have read my blog for a while are familiar with my opinions on Best Buy, and allowing their status as the only electronics retailer in many markets will only compound the service issues previously noted.

This is certainly a bad to be a consumer of electronics, and its definitely a bad day to be a Circuit City employee.

Interesting, New Experience... Blueberry Cobbler Cheddar.

Photographic Proof for the Existence of a Culinary Bigfoot

Earlier this afternoon, I made a run at the grocery store to acquire additional caffeine to fuel my dependency, but also some napkins for my contribution to the office birthday party for my boss. While there, I happened to notice a rather peculiar and intriguing form of Cheddar cheese that I have never before encountered or even considered.

In this particular instance, I wonder who it was that devised then concocted this potpourri of aged milk and cobbler of wild blueberries.

Having sampled this Frankenstein's monster of cheeses, I have to say that its not a foul creation, though certainly unusual. In that respect, the sugary sweet of the blueberry cobbler flavoring dovetails into the mild cheddar flavors nicely, and neither overpowers. This is more than a standard cheddar, of course, but the addition makes this is a great cheese to be eaten with a small glass of desert wine.

Anyway, I don't know that I would go out of my way to purchase this product in the future, but its worth trying once.