The Randy Man Can

Quote of the day: The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

So, you’ve seen it all over the social-network scene.  I figured it would make a good post to my blog instead.  I present to you 25 random things about me:

1. My online name acey049 dates back to the day of a local dial-up chat board called Windward Pass based in Niceville, FL.  My username there started as Ace, and I was account number 049.  The ladies added the “y” because it sounded cute and it stuck ever since.
2. I have never broken a bone in my body.  Great, I just jinxed myself.
3. Thanks to my graphics design class, and my teacher Mr. Pinter, I sandblasted an eagle on one of the two main entrance doors at Niceville High School about 14 years ago and they are STILL there.  OMG… I feel old.  I also helped sandblast a falcon on a door at the school near Eglin AFB’s east gate – the name escapes me.  Unfortunately, I never blasted my name or initials with it to “prove it”.
4. I am a licensed ham radio operator.  My call-sign is KI4WRZ.
5. I am a self-taught web developer, but I still have tons to learn.  It’s just so hard to keep up with the latest technologies/languages/frameworks when it’s not your full-time job.  I have developed all of our intranet applications at work from scratch, one of which caught the eye of one of our vendors.  I have built a system similar to one of ours for them, customized for their needs.  They have been my BETA tester for the past 6 months or so and they absolutely love it.  This vendor is part of a nationwide company, and we’re looking to sell this as a hosted solution to their 640+ stores.  I will defecate a brick if/when this thing takes off like wildfire.
6. I am a self-taught guitar player.  With the power of the internet, and particularly YouTube, I have been able to teach myself how to play guitar.  I’m not super great at it (yet) or anything, but I did play in the church band when I lived in West Virginia for 6 months.  I look up to Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz.
7. I am a self-taught piano player.
8. I played trumpet in 6th grade and was really good at it.  It’s what taught me how to read music and aided me in teaching myself how to play piano.
9. I am a mobile dj.  I have been the dj at many school events (proms, homecomings, Halloween dances, project graduations), Halloween parties, company Christmas Parties, birthday parties (yeah, even a sweet 16), and weddings.  I was even the dj at my own prom, homecoming and project graduation @ Big Kahunas (Niceville High School Class of 1996 baby!).
10. Speaking of dj’ing.  I was once the DJ AND best-man at a friends wedding!
11. I’m an amateur photographer with a Nikon D40 dSLR and a Canon SD1000 P&S who is eager and willing to learn all that I can about this craft.  I love taking pictures and working within Photoshop.  I was so happy to get my first dSLR last summer just before our trip to Alaska where I proceeded to take approximately 1200 pictures in less than a week!
12. I’m also a videographer.  I’ve been doing this for quite a long time and also love doing it.  I used to work in audio/visual at Sandestin Resort and it was one of the best parts of the job.  Now, I’m a camera operator at Shoreline Church, and I’m also working with Angela Angelovic with Life In Motion Films.
13. I have a brother from another mother, and a brother from another father.  So, I guess two half-brothers equals one whole brother.  My sister and I are the only ones with the same mother & father.
14. I tend to research the crap out of things before making a purchase.  It often drives my wife crazy, but hey, I’m making an informed decision that could save me from a headache later on.
15. I am a super fast typer.  If seated in the proper position, and working with a GOOD keyboard, I can easily hit 100wpm+.  Yes.  Really.
16. Speaking of typing, in high school I was part of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).  I placed 3rd in “word processing” in a regional competition held in Pensacola.  Hello… geek alert!
17. I am an ex-military brat.  I have lived in Hawaii, California, South Dakota, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina and Florida – not in that order.
18. Our family spent 5 days driving from California to Florida when my stepfather retired from the USAF back in July 1993.  Imagine, 2 parents, 3 kids, a station wagon…  us kids fighting, the rain, the long drives, the radiator burning up..  ahh, what an adventure.
19. I was the website designer (aka webmaster) for Mix 103 in the late 90′s.  There is no trace of my work there anymore as they have changed webhosts and webmasters several times.
20. I have been on 2 cruises.  One to the Bahamas with some friends, and one to Cozumel, Mexico with my wife for our 3rd wedding anniversary.  They are friggin’ fantastic, and I cannot wait to go on another one.  We are actually looking to go on a 7 day cruise next January with a group of friends on a brand-spankin’ new ship.
21. Remember ZipZaps from RadioShack?  When they first came out (early 2000′s), they were HOT!  Like one of those must-have Christmas items at the time.  I was able to secure several of them from the RadioShack in Destin, and I sold them on eBay making a rather decent profit for myself.
22. I was once a pretty dang good skater – on good ol regular roller skates.  We had an outdoor skating rink ON BASE in Hawaii, and every night they were open they would reserve a block of time for “speed skaters”.  Yeah, I was out there.  While I was really good on regular skates, I suck on rollerblades, but that’s probably because I didn’t try them until I was much older… and heavier.  Excuse me while I go whimper in a corner.
23. In September 2007, I developed a perforation in my colon (virtually no warning sign) that resulted in life-saving emergency surgery that took something like 4 hours.  I spent a total of almost 4 weeks in the hospital, went through two rather invasive surgeries, went through several CAT-scans, got stuck with a needle way too many times, drank too much of the nasty contrast stuff they make you drink before each CAT-scan, got hooked on morphine & tylox, and oh so much more.  After it was all said and done, the bill was nearly $500,000.. read:  HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!!  Thank GOD for Blue Cross Blue Shield.  We only ended up paying about $1,500.  If you’re ever interested in the full detailed story, get with me and prepare to set aside 30 minutes.
24. When it comes to music, my favorite artists are usually the ones that play their own instrument.  Guitar and piano are my favorite.
25. I proposed to my wife with a video compilation of photos from our time together up to that point, combined with a song that was sure to get her emotions kicked into high gear before she even knew what was about to happen.  We will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary on May 1st.