The Gun Line: Aghhh! You Got Me!

Another Tag?

There are certain things which roll downhill, and this is one. Sgt. B. tagged Doc, who tagged me. As always, I'll forgo the pleasure of foisting this off on someone else, but I'll answer the questions. I'm always surprised that anyone cares enough to ask, but obviously some of you do, since I keep getting asked to do these things. Well enough.

What I was doing 10 years ago: Let's see, 1995 -- I suppose I was in college then, working my way through with the Southeastern Detective Agency.

Five years ago: I would have been getting ready to go to China with my wife, and finishing up the classwork in my Master's.

One year ago: Same thing I'm doing now: contract work for DOD.

Yesterday: Mostly just work.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips and salsa.
2. Full fledged nachos with chili, fresh peppers, and sour cream.
3. Beer (hey, Doc listed Vodka!)
4. Pizza.
5. Mozzerella sticks with pasta sauce.

5 songs I know the words to:
1. "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me."
2. "The Old Orange Flute."
3. "Kelly, the Boy from Killane."
4. "Streets of Laredo."
5. "The Marine Corps Hymn."

5 Things I would do with $100 million:
1. Buy very many acres of bottomland out by the Rocky Mountains.
2. Build a fine house on it.
3. Set aside some money for more houses for my childrens' families.
4. Fence it.
5. Buy a large herd of good cattle and a small number of first-class bucking bulls to breed, and go into the cattle business.

5 Locations I would like to vacation:
1. York, England -- there's an old Viking city there.
2. Scotland.
3. The great parks of the West: Yosemite, perhaps.
4. Tombstone, Arizona, during the Western festival.
5. The Winter Range single-action shooting festival.

5 Bad Habits I have:
1. I've been known to drink more beer than is wise on occasion.
2. I've been known to play practical jokes on poor Sovay.
3. Teaching the 2 year old to swordfight was not as wise as it seemed at first. Now he's 3, and has much more strength for swinging things...
4. Impatience with people, especially when...
5. I've forgotten to eat for a day or more because I've been lost in thought.

5 things I like doing:
1. Shooting
2. Tickling the boy.
3. Tickling his mother.
4. Giving Sovay a hard time.
5. Spending an evening, just every now and then, drinking and singing old songs at the pub with friends.

5 things I would never wear:
1. Doc's got good advice here. I'll just assert that everything on his list goes for me, too.

5 TV Shows I like:
1. Firefly -- which isn't on TV anymore, but it was once.
2. I also used to like Babylon 5, but I had the good fortune to encounter it during the first season and watch it develop.
3. I haven't had access to television in a while, but I used to watch the Professional Bull Riders' rodeos on OLN a couple of years back.
4. We're really running out here... when I was a kid, I liked the Lone Ranger.
5. And the dodgy Buck Rogers show from the late 70s.

5 Biggest Joys of the Moment:
1. The boy.
2. His mother.
3. A certain fighting knife which his mother snuck and bought me off Ebay for our anniversary.
4. My extended family.
5. Strength.

5 Favorite toys:
1. I'm not sure I have five toys. I do have an Xbox from a year or so ago.
2. I have some good books, which I even sometimes have time to read.
3. Doc lists a firearm as a toy, but you'll forgive me if I dissent: guns are not toys, even when you enjoy the practice of keeping up the art. Still, if I were to list one, the one I enjoy shooting the most is my Smith & Wesson M629-4, using .44 Special ammo. It's still fun with .44 Magnum ammo, but the Special cowboy loads Winchester makes are just a lot of fun.
4. The boy's little expandable lightsabers -- yeah, I know, it was a mistake to teach him to swordfight. But still, it's fun.
5. Hiking boots. I get a lot of pleasure out of where you can go in them.

5 next victims:

I don't intend to tap anyone else. However, if you're feeling expansive, I'd love to hear what my readers have to say. If you'd like to jump in and tell me some of your favorite things, or bad habits, or whatever -- feel free. That's what the comments are for.

I really ought to make Lizard Queen do this, though, since she hit me with that book thing. But I'm a nice guy, really.