* 25 Random Things About @ErikJHeels

25 random things about me.

[Following @rklau‘s lead, I’m republishing my Facebook 25 things meme thingy here, originally published on Facebook 01/26/09.]

1. I was born a poor black child. Actually not, but if you recognize that as the opening line from Steve Martin’s “The Jerk,” you get the gist of my sense of humor.

2. I have about one great idea per decade.

3. One of the best ideas I’ve ever had is marrying my wife.

4. I not only love my wife, I like her. Plus she makes me laugh.

5. I am 50th percentile height and weight. Which means that airplane and movie theatre seats are designed for me. It also means I can rarely find clothes my size in stores.

6. My first job was working at Au Bon Pain at the Maine Mall in South Portland. Great company, great job. Learned a lot about customer service.

7. I got my driver’s license when I was 15.

8. I got my motorcycle license when I was 16. Due to a clerical error (which I opted not to fix), it lapsed in 1998 when I moved to Colorado.

9. If our goal as parents it to have our kids abilities exceed our own, then we are succeeding. My son Sam is a better athlete than I am. My son Ben is a better musician and I am. And my daughter Sonja is a better writer than I am. I love and like my kids.

10. Our family is as Finnish as Obama’s is black. My wife is from Finland, I’m 50% Finnish, our kids are 75% Finnish.

11. I have slept in a hole (foxhole, actually), under a canoe, in a tree (treehouse), and in an igloo.

12. In 1982, my brother Mark and I built (and slept in) an igloo: https://www.giantpeople.com/1328.html.

13. In 2003/2004, my kids and I built a huge treehouse: https://www.giantpeople.com/3053.html.

14. I visualize dates as plus/minus from December/January. This means that I get December/January mixed up, also November/February and October/March.

15. I solved Rubik’s Cube without looking at the solution, have never looked at the solution, and can still solve it in about 2:00: https://www.giantpeople.com/1039.html. I have never been defeated by a three-dimensional puzzle.

16. My brother Mark is one of my favorite people on the planet. Mark has never given me bad advice.

17. Eight people committed suicide when I was at MIT. One student died when I was in pilot training. I still have nightmares about each.

18. I have soloed an Air Force jet but am scared of heights (which made #13 tricky).

19. The only sport I have played in any organized fashion (and I use the word “organized” loosely) is intramural hockey at MIT.

20. In high school, I played pickup baseball, hockey, football, soccer, and basketball (in that order).

21. My favorite sports are baseball and football. The others aren’t really on my radar screen.

22. I tend to make absolute statements and end up painting myself in a corner.

23. I lived on tuna fish during law school and swore I’d never eat it again. I haven’t.

24. I gave up caffeine 3.5 years ago: https://www.giantpeople.com/575.html.

25. I originally wanted to go into politics but changed my mind when I realized that I generally say the first thing that comes to mind. Which is good for humor, not so good for politics.