Quickies December 29, 2006

I’m IT!!

No, I am not full of myself – I just got tagged twice in one day! First Chris, and then Alison…so a double tag means I get to cheat and do them together. Ha!

The rules are that I have to post five things that you may not already know about me, which is going to be hard, but here we go…

1. I don’t know how to type. I have a bizarre hunt and peck system that uses mainly my pointer fingers, second fingers, and thumbs with occasional appearances by the other two fingers on each hand. I’ve never actually timed myself, but I think that I am pretty speedy most of the time – I can even get away with doing some typing without looking. But it is definitely not what anyone would consider the proper way to type; as anyone that has ever IM’d me knows, I can think faster than I can type – sometimes my fingers get very tangled trying to accurately keep up.

2. Spiders terrify me. While I have never been a fan of arachnids, the almost irrational fear I now have stems from when I was bit by a brown recluse while sleeping in 1992. The entire experience was completely traumatic and painful; ever since, I’ll squeal like a little girl if I see one that I think can “get me“. I have a similar reaction to large flying cockroaches, because I can remember watching them fly around in my bedroom (invariably dropping on me) when I was a little girl. This was when we lived in Taiwan and Okinawa, and it scarred me for life. So yeah, I’ll play with snakes and pick up the odd millipede or scorpion – but I will not fool with spiders or cockroaches.

pictures don’t bug me, though

3. When I was a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian. But after working for a small-town vet for several years, and doing everything from cleaning cages to assisting in surgeries, I realized it wasn’t for me. The nastiest and scariest thing I ever did was participate in the removal of several hundred near-feral cats from a lady’s home. To this day, I still shudder when reminded of the experience…in fact I am shuddering right now as I write about it.

4. My very first live music concert ever was KISS in 1976. I was in the 4th grade, spending the night at a girl friend’s. Her two teen-aged brothers wanted to go to the concert, and their mom said they could only go if they brought us. I guess she figured two10 year old girls tagging along would keep them out of trouble? Yeah right! Looking back, I suppose it was amazing that they were able to get tickets, much less get us in, but they did it. If my mom only knew…

5. I attended and passed a certified mechanic’s course. I’ve had a thing for sports cars since I was a little girl, so as an adult I decided to take a semester of Automotive Training at Burlington County College in New Jersey; I even earned the first level mechanic’s certificate. No, I don’t work on cars now, and getting a job as a mechanic was never my intention – I just wanted to understand cars better, and now I do.

So now it is my turn to tag five people, and I choose:

Larry of Palm Is Life

Vincent of SlashGear, unbox.it and aMobileMe

Derek of Sleepy in Seattle

Jenneth of Girls Gone Mobile�oops Matt already tagged her, so I choose Joe of Book of Joe.

Clinton of ClintonFitch.com

Check out their�sites�to see what they have to say!

The SPB Backup for Pocket PC Review

Treo 650 Housing Replacement Do-It-Yourself Instructions

About Judie Lipsett Stanford

View all posts by Judie Lipsett Stanford

I have had a fascination with all types of gadgets and gizmos since I was a child, beginning with the toy robot that my grandmother gave my brother - which I promptly "relieved him of" in 1973. I have long been captivated by devices that did anything interesting or served a unique purpose - however silly. I can't tell you how everything works – but I am known world-wide for using a product until I have a full understanding of what it does, what its limitations are, and if it excels in any given area...or not.

MitchellO

I can’t believe after typing so many review your can’t touch type!!! I can touch type pretty well. Top speed is about 65-70wpm, and 55wpm with good accuracy.

And I agree I HATE spiders and cockroaches. I find them utterly detestable.
MitchellO

Obviously I need to work on MY typing skills after rereading the first sentence of my post above
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

Well, it might look like touch typing to someone that doesn’t know any better…I told you I’m pretty fast. It’s just all wrong.
http://www.graphical-illusion.com Elodie

I don’t touch type either–and I don’t see why I should, the method where your hands move more is supposed to be better for your wrists, no? (I do pretty much exactly like you, except sometimes I use a ring finger… mostly the thumb and the first 2 others, though) I type just fine, though. I chat too much to type slow
aggie75

My Mom was a genius; she made me take a typing class in high school in 1968 before the PC and Internet (World Wide Web anyway). I was in a class with mostly girls and the IBM Selectric had just been out a few years. The school district could only buy a few Selectrics a year and I was typing on a manual Underwood sitting next to a girl typing on a new Selectric. What was unfair – we both had to pass a 65 WPM typing test to get an “A”! Anyway, at the time I thought my Mom wanted me to be a secretary when she made me sign up for that typing class but turns she must have been a visionary to know I would need typing skills in my digital future.

Judie – remember, it’s not how fast you type but how fast you backspace that counts…

Harmon
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

Harmon, your mom was a genius and you were lucky!

What’s so bad is that I remember walking by the typing class in Eldorado High School and smirking to myself, because I didn’t know what I was going to be when I grew up – but I knew I wasn’t going to be anyone’s secretary. Oh…if I only knew then what I know now.
Jerry Raia

I can barely type with 2 fingers
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

“I can barely type with 2 fingers”
Which may go a long way in explaining why you love your Fuji Tablet so much.
Jerry Raia

Exactly! Those of us (subliminal comment) who have them and will be (subliminal comment) getting them are indeed blessed. The (subliminal comment) tablet PC is the great equalizer to the fast typist.
http://www.astraware.com Alsicole

I, like you, hate spiders. They truly freak me out. Anything larger than a money spider and I’m running for cover. I’m so irrational about them in the house that they either have to be removed by someone else, or I have to kill it. I can’t leave them where they are.

Unlike you, however, pictures of them also make me shudder, so I’m praying for this Gear Diary entry to fall off your front page!!!

Happy New Year!
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

Soon Alison, I promise it will roll off the front page. Sorry for the scare & Happy New Year!
http://wonderdawg777.blogspot.com WonderDawg

Yup I can’t type either!

I’ve been tagged by Alison too, so here’s my ilst of five bizarro things:

http://wonderdawg777.blogspot.com/2007/01/tagged-to-5th-power.html

Happy New Year!