02. I have only seen or talked to my brother twice in four years.

03. I have been to Germany twice so far this year.

04. So far this year I have read 36 books.

05. After a 15 year hiatus I have started riding my bicycle again this year.

06. I commute 8 minutes (each way) to work when driving.

07. I commute 20 minutes (each way) to work when bicycling.

08. Twenty-seven years after I completed my Bachelor’s degree I am starting a Master’s degree.

09. Every year it takes longer and longer to write these lists. This year’s was started on April 12th.

10. I now own three bicycles.

11. Our car is a hybrid and we average about 40 ~ 42 mpg.

12. If I live to be 98 I am now middle aged.

13. Ever since the Bicentennial I have wanted to live to see the Tricentennial.

14. I’ll be 116 years old on July 4, 2076

15. My cello repertoire (including single string, five-note pieces) is 35 pieces now.

16. This web site, which I created, is now over 14 years old.

17. In addition to corn I now eat cooked carrots. My mother would be so proud.

18. I have had the same cell phone for over 4 years.

19. I have had nine jobs since graduation from college.

20. After Illinois, I have lived the longest in Kansas.

21. I have, or contribute to, six web sites.

21. I have ten email addresses.

22. I can now read music.

23. I still haven’t been to Alabama.

24. Our household has 5 laptops, 4 desktops and one iPod Touch.

25. The Winne-the-Pooh stories are still my favorite childhood books.

26. I can count to twenty in three languages.

27. I can count to one hundred in two languages.

28. I don’t know how high I can count in my cradle language.

29. By the end of this calendar year, I will have traveled outside of the United States ten times.

30. This calendar year alone, I will travel outside the US three times.

31. 18 months after having Lasik surgery on my eyes, I required trifocal glasses to see properly.

32.  My favorite new sandwich at Panera is their Cuban – without the pickles, please.

33. I believe that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

34. I prefer Twitter to Facebook.

35. I am a “see you later” person. As opposed to a “I’ll be in touch” or “It’s been nice talking to you” person.

36. The older I get the spicier I like my food.

37. I can now say things like “Twenty-five years ago…” and have it mean a period of time when I was an adult.

38. I have read Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon once every year since it was publish in 1999.

39. I don’t remember my dreams but I do remember Christmas when I was two and a half.

40. I have studied, and hold rank in, two martial arts.

41. I am the fifth generation in a row in my family to be married twice.

42. My middle name, Hanford, is my great-grandfather’s middle name. And his father’s given name.

43. After losing 57 pounds 3 years ago, I’ve regained 15.

44. I’ve had my left earlobe pierced twice.

45. I’ve had 5 surgeries (involving a scalpel) and 6 procedures (involving an endoscope).

46. The song Suite Judy Blue Eyes always reminds me of summer and the swimming pool.

47. I prefer Coca-cola and Macs to Pepsi and Windows.

48. I’ve had a beard since 1998.

49. Today I am seventeen thousand eight hundred and ninety seven days old.

0×02: I was born in Brooklyn, but now I live in Manhattan. Kansas.

0×03: My favorite movie of all time is Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

0×04: I read Neal Stephonson’s “Cryptonomicon at least once a year.

0×05: There have been six cats in my life. Shalimar, Kashmir, Abby, Nekko, Taz, and Bootstrap.

0×06: I was socialized as right-handed, but believe I may really be left-handed.

0×07: I have lived in twelve cites. (Brooklyn, Elwin, Decatur, Brookston, Normal, Springfield, Vancouver, Summerville, Pawnee, Overland Park, Olathe, and Manhattan.

0×08: I have 6 websites (5 individual and 1 shared), 12 email addresses, and own three domains.

0×09: I have arthritis in my lower back, and a fallen arch in my right foot.

0x0A: Lasik surgery didn’t work for me, I started wearing trifocals less than two years after the procedure.

0x0B: I can listen to the same music over and over again.

0x0C: I have learned how to cook fish, something I never ate as a child.

0x0D: I have been to Europe three times and look forward to many more trips.

0x0E: I haven’t talked to my brother in more than two years.

0x0F: I have had, and used daily, the same primary computer for over six years.

0×10: I use serial commas.

0×11: I have great difficulty spelling and depend upon spell checkers.

0×12: I do not watch any television.

0×13: I do watch movies (on DVD) and some television content (also on DVD).

0×14: I read, on average, 75 books a year.

0×15: Usually I am in the middle of two or more books at once.

0×16: My favorite vegetable is corn.

0×17: My least favorite vegetables are all the others.

0×18: I like to do crossword puzzles.

0×19: Except for my wedding ring I don’t wear any jewelry.

0x1A: I am a strong advocate of “Net Neutrality.”

0x1B: Voting for President Obama was one of my proudest moments as an American.

0x1C: I own several copies of “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking.

0x1D: I have eight instant message personas. Nine if you count Facebook.

0x1E: Despite using only 5 or 6 fingers I can type about 55 words per minute.

0x1F: Over the course of a year I lost 50 pounds. And I’ve kept it off for two years and counting.

0×20: I prefer email to phone calls.

0×21: In three weeks I will have been out of high school for 30 years.

0×22: For only the second time in 25 plus years of working, I have more than 10 days of vacation per year.

0×23: I have owned (or leased) ten cars in my life. Plus two motorcycles and a scooter.

0×24: I once owned a DN class ice boat.

0×25: I have had my oldest Internet domain (and web site) for more than a quarter of my life.

0×26: If I couldn’t create software for computers, I’d want to create things with software; architecture or industrial design.

0×27: I have only 28 teeth, and three of those are plastic.

0×28: I’ve been to 14 rock concerts in my life.

0×29: My favorite food group is cookies.

0x2A: I cannot stand the flavor of anise.

0x2B: I eat cereal nearly every day for breakfast.

0x2C: I have three computers on my desk at home, running two operating systems, neither of which is a Windows variant.

0x2D: I believe that faith is not believing without proof but rather trusting without reservation.

0x2E: I generally take a computer (or two) with me everywhere I go.

0x2F: I have had my nose broken, along with a thumb and the tip of my right forefinger.

0×30: The oldest posting of mine I can find online is from December 8, 1995.

This is the 5th “things about me” posting on my birthday. Previously we had: 43, 44, 46, and 47. You now know 228 things about me (counting repeats and duplicates).

He was able to give her the last appointment of the day, and immediately had her start feeding me with an eye dropper every 2 hours.  Neither she, nor I, got much sleep, but I did start gaining weight.  By May 28th, when these pictures were taken, I was back up to 6 pounds 8 ounces.