Tuesday, November 19, 2013

11 Things About Jason

Things you might not know about Jason:

1. I have been at least somewhat (in)famous for my knowledge of old timey country ways for most of my life.  During college my friends and I all acquired nicknames that were more or less accurate descriptors of our personalities at that time. Mine was Hick. This is really something considering that all the students who came up with my nickname were enrolled in the College of Agriculture.

2. I very much enjoy public speaking and standing up in front of a group.   No matter how big the group may be it does not bother me even slightly.

3. I have an innate sense of direction and an almost freaky knowledge of maps and places. If the weather is clear I can accurately plot our course when flying on commercial aircraft. I am almost never lost when travelling by road on the ground, regardless of whether or not I have access to a GPS. Even when I was a very small child my parents would ask me where they were and/or for directions when they got lost. (Melissa here. I always say if you are with Jason and you are lost you are in real trouble. He is a walking, talking GPS, only more accurate. Whenever he goes to a new city for the first time, be it New York City, Boston, or Moscow, Russia he can find his way around like a native.)

4. My other savant like skill is that I can add, subtract, multiply and divide fairly large numbers and decimals in my head. I'll admit to being a little out of practice on this skill but if I'm feeling perky I can still arrive at the correct total at the grocery store ahead of the cashier. (Melissa again. I've gotten so lazy about math when Jason is around I don't even pull out a calculator or use my phone, I just ask him.)

5. I am a BIG TIME fan of country music from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. I like some of the modern stuff too but if I have my druthers the radio is tuned to the oldies station. If I'm working in the shop or fixing on farm equipment it just seems wrong to listen to anything else. (If you read my list of things you might not know you would realize this music for the most part sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard to me)

6. Despite having spent ten years in the United States I still spell things and pronounce certain things in the Canadian English I learned in school. I'm familiar with American spellings and pronunciations but I still prefer to use colour, favour, centre, etc. Among other things, in my world it remains PRO-cess, not PRAH-cess, it's washroom rather than bathroom, tap rather than faucet, and the last letter of the alphabet is ZED not ZEE.

7. I have had a life long fascination with palm trees of every type. Whenever Melissa and I venture out I take great delight in pointing out palm trees wherever I see them. There are no palm trees native to Tennessee but you do o occasion see various types growing more or less successfully in gardens across the southern portions of the state. (In addition to talking about every palm tree in sight he also delights in telling me their Latin name. Because, you know, I really want to know these things.)

8. I can spend an extraordinary amount of time in the "As seen on TV" section of any department store. (In case you ever wondered who actually bought all that stuff, now you know.)

9. I absolutely love to read and I will read just about anything. My favourite subject is historical fiction.

10. In my last year of high school I scored high enough in chemistry to get the award for top marks while I barely passed physics. Both were taught by the same teacher and it frustrated him to no end that I could get the gist of one so easily and the other not at all. Believe me, he wasn't the only one who was frustrated.

11. Every personality/career quiz that I've ever answered completely honestly has pointed me toward farming as my first career choice. I enjoy visiting with folks but I have a very low tolerance threshold for people in my face. A day in a fast paced office environment with ringing phones, endless meetings, deadlines and people I'd rather not deal with sends me all but over the edge and saps my energy completely.


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Kennedy and Clayton grooming


Baby and Leo were playing hard


Calimba and Maisie grooming

 


Silver and Cocomo having an early morning grooming session



Tony and Hemi

 
Homer and Moe playing


 
Africa and Lighty were also playing hard



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

THANKS FOR SHARING. GRANNY

Anonymous said...

If you love historical fiction - two words: Wolf Hall . . .

RiderWriter said...

This was fun - for one thing, I didn't know you were from Canada!

That is really cool about your aptitude for navigation and numbers. It would be interesting to hook you up to some kind of brain scanner to find out what area of the brain is responsible for that. I have a pretty good sense of direction myself (at least better than my mom's, she could get lost in her own backyard), but I've never met anyone as skilled as you. These days I'm all about Siri getting me places!

I am always in awe of anybody who is good at numbers in their head. I can barely do 2+2.

Bet you are a Jeff Shaara and Steven Ambrose fan. I LOVE them, especially both of their books about D-Day. Absolutely fantastic reads.