Fun Fact

Good Morning Permies!

Lets get to know each other a little bit and do the dreaded icebreaker from work/school!

State a fun fact about yourself! It can be as general or specific as you want. Odd, obscure, or plain. It is all good!

I will start.


Fun Fact about myself - I used to keep/breed reptiles before I got into college!

Leopard Geckos, Corn Snakes, and Ball Pythons. I don't keep them anymore but I still do have a soft spot for my geckos.

I once drove naked through the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado. I was forced to do this by a combination of youthful insanity and the implied challenge of the signs on the tunnel approach stating "traffic monitored by television in tunnel".

I have been rear-ended on my motorcycle six times.  Five times I walked away without a single scratch or bruise.  In two of those cases, the motorcycle was totaled.  In one of those, it was broken entirely in half when the car that hit me smashed me into the van in front of me.  

One time I was riding motorcycle through Eisenhower tunnel and saw a naked guy driving through...  I may have made that one up.

To be honest, I like Chicken Fried Steak more than anything in this world.

Being a real, at least almost, Texan Chicken fried steak has to be served with Mashed Potatoes and Cream Gravy.

It has been a really long time since I have had Chicken fried steak.

I am an Okie from Muskogee, help make this Texan Smile!

Okie from Muskogee as sung by Merle Haggard is a great song! He never lived there but his parents, Jim and Flossie moved from there in 1935.

Carrie Underwood was born there and so was my sister.

I spent a lot of summers there visiting my grandparents.

Reba McIntire is from Oklahoma.

Bob Wills lived in Tulsa though he was from Texas.

Just a few Fun Facts from this Texan.

In another post I mentioned living in an 8x10 tent for several weeks with a Maine Coon Cat.   More noteworthy is that during that time a Back Bear  decided that said tent was a good place to take a piss.  My sleeping bag was soaked. No, I did not complain. Yes, the answer to the age old question was demonstrated, “Where does a 500 pound bear piss?” ….anywhere it wants to.

One time I was riding motorcycle through Eisenhower tunnel and saw a naked guy driving through

If the year was 1976, it would have been me. After that, it would have been a copycat, or maybe I started a competition where the winner drives naked through the largest number of long, high-elevation tunnels worldwide? I demand royalties if there's ever a reality television show or NASCAR sponsorship!

You can fit three grown cats along with one human in a single sleeping bag. And the cats won't try to kill each other. It's still possible to have a good night's sleep in this scenario.

In my youth I had an enormous appetite.  I worked at a DQ and for my break I always ordered a triple cheeseburger, but I was still hungry.  One night I asked my manager what she would charge me for a quadruple cheeseburger.  She said she would just charge me for a triple (I liked this manager’s style).  So I ate a quadruple cheeseburger that night.  The next night it was a quintuple, then a sextuple, then seven, and finally an eight-layer burger!  The burger went like this from bottom to top:

Bun, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, beef, cheese, onions, bun.

I had to really stretch my mouth to eat it, but eat it I did.  Nobody at the DQ that night thought I could do it, but I finished it!  And just to get an image, I stood 6’3” and weighed about 160 pound—maybe 165 pounds after my burger.  I felt a little bit stuffed at the end.

Good days.

Eric

Fun fact - I'm one of five sisters.
Family legend tells that my Dad was surprised when my eldest sister was born (his father and paternal grandfather had only brothers). By the time my youngest sister was born I think he was resigned to his fate. I loved him dearly, he was the best Daddy a girl could want and the nicest man too.

Another fun fact for the day.

Fun Fact - I used to dungeon master a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that lasted for about two years. 3.5 Edition, good times.

   Bats are the only flying mammals.

   Tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable.

   Chihuahuas are the smallest dog breed.

   Snakes smell with their tongue.

   Buzz Lightyear's original name was Lunar Larry.

   A chicken once lived for 18 months without its head.

   Ketchup was once sold as medicine.

From: Today.com

I'm in my late 30s.  I've camped at the same lake each year since I was in utero, many times more than once a year.  My father started camping there at age 8 or 9 and has only missed a handful of years.

I've tried most any sport that has been available to me since I was very small, except basketball. I never really got very good at any of them, nor have I ever been particularly athletic. Always enthusiastic, or incredibly miserable depending on what I was playing. I've never quit a team mid-season, but I have left some sports after only one season.

Favorites: roller derby, track and field, lacrosse

Right now I'm trying out the sport of my spouses family: Marathon running. Even though the sport of the family truly is ultra-marathon running. My spouse and I weren't runners when we met (they're a bit of a black sheep, but well loved regardless). My sister in law ran a 100 mile race recently, they've all done Ironmans. We're doing our first half marathon in a few weeks, first full in October. It's been fun! I think we'll stick with it for awhile.

I, also, once raised Ball Pythons. We had a beautiful breeding female who was a good 5 feet long that we bought from a zoo. I miss the first snake we hatched, he would ride around in my husband's shirt pocket and stretch up to lick my husband's ear.

I went into my secondary education to study antelope in Africa. It was a dream that I worked very hard to make a reality. I still try to keep up with the research of antelope behavior, and even-toed ungulates in general. I've never worked with them in life, but still have the dream. Maybe I can get a cow someday?

I was able to find another wildlife biologist who *is* studying the behavior and specifics of African antelope and was very surprised to hear that they were living my dream. We friended each other on Twitter/X, as you do when you find a similar mind.

I was once mugged by an elephant who tried to steal my purse.
I was part of a "behind the scenes" tour for wildlife biologists at a big-name zoo. I was a Starving College Student, so had brought a sandwich so I could save the cost of zoo food. The elephant wanted my peanut butter sandwich and/or my apple and wasn't above taking it out of my purse.
Elephants are rather stronger than you might expect.

Kristine, if you do get a cow, guard your bag because they will try to get food out of it just like the elephant (although perhaps more clumsily!)

Many years ago I was visiting a farm animal rescue facility with a group.  At breakfast that morning I had grabbed a banana and stuck it in my tote bag for later.  We visited a rescued cow who was quite friendly.  I went up to pet her, and she started rubbing and pushing on my tote bag with her nose.  I said "All I have in there is a banana!  Nothing for cows!"  She kept nosing the bag, and it was getting all snotty, so I took out the banana and held it out for her to sniff.  "See," I said, "it's just a banana.  Cows don't like --"  **CHOMP**  
My banana disappeared, unpeeled, into her mouth.  Her eyes got wide and she looked like she was in cow heaven as she slowly chewed the whole thing up and swallowed it.  

Horses will also eat unusual things, given the chance.  I worked at a boss's home and at lunch time went out to hang with his kids' horses some days.  One day I was eating an orange and one of the horses in a stall reached out to sniff.  I peeled one segment off and offered it on my flat palm.  The horse sniffed, gingerly took it, chewed once and spit it out with the most hilarious expression on its face!  Then after about ten seconds or so of making funny faces, the horse recovered and reached down over the stall door toward where the segment had fallen.  I said, "Oh, now you want it?" and picked it up, brushed it off, and offered it again.  The horse took it and ate it that time.  Their two horses would follow me all around the paddock if I had an apple in my pocket, and would nudge me around with their heads if I stood still, until I gave up the apple.  Fun times!

Dc Stewart wrote:I once drove naked through the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado. I was forced to do this by a combination of youthful insanity and the implied challenge of the signs on the tunnel approach stating "traffic monitored by television in tunnel".

Billy something (the crazy Scotsman) rode his motor bike naked!

Unusual facts about me. I am one of 12 children, three mothers, two fathers. I didn't meet my birth father until I was 32. I  met some of  my fathers children when I was 32. I have a brother (by my father, who has since died) who's birthday is two days later than mine. He was several years younger than I. We had so much in common it was very strange. We both liked the outdoors, fishing, camping and similar clothing! My birth father's second wife is like a mother to me and took me in when I first spent time with my father. I didn't like him much, he was a braggart but he was my father. My youngest brother was 18 years younger than I. One of my sisters is 3 months older than I. We first met at our father's funeral and when we were comparing birth dates we discovered how close we were in age. She was so upset, she left the reception. One of my father's daughters is an actual "mini-me". We have the same build, same skinny legs! She and I are both gardeners.

The strangest/scariest thing that happened to me is when I went camping in the Colorado mountains in September. I met up with a friend who was supposed to arrange a camping trip and all the necessary camping accessories. When I arrived in Denver, I discovered he had done less than he promised, including arranging a camping site. We decided to go anyway. We drove to a place called Buck Snort (REALLY!) and found a campground close by. It was closed for the season but the owner took pity on us and let us stay in a campsite. We had the pick of the place. It was sleeting like mad when we finally arrived and I set up camp. My friend was totally incompetent and had no idea how to set up a tent. I got soaked but had dry clothes in the car. I cooked supper on Sterno inside the car. My friend wanted to take food into the tent but I forbade it. We argued about it. I told him if he wanted food, he should sleep in the car!

During the night, I heard noise outside the tent. I quickly put my hand over my friend's mouth and whispered him to be quiet, don't breathe!!! We listened as a very large animal circled the tent, sniffing out what was inside. I was seriously afraid my friend would bolt out of the tent! After 10 or 15 minutes, the animal left and I fell asleep again.

In the morning, I woke up to a clear, blue sky. Not a cloud to mark the brilliant blue. In the distance was Pike's Peak! Covered in snow and more beautiful than I ever imagined. I looked at the spoor prints around the tent. It had been a large bear who had circled the tent 3-4 times before he decided we weren't worth the effort. I told my friend that we would be dead if he had taken food into the tent!

As I was cooking breakfast over an open fire, a yellow tabby kitty came to join us. I fed him bacon and eggs, we packed up camp and kitty went with us. I asked the camp owner if this was his kitty. He said that many folks brought kitties and then abandoned them at the sites. My friend took the kitty home with him.

This was only one of my adventures in the wild. I have many more stories like this. I will say that the bear encounter was probably the scariest.

Madeleine Innocent wrote:

Dc Stewart wrote:I once drove naked through the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado. I was forced to do this by a combination of youthful insanity and the implied challenge of the signs on the tunnel approach stating "traffic monitored by television in tunnel".

Billy something (the crazy Scotsman) rode his motor bike naked!

Connolly, I think his name is.