Tag, I'm it

I have been tagged by two of my favorite bloggers, Chipper and Counting My Outs to tell you 7 thing about me you don't already know.

1. I am the 3rd of 4 boys in my family. My youngest brother was my Mom's last attempt at a daughter and it failed miserably. Four boys all within Six years of each other. That had to be hard on my mom. I grew up in a Three bedroom house (one bathroom) and slept in a double bed with my brother until I went away to college.

2. I was a Yell Leader at Alma College. My wife and daughters kid me about being a 'cheerleader' but I have to correct them and tell them I was a Yell Leader. Two guys picking up and throwing 5 good looking cheerleaders around. What's not to like about that?

3. My first flight was in a single engine plane flown by a private pilot. I was 13 years old and I worked at a resort and one of the customers was a pilot and told everyone if they threw in $10 for gas he would take us up in a small plane and fly over Mackinac Island and the Mackinac Bridge in Northern Michigan. My parents said it was O.K. for me to go and that was my first flight. I have since flown once in a bubble top helicopter that had the doors off. Both were pretty damn cool.

4. I graduated from college with a Bachelors in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. I had all of the prerequisites filled for becoming a secondary education teacher except for the student teaching. I would have to return to college in the fall to student teach and I said the hell with it. I was tired of not having any money. I regret it to this day when Christmas and summer comes around. I would have had it made as a Science Teacher.

5. My first job after graduation was as an Identification Technician for the City of Flint Police Department. It was one of the only civilian Forensic Departments in the State of Michigan. I was CSI before CSI was cool. I processed crime scenes, photographing them, dusting for fingerprints, collecting evidence, etc. I have been an expert witness for the Prosecutor, have been to crime scenes for Bank Robberies, homocides, suicides, major drug busts, have been with Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) people when they have blown up pipe bombs. I did this for 3 years then left when the city was talking about layoffs in every department and I was low on the Seniority list.

6. I am married and have 3 daughters. My oldest is the mother of my two Grandsons, Brett and Tanner. My middle child has graduated from University of Michigan - Flint and is currently going back to school to get her secondary education certificate. My youngest is at Signal Mountain Lodge in Jackson, Wyoming, working for the summer.

7. My first trip to Las Vegas was in the late '80s. They were just building the Mirage. My wife worked for a a doctor that was a high roller in Vegas and he took us out there several times. He was comped at Caesar's Palace and Barbary Coast. The only money we spent was to gamble. He didn't use his real name in Las Vegas but used an alias. He taught me to play craps and because of him I am an expert craps player (if I do say so myself). He got my wife and I tickets to see Siegfried & Roy, Jay Leno, Anne Margaret, Tom Jones, and a few others. He was comped for most of those and we learned to slip the Matri'D a $20 to get the best seats. He died young of congestive heart failure but for a few years it was a wild ride.

I'd like to tag:

All-in In the Dark

Dugglebogey

Poker Wolf

Res Ipsa Poker