5 Things Meme

Yikes! In finally getting caught up on my blogroll, I find I was tagged. Here goes…

1. My first car was a ’72 Dodge Dart. It was a generous hand-me-down from my sister. It had a slant 6 engine and wing vents. (In my opinion, wing vents are way better than sliced bread. ) It was a 12 year old car by the time I started driving it so I learned a fair amount about cars as parts of it wore out. When it died, it made sure I knew it, spewing oil, brake fluid and coolant on that final drive home — its way of saying, “Stop putting money into me! You have tuition to pay.” I found this Creative Commons photo of a 74 Dart. Same color. Same white walls and wing vents., but far less rusty than my Dart. — Thanks BreakfastPirate for Flickring this image.
2. Lest the previous bit mislead you, I am one of the least mechanical people on earth. It was so bad that back in college, I used to get locked into people’s cars unable to figure out the new style of door locks to free myself. Careful study has solved that particular problem, but new ones arise constantly. Most recently, I’ve noticed that Kent quietly assembles any furniture I haul home. He’s never said anything about my lack of ability, but I guess he’s tired of perching precariously on the rickety things I have assembled.
3. My family name was Sedrowski. When my great grandparents immigrated to the US from Poland, immigration officials suggested they shorten it. Family legend has it they looked in an atlas and saw Sedro–Woolley, Utah which inspired them to shorted the name to Sedro.
4. Three different summers in the 1990s I took part in the Ride Across Minnesota for Multiple Sclerosis. It involves biking 300-350 miles in five days for a very worthy cause. Along the way you meet great people and get to tent on a lot of small town football fields and in parks. Even if you’ve never done any sort of long distance riding, consider taking part in this ride. It is worth it– and you end up with great biker legs for the rest of the summer.
5. I am short for an American. I am 5 feet O inches tall. I am so short that when I unexpectedly catch sight of myself in a shopping mall mirror, I don’t think, “Hey, That’s me!”, I think “Whoa! That woman is really short!” and THEN I realize it is me. Living in Asia has been a real trip because for the first time in my adult life I blend right in, can see at parades and movie theaters, and can reach the handles on kitchen cupboards. Of course, I still can’t find clothes that fit me here either, but that would be hoping for too much.
   

There. Now let’s hear from Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, Kim Cofino, Dr. Bruce, and Stephen Lazar.