Adrian Thysse has tagged me with The Five Things Meme:
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
- Enjoying my second year of fatherhood
- Revising the North American species of the cerambycid beetle genus Purpuricenus
- Collecting beetles in Arizona with Chuck Bellamy and Art Evans
- Learning to speak Spanish
- Worrying a lot more about career advancement than I do now
5 things on my to do-list today:
- Take kids to the dentist – check
- Put up kids tether ball pole – abort (pole sections don’t fit, need to exchange)
- Vacuum carpets throughout the house – check
- Hang pictures I took of wildflowers this spring (chosen, nicely framed, and given to me by my wife for my birthday) – check
- Short 20-mile bike ride – CHECK!
5 snacks I love:
- Spudmaster CollosalChips, handmade in the heart of Missouri
- GK Select Gourmet Blend nuts (collosal cashews, almonds, macadamias & pecans)
- Raspberry or blueberry scone and coffee
- Pemmican Premium beef jerky, peppered
- Chocolate covered almonds/raisins/strawberries/etc.
5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
- Help my dad retire
- Enroll kids in private school
- Substantial contributions to The Nature Conservancy
- Buy a few acres on the west shore of Lake Tahoe
- TRAVEL!
5 places I’ve lived:
- Kansas City, Missouri (childhood)
- Columbia, Missouri (university)
- St. Louis, Missouri (1st job)
- Sacramento, California (2nd job)
- St. Louis, Missouri (3rd job)
5 jobs I’ve had:
- Injection Mold Operator (3 mos)
- Pizza Cook (9 mos)
- Research Assistant (2 yrs)
- Agricultural Inspector (8 yrs)
- Research Entomologist (18 yrs)
And I tag Allison Vaughn, Doug Taron, Hugh, cedrorum and Huckleberry.
Beetles In The Bush 
I’ll take it on. Coincidentally, ten years ago I was at a conference in Arizona that included Art Evans. If I recall correctly we were collecting beetles there…
Oh, yeah, we have several jobs in common, too. I’ve also worked as an injection mold operator. Love those summer jobs in high school and college.
Re: the acres at Lake Tahoe, it’s funny that it tends to be thought of mostly as a ski/recreation destination, but it’s just beautiful out there. I spent a summer doing fieldwork at sites all around the Tahoe basin a few years ago, and grew rather fond of the area. A coworker and myself finally made it to Yosemite on a day off halfway through the summer, but after having been working at Tahoe, we were a little underwhelmed, we felt Tahoe’s scenery easily rivaled that of Yosemite.
Doug — yes, August 1998. Art and Chuck met up with me at Cave Creek Canyon after Art’s conference (Inverts in Captivity, I believe). First time I’d met him, we had great fun at some of the local water tanks. He was collecting aquatics for live displays at the LA museum while I clumsily clopped the banks chasing tigers – much to Chuck’s buprestid-focused chagrin 😉
Seabrooke, I agree. I spent five years in California and traveled the state extensively. I fell in love with many places, but Tahoe was my favorite. Yes, it is great for skiing, but it really has all season beauty. My wife and I have always half-joked about retiring there, but last winter we went back and fell in love all over again – ended up buying a time share and now consider our retirement minds made up.
What a fun game! And what an interesting person you are! Of course, I’ve known that since Day 1, but you’re just fun and interesting and there isn’t another person out there like you. What a cool guy. Let me think on this one…