My Life
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
By Don Taylor

For “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun,” Randy Seaver, in his blog “Genea-Musings,” suggested answering some of the questions that have been going around Facebook.  Here are my answers to 30 personal questions.

Have I:

1)  Driven 100 mph: I think only once, however, I’ve been a passenger in cars doing so several times. (None in the past 45 years; oh, the stupidity of youth.)

2) Ridden in a helicopter: Several times in the Navy to and from the Kitty Hawk. Once from Clark Air Base (Philippines) to Cubi Air Station (Olongapo City, Philippines) with the door open (safety harnessed in with a short leash). What a way to see the country for the first time!

3) Gone zip lining: No and I’ve never had a desire to do so.

4) Been to an NFL game: yes, many, had season tickets the Vikings for several years. I was at the last game at the old Met Stadium (where the Mall of America is now).

5)  Been to Canada: As a teenager, I went to the Boundary Waters area and canoed in and out between Minnesota and Ontario many times. I have also visited Winnipeg, Windsor, and Vancouver.

6) Visited Florida: Yes, many times, mostly for work but a few times for pleasure.

7)  Visited Mexico: Yes, Tijuana when I was in the Navy stationed in San Diego.

8) Visited Vegas: Yes, several times mostly during my Navy Days, but also a few times for work.

9) Eaten alone at a restaurant: Yes, occasionally, I’ll have breakfast. I don’t recall ever having dinner alone in a restaurant, except while traveling.

10) Ability to read music: Not really.  I can see a note on a piece of paper and can find it on a piano, but slowly. Let’s see…. “every good boy does fine” EGBDF and “FACE” are the mnemonics I learned. Humm, they go from the bottom up, right?

My brother Mark and sister Sharon sitting on my 2nd motorcycle, a Honda 90, about 1967.

11) Ridden a motorcycle: Yes, I’ve owned several. My first was a Yamaha 60, a 2-stroke, which was the first motor vehicle I owned (I was 15). My last was a Yamaha Virago 750. My knee was getting too bad to enjoy long rides, so I sold it and bought a convertible.

12)  Ridden a horse: Yes, when I was a teenager living in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, I cleaned a barn & stable area at a farm nearby in order to ride the horses there. Also, when I lived in the Oregon desert in the early 1970s.  Not since then.

13) Stayed in a hospital: Yes, clavicle (as a kid), shoulder (twice while in the Navy), and a knee operations.

14) Donated blood: Yes. When I was young, I gave often, when I was young and feeling really broke, I’d give plasma too. While I was in the Navy, they’d have blood drives. If you gave blood, you would receive early liberty. We called that “vampire liberty.”

15)  Been snow skiing: Not really.  Cross country a few times. Never downhill.

16)  Been to Disney World or Disneyland: Yes, I’ve been to Disneyland a few times back in the 1970s. Once for a “Navy Day,” where the park was closed except to Navy and Marine Corps personnel and their families. A three-minute wait at “Pirates of the Caribbean” and no wait at the “Matterhorn” made for the best theme park experience by far!

17)  Slept outside: Not intentionally, I prefer sleeping in a tent or RV. The Hilton doesn’t count as “outside,” does it?

18)  Driven a stick shift: Yes. I’ve owned many stick shifts when I was young — “four on the floor,” “three on the tree,” and “three by the knee.” I don’t think I’ve driven a stick in twenty years.

19)  Ridden in an 18-wheeler: Yes. I had a license to drive one while I was stationed in Oregon and one drove there. My license also had fire engine and bus endorsement. 

20) Ridden in a police car? Only as a juvenile. The first time was when I cut my wrist going through a window (NOT intentionally) and a police car took to the local hospital. They didn’t want to wait for an ambulance.

21) Driven a boat: Yes. My stepfather had boats and I did drive his occasionally. The Officer of the Watch was too smart to even consider handing over the con to me while I was on the Kitty Hawk.

 22)  Eaten Escargot: Sort of. I had snails once while in the Philippines. I got so sick; I’ve never eaten snails again. I don’t know if what I ate were land snails or sea snails. Either way, I’m playing it safe and not ever eating them again.

My “Cruise Ship”

23) Been on a cruise:  Do three and a half years aboard the USS Kitty Hawk count? My wife wants to take a cruise and thinks it’d be nice if I came along. (She’s said, “No thank you,” to our visiting the Kitty Hawk.)

24)  Run out of gas: Not that I recall. If I had, I would probably want to forget about it anyway.

25)  Been on TV: Yes, as one in a crowd or audience, not as an individual.  That doesn’t count community TV or a “TV Productions” course I took in college.

26)  Eaten Sushi: Yes, I have my particularly desired rolls (Philadelphia, Alaska, California). There are some I’d never touch – Snail sushi — <Shudder>. (See 22 above.)

27) Seen a UFO:  Possibly. Back in the 1950s I saw something I didn’t recognize. A few moments later I saw two fighters speeding after it. I never heard what the military called the event.

28)  Been Bungie jumping: No. I wouldn’t do it on a bet. With my knees, I’d probably split into two.

29) Visited another continent: Yes – Asia & Africa. While I was in the Navy. I lost three 36-exposure rolls of film I shot when at Tsavo National Park in Kenya. The photos would have included why I think hyena’s are the scariest critters ever. They look at you and you just know they think you’re food.

30)  Been to Ellis Island?  No. I have no ancestors who came through Ellis Island, so I’ve never had a personal interest to visit. 

As I go through this list, I’m amazed at how many of the items I did while I was in the Navy.