The Couples Meme

Filed Under (Musings) by Mike Wilton on 24-02-2009

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First off let me say that I wish these things would just stick to places like Facebook or Myspace, but alas people feel the need to spread their shenanigans in new and exciting ways, so here it goes. Thanks to Audrey AKA Miss Shirley Tipsy for this one.  ;P

What are your middle names?
Mine is Francis and hers is Marie. OK you can stop laughing at my middle name and move on to the next question now.

How long have you been together?
Going on 7 years

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met at a party through a mutual friend and then wound up hanging out again a few months later.  We didn’t start dating until shortly after that.

Who asked whom out?
I brought it up to her when we were at Disneyland with some friends. Ironically I was there to see another girl, but in the end wound up talking to Misty about going out.

How old are each of you?
I’m 28 and she’s 27.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Well considering I don’t have siblings this one obviously goes to her, though I try to avoid them like the plague if I can.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Better Not Tell You Now

Did you go to the same school?
No, she went to Norco and Buena Vista High School and I graduated from Santiago.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope.

Who is smarter?
This one really depends on the subject matter. She’s definitely more book smart than me and better with numbers.

Who is the most sensitive?
This is a tough one really, but I think in the end she is probably more sensitive than I.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Where don’t we?  We bounce around a lot so I don’t know that there is just ONE particular place we frequent.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Texas on a roadtrip to pick up some stuff she had in a storage unit from when she lived there with an ex.

Who has the craziest exes?
I do hands down, but fortunately I think most of them have been taken off the crazy status list.

Who has the worst temper?
I have the shortest fuse, but I think we both have pretty bad tempers at times.  Though I’m sure she’d say that I have the worst temper.

Who does the cooking?
Lately it’s been Misty, but when we were first together it was probably about even.

Who is the neat-freak?
I am.  Clutter and being unorganized drives me insane.  I am ok with organized chaos at times, but it has to be MY organized chaos; that way I know where things are and I am comfortable with the mess.

Who is more stubborn?
She is.

Who hogs the bed?
Misty does. Let me put it to you this way. On our honeymoon we were staying at this little bed and breakfast that had a California King in our suite.  Her side was empty when I woke up.  She manage to crawl over to my side of the bed and hog up my space.

Who wakes up earlier?
I do.  I get up between 6 and 6:15 during the week and she wakes up whenever the babies get up for the day.

Where was your first date?
Well I don’t know that we had an exact “first date”, but the first outing as a couple was to Knott’s Scary Farm.

Who is more jealous?
She is…not going to touch that one with a ten foot pole though.

How long did it take to get serious?
Not sure exactly how long, but she essentially moved in with me after the first couple months.  For a while there she would just be at my apartment until the early hours of the morning.

Who eats more?
Depends on the day, but overall probably me.

Who does the laundry?
Misty does most of the laundry, probably because she ALWAYS has to do it because of the babies.

Who’s better with the computer?
I am, though there are times she knows her way around things better than I.

Who drives when you are together?
Usually me, but after we separated and then got back together I noticed that she tends to drive more often since while we were separated if I was riding with her in her car she would drive.

And because I hate meme’s on blogs most of the time I am not going to tag anyone else for this particular one.

You Hang With Gypsies and Something’s Bound To Happen

Filed Under (Life) by Mike Wilton on 21-01-2009

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Over the last 6 months or so I’ve been mixing it up with the likes of Mr. David Harry AKA ‘TheGypsy’.  We’ve had some interesting conversations and more recently joined forces to combat the attack of the killer bounce rates.  But apparently camaraderie only goes so far; you see yesterday this fine chap from the great white north tagged me in a meme he got mixed up in. Following his post of 14 things you may not know, that might be interesting and definitely odd, he tagged me and a handful of other internet geeks to tackle the same task. Fortunately for us we were only tagged once and therefore only need to give 7 facts.

So here I am, about to regurgitate 7 things you probably didn’t know about me…

1.  In my lifetime I’ve only ever broken one thing in my body and it wasn’t even a bone.  In the 4th grade I took a line drive to the face while playing softball and broke my nose.  Jammed my nose clear up into my head, they said if it had been any worse it could have killed me.  Fortunately it didn’t and after some minor surgery they were able to tweak it back into place.

2.  It took me 9 years, 5 majors, and 4 schools to finally finish college.  I now have my associates degree in Graphics Design.  I was on my way to completing my BA in Visual Communication, but due to the birth of the twins and some hardships caused by the 14-16 hour days I decided it was best to stop at my AA.

3.  I spent five years of my working life at The House of Mouse, or as you probably know it The Disneyland Resort.  In 2001 I was hired on as a ride operator to help aid in the opening of Disney’s California Adventure.  For the next five years the Walt Disney Company would teach me a lot about what I know in regards to customer service and how going the extra mile for your customers really makes a HUGE difference.  During that five years I climbed the chain of command and gained a ton of attractions knowledge before leaving in 2006.  At the end of my career with the resort I could operate 8 attractions, train and  manage 6, and was lucky enough to do walkthroughs of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

4.  This one ties in with the last one.  Because I did walkthroughs of both the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean I have some incredible pictures of both attractions, unlike anything the general public would get. Some pictures include Pirates of the Caribbean with no water in the flume, a pirate animatronic without its outer skin and clothing, and some shots from inside the ballroom of The Haunted Mansion.

Hollywood Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure5.  My body does not take well to the feeling of falling.  While most people probably feel some sort of panic or fear when riding on roller coasters, or rides with sudden drops my body has a very different way of reacting.  My body begins to shake uncontrollably.  While mentally I enjoy attractions like this, my body doesn’t do well with them at all.  Because of this I am usually the guy who will try anything once and depending on how my body reacts I might sit out from that point on.  Disney’s Tower of Terror or Knott’s Berry Farm’s Supreme Scream are two perfect examples of rides I went on once, but will probably never go on again.

6.  I was in a handful of bands during and after high school.  In high school I was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for an alt/grunge band Another Alternative and then after high school I continued the role of lead singer and guitarist in a couple of bands that were similar to the likes of Something Corporate without the piano.  An interesting tidbit on each.  My first band, Another Alternative, recorded our demo with Bob Moon who recorded albums for bands like MxPx and The OC Supertones.  In the later bands I was working with Chris Salomone the younger brother of James Salomone who at the time had just finished as the bassist for ska outfit Rx Bandits.

seo-blocks7.  I didn’t get into SEO…SEO got into me.  I had been building websites for a number of years and was aware of some of the basic principles of SEO, but had never really given SEO much thought in terms of an interest or a career.  It wasn’t until an employer promoted me to their website marketing division that I was thrown into the realm of SEO.  Once introduced I got the fever and have been sucking up everything SEO and internet marketing related that I can.  One sickness lead to another and I am now diving deeper into things like social media and SMM, though my love for SEO is very much still at the helm.

So there you have it 7 things about me you probably never knew and many of you probably never cared to know. But now that we’ve got that out of the way there is one thing that my fine gypsy friend has always emphasized and that’s pay it forward, so since he got me wrapped up in this mess I will do just that.  The following 7 souls have been tagged!

Audrey Seiberling
Anna Bourland
John Jones
Katherine Keller
Kristina Sanchez
Tamar Weinberg
Troy Ready