AMA #17: Little Bobby Tables

I'm not really sure what's contained in the spreadsheet entry on me, so I'll just make sure I cover the basics.

- Born in Atlanta in 1970 (I'm 52 now), lived in the Dallas area as a kid, then moved back to Atlanta (Sandy Springs) when I was 8, so any ATL sports interest I have I came by honestly.

- Had never even heard of Virginia Tech prior to my junior year in HS, when dad (a GT alum) suggested I consider it when looking at schools. Visited over spring break and was really impressed with the campus and surrounding area. Still, had housing deposit in for GT when I just on a whim decided I didn't want to go to school 15 minutes from home. Not the best decision financially, but a home run decision in every other way.

- Started math, considered engineering, changed to physics my freshman year. Not a great student (2.045 QCA), took 6 years to graduate due to class failures and sequencing. ADD really took a toll on me the first few years when I was trying to make it meds-free. Eventually graduated, was accepted provisionally to grad school, and got a MS in Physics in 1997, for a total of eight years in Blacksburg.

- Was in the Corps of Cadets and the Highty Tighties my first four years, though only ROTC for the first year (grades, didn't get a three year guarantee picked up). Dcwilson40, Hokie Bird 94, and HTHokie93 and I are buds; we all started in the HTs together. They know a lot of the stories that may or may not come out in this AMA.

- Taught high school physics in Georgia (East Coweta High School) for two years, did some missile defense research in Huntsville for a couple years, then moved back to Virginia to work for the Navy in Dahlgren, where I've been since 2001. Living in King George since 2005. Have done requirements analysis and software testing for the Trident missile system (mainly Fire Control and mission planning software). Was able to watch a test flight once from the launch area support ship, one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

- Played several sports (tennis, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf) at least once in my life, was never really good at most of them. I'm obviously a fan of Virginia Tech sports (IS THAT NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE). Have been a Braves fan since the early 80s, the Dale Murphy / Bruce Benedict / Bob Horner / Glenn Hubbard era. Been increasing in interest in NFL recently, mainly due to the field tilting / increasing lack of parity in college football, but unfortunately am a Falcons fan, so yeah. Painful. Have been getting into F1 recently (¡Vamos Checo!), mostly due to the Netflix show. Loving the physics involved. Always looking for more long-form (not video) F1 content.

- Met my wife in 2007 playing World of Warcraft, which I'd started playing that year and played up until last year. Married in 2008, and have two girls, 13 and 10. My oldest is going into high school (!!!) this fall, and sings chorus, was selected into District chorus last year her first year singing, and will be in select chorus as a freshman. At current, she wants to study bioengineering (e.g. developing plants that give greater crop yields, her idea, I don't even know if that's something that hasn't been solved yet). My youngest has not yet found her niche, but is participating in the District 15 8-10yo softball tournament right now (King George is in the finals); she has her father's athletic ability though, so is a late-inning defensive replacement in right field, IYKWIM.

- Have been riding a motorcycle for the past four years, took my first multiday trip last week, you know most of the details from the crowdsourcing eats thread. Watched Orioles, Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets home games on five consecutive days, and man is my ass sore. From the bike. ;^)

- Played golf off and on since I was about 23, hit a hole in one at 25 (#7, Draper Valley), and that burns my father up who's been playing since he was nine and hasn't done that yet. I never really played enough to get good, hitting under 100 is a good day for me. Haven't played since the pandemic hit, been doing other things in my spare time (see previous paragraph).

- Been having some health issues since getting near my 50s, mainly gout and more recently, diabetes (type 2). Lost a good bit of weight before it was diagnosed, and some more after stabilizing. Everything is managed now, and I'm 80 lbs lighter than my heaviest in Jan '22, but some days I'm just too impulsive (see: ADD) to keep with the low carb diet 100%. (Not keto-low, but low nonetheless.)

- Currently have an obsession with hot sauces. I've spent waaay too much at https://heatonist.com/ over the past two years. I put something on breakfast (usually a couple frozen egg/cheese/meat frittata-like thingies) every morning. I usually go to the garlicky or fruity kinds, not too too hot, maybe max out at a 6/10 for regular usage, though I have done the Last Dab from Hot Ones. Current go-tos are Heartbeat's Pineapple Habanero, Hot Ones Garlic Fresno and Chili Maple, Zesti's Garlic Parm XXXHot (which is medium heat at best, the regular has zero heat), and Butterfly's Maple Wood Smoked Onion. I will never try Da Bomb. Not gonna happen. Nope.

Fire away.