Five things about me

Buck Hodges tagged me with the blogging game where you are supposed to write five things people would not normally know about you. So here they are:

· I came to the United States from Cuba when I was 14. My father was a political prisoner in Cuba and we were constantly harassed when any anti-Castro event would happen within our street block. The U.S. has a program where if your family is in danger and you were a political prisoner you can apply for a visa to come to United States. We did that, after 3 years the Cuban government finally gave us the ok, and we were able to leave Cuba.

· I play many sports. This one is somewhat cheesy but I decided to put it here in case we meet at a conference and you feel like playing some sport, just know that I am game. If you see me, I am a relatively short guy (5’ 6”) so in my childhood in order not to get beat in games I practiced for coordination and speed. Now that practice has paid off, and I actively play racquetball, tennis, basketball, softball and yes chess.

· I love speed and cars. Ever since the time where we built our own little cars made out of wood and then ride them down a very steep hill I have been in love with speed. If you ask people that I work with they will tell you that I sometimes I drive like a maniac, I say is usually under control so don’t believe them. My favorite carmaker is Porsche because I think they make amazing cars and their heritage is incredible. I have been fortunate enough to own a 911 Carrera and let me say you won’t be disappointed with that car.

· I want to become a teacher when I retire. If I had not become an engineer, education and teaching would have been my second choice for a career. Since I was small I loved teaching others, I think it probably comes from my mother who was a Spanish teacher for the University of Havana. I remember sitting with her some weekends grading exam papers that her students wrote. She would tell me to look for these types of answers or spelling mistakes and then mark them appropriately- man I loved that. In high school, I was involved in after class tutoring and in college; I led a tutoring club, paid by the university, with a focus on Physics and Math. In the future, I want to teach at every level (middle, high school and college).

· Just like Brian Harry, I also hate coffee in fact almost all hot liquids. I do not like tea, I do not like hot chocolate, but coffee is the worst one for me. I have not analyzed it or gone to the doctor to see if I am allergic but coffee just does not let me breath. My wife on the other hand loves it, and usually has a cappuccino every morning.

I hope that you found some of this interesting and learned a bit more about me. I was going to tag people at work but they all have been tagged so I guess I will look for others outside MS and see if they can keep this going.