I thought I’d throw you 8 somewhat random info chunks about Vern that you probably didn’t know…

8. I drove in the Presidential motorcade in Hawaii on H-1 freeway! Yes, I was in charge of Hickam Air Force Base’s Details program and I volunteered for that detail myself. I drove Ronald and Nancy Reagans’ personal secretaries and 2 other members of the staff in a limousine from Hickam AFB and to their hotel in Waikiki. I also drove various dignitaries to places around Honolulu as needed.

7. One time when I was 13 I was hunting deer in the deep woods in Pennsylvania with two uncles that left me in one spot from 4:30 am. until after 6 pm. I had some crackers and a handwarmer that you light to keep warm that lasted for 15 minutes. The temperature was 18 degrees F and the wind was blowing pretty much all day. I have an intense dislike of even moderately cold temperatures to this day. GO FIGURE! Ha!

6. One time my friend and I caught a poisonous baby copperhead snake and brought it to my house where we promptly lost it in the tall grass.

5. My favorite foods in the world are many… Best of the best?

Italian bread - dry or with butter; Pizza; Tom Yum Pla-Meuk (Spicy Sour Thai soup with squid); Thick Pretzel rods from a factory in Pittsburgh; Ahi Poke with Shoyu (Raw chunks of Tuna with raw Maui Onions, garlic, chili water, Aloha Soy Sauce (shoyu), and some other spices; Vietnamese Rice Cake with Coconut Syrup; Vietnamese Spring Rolls (not fried); 1/4 lb of raw pepperoni - just a stick to chew on; Tandoori chicken; Indian Nan bread; Baked (by me) fish: snook, redfish, sheepshead, snapper, grouper, mahi-mahi (dolphin but not “Flipper” kind); Mom’s Pierogis (Polish origin); Grandma’s Chicken Soup… I could write all day. Can you tell I’ve been in Thailand for nearly 3 years and going through withdrawals?

4 . When I was about 10 years old I had cheated on my music exam and my music teacher called to speak with my mother that night. I picked up the phone and faked like I had my mother pick up the phone in the upstairs but instead I faked the conversation and pretended to be my mother! The music teacher was none-the-wiser!

3. I had about 30 warts covering my left and right knees as I was growing up. Kids made fun of me for years and I developed quite a complex about wearing shorts. Now that they’re gone (applied banana peels at about age 14, if you can believe that) I hate to be caught wearing ANYTHING but shorts when not working and sometimes when working.

2. My favorite job ever in my life was working at an elderly care home in Pennsylvania… Duties included changing bedpans, soiled sheets, colostomy bags and other “horrible” things, but none of it bothered me.

1. I had the coolest little pocket Chihuahua named “Mango” about 7 years ago. I let him out to do his business at midnight and watched him for a bit, then someone pulled up to the apartment complex and I was outside in my underwear so I ran in to grab shorts. I was back outside in 20 seconds. Mango disappeared in that time. My guess is one of two evils happened… the alligator in the canal next to the parking lot got him, or the huge owl picked him up in one silent swoop. The girl that pulled up to the building looked with me for a couple hours, but Mango was nowhere to be found!

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