Hey all! I'm a 2009 graduate of VT with a degree in Marketing Management. I'm a native Richmonder living in Roanoke post graduation. I also spend a good chunk of time at our house at Lake Norman.
I expect Q's about my moniker so I'll just leave to myself for now.
I'm a pretty avid sports fan, usually VT holds the top spot for most of my emotional investment though.
I have 2 daughters (4 and 21 months) and my youngest has had a pretty interesting medical journey to get to where she is now, but all is good.
Hobbies are usually anything involving exercise, sports, or the outoors. But I am prone to hunker down in the basement and play computer games.
I work for Feds at the moment, but will be going back to the State where I already have 12 years of service. I was pretty active in the volunteer capacity before my kids, but have done many events in the Roanoke area to raise money for Center in the Square.
I'm always looking for good TV shows or movies to watch, so please be generous with suggestions.
Keep in mind I'm at the beach this week and then I'll be going to the North Carolina Highlands for a wedding. So I will try to answer as quickly as I can and as drunk as I can. Looking forward to trying to get to know you folks better.
P.S. : I love gifs, so don't be surprised if I respond back with a lot.
Comments
was SaladHokie's appearance actually your drunk brother or was it really just blackout drunk you
I will in fact divulge my secret... But I can't bust my load in my first AMA on the very first question. That would be the shortest AMA ever.
of all of the ways to describe that, this is definitely one of them i guess
What was the most influential video game of your childhood?
Playing any Tears of the Kingdom?
I very much want to, but I haven't.
I don't have tons of free time with the kids and all and I don't like playing games like that 10-15 minutes at a time.
I played BOTW on paternity leave and that was great cuz I could play all day while my baby slept or laid there.
It definitely makes it tough. I had one between BOTW and TOTK and it is really making progress slow. My paternity leave game was Nier: Automata.
Best hidden food spot in Roanoke?
Beat meal you've ever had?
Best at home meal you (or wife) like to cook for special occasions?
Hidden food spot in Roanoke.... Used to be one of two lunch joints I used to frequent before COVID. There was a euro joint in the market building that was like a Greek Chipotle which had amazing portions and was cheap. Then it was The Salad Factory up near where Paul's is.... Both went out due to COVID.
At the moment I would say the best hidden spot might be Luigi's Italian Restaurant. A little hole in the wall, family owned place with a a good story dating back to the 40s I think.
Best meal I've ever had was last October, we went to Frankie Rowlands to have a Trifecta Celebration of my birthday, new job, and our Anniversary. I got a 40oz Wagyu Tomahawk Steak and then a bunch of their sides. It was so delicious, but I'm afraid it has ruined steak for the rest of my life. I did save half so I could experience it again the next night though.
Special occasion meal, we rarely cook holiday meals because her family usually hosts, but the last time we did Thanksgiving at our house we made a bomb ass turkey using a recipe from a Gordon Ramsay video on YouTube.... But for Christmas, I think we started the tradition this year of preparing Beef Tenderloin.
First concert?
Best concert?
Movie you've seen the most times?
Album you've listened to back to front the most times?
First concert... By technicality it would be Pat McGee Band in downtown Richmond somewhere because I was 18 and my brother needed a DD.
First large scale concert would be Dave Matthews Band in Charlottesville in 2006.
Best concert is tough, I've seen Dave many times which is always good, but I randomly saw Maroon 5 at the Greenbrier with front row pit tickets. I went in not even liking the band but was pretty astounded how good they were. So to have negative expectations going in to what I left with, I'll say that was the best.
Forrest Gump by far is the movie I've seen the most. I know it backwards and forwards.
Album I've listened to the most front to back is Hybrid Theory. I'm a huge Linkin Park fan, unfortunately never got to see them live.
Forrest Gump is also my answer to that question.
Soundtrack to your life?
Favorite soup?
Most trouble you and SaladHokie have gotten into?
Let me drink more and maybe smoke some to get in my feels
If you don't have an answer, post another message so I see it as a reminder.
What are you drinking?
What are you smoking?
I'm rotating between flower, Delta 9 pens, and/or gummies
My wife's cousin brings a party platter with him, so we have the option of traditional mari-j, e-pens with a Delta 9 variant (which is a lot easier in my opinion), and gummy options with varying amounts cooked in.
So when the kids go down we have a little fun and try to make the family meals taste a little better.
I think he was more concerned that you were SMOKING gummies.
I'm willing to experiment
I'm old school and stick with just flower in glass. The concentrates just are too much all at once for me.
Whatcha smokin?
Soundtrack to my life is hard to answer cuz I feel like it would be a mixed tape of a lot of different things. But if I had to choose, any of those Linkin Park albums were/are repeat a lot during my life.
I don't actually like soup all that much but a French onion or a broccoli cheddar usually isn't too bad.
I can't say it ever lead to trouble, but he was a senior while I was a freshman and he had a lifted jeep which we would take all over campus, off roading through the apartment complexes, etc.
Outside of that, it might've been something super low scale when we were young.
SoupHokie09--
What's wrong here?
I don't believe food should be drank. But in my older years I notice I will divulge more often because my wife will crock pot some in the winter.
Have you watched the Peripheral on Amazon Prime (if not, you should)
Scenario: TKP (or a small subset thereof) is coming over for dinner. What are you serving?
I haven't. What's the premise?
I like to think we'd be grilling out watching a game in the backyard, so I'm gonna go with steaks, potatoes, steamed broccoli and drinks of sorts.
In the not-too-distant future, Flynne (Chloë Grace Moretz) is struggling financially due to medical bills. Her brother (Jack Reynor) is contacted by a mysterious company to trial a new VR game for a financial reward. As the superior gamer, Flynne takes her brother's place in the trial but soon realizes this new simulation is more than a game.
Tried to keep it non-spoilery. It takes place in North Carolina and the town it is set in really has the right feel for an NC town if you like that kind of setting. Does great job of teasing out hints as to what is going on as the show goes on. Based on William Gibson's novel of the same name but differs a great deal from the novel. I actually prefer the show in this one (which almost never happens).
I'll give it a go when I start doing cardio again. I find Chloe to be a babe, so it shouldn't be hard to keep my attention.
Since you mentioned the interesting medical journey for the little cup of soup, is this something you are willing to share? I am glad to hear everything is good now...
We also had a crazy medical journey getting MiniLancerHokie....
I am so thankful we are in a spot of the world with outstanding children's care all around. My 20 year old went to Hopkins every week for 2.5 years. And we almost had to take our daughter to AI Dupont when she was born. We went to the Philly Zoo (repetitive?) yesterday and they had a family day for CHOPS there. Warmed my heart to see so many happy faces lit up seeing the animals and enjoying a nice day at the zoo.
My smallest was born without a connected esophagus from mouth to stomach. So we had a 3 month NICU stay with a few surgeries to reroute the esophagus she did have, let her grow to the point where we could connect it mouth to stomach. the procedure we did used magnets (one from her mouth down and the other one through her g tube up) which made her the 52nd child in the world (first in Roanoke).
Long story short. She got connected, we had to dilate it able 10 times, each procedure requiring an over night stay, but she is anatomically correct now and just has a long way ahead of her to learn to eat and swallow normally.
Being in the NICU so long also caused several development limitations as well, so we have spent the past 18 months working with her to learn the normal infant/toddler development milestones.
That's terrifying, but also modern medicine is amazing. How's she moving along with the remaining milestones?
That's rough. I'm sorry you and your family had to go through that. You are actually the second family that I know of recently to go through that type of issue with a little one. Glad everything is good now. Hopefully she continues to grow and thrive and become amazing.
She's doing well, she just got a late start because she had no muscle development laying in a bed for 3 months, then she always had to be strapped in laying at an angle for 6 months+ after that.
But she's doing well, almost walking on her own now, learning to eat certain foods and we're working on that mostly now so we can get her fully eating orally and then once that happens we can remove her gtube.
I'm glad to hear that. You know she's going to grow up to be a little spitfire right?
She already is
that must have been terrifying! Thank you for sharing. Very humbling
We knew pre birth there was a problem so it was nice to know to redirect something.
The first few weeks were the toughest because with this condition, usually there's catastrophic heart defects, brain defects, kidney problems, and learning disabilities. After we systematically ruled out all these problems, it was very easy to accept that her issue will get fixed, she'll grow up to be a normal kid, and there was no immediate risk of death; it was easier to leave the NICU and go home at night and not feel terrible.
We call our little girl our dragon slayer. Godspeed and glad to her everyone is progressing well.
Damn. My nephew was born 10 weeks premature with a very similar esophageal issue. Roughly the same length NICU stay, too. Good news is that he's a normal, rambunctious 16-year-old now, and other than being a little undersized you'd never know he almost didn't make it. Here's to hoping for the same outcome for your kiddo!
So glad to hear that your little one is doing better. As others have said, modern medicine is amazing, and the doctors and nurses of the NICU are the best of the best. Our little one spent 55 days in the NICU and to see him now, you'd never know it; he's 7, going on 17! God bless you and your family.
My niece was born at 24-25 weeks back in the late 1980s and weighed just a tad over two pounds and was the size of a palm of a hand. They didn't have "premie" clothes back then so they used Cabbage Patch Doll clothes and diapers. She was in the ICU for 3 months but is now a healthy 30-something mom of two. So yes thank God for the neo-natal specialists.
Mentally prepare yourself for this to take years. A speech therapist can help, but the most effective thing may be peer example - being around other daycare/pre-K kids who are eating snacks is a powerful thing.
You may find yourself dilating again, too. Scar tissue at the junction can cause the stenosis to tighten up again.
Don't freak out about this part, though. Little kids develop unevenly anyway, she'll catch up super fast. When she's in elementary school, no one will know whether she was walking at 10 months or 30 months, it just won't matter.
Oh we know.. we have a speech therapist that comes to the house every two weeks to work with her. We know she won't be fully eating without gtube assistance for years, so our goal is to just have her eating like a normal kid by the time she goes to kindergarten.
We have our esophagram next Wednesday, so that'll help show us where we stand. But, we're familiar with the dilations and how they reconstruct, that's why they gave her so many early on, to try to get her esophagus stretched out past the point where it would constrict down and cause problems. But my wife is very concerned about future "stuckies".
It'll happen. It sucks. But if it's really really stuck and she can't spit it up or swallow it down, and it's a weekend, consider waiting until Monday morning before going to the ER. Sometimes it'll work through overnight, and you probably don't want whatever resident is stuck with the Sunday shift. You still have the option of enteral feeding to nourish her through the weekend.
Ice cream was really good gateway food. Frozen solid, she can practice chewing and swallowing, but any blockage clears in minutes.
When it happens, it can happen like a light switch. One day she will only nibble a little bit of cheese, and the next she's eating everything in sight and loves everything.
What is your general parenting philosophy? Have you found that it has changed at all (if so, how?) given everything you've been through with the second child?
What is your favorite non-VT sports team to root for?
When they're in the potato stage of infancy..... treat them like an accessory. I didn't want kids to keep us from doing things we liked to do. So many people would be surprised to see us out and about with kids and really it's not that hard.
When they're older in the toddler stage, just treat them like an equal, have fun, dumb things down so they can understand why you might be being a meanie, offer compromises, sometimes let them fail to learn how it feels and then instill my wisdom on them.
My wife and I did the same thing during the "door stop" phase. On more than one occasion middle aged parents bought us dinner and/or beer because they thought it was so "cool" to see new parents out doing stuff with their baby and not staying in like they did.
Favorite non VT team is definitely the Atlanta Braves
CHOP ON, MY FRIEND!
I am the most emotionally stable sports fan (my wife says I show no emotion, ever), but when this HR happened I almost jumped through my living room ceiling
I got to go to the first WS game in 2021. Best sporting event atmosphere + general vibes I've ever been a part of. Absolute magic in the air.
most hated NL East foe?
Probably the Mets at the moment since they've been trying to buy a championship.
Don't think there is much to worry about the Mets. Too old and injury-prone. Phillies should be the better team.
The Nats will be good again in 2 years, so maybe then the Braves/Nats rivalry can be rekindled.
What is your favorite movie, and why is it Cool Hand Luke?
What is the dumbest thing you've ever done?
Whats the nicest thing you have ever done?
What's your favorite sound?
Whats the oddest/strangest thing you have ever seen happen, where you literally said to yourself: 'I cant believe that just happened right in front of me?
If you could remove one thing from existence in the world, what would be? It could be a person past or present, a thing, an emotion, .....anything.
Cool Hand Luke.... Because you said so.
Dumbest thing I've ever done.... Might be get drunk at Richmond International Airport and all of the flights to Boston got cancelled. So the only way to make it to Boston was to drive to Raleigh for a flight. So me and this other guy I met at the airport bar, I drive us to Raleigh for a flight the next morning. I stayed with friends, he got a hotel, but it was a very "Due Date" like adventure.
Nicest thing I've ever done might be my non profit work I think I helped lead a team to raise and donate over 100k.
Favorite sound is my kids' voices/laughter.
Craziest thing to happen to me/see might be fishing off Cape Cod and having humpbacks coming up to the boat and breaching next to us. When they come to the surface and look at you, you can really tell they're thinking.
Eliminating one thing in the world, I would say maybe violence towards undeserving / innocent people.
Beach/drinking break. I'll be back in a little.
What is your favorite beach drink?
My wife's family is very "get out early, stay out all day, come back inside when the sun is down" while at the beach. So I have found that making about a half gallon container of vodka soda with whatever mio flavor works best for me. Drinking beer all day makes me feel terrible so that's usually what I try to do on the beach.
Beach themed drink though... I usually get pretty sloppy on Orange Crushes at Waterman's in VA beach when I go for work.
Miami Vices from El Rods on Main St in Blacksburg was always great too.
That's not a bad idea, might give it a go soon...I typically load a cooler up with a session IPA
I see you're not declared team pie or team cake- care to tell us why, and what are your favorites for each?
His profile says he's cake....
Shit I think I'm going blind.
Cake all the way. Especially with the new lingo these kids have these days, cuz I'm def a cake guy there too.
I'm a big chocolate guy so anything involving that and I'm sold. German chocolate done right is hard to beat
Chocolate Chess Pie would like a word.
I like pie, but cake is just superior... Pie can get too mushy for me.
surprised I had not seen this gif in this thread yet, perfect time to use it
I drop this quote in COD all the time when scrubs think they got me and then they don't got me...
What other sports/leagues/teams do you follow/support?
If you drink bourbon, what are your top three favorites?
What are you reading at the moment?
If you could erase one other school from existence, which one and why?
NHL - Washington Capitals
Golf - no one particular
I get very into anything Olympics/ World Cup United States team related.
NBA - no real team, but I'll follow it.
NFL - I'm being forced to be a Panthers fan, but I would say I'm a casual Washington fan due to proximity of where I grew up. I usually always root for Seattle or Pittsburgh if they're on due to family ties and VT players.
I like bourbon, but I don't know enough about bourbons. I don't drink much unless it's a special occasion or we're out with friends, so I drink whatever bourbon my friend have on the shelf. I do keep Buffalo Trace at my house so I guess I'd go with that.
I don't read much because my job is mostly reading involved, but I'm listening through "Washington: A Life" for a second time. I'm big into the Revolutionary War and George Washington.
I'm also big into podcasts, so any good ones, drop below.
If I had to erase one school from existence.... I might go with Hogwarts. I don't trust them over time to not become dark and genocide muggles.
I got lots of recs. What type of pods do you like?
Hey bar1990 you are up for the AMA....
Man people are curious about me lol
Favorite kiddie lit?
I can make suggestions if you would like.
Oh man, we read a bunch of random stuff our babysitter will buy from the goodwill, we are recycling all the old Sandra Boynton books from my first daughter being small, and a lot of Disney themed stuff for my 4 year old.
Mo Willems is always a fun time. The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. Peanut Butter and Cupcake.
All hail Mo!!! Leg.
Mo is awesome! You gotta love The Pigeon and Piggie and Gerald.
Fun facts: Did you know Mo created Elmo on Sesame Street and Elephant Gerald is a play on Ella Fitzgerald?
If you pur soup in a glass and drink it, is it a beverage?
I would say yes, the vessel shouldn't dictate whether it's still a food or not.
Reminds me of an intro to a song "May I get a bowl of fruit cocktail and a glass of chili."
Thanks for participating Soup!
I was a little disjointed due to vacation, but I'm hoping for more quality questions.
Favorite vacation?
Favorite vacation location?
Dream vacation?
Favorite vacation is probably my wife's families beach week at Litchfield. Mostly because I know it's something to look forward to every year. A close second is my annual golf trip to Myrtle.
Favorite vacation location is tough between Switzerland and Prague.
Dream vacation I think is to just tour all of the places in Europe in one long, relaxing trip.
Whats the one thing you most want to be remembered for?
SaladHokie's TKP debut, I hope.
When I'm gone, I want people to associate me with positive impressions and making people laugh.
Favorite golf course you have played?
Lowest round?
Bucket list course you haven't played, yet?
Unfortunately, I don't get to play too many well known or fancy courses, but my favorite course might be The Heritage down at Pawleys Island
Lowest round was a 76
Bucket list course would probably be Augusta.
Love Heritage!!!! Played in a 2-man event last summer down there. Completely different course than when we typically play it in March. Greens were hard and fast. And got to play w some assirants from MB and mini-tour guys from the Carolinas.
If you could have lunch with 5 people from tkp, but it has to be all at once, who would it be?
A new fast food restaurant with a drive-thru is being built near you. What do you want it to be?
Ordering a flight of beers to check out a new brewery. Options are Lager, Whit, NEIPA, West Coast IPA, Pastry stout, pastry sour, flemish sour, english brown. Which four do you get?
A drive through serving beer flights? This sounds like a Southern Maryland thing, except too classy.
Gotta go a little farther South to the Outer Banks of NC
Wishing I was there... but alas vacation is still 2 months away.
Drive thru beer stores are popular in SoMd...
And actually have one where I live now too in lower DE.
OBX franchised it and capitalized on the marketing.
I would go with Chick Fil A or Taco Bell.
4 beers in a flight would be lager, stout, whit, and brown ale. I'm not much for IPAs, they don't agree with me.
Almost the same for me, lager, red ale, brown ale or porter, stout
Are you homemade, fresh ingredients soup. Or like a food service product out of a bag, or can?
I can clean up pots of homemade soup.
I'm all natural, home grown, prepared soup.
I was a big lifter through high school and during/after college to the point people joked I was roiding, so I take pride in the all natural approach.