Five facts from Fritz

I've been tagged, so I'm privileged to give five random facts about myself. I'm short on time so I'll be quick.

1. I was the last kid in the neighborhood to learn to ride a bike! I lived in San Diego, California, I was seven years old and I couldn't ride a bike. My younger brother taught me how to ride.
   
   
2. My very earliest memory is that of my father returning home from the Vietnam war. I was three years old and distinctly remember sitting in an upstairs room of my grandmother's ryokan (Japanese inn) when I saw a taxi pull up with my dad inside.
   
   
3. As you can infer from Random Fact Number 2, I'm half Japanese. The only place I've had problems with overt racism was in Omaha, Nebraska. I was in kindergarten and older kids regularly called me names and shouted at me to "Go back to China!" My usual clever retort was "I'm not Chinese, I'm Japanese." That's when they'd laugh and push me down. I hated school. I still don't care to visit the U.S. Midwest.
   
   
4. 2001 was a year of disasters for me. My house burned down, my favorite puppy was killed by a car in the aftermath, a devastating tornado then wiped out much of my town, medical bills for my daughter's birth defect were piling up, I lost my job, 9/11 happened, and I ended up moving out of the state for a new job. In all the chaos, I somehow never got around to filing my 2000 income taxes. I remember now that I filed the extension, thinking I'd get to it later but then I forgot all about it. The IRS got around to reminding me about eight weeks ago, with a friendly letter saying by their calculations I owe at least $40,000 in back taxes, fines, penalties and interest.
   
   
5. I preach tolerance and diversity on Cyclelicious, but in reality I'm a bike snob. I'm loathe to touch anything besides a reasonable quality road bike.

Who can I pick that's a little different?

• Jason in Rochester, NY.
  
• Ultra Rob in Colorado.
  
• Noah in Kansas City.
  
• Mike in St. Albans, England.
  
• Grant in Prague.