Cap'n PA gets himself tagged, despite competing for Miva status
Four Jobs I’ve Held In My Life:
1. Soda Jerk for a historical park (under the Topeka Parks and Recreation Department) – the first job where I had to undergo criminal background checks and drug testing, but working in a store that sells only soft-drinks and ice-cream treats (all personally made), leaves one with the indispensable skill of knowing how to make ideal ice cream sodas (fie on those who only simulate the real thing with floats!).
2. “Bee-Wise, Immunize” bee/data entry specialist for the Kansas Bureau of Immunizations – I never hated bees until I had to wear a gigantic foam bee head at a county fair.
3. Research Assistant to Dr. John Hefferren at KU – I’ve never hated a job as much as this one. I had to take samples of dog saliva from (very dirty) beagles in the animal testing facility and determine the density of sulfur producing bacteria per mL of dog saliva to determine whether the chemicals we fed to the dogs freshened their breath (yes, Dr. Hefferren was using valuable research money to find a cure to that greatest of human problems: smelly doggy breath). To make sure that the ‘smelliness’ of the dog breath was caused by sulfur, I had to take subjective ratings of smelliness by sticking my nose inside the dogs mouth and taking a whiff. Those subjective ratings were then compared to the bacterial density titers to figure out whether my work was meaningful. I doubt you’ve ever had the inclination to try it, but don’t ever take deep breaths right from under the jowls. Try to the front of the mouth instead. It’s enough to make you gag.
4. Research Assistant to a grad student – Nothing like working for the biggest ass on the planet. He was a graduate student doing a thesis (which I helped him prepare) on tobacco taxes across the United States. You couldn’t dream up a worse boss. The penultimate chauvinist, and once told a student in a class he taught that the student’s home town was a ‘shit-hole.’
Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again and Have:
1. Playing by Heart.
2. American History X
3. The Phantom of the Opera
4. My Fair Lady
Four Places I’ve Lived:
1. Smith Center, Kansas (1981 - 1985)
2. Pratt, Kansas (1985 - 1989)
3. Topeka, Kansas (1989 – 1999, 2004 – present)
4. Lawrence, Kansas (1999-2004)
Shows I Love to Watch:
I’ve got nothing. I don’t ‘make’ time during my week to watch any television, and (aside from the Olympics) probably haven’t watched more than a half-dozen hours of it since before Christmas.
When I was at KU, though, I loved to watch “Emergency Vets” on Animal Planet, though.
Four Websites I Visit Daily (and more than once daily):
1. Bbc.com
2. Sluggy.com
3. Novica.com
4. (surprisingly) skepticsannotatedbible.com
Four Favorite Foods:
1. Giant plate o’tacos
2. Mr. Goodcents, “whole number four on white, American cheese, standard plus mayo, quartered, to go.” (my 13-word order has been used so many times in the past decade that it rolls off my tongue without a thought)
3. Gambino’s “Classic Italian” pizza (pepperoni, Italian sausage, salami, pepperoncini peppers, red onion, “cheese blend,” and parmesan cheese = delicious)
4. Butterscotch Ice-cream Soda with just the right amount of hardened fluff
Four Places I Would Like to Visit:
1. Antarctica
2. Morocco
3. Turkey
4. Syria
There’s just something about the desert and photographs I’ve seen of North Africa and the near-east that fill me with a sense of belonging, like a homesickness for a place I’ve never been. My mother occasionally lets on that she believes in paranormal things like past lives, and periodically, I feel like she might be right. Is it weird that I’ve had dreams where I stood atop a sandy hill staring down at what looks to be an early Middle-Eastern village while my troops (and I knew they were mine) fought with spears and swords to subdue the inhabitants?
Four Places I’d rather be:
1. Snuggled warm in my bed
2. With someone who could look into my eyes and tell me they loved me without looking away or misusing the word ‘love.’
3. Atop my throne, surveying those who have come before me to entreat their lord
4. With my friend, Nik
Four Albums I can’t live without:
1. Milk, Inc., “Closer” (‘November’ = current favorite song anywhere)
2. Dishwalla, “And you think you know what life’s about” (‘Until I wake up’ = great track)
3. Shawn Colvin, “A few small repairs”
4. Live, “Throwing Copper”
(There was supposed to be a ‘tagging’ section here, but I know no other bloggers Mindspewer did not already tag, so I deleted that bit)
1. Soda Jerk for a historical park (under the Topeka Parks and Recreation Department) – the first job where I had to undergo criminal background checks and drug testing, but working in a store that sells only soft-drinks and ice-cream treats (all personally made), leaves one with the indispensable skill of knowing how to make ideal ice cream sodas (fie on those who only simulate the real thing with floats!).
2. “Bee-Wise, Immunize” bee/data entry specialist for the Kansas Bureau of Immunizations – I never hated bees until I had to wear a gigantic foam bee head at a county fair.
3. Research Assistant to Dr. John Hefferren at KU – I’ve never hated a job as much as this one. I had to take samples of dog saliva from (very dirty) beagles in the animal testing facility and determine the density of sulfur producing bacteria per mL of dog saliva to determine whether the chemicals we fed to the dogs freshened their breath (yes, Dr. Hefferren was using valuable research money to find a cure to that greatest of human problems: smelly doggy breath). To make sure that the ‘smelliness’ of the dog breath was caused by sulfur, I had to take subjective ratings of smelliness by sticking my nose inside the dogs mouth and taking a whiff. Those subjective ratings were then compared to the bacterial density titers to figure out whether my work was meaningful. I doubt you’ve ever had the inclination to try it, but don’t ever take deep breaths right from under the jowls. Try to the front of the mouth instead. It’s enough to make you gag.
4. Research Assistant to a grad student – Nothing like working for the biggest ass on the planet. He was a graduate student doing a thesis (which I helped him prepare) on tobacco taxes across the United States. You couldn’t dream up a worse boss. The penultimate chauvinist, and once told a student in a class he taught that the student’s home town was a ‘shit-hole.’
Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again and Have:
1. Playing by Heart.
2. American History X
3. The Phantom of the Opera
4. My Fair Lady
Four Places I’ve Lived:
1. Smith Center, Kansas (1981 - 1985)
2. Pratt, Kansas (1985 - 1989)
3. Topeka, Kansas (1989 – 1999, 2004 – present)
4. Lawrence, Kansas (1999-2004)
Shows I Love to Watch:
I’ve got nothing. I don’t ‘make’ time during my week to watch any television, and (aside from the Olympics) probably haven’t watched more than a half-dozen hours of it since before Christmas.
When I was at KU, though, I loved to watch “Emergency Vets” on Animal Planet, though.
Four Websites I Visit Daily (and more than once daily):
1. Bbc.com
2. Sluggy.com
3. Novica.com
4. (surprisingly) skepticsannotatedbible.com
Four Favorite Foods:
1. Giant plate o’tacos
2. Mr. Goodcents, “whole number four on white, American cheese, standard plus mayo, quartered, to go.” (my 13-word order has been used so many times in the past decade that it rolls off my tongue without a thought)
3. Gambino’s “Classic Italian” pizza (pepperoni, Italian sausage, salami, pepperoncini peppers, red onion, “cheese blend,” and parmesan cheese = delicious)
4. Butterscotch Ice-cream Soda with just the right amount of hardened fluff
Four Places I Would Like to Visit:
1. Antarctica
2. Morocco
3. Turkey
4. Syria
There’s just something about the desert and photographs I’ve seen of North Africa and the near-east that fill me with a sense of belonging, like a homesickness for a place I’ve never been. My mother occasionally lets on that she believes in paranormal things like past lives, and periodically, I feel like she might be right. Is it weird that I’ve had dreams where I stood atop a sandy hill staring down at what looks to be an early Middle-Eastern village while my troops (and I knew they were mine) fought with spears and swords to subdue the inhabitants?
Four Places I’d rather be:
1. Snuggled warm in my bed
2. With someone who could look into my eyes and tell me they loved me without looking away or misusing the word ‘love.’
3. Atop my throne, surveying those who have come before me to entreat their lord
4. With my friend, Nik
Four Albums I can’t live without:
1. Milk, Inc., “Closer” (‘November’ = current favorite song anywhere)
2. Dishwalla, “And you think you know what life’s about” (‘Until I wake up’ = great track)
3. Shawn Colvin, “A few small repairs”
4. Live, “Throwing Copper”
(There was supposed to be a ‘tagging’ section here, but I know no other bloggers Mindspewer did not already tag, so I deleted that bit)
posted by The Academian | 9:39 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, Academian! You sure sound neat. Tell me more!
By what? If it's by the first comment, I waited about a day and a half and then put in one of my own to join the group of comment-havers. MMD and Mindspewer had comments on their little 'lists of fours' so I figured I'd join in.
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