Another Meme Tag ... this time by the unsinkable Utah Savage! Never fear, I will get her for this, sometime somewhere when she least expects it. In the meantime, it's a pretty good way to pass the hours until the OR & KY primaries tomorrow.1. What was I doing ten years ago? In 1998, I was ... Working long hours, many weekends in my construction-related biz. Not paying enough attention to myself. Spending too much time stuck in gridlock, swearing at people who persisted in pissing me off (hint: everyone ahead of me on the road). On Sundays, hub & I tended our organic avocado grove (this was therapeutic, certainly not a profit-earning venture). Thinking all the "interesting" times were in the past (boy, was I wrong)!
2. Five things on today's To-Do List. I no longer do to-do lists. Here are five "highlights" of what I did today: First, I woke up (hey, don't knock it; someday I won't wake up). Second, I closed all the windows so the house would stay cool for as long as possible since temps were expected to hit 105 today. Third, I met with an architect to review my latest home design (more about that some other time). Fourth, I returned a Library book, Homo Politicus by Dana Milbank (a good read). Fifth, I noticed the temps were 108-degrees, time to go home & clip the dog's nails as well as my own -- actually my car said the temp was 118, but it is always 10-degrees off.
3. Things I'd do if I were a Billionaire. Now I must assume, by the way this is worded, that my "billionaire" status is an ongoing thing, not a recent lottery jackpot, nouveau-riche thing. Well, I'd spend plenty of time managing my billionaire foundation set up to do good works all over the world. I would concentrate on what would help make things better TODAY, not years/decades from now. I want immediate results for my money!
I would have self-sustaining homes, using off-the-grid technology, in places like France, Australia, Switzerland, Hawaii and Antigua. When I was not "in residence", these homes would be available for local university students to study what "self-sustaining" means.
I'd reserve exclusive luxury space on the first commercially available round-trip to the moon. If I liked the trip, I'd buy property on Mars and set up a Biosphere Colony.
I might finally get my anthropology/paleontology degree; then as global warming melts Antarctica, I'd fund & participate in an archeology project to hunt for evidence of pre-ice age man down there. I have a theory that we've been through all this before.
I would sponsor a yearly gathering of the Blogger Tribes, all expenses paid for a fun-filled lost weekend somewhere. Is Ted Turner's Montana Wildlife Preserve/Ranch for sale? We could have a Blogger Retreat there! No hunters allowed.
Finally, I'd pay someone to exercise my body for me while I consume spaghetti and haagen-daz and meditate on the cosmic zipper. I'm sure enough money would make this feasible. I hate to exercise!
4. Three bad habits? A) I am too detailed -- no detail is too small for my small brain to latch on to. B) I am too linear -- if things don't follow my own contrived sequence, I try to force them, often with disasterous results. C) I relate everything to myself -- it can't be all about me (can it?)!
5. Five places I have lived:
San Diego (sun, surf, avocados, what's not to like?)
Spokane WA (holy shit, 52" of snow & white supremecists hiding in the hills)
Hollywood CA (briefly in the 60's, my first non-desert experience)
Palm Springs CA (I liked it; husband hated it)
Las Vegas NV (in the 1950's-60's, not the same las Vegas as today; read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson, for the truth about my final year there, searching for the American Dream)
6. Five Jobs I've held: (I think these are all the same job, really)
Self-Employed, small biz, 25+yrs in construction.
CFO for an Exporter of Comm Equip in the pre-cell phone era (don't ask me too much about Central America).
Accountant (this is my "skill", such as it is).
Waitress (I lasted 2 weeks; quit when I couldn't force myself to be pleasant any longer; I'm sure I would've been fired soon).
Babysitting (don't laugh; this paid for all my clothes & entertainment during Jr High/High School; little kids loved "the redhead with the metal mouth").
Finally, I am supposed to tag five unsuspecting bloggers with this meme. OK, here they are, but I will be surprised if any of them do it:
1. Dada's Dally
2. Grubstreet Journal
3. Enigma Watergate Summer
4. EProf2
5. whoever the hell else reads this and wants to play!
Answer the same questions on your own blog and let the meme grow... or not, it's up to you. I had fun with it and wonder if you really learned anything you did not know.
22 comments:
Aren't you the fast acting player. And a very good job you did. This is the kind of meme I like since it makes us reveal the details we never think of saying about ourselves. My favorite part of this was the billionaire question.
UT S: I was just going to head over & tell you I did it! yeah, the billionaire club, where do I sign up?
I loved reading everyone;s Billionaire part...that is the best part...although the WHAT people used to do is always so interesting.....it's like hidden super hero talents...
Enigma:
you always say the nicest things! I doubt that "accountants" make many people's hidden super hero list. maybe if they save them a few billion bucks at tax time ...
Well, I now know two reds who I can hire to spend my $billions :)
oh sure there friend..we are ready ;-)
( DK - think we can share ..hehe..) DK..think about it..people that work with Money and Numbers are superheros to me...I admire them..up there with scientists...
( I have to admit the Money part of this meme was a blast- I must have gone back 5 times and added stuff- I got Greedy about what I wanted to give ;-)
You're right, we must have worked at the same restaurant. Yikes. This one is kind of fun.
Reluctantly I accepted your challenge. After all, the only ones who come to my blog probably know most, if not all, about me already.
Cart, you are a good bloke for playing along. I read yours late last night & will be back today to comment. You bring a much-needed international component!
Oh, and please send Enigma & I $1Billion, in this self-addressed return envelope, so we can proceed to spend it. Cashier's Check will be fine.
Diva:
Did your waitress experience involve night-shift vegas blackjack dealers?
EProf:
Don't say "reluctant" if you had some fun! At least I hope it was fun, wasn't it? So far, Dada is the hold-out ... so I am hinting for Mrs. Dada to take the challenge.
Why are men the ones most reluctant to engage in the meme? except for Randal and Unconventional Cconventionist. I really like the idea of the bloggers retreat.
Savage, I can't (won't) talk for men, but I find it difficult to engage in this sort of analysis.
I suspect it is because I am my harshest critic and find it difficult to avoid revealing parts of my nature I'd rather were left in the shadows.
DK, absolutely not. The first job, I worked the lunch shift at a golf-course restaurant and dealt with men wearing bad plaid pants. I was in high-school. The second time, I was working the lunch shift at a place frequented by venture capitalists. Apparently, they did not like my hippie attire.
UT S: I don't know, maybe it is like Cart says, they want to be more shadowy? Or there's always the old verbal vs mechanical brain argument (female vs male brain). Gads, I sure hope it doesn't cause brain meltdown for 'em to come out of the shadows.
Cart: you did fine, keeping the correct amount of shadowiness. maybe that is testament to your writing ability?
Dvia:
LOL! I also worked a country club golf course, not as a waitress, but as the person the waitresses had to turn all their check tabs into. Those waitresses worked very hard to keep the plaid-panted, pink-sweatered, tam-hatted duffers happy, most of whom were cheap tippers (unless they were sneaking the waitresses cash)!
The restaurant I tried waitressing at was a health food place, open all night to catch the vegas night-shift people who were tired of casino burgers. The owner had bought an old church downtown & named it The Church of Nutritional Science (trying for a tax break which I had to tell him probably wouldn't fly). Even though we got more than our share of downenouters & neverwuzzers, not to mention the odd vampire crowd, it still wouldn't fly for a religious exemption unless we gave away the food. The owner probably thought I was an IRS spy.
DK I still feel I revealed more than I normally would. Not that anyone would notice I guess, except for me.
Cart, if you are really uncomfortable with it, take it down after a few days. I hope you won't, because we all need to see each other more as real people, not just virtual words on the computer screen. But that is your call.
"if you are really uncomfortable with it, take it down after a few days." I might feel uncomfortable, but not cowardly :) It went up, it stays up.
But there are still far more engaging subjects that me...
well cart, engaging is in the eye of the engaged. I know you are not cowardly. No Tasman could be!
I love your billionaire section. So well thought out! The blogger get together- how fun would that be!
The Church of Nutritional Science? Will religion never cease?
Mary:
the best part about the blogger gathering is, we wouldn't even really need a $billion to do it!
Diva:
It was about the most spurious reason I've ever seen for a religious exemption. They actually used the old altar area for the kitchen passthru, where the waitresses picked up the food. Like we were bringin out the holy loaves & fishes. There were menu items like "Ave Maria Avocado & Sprout Sandwich" and "Saintly Succotash", etc. The booths were all pews (very uncomforable). well, you get the idea. What can I say? I was young & weird.
D. K. I miss your visits. We now seem comfortably ensconced at your place. And you are a lovely hostess. Maybe you are our blogger retreat.
UT S: I will be back around this weekend after my houseguests are safely gone. I would LOVE to do a blogger retreat. It would be nothing like the KOS convention. More like a big outdoor picnic with lots of good food, good wine and good fun!
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