5 Random Questions

Natalie did a meme a few days back where she had been asked 5 random questions and offered to ask 5 questions of anyone else who wanted them. I responded I'd like to do it and she complied. Following are those 5 questions and answers.


1. What is the worst job you ever had and why?


In my close to 30 years of working I've really only had a handful of jobs. I started working at the age 8 when I helped my brothers with their paper routes. I didn't do it every day but I did it at least 2 to 3 times a week. By the age of 10 I had taken over one of them for myself. I did the typical babysitting too. For the summer of '85 I worked in Wisconsin Dells as a bus person. My next one was at a Stuckey's, you know the place - Home of the Pecan Log Roll. Then as the salad bar preparer at a grocery store. Then I got my first office job when I was a couple months shy of my 21st birthday. I've been in the office ever since. Mainly doing the same things which would be a mixture of admin assistant and/or accounting person. I prefer the accounting work to any other office work. None of these jobs were bad in and of themselves. So I can't say I had a bad job, I can only say I had a bad place of employment.


That would be the place I worked at just before my current place. I was only there 5 months but I knew after 1 that I shouldn't be there anymore. The ad gave the impression along with the owner in the interview that most of my work would be on the accounting side. I'd be doing what's called "pay requests" in the construction industry. And then I'd also being some admin assistant work. Turns out I was doing the admin stuff most every and in those 5 months I only did 3 pay requests. I was not a happy camper. Plus the bossman was a total asshat. He was rude and loud. Not only to me but many other people. His own partner I could tell didn't really respect him. Actually, no one seemed to. If you go back and read any of my first few months of the archives you'd see how bored I was also. I'm too lazy to link to any right now so if you're interested you'll just have to go to the links on the side. There were days that I literally did about 30 minutes of work. Those were mostly the days he wasn't there, but there were a few even when he was. There just wasn't any work to be done. I actually considered putting a tally on my sidebar for the hours/days I actually did real work. I think I did more for the restaurant that he owned than I did for the construction company. Hated this place, absolutely hated it. I was extremely happy the day he called me in to his office to say he'd been going back and forth about firing me or not and then I made it easy on him and said I'd been seriously thinking about quitting for the last month. So we mutually agreed it was for the best and I was outta there!


2. If you magically spoke every language in the world and were given the chance to move anywhere in the world where would you go and why?


This one is easy. I'd divide my time equally between Ireland and Scotland with a trip or two to England thrown in from time to time. Basically it started with my love of THE QUEEN, Elizabeth I. But my interest quickly moved over to Ireland and Scotland. I love the way they talk and would love to speak Gaelic. I love their music. I love their landscape. I love their castles and keeps. I love their history. My dream vacation is to go to both these places with a side trip to England. I actually know more of England's history as I have a fascination with it's kings and queens. But I have several books on Ireland and Scotland that I'm in various stages of reading.


3. Who was your first BFF and are you still friends?

Well let's see. This one is kind of hard to say. In grade school I had several girlfriends that I hung out with quite a bit. But it was more like we were all best friends then just one single girl and I. I was good friends with Monica starting in 5th grade and continuing until 6th but there were times that she more than annoyed the shit out of me. But the girl I seemed to have a real connection with would be Theresa. If my scanner were hooked up and working I'd put a picture here of them both but it's not so I can't. Anyway, Theresa moved into the neighborhood in the summer before our 6th year. I met her through a girl I had known for basically our whole lives and hung out with from time to time. She was a little jealous that Terry and I hit it off so quickly and definitely more strongly then they did. I felt bad but at the same time I was ecstatic that I had this friend.


But as so many good things, this was not meant to last. Her father worked for Westinghouse and he'd get transferred quite a bit. They were only there for a little over one year. She was gone before the middle of 7th grade. I didn't get another BFF until the end of 8th. Nope, not friends with either of them anymore. The 1st one moved away, then I was the one to move away. I got two new BFF's in Louisiana and one of them I'm still friends with. Although she lives in Tennessee now and we only communicate every now and then through Emails as neither one of us are phone people.


4. If you had your dream house (and maybe you already do) what would it be like?

Well, I certainly don't have my dream house now, which is a pity. My, or I should say our dream house since we both agree, would be a cabin in the woods on a hillside or mountain on our own secluded lake. Or at the very least a very large pond. It would be a cross between rustic and not so rustic. Wood would be everywhere, including exposed beams. There would be a large fireplace either filling up one wall or an open one between the living room and dining room. The downstairs would be an open space, basically one huge room but each place would be defined. Windows from top to bottom looking out over the lake and another wall of them looking into the woods. There'd be a loft for the computer area. There'd be 3 bedrooms with a fireplace in each and their own bathrooms. Or maybe the two extra rooms would share one between them. The master bedroom would have it's own balcony overlooking the lake. There'd be a library, and well, I could go on and on. But basically that's our dream house.


5. You get one wish but you cannot use it on yourself. You also cannot wish for anything that will influence many people. Who do you bestow your wish upon and what do you wish for them?


This one is hard. I've thought about it on and off ever since I read it back on Friday afternoon. The whole not influencing a lot of people of course rules out anyone "famous" or "infamous" for whatever reason they might be famous or "infamous" for. So it basically boils down to the people in my life. In my immediate vicinity there are a few people that I'd wish things for. One is my mother-in-law. She hasn't had the easiest life and she definitely deserves a good one. H Ditty himself I'd wish to get rid of his psoriasis because it's such a pain in the ass and when it really flares up it bugs him to no end. But for the most part both of them are doing ok. His mom has her own home and she has 3 children and two beautiful grandchildren. HD has a pretty good life and of course ME!


So I guess I'd have to say the person I'd wish my wish on would be my brother Roy. He's the 3rd oldest and smack dab in the middle of us 5 kids. He's the typical middle child. He caused the most trouble in the family and of course the most heartache to our mom. She raised us all by herself. Our dad was a deadbeat dad. At the age of 15 I could count on one hand the times that he spent any significant amount of time with us and he certainly didn't help financially. My brothers could have used a good strong male influence in their lives but they didn't get it. And Roy seemed the one to need it the most. He skipped school a lot, he was the first one to smoke, drink and do drugs. Rather than the oldest influencing the younger kids he influenced the older two and got them to smoke, drink and do drugs. He was 13, at least that I know of, the first time he smoked pot and it went down hill from there. Although he didn't get into heavy drugs until much later he had already ruined his life.


Out of all five of us he was the one with talent. He could draw really well. Not only could he look at a picture and draw it just about perfectly he could do pictures out of his own head. He liked to use chalk and mom encouraged him by buying him sets for Christmas and birthdays along with charcoal and pencils. He'd use them for awhile and then stop. We both told him many times to apply for those schools where you draw the turtle and send it in. But he never did. He also was a whiz at electricity. He did many things around the house when things needed fixing. Sometimes they'd be jury rigged but they were well done nonetheless. He was able to do this without anyone teaching him. So we both of course encouraged him to become an electrician. Nope no go. I can honestly say I don't remember any job he had, besides those paper routes when he was younger, before I moved to Louisiana when I was 16. After that I know he got a roofing job because while on the 2nd floor roof of a house he slipped and fell off it. When he fell he knew he had to do what we're all taught from a young age, immediately roll upon landing. But he couldn't. There was a truck right there that he'd crash into and then the ladder and something else that I can't remember now in the only other direction he could've rolled. So he fell flat on his feet breaking every bone in one of them and just about every one in the other.


He got a really good settlement out of it too, not just workman's comp. But he blew it all on drugs and alcohol. He's an alcoholic and drug addict but he's a really good guy. He lives in Florida now. The last we heard (he doesn't have his own phone or apartment for that matter) he was still working and living with a coworker and friend. But the friend who's number my mom had has been disconnected. She sent a letter to their home telling him to call but he hasn't. He's in his early 40's now. So my wish would be for him to get the help he needs to get himself clean and sober. For him to find a job that he truly loves and can support himself in his own apartment with his own phone. Someplace where he can have insurance and start being able to save so he won't HAVE to work until the day he dies.


I love my brother very much. I'm grateful that he's not like a bunch of other druggies out there. He's not stealing or doing anything else illegal to support his habit. He still works, he's a functioning druggie. But he's still a druggie and he needs help. But he won't let the family help him. He came back and lived here for close to 3 years not long ago. The older brothers along with mom tried to help him but it just didn't work out and he moved back to Florida. I know he's not happy and that he misses all of us. I know this because when he actually does resurface and talk to mom she'll ask him why he doesn't call more often and he usually gets emotional and says it's because he misses all of us, that he's homesick but at the same time doesn't want to live where it's cold. He's always loved the summer. It hurts him to think about all of us up here and how he's missing out on his nieces and nephews. I wish he could have a better life.


Media quote of the day: You know the kinda guy who does nothing but bad things and then wonders why his life sucks? Well, that was me. Every time something good happened to me, something bad was always waiting around the corner. Karma. That's when I realized I had to change. So I made a list of everything bad I've ever done, and one by one I'm gonna make up for all my mistakes. I'm just trying to be a better person. My name is Earl. - Earl - My Name is Earl


This would be a step in the right direction for Roy.