Wednesday, February 22, 2006

four is my favorite digit

Four Jobs I’ve Had In My Life:

Fabric store fractions expert
i'm not naturally inclined toward math. so you can understand the agony of having to cut and measure fabrics in ridiculous increments like 1 3/16 yards for psychotic quilters. and let's not get started on the shenanigans involved with ribbon and fusible webbing. but i love the fabric store and that 30% discount ensured my paycheck just turned around and went back there. i spent my time ogling things i was going to buy at the end of the week (most of which is sitting in big boxes in my closet to this day). the best part was helping people plan projects and them coming back to show me pictures.

Women's Diagnostic Imaging Center Receptionist
that's just a pretty name for a mammogram joint. unfortunately, when i worked there, it was called -- and i kid you NOT -- The Breast Center. and i had to answer the phone, 'Breast Center, this is cadiz, how may i help you?' my friends thought it'd be funny to call up and say stuff like, 'uh, yes, i'd like two breasts. to go, please. BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!' that got old pretty quickly. but cancer isn't a joke; people had to fill out history forms, and nearly 3/4 of patients were related to someone with breast cancer. it's really important to get that stuff checked out. seriously.

Emergency Room paper pusher
you know those annoying people, who by the way, are NEVER shown on Grey's Anatomy or ER or House or Chicago Hope or any of the other medical shows on TV? if you've actually been to the ER, you know the ones. they're annoying. they're unwelcome. they're the ones who timidly come into a room and say, 'ma'aam/sir, i understand that you're broken/bleeding/vomiting/screaming/high/have a 2X4 nailgunned to your hand (that really happened)/passed out, but would you mind if i took a photocopy of your insurance card and ask you a bunch of legal/clerical questions?' yeah. but at least i got to put the name bracelets on people and make charts. and the paramedics were almost always really cute.

Dungeon Diva
that pretty much just speaks for itself.


Four Films I Can Watch Over And Over:
(please note that i didn't have cable and was VERY sheltered. that being said, i have a low tolerance for re-watching, except in the cases of the extremely cheesy.)

amelie
makes me happy. but it works. every time.

sleepless in seattle
totally ridiculous in so many ways, but who can argue with true love?

dilwale dulhania le jayenge
bollywood at its best. dance sequences involve 20 costume changes, 3 countries, 400 extras, and a mandolin. c'mon, do the math.

troop beverly hills
i don't even have anything to say to defend myself. and he's going to deny it, but my brother loves that movie, too.

Four Places I have Lived:

Naperville, IL
Champaign, IL
Granada, Spain
St. Paul, MN (but mostly Minneapolis where i crashed when i was too lazy to drive back at the end of the night)


Four TV Programs I Love To Watch:
(please recall that i do not have cable and that i work nights. my tv viewing is at the mercy of what i can get my roommates to leave the tv alone for in order to record it)

lost
keeps you paying attention, that one. and i'm very details-oriented.

the amazing race
i refuse to categorize this as a 'reality' show. racing around the world doing stunts to win more trips and a million bucks? does it GET any better?

desperate housewives
prime time soap opera. i'll admit it.

arthur
though i think the kid who does his voice is maturing. and i'm getting up too late to catch it anymore.

Four Places I Would (will) Have Visited, Had (when) I Had (have) The Money:

Iceland
Cinque Terra, Italy
Ireland
Japan

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
(not necessarily in this order)

msnbc.com
salon.com
fark.com
bridgettwalther.com

Four Of My Favorite Foods:

my mother's chicken curry with piping hot chapatis

beef congee from a mom/pop chinese restaurant, or BETTER from somebody's mom's kitchen, who unfortunately moved to Taiwan. :(

maki rolls

cheeseburgers


Four Places I Would Rather Be:

not in the dungeon
not in the dungeon
not in the dungeon
not in the dungeon

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging:

jon was right; but as much as i love these things, i have no idea who's already gotten tagged and i suspect i'm at the end of the line. and i hate when people say, 'whoever wants to do it, do it,' but say it i must.

four really is my favorite number. even though it sounds like 'death' in Chinese.

11 comments:

Lia said...

Granada sounds really interesting. It brings to mind the Alhambra, though I might be getting my geography wrong. That's certainly been known to happen.

Maybe you would next like to move to the dungeon?

Mike said...

4 is also an unlucky number in Japan. Probably because it sounds like 'death' in Chinese.

It's hard to imagine you doing any of those other jobs...

Jon said...

Yeah, the tagging at the end is easily the hardest part of these things. At least for me. I always seem to get tagged late in the game too, severely limiting my options. Or I get tagged early and don’t realize it for a few weeks… it’s been known to happen.

After reading your favorite foods, I know have Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise” stuck in my head. Thanks for that :)

jazz said...

hate memes!!!

i'm with jon in usually ignoring them.

omar said...

Iceland?!

Breast Center?! (I would have been one of the ones calling you while on the job.)

Unknown said...

hillarious- i once totally had a crush on a paper pusher boy in ER... go figure---

so you think dungeon diva takes 1st place in waky jobs? ;) hmm

Mike said...

Is Omar dissing Iceland?

Beautiful country!!

cadiz12 said...

no, lia, you're right. we went to the Alhambra almost three times a week for months and i think i found something new to love every time. it's amazing b/c the woman whose house i lived in had only been there once in her whole life (and she'd lived there for 20 years).

really, viking? those jobs are why i have such scintillating customer service. there's nothing more redeeming than being the youngest person in the fab store when all the old ladies are reluctant to ask you advice, but then the older coworkers just refer them to you and they feel dumb for being ageist. and the emergency room? trying to coax info out of people who'd rather see you die is a skill very few can brag about (or would want). the breast center, well, i mostly called people to remind them of their appointments, filed and worried about getting cancer when i was there.

jon, they have a restaurant here called 'cheeseburger in paradise.'

i LOVE barcelona. except some of the catalans were a little snooty. but hell, for parque guell, i'd deal with them. hook it up, dem.

eh, jas, the trick is to not let yourself feel obligated.

how am i not surprised, o? but i'll let you in on a little secret: iceland is GORGEOUS, but they didn't want all the pillagers to know that, so they diverted them to a less-lush, more dumpy place called Greenland. smart peeps. this is another reason you should be watching The Amazing Race. right viking?

i'd have to say it's the weirdest premise for a job, ale, but as much as i dog on it; i get to look at blogs while i'm waiting with no one looking over my shoulder. even i have to admit, that's pretty sweet.

Lia said...

iceland is stunning; i once spent about eight hours there. i keep meaning to make it back. one of my coworkers just came back from there and left unidentified dried fish (jerky?) for everyone to taste, but no one was brave enough - you should have smelled it! Turned out it was dried shark, which makes me glad i didn't eat it.

i did like the free *fresh* fish they gave out in the airport, though.

Mike said...

Iceland was actually uninhabited until the Vikings settled there in the 800s ;)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

I love other people's memes :-D

So you were VERY sheltered too? Welcome to the club. Shees.

I can stay forever in fabric stores, man, touching every piece of cloth.

My sis. keeps telling me to watch Dilwale, I just need to get my hands on the dvd.