The meme of the 4...

Thanks to my buddy Dazz, I have been infected with yet another blog meme. I hope my answers to these will give people insights into my personality, or perhaps grow more fearful that I am not committed to an institution.

Anyway, here goes.

List four vehicles you've owned:

1. 1973 Plymouth Satellite - it was primer grey and covered in bondo. My bother and I got it for Christmas the year before we turned 16. It was a former Metro Toronto Police car that my aunt bought at an auction and promptly left on the street to be hit by snowplows. She drove it twice and got in to an accident both times. Inline 6, it was a beast. So that's what we called it - "The Beast." It had the "shoulder-harness optional" seatbelts in the front and we had to open the trunk with a long screw driver. Man I loved that car. It was great for "crop tours" if you know what I mean.

2. 1984 BMW 318i - fresh out of University, with a new job, I bought this used. If you ever get sports car, do not get a 1984 BMW...lemon all the way. It was damn sexy though.

3. 1998 Pontiac Sunfire - my first brand new car. Great little car for geing out of Toronto and even served us well for our first two kids, although triops and camping were a tad crowded. A 1998 Sunfire can easily survive a direct hit from a crazed deer on the 401, in case you were wondering.

4. 2003 Dodge Caravan - the current family wagon. Now with three kids we are filling it too, but at least the ride is comfortable. And thanks to the fact that my Dad worked for 26 years for Chrysler, I got the employee discount and purchased this for $100 above cost. I love the CAW!

List four jobs you've had:

1. Farm hand - from about 10 or 12 on, I was paid the handsome sum of between $2.50 and $3.00 per hour to pick rocks, throw hay bales, muck stalls, cleaned silage, plow fields, harrogate...well you get the idea.

2. Junior Ranger - for 8 weeks the summer I was 17, I worked at Halfway Lake Provincial Park north of Sudbury. We worked in the camp itself cleaning the beach and the sites, we worked on a controlled burn with the fire crew and best of all we worked a 5 day wilderness canoe trip, cutting trails and portages along a marked route. This was, and still is, the best job I have ever had.

3. Floor Walker/Store Security - undercover for the Bay in Ottawa while at University. I would pretend to shop and watch for shoplifters or people committing fraud. I had a two-way radio for coordinating with the other store dicks and handcuffs for the perps. Oh this is definitely my second favourite job. To this day, I cannot go into a Bay or Eatons (or any other department store) without getting the "1000 yard stare" - immediately looking for perps. It drives my wife nuts, but I actually helped a former collegue make an arrest 4 years after I quit, while my wife was getting her hair cut at the Bay in the Rideau Centre. Good ole section 449!

4. Social Worker/Residential Worker - for 6 years in Toronto during the 90's. I worked with the top 2% of behaviour disorders in North America with kids from 6 to 12. At 24 I was older than the oldest mother and our oldest kid was 10. You figure it out. So when I go on about the poor and helping avoid crime through social services, its from first-hand experience. And I have the scars (litterally) to prove it.

List four places you've lived:

1. Wawa, Ontario - born there, stayed until I was 7. Way up north.
2. Lambton County - from 7 to 18, in a few towns and on a few farms. Its near Sarnia.
3. Haliburton - for a summer I was a reporter for the Haliburton County Echo and Minden Recorder.
4. Ottawa - for University and back after an 8 year stint in Toronto.

List four vacations you've had:

1. Big Buccanero Resort, Santiago Cuba - a fine, posh concentration camp with a swim-up bar. We weren't allowed to leave the compound, but we could drink until death. It wasn't until we say a Soviet helicopter fly by our cabanna about 20 metres off the deck on the last day that we realized that this resort was about 20KM from Gitmo.

2. Categena, Columbia - warm and tropical and pretty safe. Lots of annoying beach vendors. And now I own an official "Policia de Columbia" t-shirt that my buddy and I bought from a cop on the beach for $20 - about 1 month salary for him.

3. The Rock - my wife's family is from Newfoundland and it is a great vacation everytime. A Cabin in Spreadeagle, near Dildo (and no I'm not making that up).

4. San Francisco - while not technically a vacation, I was there on business in June 2004 and had a few extra days in my stay. June 28th, 2004 to be precise. Pride Day. I was trapped on the wrong side of Market Street, so I watched most of the parade. Whatever you may think of gays and lesbians, they do know how to party and are great people. After that I went to Alcatraz and hung out on columbus at the City Lights book store. The topper, besides the Java One conference (which was shy I was there) was watching "Farenhiet 9/11" at the Metreon. Wow, they do not like Dubya there...I felt right at home ;) .

I will only inflict this on one other - Wonderdog!

He he he!