Me! A Versatile Blogger!

Many thanks to A City Chicken Farm for passing on the Versatile Blogger Award!  It's rewarding to be thought of as versatile.  I guess that having a full time job, being a part time law student, and having a farm, kind of force me into being a little bit versatile.  So, in order to follow the proper rules for this award, I'm supposed to tell you 10 things about me that you might not know.  These things may not be easy to think of, but I'll give it a go!

1.  I've now been sitting here for about 10 minutes trying to think of something.  Hmmm.  I think I might have said this before, but I really hate to fly.  I used to like flying when I was a kid.  We visited my relatives in the UK pretty much annually, and I thought flying was a lot of fun.  Something changed, maybe around high school time.  Someone I didn't know well in high school died in the Lockerbie incident.  I'm not sure if that's related to it or not.  I've been for hypnotism - it didn't help.  I had a job with a lot of flying involved, for a couple of years, on the order of 8-10 flights per month.  I thought I would get over it.  I didn't.  In fact, it got worse with every single flight, until I got to the point that I would cry and tremble uncontrollably and sometimes cry out in fear.  Now I take medication, to which I am resistant, so I have to take 3 times the normal dose.  I just prefer not to fly.


2.  I had a lot of trouble deciding "what I want to be when I grow up."  I went to university for archaeology originally, but after a year, decided it wasn't for me.  The second year of my BA, I took primarily French courses, intending to be a translator.  I then decided that wasn't for me either.  I finished my BA in the third year by doing English as a major, which was the only option for me to finish in the 3 year span.  I didn't know what to do next.  I worked for a couple of years at a firm that helped downsized executives find new employment.  I got bored, so I went back to school for a BS in Biology.  After one year, I learned about an environmental engineering program, so I switched to an Engineering degree.  After one year in that, I determined that multi-variable calculus was not something I was born to do.  I switched yet again, back into a BS, but this time for Environmental Biology.  I finished that and then decided to do a PhD in genetics and molecular biology.  After a year, I realized I could not tolerate being in the lab for another 5+ years that it would take for the PhD, so I switched into a MS, and finished that.  Then I worked in advertising for nearly 4 years, for agricultural clients.  I moved to the USA 8 years ago to take a job as a trainee patent agent, passed the patent bar within my first year, and after doing the job for 5 years, decided to go to law school part time.  Now I have one year left in my law degree (JD).  Presumably I'll be a patent attorney after that, at least initially.  But I feel like the journey is never complete.  Sometimes I want to go to vet school.  Sometimes I want to quit working and just do farming.  I really still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  


3.  Despite nearly 14 years in university, I have no school debts.  All my schooling was paid for by scholarships, and some scholarship "matches" that my parents generously gave me, except for my JD, which is currently being reimbursed by my current employer as long as I make a B- or better in each course.  It pays to study hard.


4.  I believe that, instead of using animals for cosmetic testing, we should offer convicted felons the opportunity to make extra money by doing cosmetics testing instead.  Those people who are serving life sentences could volunteer to do cosmetics testing similar to that carried out on rabbits.  They would make money for this that would help pay the restitution to their victims.  In addition, it could be imposed upon prison inmates who do not follow the rules as a punishment for bad behaviour.  Really.  I think this would be a great program and would significantly reduce the need for animal testing.  Then products could have a little blurb on the back that says "This product tested on humans" and we would know it was safe.


5.  I really, really dislike using public restrooms.  It's not because I'm worried about germs or things like that.  I can use them with no problem when nobody else is in there, because then it feels like a private restroom.  I just have a great deal of difficulty using them when others are in the restroom area.  I think it's psychological.  Sometimes I go to a restroom at work, and there is someone else in there, so I have to go to one on a different floor or in a different building, so I can find one that is empty.  


6.  I don't like spicy food.  I like herbs - thyme, ginger, tarragon, basil, mint, rosemary, etc.  When it comes to "hot" spice though, I have no tolerance.  I don't even like using black pepper on my food.   I despise chili powder, curry powder, hot peppers in any form, and I really dislike any form of pepper - black, white, red, or otherwise.  I can't tolerate cilantro either.  My absolute most hated spice is cumin.  I just cannot even put it near my mouth.  I smell it and that's enough.  Ugh.  Mexican food is my nemesis, along with Indian food.  All I can eat at those restaurants is the bread.


7.  I help turtles cross the road.  I carry a towel in my trunk in case I find an animal that needs help, including turtles.  I use my winter car scraper (on a long handle) to assist snapping turtles get across the road so that they don't get hurt.  I feel this is my duty and obligation, since it is the hand of humanity that has impacted their territory.


8.  I don't watch TV.  Really.  No really!  In the past 3 years, I watched some winter Olympics highlights (this year) and a few broadcasts on tornado warnings in my area, just to see what was happening.  I have never watched the following programs:  Lost, American Idol, the vampire show that a lot of people seem to watch which I don't even know the title for, and I have never seen an episode of MASH, Barney Miller, All in the Family, The Simpsons, South Park, The Jeffersons, Mission Impossible, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan's Hero's, Hill Street Blues, House, and numerous other such programs (Kelly told me the names of all these because I could not have even told you the names, but he said most people would have heard of them.)  Hmmm...does this make me not versatile?!


9.  I worry a little bit about being hit by a meteorite.  I especially think about it when I am driving.  I mean, what if one came through the roof of my car?  Or, what if I was in an airplane (ugh...) and a meteorite hit it?  Or what if it came through the window while I am sitting here typing?!  I think about this from time to time.  It worries me.  In fact, I worry more about being hit by a meteorite than experiencing a tornado.  Yes, I know this is not logical or reasonable or even rational.


10.  I'm really not as strange as you now think I am.  Well...maybe a little bit strange.  But still, I'm versatile!