Job Meme

Yoinked from pistoleer:

What jobs have you had?

Most people have had a lot of jobs that never show up on their résumé. Childhood paper routes, under the table odd jobs, strange career diversions. Make a list of every job you've had since you were a little kid, up through today. Anything you've gotten paid real money for counts, except chores for allowance. Post your list to your livejournal along with this explanation.

French tutor

Remedial English tutor

Babysitting

Cleaning greenhouses for a fuchsia breeder

Yardwork

Assembling shelves when the Toys 'R Us at Mayfair Mall was being set up (1 day)

Sorting mail (3 days)

Cashier at a self-serve gas station, graveyard shift

Security at UVic, graveyard shift (1 week)

Militia:
- Private-corporal-officer cadet-second lieutenant-lieutenant.
- Rifleman, machine gunner, Recruiting Officer, Assistant Adjutant, Adjutant, Platoon Commander, Company Second-in-Command.

ESL teacher in Japan, also assisted Special Projects Section of city government with English-language items (included things like reviewing marriage documents and providing the voice-over for an unbearably boring promotional video about the city!)

Administrative Coordinator at a group home

Research Officer in BC Government

Education Officer in BC Government

Freelance writer and simulation game designer/consultant (though this is more like a hobby that pays for itself)

Necco Wafers

I bought a roll of these when I was in Seattle. They don't appear to sell them in Canada any more. Here is some of what I learned about them, from http://www.necco.com/neccofun.htm:

1. NECCO Wafer rolls contain 8 flavors and colors: lemon (yellow); orange (orange); lime (green); clove (purple); cinnamon (white); wintergreen (pink); licorice (black); and chocolate (brown).
[I'll tell you though, I have had trouble distinguishing clove from licorice. But top marks to any company that has clove-flavored anything these days!]

2. In very low humidity NECCO Wintergreen Wafers spark in the dark when broken.
[This is an effect called triboluminescence, and is more complicated than you would think. An account of the chemical processes involved, and why this effect is most noticeable with wintergreen flavoured candy, is given at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_129]

3. NECCO Wafer Rolls have always been a naturally fat and sodium free product.

4. In excess of 4 billion NECCO Wafers are sold each year. This is enough to completely encircle the world twice if placed edge to edge.

5. Over 120 NECCO Wafers are consumed every second of every day throughout the entire year.

6. In the 1930's Admiral Byrd took 2 1/2 tons of NECCO Wafers to the South Pole, practically a pound a week for each of his men during their 2 year stay in the Antarctic.
[Hope he got a good kickback for that. Someone told me that some Canadian climbers were planning to climb Mount Logan, way up at the corner where BC, Yukon and Alaska meet, and the best food they could think of to take with them was Pringle's Potato Chips. These apparently contain the highest ratio of fat and starch (which you actually need when climbing a 19,000 foot mountain) to weight, and yet don't freeze.]

I have to say also that one thing that I like about Necco wafers is the packaging - simple waxed paper and unassuming graphic design. Nothing fancy, no plastic or tinfoil.

Neubauten in Vancouver

YES, another great show! That's three of my top five or six favourite groups that I've seen in as many weeks, and I never thought I would see any of them. Probably never will, either - the Pixies tour was a 12-year reunion one, Kraftwerk has been together for over 30 years and Einsturzende Neubauten has been together for almost 25.

But it was a fine show. The Commodore was a great place though I didn't get much of a chance to look around, the band started about 10:00 and played until almost 12:30. I was standing on the right-hand edge of the crowd, about ten feet from the speakers. Ears are still ringing slightly.

Playlist: most of the new album Perpetuum Mobile, plus some other interesting items I did not expect them to play:

Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T.: Neun Arme, Armenia (with a version of "Durstiges Tier" that shook the walls!)
Haus Der Luege: Haus Der Luege
Ende Neu: Ende Neu
Silence is Sexy: Redukt

Blixa Bargeld looked his Eurotrash best, except he had mislaid his shoes - "my sandals, where are my sandals..." and though he did not have any tantrums on stage and cracked quite a few jokes, you can guess he is probably a high-maintenance guy with a very high opinion of himself.

I am genuinely sorry that I did not get a chance to rove around and meet some people. I saw Soma and Casper from Victoria, seaofrain was supposed to come but I did not see her. I also found out too late that piratepantsnana was going and what she looked like. einspein, I know you went too, but I have no idea what you look like. It wasn't enough for me to say, "I was the guy in the black T-shirt, cargo pants and glasses" either! Betty loved the show and I was very happy sharing this little part of my world with her.

EDIT: Here are some bad pictures ( behind this cut )