4x4 Meme

I was tagged for a meme that I am gratefully doing. She thought that I may not feel like completing it due to my recent posts, but I am happily doing it because at least it gets my mind off my own shit. (Excuse my language John.....LOL). (Go read John's post to get the joke.)



Anyway, on to the meme.



Four Jobs I Have Had

1. I used to be in the Navy years ago. Are you shocked? Ask me what I did....I'm waiting...I bet you couldn't guess if you tried. Most are shocked and start howling with laughter when I tell them. I was a Mineman (or "MN"). It was a specialist rate ("rate" means job in the Navy) and there were only about 400 in the entire Navy, which isn't a lot of people (which means you have to wait for someone to retire or die off to get promoted). Minemen built underwater explosives. Back then I worked on eight different systems. The oldest system was the old Mark 6, which is the one in the picture and the ones you see floating around the old Hollywood movies. Building and configuring mines was an interesting experience. How did I get into it? My recruiter lied. (Why did I even join the Navy? I'll have to write an entire new post to explain that one.) When joining the Navy I wanted to do underwater diving. The recruiter said being a Mineman was full of diving and even said I would be working with dolphins. Needless to say, I never stepped into a diving suit nor swam with Flipper. I went to Boot Camp in Orlando, FL, school in Charleston, SC and my first base was in Scotland (loved it).


2. I worked in a nursing home while living in England. I have to say that it was the most enjoyable job in my entire life. Why I'm in technology and not in nursing is due to fate. I always wish that I was a nurse instead. There are oodles of stories about that experience as well. I hope to remember to write about them in future posts.


3. I worked in a pub while living in England. I was paid more money to help people get pissed (drunk) than I was helping people live in the nursing home. It was a blast, though. Very busy and a lot of laughs. The nights would fly by (unless you poured Guiness all night and then you were stuck waiting..I'm being facetious here).


4. I was actually hired for being American while living in England. It was a short term contract where a married couple opened a sandwich shop. It was a new concept for the small town. They wanted to know how American sandwich shops did it and so I gave them my extensive knowledge of Subway. One big thing I remember telling them was to not charge for beverage refills. For some reason they charge for refills in the UK (maybe they have changed that by now...I hope so) and I told them that their customers would love the fact that they didn't. They decided to try it though they were scared the local school of boys would siphon their restaurant whole and guess what? They are still in existence today (14 years later!). I'm sure it's not because they hired me, but it is pretty neat that they are still around considering how many small businesses opened in that town and never made it.
   
   

Four Shows I Have Been To

1. I attended my first musical concert while a teenager with my parents. They were huge Kenny Rogers fans and off we went. It was country music, which I'm not a fan of, but it was still neat to go to a concert for the first time.


2. While in the Navy and living in Scotland, I was fortunate enough to see The Cure in concert. I've loved The Cure since I was 13 years old. It was a small tour prior to their "Wish" tour in Glasgow, Scotland and only about 400 tickets were sold. It was in a small venue and I stood only five feet away from Robert Smith (the lead singer)! I never knew what type of Cure fan I would be when watching them live. Would I sing along, scream, cry, faint, or all of the above? I remember just standing there in awe and being filled with the music. The music danced around me, beside me and inside me. I was mesmerized. They played for over three hours...it was a GREAT show.


3. My daughter's father is from England (which is why I worked in England...we moved to England after I got out of the Navy). I met him while stationed in Scotland on a Royal Navy Submarine Base. He was in the British Navy at the time. We went to London after marrying and attended a theater show called "The Woman in Black". I don't remember a thing about it except for feeling lucky to be there. I just looked it up and can't believe that it's still going. It says that it's the 15th year that it's been live which means I watched it in its first year.


4. A beautiful ballet to watch is "The Nutcracker". I've always loved the music and it is an event that always gets me in the mood for Christmas.
   
   

Four Cars I Have Had

1. My first car was an old, dark blue Chevrolet Citation. I have no idea what year it was. I just know that it was old and rusted through. That car and I got hit by a train (and yes, I was still inside), and that was the end of that.


2. My biggest ride was an Oldsmobile 98 Regency. It looks just like the picture in the link. I had it back in the early 90's after my daughter was born because we had no money and my Dad sold it to us for a charitable price. It was a massive car and rode like a dream. It was like riding on a cloud. You never heard anything outside of the car and though it was the cheesiest car ever, it was highly comfortable and felt safe while driving.


3. My fastest ride was a dark red Mitsibushi Eclipse Spyder. It was my only V7 and only convertible. It was SO much fun to drive! We went on quite a few trips with that car.


4. I also used to drive a Volkswagen Beetle. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of driving a go-cart. It had two-tone leather inside (red and black). The red leather had black stitching while the black leather had red stitching. It was just so cute.
   
   

Four Favorite Foods

1. Creme Brulee! What can I say? The sugary, hard top that you have to crack like an egg to get to the soft, creamy and dreamy center is irresistible.


2. Anything with cilantro. I just love cilantro for the taste of it. My husband makes a lot of Moroccan food with cilantro mixed in.


3. Hummus. A nice hummus with hot pita bread is too good to pass up. Don't leave out a dab of olive oil planted firmly in the middle of the hummus spread that looks like a small lake! In fact, throw some cilantro on it as well to make it even better.


4. My friends lasagna. It is the cheesiest, most lovely lasagna in the world. She is Italian and it's just to die for.
   
   

That was a LOT of fun!