The Other Tags

Five Places I Have Lived:

(1) Brigham City
(2) Orem
(3) Provo
(4) Ogden
(5) Nada

Five Jobs I Have Had:

(1) Pest-Control Specialist: I'm quite certain I will get cancer as a result of this job. The chemicals we sprayed were banned two years later as carcinogens. We rarely used masks. One thing I learned from that job was that Chris has no idea how to drive a four-wheeler, and he has no idea how to use a winch.

(2) Telemarkerter/Surveyor: Two separate jobs really. I did telephone surveys for PGM Inc. when I was trying to save up money for Heather's ring and the honeymoon. Into the fourth month, I hit a wall. I stood up at about 11:15 in the middle of a work day and told my supervisor I couldn't do it anymore. She asked if I was quitting, and I replied in the affirmative. She asked if I was giving two weeks; I replied that I wasn't giving a day. I told her I couldn't do one more call. She said they wouldn't be able to give me a good reference. I told her I wasn't planning on putting PGM Inc. on my resume. As a telemarketer, I worked for a new business in the Riverwoods, which consisted of eight employees. The owner was an ex-baseball player who sold the products out of a closet near the sales floor. The two products were acne treatment (which I later learned was burning off people's faces) and bust-enhancement cream. If any of you would like me to recite the script to you, I can.

(3) Pet Shop Associate: I worked for Petco. I cleaned crap out of birdcages and caught crickets for people's lizards. I was bitten by a hamster, rabbit, rat (ouch), and psychotic McCaw (one of the very large and colorful birds). When the McCaw bit into my finger, I couldn't get it off. He tore nearly into my bone. We took the bird to the vet to see what it's problem was. The bird was later diagnosed with psittacosis, one of the few diseases birds can transmit to humans . . . having just been bit by the bird, I felt very good about the whole circumstance.

(4) Nielson's Fruit Stand (no official title): My very first job was at Nielson's Fruit Stand. On my first day, old Ralph Nielson told me to "Keep'm busy," with no further instruction. I carried a few empty boxes around the stand for several days just to keep up appearances. I also stood around and rotated the fruit. After three weeks, I asked Ralph when I would get paid. He took me back into his office, stood up on a chair, reached back into a secret cubby, and paid me cash out of a brown paper bag. I didn't ask if the cash was taxable. Ralph then told me he didn't think he needed my help anymore . . . but I can still pick a mean watermelon.

(5) Cookie Delivery Boy: I worked for nearly a year for Cookies By Design. I was informed on the first day of the job that they were duly impressed with my interview and had hired the first male in the history of that branch of the company. I was a man among women. I drove our Toyota Tercel all around Utah County and listened to a lot of talk radio. To end this tag, I once counted, and I believe I've held over fifteen jobs. Apparently, I'm Mr. Steady.

Five Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:

(1) I only need one for this one. I would give it all to charity; no question otherwise. Ha, ha, ha. First, I would pay off student loans.
(2) I would put a bunch of it aside for school and savings.
(3) I would throw at least half of it into risky stocks, such as Washington Mutual and Lehman Bros.
(4) Our family would definitely travel.
(5) And yes, we would try to help out family members and give some to charity. I might also think about paying tithing.

Five Things I Was Doing Ten Years Ago:

(1) Singing my heart out in Madrigals at BEHS (my junior year) . . . and pretending I knew how to dance by co-founding the still existent Swing Club. My how times have changed.

(2) Palling around with the likes of David Conover and Jake Mildenhall. I played a lot of golf and Stratego and watched U2 Rattle and Hum at least twice per week. My wife is mistaken in the sense that we had met. I obviously remember better than she. We wouldn't have met until the following February (1999). Our ten-year "meeting and dating" anniversary is only in a few months. I wasn't dating at the time but had a serious thing for Shania Twain.

(3) Eating tons of Saltines. My parents had already started buying their retirement-like snacks at the grocery store: grape nuts, bran, apricot nectar, oatmeal, rice pudding, etc. Now don't be mistaken, we ate like kings at dinner. The dinners were always delicious. What the Wendell and Kathy Droubay household lacked was snacks. Thus, I found myself eating a lot of Saltines because there weren't a lot of treats. I would get white bread and put Saltines on it for a "cracker sandwhich." When I couldn't bear the crackers anymore, I would eat ice cubes.

(4) Saying every household prayer. After Mike and Chris left, there were very few people to disperse family prayers to. Dad, being the patriarch, always called on people to pray, of course, so he didn't pray too much himself. For dinners, it was about a 50/50 shot. Half the time it was me, a quarter of the time it was Mom, and the other quarter Dad called on himself. Family prayers were a different story. For whatever reason, I seemed to be called on every time. I don't thing Mom and Dad realized it. Things started getting very repetitious, and you can only ask to bless each family member in so many ways.

(5) Practicing for the BEHS school play. It was the only high school play I ever participated in, and for good reason. I was cast as the drunk Indian in Lil' Abner. The lines seemed racist, and I'm sure I didn't help things, being painted brown and carrying (what was supposed to be) a large amount of booz around. I'm surprised they are still allowed to put on that production.

Five Things On My To-Do List Today:

(1) Finish this freakin' blog update.
(2) Help clean the house.
(3) Finish reading my Stephen King novel (it is Halloween time, after all).
(4) Watch scores and hope every top 25 college football team loses after BYU's humiliating loss.
(5) Make a root-beer float for Meg (I owe her one).