Codejnki's Blog

A few weeks back Dolphyngyrl put a call out for people interested in doing a 5 question interview.  I jumped at the chance to bust out my writing chops and gave her this little nugget of a post.  Well in all sense of fairness I decided I need to send her five questions of her own to answer.  Lets say it took her a tad longer to get these back to me.  But here they are:

1. What was it like learning you were going to be a mother for the first time?

Ah, see. I had my kids when I was young and stupid. I’d wanted babies for as long as I could remember. So I was happy, sure, and scared, too. I don’t think I was smart enough to be as scared as I should have been. I remember everyone telling me that they just wanted the baby to be healthy. And a girl. I wanted a boy.

But I didn’t have any of that happy pregnancy glow thing everyone talks about. I didn’t feel particularly connected to that alien growing in my belly. There wasn’t that whole “the heavens parted and angels were singing and OMG I’m pregnant?” thing.

2. As a bureaucrat is the role of the bureaucracy to sustain the bureaucracy?

Ah, that depends on what your role in the bureaucracy is. Personally, no. My role is to protect the citizens of California from people with professional licenses who feel that the law doesn’t apply to them. Or people without professional licenses who think it’s ok to go ahead and practice, anyway. There’s a part of me that feels very “caveat emptor”, and that consumers need to be aware of what they’re getting and who is providing the service and make sure to do their homework. I mean, there’s this whole “personal responsibility” thing, right? But then I hear stories about the guy who was killed by an unlicensed chiropractor who was giving “adjustments” in his damn garage, or the state inspector who walked in on an in-progress breast augmentation in a BEAUTY SALON. You and I might look at that sort of thing and wonder why the hell anyone was stupid enough to allow themselves to undergo such a thing, but people do it ALL THE TIME. I don’t know if it’s because people, in general, just don’t think about these things, or if it’s because of the particular makeup of the California citizenry. In California, we have a LOT of people who weren’t born in America. A lot of them don’t speak English that well. Maybe in the “old country” there were no specific requirements as to who could work in certain professions, and maybe there were no licensing agencies. Maybe they don’t know that you get a boob job from a plastic surgeon, generally in a hospital, and not as part of a hair-nails-tanning-tits special. Just because I know these things doesn’t mean John Q. Public on the street knows them.

3. Have you ever considered looking for work outside of California?

A couple of times, yes, I’ve half assed looked at other states. The main issue right now is SweetPea’s family. She’s basically the only one taking care of her grandparents, so it’s not like we can move any time soon. Of course, there’s also that minor issue of the father of my children, but I think he’s run plumb out of voting power as to where we live.

Also, though, I have a personal need to be near the ocean. We’re about two hours away now, and I can’t imagine being farther away than that. Which rules out, what, 80% of the country?

In a few years, though, we might look and see what other options there are, and if there isn’t somewhere that we might enjoy more.

4. What was your first tattoo?

The big ass kanji on my left thight. Getting it left me with a relatively unrealistic sense of what getting a tattoo would be like. It was almost completely painless, and my biggest issue was that I was BORED. When I got my cherries, I was a little surprised by how much more it hurt. Word to the wise: tattooing over bone hurts A LOT. Tattooing the soft, fleshy parts? Not so much.

5. Cold beer or drink with an umbrella?

Almost exclusively a cold beer. Generally speaking, diet Coke is about as sweet as I like my drinks. Occassionally I venture more into “cocktail” territory, but it really depends on my mood, where we’re at and what we’re having (if anything).

Basically speaking, if you want to get me a drink and aren’t sure what I want, get me a beer. But not just any beer. Look for Widmer Bros. Heffeiweissen, Fat Tire Ale or Guiness. If they don’t have any of those, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is ok, too, and just about everywhere here has that.