The gauntlet has been thrown down.

Over on her blog, MLF, gave various my 4... lists. In the process, she challenged me to do the same. Well, while I may not be as eloquent, I will do my best.

4 Jobs I've had:

1) Corn Detassler (if you have to ask, consider yourself lucky) I was 14 the summer that I took this job. I remember getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get on a bus at 5:00 to drive to various Dekalb seed corn plots and then walking up and down rows of corn removing the tassles in the blazing sun and the swamplike conditions. Ankle deep water, mosquitos, no shade, what could you not love about this job? Oh, and I was paid the princely sum of $4.25 an hour. Good times.

2) Head Umpire- Illinois City Ballfield I had this job at the same time that I was detassling. I really didn't have much of a crew, so I ended up working everynight at the diamond. I usually got off the bus around 3:00 and went home to grab a shower and change then headed out tp the ball field until 10:30 or so. I also had to chalk the field every night and usually ended up working behind the plate. MLF saw me at this job a few times.

3) Concert security I really liked this job, which I had for about three years, but recently quit it as the pay was terrible and I was getting passed over for promotions. Basically I got to go to most of the concerts in the Bozeman-Big Sky area for free, and occasionally I got to throw someone around (only if they deserved it). Saw some great concerts and made a little money, all around, not a bad gig.

4) 911 Dispatcher MSU Bozeman My current job. I like this job for the most part. I've had some interesting calls, and even managed to save a life or two, so that's pretty cool. It's all the peripheral bullshit I have to deal with that keeps this job from really being fun. Too much paperwork and hassle mostly. That and I do not agree with my superiors about how the department should be run.

4 movies I could watch over and over

1) The Crow I think my all time favorite movie. Great love story. There were no sequels, we do not speak of them. Even if Iggy Pop was in the sequel. Still, it never happened.
Random quotes
Crow: "Victims........ aren't we all."
T-Bird: "One of my crew went and got himself perished"

2) Legends of the Fall Believe it or not, I love this movie. Just a fascinating story, portrayed by great actors. I mean, the movie has Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, etc. I also like the time period when it occurs, especially for Montana. We mustn't forget the amazing scenery. I honestly can't remember any quotes at this moment, I just remember thinking that anything the old Indian said as being very profound.

3) Forrest Gump I love this movie and I don't care what any of you have to say about it. It's beautiful and the story is very touching. It has some great humor in it but also a lot of heart. I think the first time I saw it I was drugged out of my mind after my first back surgery. Good times. I'm not even going to bother putting any quotes, just enter your favorite.

4) What Dreams May Come This is a very sad movie, but it has amazing imagery and I love the portrayals of heaven and hell. Basically, both are constructs created by the individual, which almost sums up my views of these abstracts. It also is an amazing love story and has Cuba Gooding Jr and Robin Williams (in a serious role).

Chris: (paraphrasing the quote) I'd rather spend the rest of eternity in hell near you than in heaven without you.

Honorable mentions:
Saving Private Ryan
Titanic (shut up, it's a great movie)
Blue Collar Comedy Tour (I am from IL after all)
PCU (George Clinton, David Spade, beautiful)
almost any war movie, any era

4 reasons I failed my test physical (and why I won't take the actual)

1) Situps I actually did fairly well on these and feel that I wouldn't fail this portion of the physical test, but I still need to improve. I performed 23 situps in a minute and needed 35, but I held my breath for the first 4 or 5 and killed my chance to get them all in.

2) Pushups My weakest element of the physical. I know it's hard to believe, but I'm not very strong in my upper body. Shocking I know, but true nontheless. I was only able to grunt out 3 pushups for the test, but I performed one that didn't count and almost another, so I'm almost up to five. I'm so very close to the 30 that I need to perform in a minute.

3) Sit and Reach Now here's something crazy, but I'm still flexible enough to pass this test. I thought this would be harder, but even after 3 back surgeries I'm still able to reach over an inch past my toes with my legs fully extended. Yeah me, the one element of the physical test I was able to pass.

4) 1.5 Mile Run I need to be able to run this in just over 13:08 to pass the preliminary test,but I'm shooting for around twelve minutes. On Saturday in the cold (25 degrees) and wind I finished the mile and a half in around 17:08. Not a glorious outing, but I hadn't been running outside and I know the cold really killed my time. I think I'm right around 15 minutes, so not where I need to be but getting closer.

Guess I just need to keep pushing myself and stick with it and I'll be all right, but it is frustrating that I won't be ready for the Academy in April. I guess I'll just have to focus on the August one and plan my trip to France for this Spring. Take care everyone and I'll blog more later.