Questions of the Week

1. Is the death of a pop star in LA more important than impending revolution in Iran?
Added by: imagination

2. Do you think Naruto characters or Twilight characters would be more upset over Michael Jackson's death?
Added by: Wubba D

3. Did you buy a copy of Thriller after Michael Jackson's death?
Added by: xo_julz32_ox

4. Whose music has had more of an impact on your life: Kurt Cobain or Michael Jackson?
Added by: Tazwert

5. Is it too soon to joke about Michael Jackson's death?
Added by: schmtec

1. Are you any good at physics?
Added by: MerDerFan

2. What car are you?
Added by: matty666

3. What color are you?
Added by: sammy2cool

4. What baseball position do you play?
Added by: Blackhawks

5. Are you Darkness or Light?
Added by: Schuyler

Funniest Comments of the Week

In a thread asking whether people prefer sex with an ugly woman to no sex at all:
tamahau: I'd hit an ugly chick, hard.
Mispelled: Like with your fist?

Random Journal:
Kungfullama: I noticed the other day that I'm getting more humble...I also noticed that I can't brag about it. I felt so ripped off.

Random thread:
hairytoungue: does dry humping count as almost doing it?
face: Sure, about as much as a plane running out of fuel in the ocean counts as "landing it"

From a News thread about famously loud-talking pitch-man Billy Mays' death:
Cindy_: WHAT A SHAME! ALWAYS SAD WHEN A YOUNG PERSON DIES!!

Same Thread:
Envethis: They say celebs die in three's. Leave it to Billy Mays to throw in an extra one, COMPLETELY FREE!

Joke of the Week

Farah Fawcett died and went up to heaven, she met God and was granted one wish, she wished for all children to be safe...

Then Michael Jackson died.

Too soon?

Member of the Week

The member of the week is psycho_trap. A member since October 2002, P_T recently won former MOTW skittlekitty's little black dress contest. See this thread for details. congrats!

JoeInterview's Member Feature

This week's interview features Cassiopia227. This interview was conducted by travbowman.

JoeInterview: First off, how did you find YT?

Cassiopia227: I was working the midnight shift (11p-7a) at my previous place of employment and Googled "bored" which led me to bored.com. I found the link to YT from there and have been addicted ever since.

JI: What would you say is the biggest reason you keep coming back for more?

C227: Almost 6 years ago, it was to make the night at work go more quickly. I would spend hours upon hours here with the Night Crew from years past. Now that I work day/evening hours, I'm not online nearly as much, but it's still mainly the people here that keep me coming back. I love reading what others are up to and how their lives differ from mine. I'm also guilty in that I absolutely love the drama too.

JI: Describe your job to us.

C227: I am a police dispatcher. March made 8 years of being in this line of work. I answer emergency and non-emergency calls and dispatch them to the appropriate officers. I am pretty much the one person responsible for the safety of the 25 or so police officers I'm dispatching to on a particular shift. I also run and enter information through state and national crime information centers.

I recently got certified in the state of Texas as an Advanced Telecommunicator, which is the highest certification you can get as a dispatcher in the state. I also just got certified as a Communications Training Officer by the state, which now means that I am able to "legally" train new dispatchers and call takers. I got my first trainee last week, so not only am I dispatching, but I'm also teaching, for the time being.

JI: What's one thing about your job that most in the general public don't understand?

C227: I know there are a handful of others in this line of work on this site and I can't speak for them, so this is absolutely my own opinion based on experience. The first thing people say after I tell them what I do, and how long I've done it is, "Wow! That must be exciting!"

And yes, sometimes it is. But I don't think most of them realize how absolutely exhausting it can be. The national turnover rate for dispatchers is estimated to be 3 years. And in my experience, stress is one of the top, if not the number one, cause for that. I've had people tell me, "You just answer phones, how hard can that be?" And honestly, sometimes it isn't hard at all. But then there are those calls where someone's life is in your hands and how you handle it could determine whether or not they live or die.

You hear things you've never wanted to and never want to again. Rapes, SID deaths, murders, suicides. You talk to people when they're most vulnerable. And even after 8 years of doing this, if I feel like I fail someone, whether it be unsuccessful CPR, or a suicide, or a stabbing victim who dies, I take it personally. I wonder if I has answered the phone a second faster or said something differently, maybe I could have saved a person's life. There are still calls that I've taken years and years ago that bother me.

And that's just the call-taking side. When we're dispatching, our number one job is keeping the officers safe. And if something happens to one of them, whether it's directly related to something I did or not, I feel responsible. There's also the whole liability side of it all. A lot of people don't know that I can be sued in a heartbeat if someone feels I didn't do my job well enough.

All of these things can cause a ridiculous amount of stress and you have to eventually learn how to deal with it, whether it means becoming desensitized or finding another outlet. And even then, some people just can't do the job. That is absolutely not an insult or meant in a negative way...there are just people who realize that this isn't something they can deal with on a daily basis. And I would like to stress, it's not all negative. There are some very, very rewarding parts of what I do. And there really are some pretty exciting moments. But I definitely don't think it's as glamorous a job as some people may think!

JI: You're also in school as a nursing student?

C227: Sort of! I've had to take the past two semesters off because of personal reasons. But my declared major is nursing and I only need Anatomy and Physiology to apply to the nursing program at the college I'm attending. I plan on taking that this fall and I'll apply in the spring for the Fall '10 nursing program.

I'm crossing my fingers that I get in. About 400 people apply each semester, but only 30-40 are chosen. So it's not unheard of that people apply 5 or 6 times before being accepted. I'd love to eventually be a Registered Nurse in a children's hospital. That's my ultimate goal, though I may after a few years of experience doing that attend school to become a nurse anesthetist. I do know that I want to work with children, whatever I do.

JI: What was the high school version of Cassiopia like?

C227: I was very similar to how I am now, incredibly shy. My sophomore year I had to move to another district so that was a little hard for me being the way I am. I have a hard time initiating contact with people that I don't know. My junior year I came out of my shell a little bit more an began participating in clubs, plays, and color guard. But I was still never terribly outgoing. I was always pretty quiet with 3 or 4 really good friends and a bunch of acquaintances. Most of my weekends, when I didn't have school related functions, was spent at home reading or spending time with my parents, whom I've always been extremely close to.

I do wish now that I had made more of an effort to make more friends and be more open. I think it would have made leaving for college and other things a bit easier.

JI: What's the perfect way to spend a weekend?

C227: First of all, lots of sleep would be involved! I'm one of those people who could happily sleep 12 or more hours a night if I had the chance. Anything involving my fiance is great. We love going to the movies and out to dinner. We have a few favorite places that we like to dine at and try to visit them as often as we can. I've also recently started to enjoy cooking so I like to fix dinner at least one night during the weekend. A trip to Central Market to pick up fresh ingredients and a bottle of wine is always fun.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with just staying in my pajamas most of the day and laying in bed with a good book or watching TV with my fiance and cats! I've never claimed to lead an action packed life!

JI: How did you and your fiance meet?

C227: We met about 8 years ago when I started my very first dispatching job for a large police department. He had already worked there as a dispatcher for a year and a half. The first week I was there he had been on vacation, so I didn't meet him until my second week or so. I immediately developed a huge crush.

He was in a relationship at that point so we were friends. That relationship broke up several months later and a couple of months after that, we began dating. That was in April of 2002 and on Valentines Day of 2007, he asked me to marry him. We still haven't set a date though we talk about it a lot. We're both very comfortable and happy in our relationship now and neither of us are really in a huge hurry to get married, but I imagine it will happen in the next year or so. I just really need to sit down and start planning and I've been putting it off!

JI: Are you guys able to vent about the job to each other?

C227: Yes, absolutely. I think it's what sometimes helps keep us sane. He's still a dispatcher too, and has been doing it longer than I have, so I know that if I have a hard or crazy day, I can vent to someone who understands, and vice versa.

I know people say you're not supposed to take your work home but we can spend hours talking about the funny or sad things that happened at work and sometimes it can be such a relief.

JI: Changing gears, what sort of music has been getting the most spin from you lately?

C227: My taste in music varies greatly. I'm really not loyal to one particular band or genre. I think I'm sort of picky when it comes to music. A lot of the current artists - Lady GaGa, M.I.A., My Chemical Romance, etc, I just don't get!

I love, love bands like Journey and Chicago. And you can't really go wrong with 80's power ballads in my book! I finally "borrowed" an iPod from Mark (my fiance) and loaded it up with some of my favorite songs to listen to while working out. They range from Guns N Roses' "Knocking on Heaven's Door" to Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" to Thriving Ivory's "Angels on the Moon." I even have Reba McEntire and Blackhawk on there.

I tend to enjoy most anything from the 70's, 80's, or early 90's more than I do things released in the last few years!

JI: What's a hidden talent of yours that few YTers know about?

C227: I've been told I'm a pretty good writer. I know some on here would argue that as I often type faster than my brain processes things and have bad grammar and spelling, but it's true! Very few people outside of my immediate family and friends are aware that I write at all.

I won several competitions throughout high school and college and was published a handful of times in our metro newspaper. I was also on the newspaper and yearbook staff during high school. I'm constantly starting and stopping novels in my head and on paper. If I had the time and absolute dedication, I imagine I could finish something I've started eventually. I think I've gotten to about 200 pages on something, but I always doubt myself and give up.

I'm not certain this qualifies as a talent or if it is more of a "something I'm decent at that few people know about", but it's all I've got!

JI: What style of writing do you prefer to read?

C227: I have no preference at all, really! I just love reading and books, period. I have close to 2,000. I was sick a lot when I was younger and taught myself how to read at an early age and it's been a favorite ever since.

I have books from Marquis de Sade to Danielle Steele. I really love Dean Koontz and have most of the ones he's written since 2000. Stephen King is also a favorite as is Patricia Cornwell. I've actually really gotten into Jodi Picoult's work lately, too.

I really enjoy true-crime books as well as any having to do with law enforcement. And books about the Holocaust....I've read Night, of course, but I always recommend The Nazi Officer's Wife too. I will give just about any book a chance. If it's something I don't think I'll like, I'll at least try to make it the whole way through. I feel like even the worst or most boring book can teach me something!

JI: What author gets lots of hype that doesn't really do it for you?

C227: Oh gosh, these type of questions are so hard for me! I always feel like I'm insulting someone when I say I don't like a writer that they do! I really, really don't get the whole Stephenie Myer/Twilight thing that seems to be the rage right now. I tried to read Twilight to see what all the fuss was about, but I just couldn't get into it!

Ann Rand seems to get quite a bit of hype and I haven't been able to "get" her either. I've read Anthem and Atlas Shrugged and neither really peaked my interest or made me understand what the big deal was. They weren't terrible by any means, but I guess they just weren't what I was expecting. Also, Nicholas Sparks drives me nuts! I've read The Notebook and a couple of his other books and I don't understand the obsession with him at all! They're just so cheesy. (I know, I know, that being said by the person who owns 20+ Danielle Steel books!) But for some reason his level of cheese just annoys me.

JI: What's the best thing about living in Texas?

C227: This question is really hard for me! I've lived here my whole life, but I've never felt that I belong here. I feel like I'm a Northerner in a Southern body! I guess the best thing, for me, is that there is so much to do and so many things to see. I live in Fort Worth, and can go downtown anytime to the Stockyards and see a cattle drive or a rodeo. Then I can drive 10 minutes to another part of downtown and go to a club or to a fancy restaurant and sit at a table next to an oil billionaire.

For vacations, you don't really have to leave the state, if you don't want to. You can drive or fly into Houston to visit the space center or keep going south and visit the coast. Or you can drive to San Antonio and spend a few days there walking the River Walk and having fabulous Mexican food or visit the Alamo. There are hundreds of national parks here if you like camping. I've lived here for 27 years and there are still a ton of places I'd like to visit and see. There's always something to do, if you look hard enough.

JI: As a Northerner trapped in a Southern body, what's the worst thing about living there?

C227: The weather!! For as long as I've lived here, I've never enjoyed the weather. When I was younger, I played softball every summer for 10 years, so I tolerated it. Now though, I turn into a hermit as much as I can during the summer months. It's not the 105+ degree temperatures I hate as much as the humidity. Walking outside and immediately getting sticky just isn't my cup of tea. Most people find warmth and sun invigorating and it makes them happy. I'm the complete opposite! Rain and dreary and cold is when I'm at my happiest!

I wish so much that we had normal seasons. It generally starts getting hot in March and stays that way as far as October. And during the winter months, it rarely gets below freezing. (In my part of the state, anyway.) I've never made a snowman...or worn a pair of mittens or earmuffs! I think if I lived up North where it actually got cold, I'd be a much more pleasant person!

I do like the rain and storms Spring brings. It just doesn't last long enough. So maybe Washington state or another part of the Pacific Northwest would be my ideal place to live.

JI: What's been your favourite place to visit?

C227: I really haven't been a lot of places. Growing up, we only took three vacations that I can recall. And I haven't been anywhere in years! I think my most favorite places to visit are just small towns that are a few hours away. We'll sometimes pick a weekend day and drive, have lunch at a fun restaurant or dive in that town, site see, and drive back home a few hours later. There's a cute little Czech town about 2 hours away from me that we visit once or twice a year.

I've only been out of state three times. Oklahoma, Orlando, and California. Orlando and California were to visit the Disney Resorts. And that was years and years ago! My list of places I'd like to visit is much longer than where I've actually been. Hopefully one day the lists will be much more even!

JI: What's your forte in the kitchen?

C227: I'm a bit new to the kitchen. About a year ago, we had to change our eating habits drastically. We used to be the types to eat at a restaurant for almost every meal and if we did eat at home, it was take-out or frozen pizza. So, I'm still learning! I have a couple of meals I make really well though. Chili is one of them, though I'm not sure that you can mess that up too terribly!

I do have one meal that I've cooked for family and friends to rave reviews. It's actually the ONLY meal I've ever made for other people. It's dijon/garlic/rosemary/thyme crusted pork tenderloin, homemade garlicky Parmesan scalloped potatoes, and roasted carrots. It's wonderful! I'm a huge fan of garlic. I put it in almost everything. Garlic can only make things taste better, in my opinion!

I also enjoy baking. I suppose I'm better at that because I've been doing it longer. But I'm really weird in that I enjoy the process of making it, and I enjoy the dough (if I'm making cookies), but I don't really like the finished product. I'm really not that big into sweets. I just like making things for other people.

JI: Has eating at home more often been a big cost-savings for you?

C227: It hasn't been a huge one, but we definitely have seen a bit of a difference. I tend to spend about the same or a little more in a week on fresh, organic fruits and veggies and freshly butchered meat as we used to on eating out.

However, because I'm still figuring my way out in the kitchen, I often overestimate how much we'll eat and end up making enough food for an army, instead of just two people. We do save there, because we'll have leftovers for days. I'm so anal about not throwing things out now that I've been known to eat the same leftovers for 3 or 4 days in a row, if it's not freezable!

We haven't saved quite as much as I thought we would, but more importantly, our health has improved, so that makes it well worth it!

JI: Any final words of wisdom to share with your fellow YTers?

C227: "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."

This week's article is titled 'Possession of pie with unlawful intent', and the thread was posted by Abzurd.

This week's link is titled 'E -mails from an asshole', and the link was posted by Sammy.

Best Avatar of the Week	Best Profile Design of the Week
immortal_1	"Change" by chips2001

Featured Article of the Week

Soldier Blue. Part two.
Excerpt: Far overhead, the rain pounded ceaselessly as it had for over two centuries and as it would continue to do so for decades to come. The suns never shone here as the terraforming process neared its millennium long conclusion.

Written by Brunnen_G

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