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raybearThere was a brief period not that long ago that I entertained the notion of working as a bondsman. Also known as a bounty hunter. I think I did a little bit of research and discovered there's no official certification or licensing process. I liked the idea of not attending grad school in order to become a "professional" of some sort.
Bounty hunting is such the job of 80's nighttime dramas. So is private investigating. I grew up on a steady diet of Cagney and Lacey, with large doses of Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote and Matlock. Sure I watched such known shows as Remington Steele and Magnum P.I., but I actually preferred Spenser For Hire and The Equalizer.
Nowadays being an investigator is so much easier because of the Internet. As well as having access to Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw. Not quite as much of an art form. Yet, there are still some beautiful moments of revelation to be had -- sometimes when not trying.
One of my job responsibilities is upkeep of our offices attorney listings. I got an e-mail this morning from a co-worker asking me to find recent contact info for an attorney in Michigan. The phone number wasn't working, so I did a quick google search to find a newer phone number or an e-mail address. I found the latter and sent a note. It got returned. I went back to my Google search results and discovered that the attorney is also a dojo and had many listings on martial art websites. One site I skimmed over the first time because it was a resume for someone with the same first name. This time I clicked on it. Based on the info, I was able to construct a brief narrative -- she closed her private practice in 2001 and switched jobs completely, doing freelance work -- legal and technical writing for websites. She got married and moved across the state.
I also learned that before opening her own practice, she was a lawyer in Japan. I even went back to Google and found some posting she made to bulletin board for solo practitioners. In approximately 8 minutes, I was able to construct a narrative for this women because I found 6 websites.
I wonder what conclusions people would draw about me if they did a similar search. Obviously my journal is fairly revealing. But I'm not sure how much of the rest of me is floating out there.
And now I want to be a private investigator. Fck music production.
Bounty hunting is such the job of 80's nighttime dramas. So is private investigating. I grew up on a steady diet of Cagney and Lacey, with large doses of Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote and Matlock. Sure I watched such known shows as Remington Steele and Magnum P.I., but I actually preferred Spenser For Hire and The Equalizer.
Nowadays being an investigator is so much easier because of the Internet. As well as having access to Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw. Not quite as much of an art form. Yet, there are still some beautiful moments of revelation to be had -- sometimes when not trying.
One of my job responsibilities is upkeep of our offices attorney listings. I got an e-mail this morning from a co-worker asking me to find recent contact info for an attorney in Michigan. The phone number wasn't working, so I did a quick google search to find a newer phone number or an e-mail address. I found the latter and sent a note. It got returned. I went back to my Google search results and discovered that the attorney is also a dojo and had many listings on martial art websites. One site I skimmed over the first time because it was a resume for someone with the same first name. This time I clicked on it. Based on the info, I was able to construct a brief narrative -- she closed her private practice in 2001 and switched jobs completely, doing freelance work -- legal and technical writing for websites. She got married and moved across the state.
I also learned that before opening her own practice, she was a lawyer in Japan. I even went back to Google and found some posting she made to bulletin board for solo practitioners. In approximately 8 minutes, I was able to construct a narrative for this women because I found 6 websites.
I wonder what conclusions people would draw about me if they did a similar search. Obviously my journal is fairly revealing. But I'm not sure how much of the rest of me is floating out there.
And now I want to be a private investigator. Fck music production.
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no subject
Date: 2002-02-13 02:59 pm (UTC)i sometimes think i became a journalist because i was too scared to be nancy drew. not that at times being a managing editor would have been much easier had i carried a weapon. not that nancy and ned "special friend" nickerson got to have guns. or that i should. i'm just saying.
no subject
Date: 2002-02-13 03:53 pm (UTC)I think you'd need some obscure weapon. Like a sharpened boomerang. There's nothing a sharpened boomerang can't do. You could even have a theme song... The Year of the Boomerang by Rage Against the Machine
*flops my head back under my text*