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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 03:50 pm (UTC)I do that at work too. :)
One would be surprised just how many people submit transcript requests without contact info.
Hey... if you become a bounty hunter, can I be your faithful sidekick? I'll make coffee and buy you a dick tracy hat.
Muaha.
I need some friend time sometime soon. I'ma pop from this paper.
Riley
P.S. I applied for a discrimination investigator job, but there was some ageist bullhonkey about being 24 or older. Bastards.
P.P.S. We also have FBI and state dept. people that come into work and request stuff. Those are always fun since I have to provide them with everything and give them my name and stuff. So my name is probably smattered all over the DOJ and DOD files. muaha.