What does the 'C' stand for, and other questions for dwellars.

dana?

:P My surname begins with a C.

Given that I have political enemies who are not beyond googling dirt on me, I have no intention of posting my surname on here. If they were to google my surname with the name of my village, for instance, and the word councillor, they would get the Council website and ...it's possible, if unlikely that they would get a cellar page.

Given some of the confidences I have shared here, that would not be a good thing.

Just to let you know what a sad paranoid politician I am, I occasionally do a google on a few terms (name of council, name of borough, the name of my party and my name) just to make sure that if someone used that combination they would not be brought here. Just lately I've tried to be a little more vague in my terms, and use actual names on party units, rather than their more usual acronyms.

It does happen this stuff, even at a local political level. People have been hung out on less and discovered more easily than you'd think. I would rather not have to constantly censor the things I post about myself of personal nature, because of a (very unlikely) risk of eavesdropping.

Question: ZenGum, what made you decide to go teach in Japan?

DanaC;400324 wrote:

I would rather not have to constantly censor the things I post about myself of personal nature, because of a (very unlikely) risk of eavesdropping.

Yes, but do you still tap your feet in the Ladies room?:rolleyes:

When I decided to use my real name on the Cellar, I understood that there were risks, although not as severe as for a politician. I guess that the 'public' is the worst employer of all, since they really have no clue as to what they really want in a public servant.

I have read about employers scanning the web for information on current and future employees. My philosophy on that is if a company attempted to dictate my private life to that degree, I wouldn't want to work for them.

My concession to professionalism is that I don't post to blogs (or BBS's) from work and I do not mention my company in any posts.

Of course, if I did ever leave, I'd have a shitload of stories to tell.;)

But this is all besides the point. The real truth is that you're Dana Carvey trying out a new character as the 'wacky female British Politician', right?

DanaC;400326 wrote:

Question: ZenGum, what made you decide to go teach in Japan?

Aaaaghhhhhhh! Can you imagine how many times I have been asked that &%$#ing question???? :lol:

Seriously though, lots of things. I wanted to travel and yet I needed to earn money. I could either work in my home country and save, then travel, or work in Japan and save, then travel more. This combination gets me the experience of living overseas while earning money. And the girls are gorgeous.
Japan was good for this because you can save a fair bit (approaching US$800 - 1,000 / month) while still being able to afford some interesting adventures. And it is very safe, as far as health, crime and human-caused troubles go. People are (mostly) polite ... and the girls ... :love:
Also, I knew a little Japanese before I came, and many Japanese can get by in English.

The downsides? The yen has slid 20% since I arrived, which hurts when I still think in terms of AU$. The place is crowded and pretty polluted and I am occasionally startled by insular and xenophobic statements, even from people who choose to learn a foreign language. Did you know, for instance, that Japan is unique in the world for having four distinct seasons? I've heard this several times and most teachers have - I guess it must be in some school book or something.

Mostly, though, it is good, and things aren't as expensive as the urban legends tell. Income tax is VERY low for low earners, cigarettes are Y300 (?US$3+) per pack, fine spirits are cheap (chivas regal for Y2800 , ?US$30) and come in huge bottles (2.5 liter) if you want. Did I mention the girls? Kawaiiiii!
Also they have recently made a giant Pikachu sex doll, which I am yet to sample. I'll let you know.

Did you know, for instance, that Japan is unique in the world for having four distinct seasons? I've heard this several times and most teachers have - I guess it must be in some school book or something.

That's totally bizarre.

ZenGum;400380 wrote:

Also they have recently made a giant Pikachu sex doll, which I am yet to sample. I'll let you know.

Looks like someone beat you to it! :D

http://cellar.org/showpost.php?p=399497&postcount=1

ZenGum;400380 wrote:

... Did you know, for instance, that Japan is unique in the world for having four distinct seasons? I've heard this several times and most teachers have - I guess it must be in some school book or something....

National or geographical stereotypes from schools' language textbooks are very hard to shift. All Russians taught in the Soviet era and those taught on leftover textbooks believe that it is permanently foggy in Britain. The "pea-souper" fogs to which the textbooks refer ceased in Britain in the mid-1960s after the introduction of the Clean Air Act (banning the use of all but smokeless fuels in dometic fireplaces in cities and towns) - I think this view was compounded by Sherlock Holmes movies in which London is always shown shrouded in mist and fog.

yeah....it stopped raining in seattle too. hardly EVER rains there anymore.

My voice sounds Australian, and yes I can give you a tour of my house. See my thread here.

i was just going to ask you for a tour of your house

Yes I know. lol Why'd you delete your post? I answered you so you wouldn't look like a dick.

and i re-posted it so you wouldn't. now we're even.

well I could have deleted my post too I guess. It's lucky we're so considerate of each other isn't it?

yeah,....pull my finger?

sorry, I just farted.

That was you?
It was a lovely baritone.
And I thought you were a mezzo soprano.

lol...very funny. Actually, I have a wide good range. Probably stemming from my wide arse?

Both Shawnee and Lookout end their names with 123. Are you cousins?

Not that I know of. Course, I AM from Ohio, and you know how we are.

Lookout was here first, but I didn't see the 123. I did that because there were 3 reasons for me to use the name Shawnee: heritage, ex-boyfriend Shawn, lived with ex-bf Shawn in a part of town called Shawnee.

me yelling, "LOOKOUT! 1,2,3......" followed by a blaze of really poorly done hardcore music was a constant joke for me and the guys back when we did the music thing. it was our soundcheck. few people realized we were just funning some of the other bands in the scene that only knew 3 chords and just cranked it all really really high. a little scenesteress stopped me at a bar one night and was all "like...hey... you're that LOOKOUT! guy aren't you?" we all laughed and it kind of stuck.

That was when you were in midnight oil?

shortly after.

I loved Diesel and Dust

Peter Garrett is a federal labour candidate for the coming election. He looks a bit weird in a suit.

Go Garrett!

He is likely to be the next minister for the environment! He is being kept tightly muzzled, but even so, I have hopes he will do some good.

Dana...he's not my Dad, although my dad is a staunch labour supporter. lol And probably more environmentally conscious than even Mr Garrett. Some say he's sold himself out, particularly the anti nuclear peeps. I personally don't believe it. I'm glad to see him in politics and finally be in a position (hopefully) to make a difference.

Zen, I think you're right. They wont let him off the leash till after the election, and my bet is it'll be very soon after so that the policies which are implimented such as ratifying kyoto etc, will have time to come into effect well before the next election.

Aliantha;402572 wrote:

Dana...he's not my Dad, ...

Another Shaun of the Dead reference?

Oh well spotted! You're as obsessed as I am ;)

heheh. Ali, I misread your post (God alone knows how I inserted the words my dad into that) and then edited it like seconds later...how th'feck did you manage to see that ?:P

DanaC;402203 wrote:

Go Garrett!

That's what I can see. I was wondering why you posted that. I figured you might have been making some reference to my father being a bit of a lefty or something.

Hey...I don't see Go Garrett...I see,

Go Ali's Dad!!

in the actual post. Only when I clicked on "quote" to quote the message has it changed to Go Garrett.

How weird is THAT!

LoL. That was the first thing I posted. Changed it seconds later having realised I had actually imagined the bit about your dad...which is slightly worrying and frankly I should probably avoid any books by Freud.

Here's a screen shot just so you can see I'm not going mad! lol

[ATTACH]15496[/ATTACH]

Oh, and my Dad would probably be pretty happy to know a cute, politically motivated pommy chick who's about 20 yrs his junior, is thinking of him. ;)

*grins*

I can do screen shots.....I WANT too, why cant I?


Waaaaaaahhh

I did a bunch of screen shots the other day, but the Jagermeister made my monitor very sticky and hard to see.