May 28, 2008
Dear Everyone:
In
December, 1972, I graduated from
At the
time I didn't realize how lucky I was.
I never had to take out a student loan because I could live at
home and take the bus to school (I hated that bus with a passion.)
And when it came time to move into a tiny apartment just off
campus, I had some money from a small trust fund that had been set aside
for me when I was a child.
And a part-time job working in a private hospital in
And
Fellowships. Did I mention
the Fellowships? One to
study in
As for the
trust fund, one day our Dad looked at me and asked, "How old are you?"
"16."
"Oh, well
when you turn 18, let me know.
There's some money waiting for you in a bank in
When I was
studying, Dad would sometimes look at some of the books I was reading
and would remark something along the lines of, "Well, this is all very
well and good, but I don't see how it's going to help you find a job in
the real world." And I have
to admit that, when I arrived in the
San Francisco Bay Area, a degree in
Anthropology didn't look like something anyone would be interested in.
But
Before
that happened, they contacted
me.
They said they had noticed on the application that I was an
anthropologist, and they had a policy of hiring anthropologists as
Information Technicians, and there was an opening, would I be willing to
come in for an interview?
When I showed up for my first day at work, 35 years ago tomorrow, the
man who had hired me was not available and his manager didn't know
exactly what I'd been hired to do.
But, being a very wise man indeed, he said that knowing how the
“Willoughby Files” operated would be in my best interest no matter what
work I did, so he took me to the “Willoughby Files” on the 8th Floor and
told the woman in charge, "She's yours for the next two weeks."
35 years
later, I'm still in
Records and Information Management.
And I took
great pleasure informing our Dad that I had got the job because of the
Anthropology. Of course, it
took me years to figure out why a xxx company would be interested in an
anthropologist. You see, you
can’t get a degree in anthropology without studying
archaeology and
paleontology. And you can’t
understand archaeology and paleontology without understanding
sedimentary geology.
In the xxx
business, micropaleontology and sedimentary geology are the heart and
backbone of “Privateering & Exploitation”.
So an anthropologist knows enough to be useful without thinking
he or she knows more than the specialists
Speaking of fossils, “Jeannie” and I went to see
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of
the Crystal Skull. A
local film critic pronounced it the worst “Indiana
Jones” movie, but I disagree.
I think that honor still goes to
…the
The year is 1957, exactly 21 years after
Jones and
Marion Ravenwood strolled out of some
Soon a young man, about 20 years old, is looking
for Jones to help him find his mother who has been kidnapped by
nefarious persons in
There are also holes in the logic that you could
drive a truck through, but don’t let that stop you.
Towards the end the picture starts to pick up elements of
The Mummy Returns (lets do
these special effects just because we can.)
Nevertheless, there’s a fine payoff at the end.
Definitely worth the (matinee) price.
In other news…
Remember that police shootout at “Jeannie’s” place
about a month ago? She’s
received a subpoena to appear as a witness.
However, the latest development is that the trial (or preliminary
hearing, or whatever) has been postponed until whenever.
Also, I’m taking Friday as a vacation day.
The garbage disposal suddenly started dripping water last
weekend, so I’m having the plumber in to replace it.
In all those
Indiana Jones movies, there’s usually one of those instances where
someone pushes the right “button” and a mechanism starts to work.
How is it that people could build a mechanism thousands of years
ago, with braided grass ropes and wooden pulleys, and it works
perfectly, yet a
garbage disposal has to be replaced every five years?
Love, as always,
Pete
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