Job Discussion Forums

FGT · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 762 Location: Turkey

More prosperous but less content.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:32 pm Post subject: Cop out

In my case, the conditional's no longer appropriate. I stopped being a TEFL teacher in July, when I left Saudi Arabia and now it seems that I'm going to become a New Mexico State Policeman. I passed the physical and written tests and the polygraph, got through the background check with no problems and took a battery of psychological exams. All that's left now is the one-on-one interview with the shrink (tomorrow) and the medical (on Monday). So, it definitely looks as though I'll be going into the State Police Academy on February 15, one day, by the way, after my 61st birthday. That'll last 18 weeks, and if you're at all interested in what "Life at the Academy" is like, here's the web site with a "typical daily schedule" and other stuff.

http://www.nmsp.com/training_update/academy.htm

Sort of late in life for a career change, some might think, but perhaps further proof that:
1. it's never too late
2. there CAN be life after EFL

So, wish me luck. Perhaps I have a strange sense of humor, but I think it's going to be a hoot.
Regards,
John

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

nomadder · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:23 pm Post subject:

Surely tomorrow's interview will put an end to things. Laughing

Wow hard to imagine John the Copper.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:27 pm Post subject: You in a heap o' trouble, ma'am

Dear nomadder,
Naw, they LIKE you to be at least a little crazy - although I might be overqualified in that respect. So, if you're ever driving through New Mexico, don't put that pedal to the metal.
Regards,
John (Law) - http://www.cycloneco.com.au/johnlaw/index.html

nomadder · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:36 pm Post subject:

I'm sure a little craziness helps but what about too much intelligence? Confused

You might have to dumb down. Hah! Will you be policing these forums?

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:47 pm Post subject: Dumb and dumber

Dear nomadder,
Hmm, flirting with stereotyping just a tad there, aren't we? Why, that's almost as bad as saying that ESL/EFL teachers are pretentious, a base canard, as we all well know.
Regards,
John

nomadder · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:02 am Post subject:

Base canard? I'm thinking of French ducks.

Irish · Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 371

Hey, John:

Well, given your psycho training routine (you're up to around three million push-ups a day, right?), I'm sure you'll pass the medical with the proverbial flying colors. And I've no doubt that your arrest reports will be literary gems. Best of luck in your new career.

Still, I have to ask...why? Do you have a taste for doughnuts or something?

Aloha,

Irish

P.S.--I'm a little surprised we haven't yet seen scot47 drop in to extoll the virtues of bus driving.

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

Good Luck, John, on your new career. I've enjoyed your posts in the limited time I've been here.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 2:43 am Post subject: Who wrote this script?

Dear nomadder,
Um, these days patriotic Americans call them "Freedom ducks".

Dear Irish,
Dr. Freud would probably have been delighted to learn that my Dad was a policeman, and that may indeed have something to do with it. But this all came about by accident, when a state trooper at the local gym asked me if I'd ever thought of applying. My response to him was:

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a geezer."

But he assured me there was no upper age limit. So, I thought, what the heck; I'll take the physical and written tests, just for a lark. I planned to drop the whole thing after that, but then they asked me to take the polygraph. Well, I was sure that'd put an end to it, what with my (ahem)
activities in the late 60s and early 70s, but darn it - I passed again. So, it all started gathering a momentum of its own, and in the meantime, I found the idea really did appeal to me. Ah life - go figure. We're all like pinballs in the big machine, wildly careening from pillar to post. Who wrote this script, anyway?

Dear ntrophy,
Many thanks - though I'll most likely have an 18 week hiatus, I don't plan to permantly exit the Forums. In the immortal words of the Governor of California:

"I'll be back"

Regards,
John

Irish · Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 371

John:

Your mention of your "activities" in the 60s and 70s reminded me of that old TV show "The Mod Squad." What we have here is sort of an updated version -- "Geezer Force," if you will (though I don't think any of us would call you a geezer, at least not now that you'll be packing a gun). Perhaps this statie is going around hand-picking a crack team of "mature" rookies for an elite unit to fight crime in places the youngsters can't infiltrate...like bingo parlors.

What next -- scot47 gets recruited by MI5? Capergirl joins Interpol? Leeroy runs off to join the French Foreign Legion? It's gettin' a little weird out there now.

Looking forward to your debut on "Cops,"

Irish

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:33 am Post subject: It's still the same old story

Dear Irish,
"Perhaps this statie is going around hand-picking a crack team of "mature" rookies for an elite unit to fight crime in places the youngsters can't infiltrate...like bingo parlors. "

And let's not forget dens of iniquity such as senior centers and nursing homes. Whoa - if you only knew what goes on in those places, behind the scenes: the cheating at checkers, the cutting ahead in the lunch lines, the
wheelchair theft. It's not a pretty picture, I assure you. Yup, I see myself as a kind of "mature" Johhny Depp (of 21 Jump Street - a "Mod Squad" clone), going into these hotbeds of crime and busting some geezer chops.
A dirty job, but hey - somebody's got to do it.
As for one of your other "speculations", you mean you're unaware that scot 47 (or, as he's known in the "craft" - 0047) is M's point man in the Kingdom? (Don't blow his cover, though).
Regards,
Undercover John

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Johnslat, no disrespect to the New Mexico State Police, but I think you should aim a bit higher. Why don't you stand for election in November and kick that S.O.B. out of the White House? I can think of at least four good reasons:
You've experienced war from a soldier's perspective.
You're not at war with the English language.
You're not a right-wing lunatic.
You know where the rest of the world is.

All the best.
Graham.