A Scene from Paper Moon Is Saturday's Favorite Movie Moment

This Saturday's Favorite Movie Moment debuted in 1973 and starred Ryan and Tatum O'Neal- Tatum who won an Oscar for the role.

I remember reading the book during class in Junior High, when we were told to read a chapter out of our textbook. I used to hide whatever novel I was reading inside my textbooks- I bet my teacher wondered why I never knew the material, because I read a lot of books that year.

Enjoy this scene, which is one of my favorites, and if you've never seen the movie or read the book, do both, it's a great story.

Happy Saturday!

Bloggers And Bloggets Worst And First Jobs

I thought this was the perfect image to use for how one feels on the worst job of their life- the calf representing the boss of course, with his wicked little controlling grin on his face.

There is nothing worse than an awful job, in fact a terrible job can make such a strong impression on you that you remember the "feelings" associated with the it more than the details of your job description.

And oh, what a powerful feeling it is, for instance this Tuesday's Question was a choice between two questions to answer, What Is The Worst Or First Job Your Ever Had? And although there were a lot of first job answers, the worst job comments were packed with the details on how the jobs made them feel...

Which proves the best advice my grandfather ever gave me and told me to never forget, and I'm sure you've probably heard before... I don't know the exact quote so I won't put it in quotations (I just wanted it to be clear that it is not an original thought, as if)

Anyway, what my granddad said was that people will forget many things about you, but they never forget how you make them feel. Therefore, it seems it's also true about events or experiences, which is odd because people also run from pain and toward pleasure, but we recall the pain in so much more detail. Anyway my intention on A Nice Place In The Sun is for people to leave the blog with a good feeling- you know how some movies or songs, blogs etc.. leave you with a good feeling? So my apologies if I stirred up yucky stuff memories, however, I can't promise I'll always think of happy questions... because I'm afraid my blog would become too sentimental, gushy and unreal. In addition, I 've learned so much about all of you by asking questions about life, especially the bloggers who regularly answer Tuesday's Question- who by the way are just amazing...

I think this weekly feature has been really exciting and I cannot believe how long it has been going on...Next time you have a chance (I'm working on a making it easier) glance through my labels and click on Tuesdays Question and Readers Comments. The responses are remarkable and if you read through them all you will learn so much about your fellow bloggers. I'm trying to think of ways I can shine more light on your past comments. I think I'm going to make a Tuesday's Question page when I can figure out how, but something, because again, you are very special and your comments full of everything that makes us human: laughter, fear, memories, crazy experiences, etc... I'm in awe of ya and will throw my hat in the air for you soon!

Now, it's time to get on with these great comments, right? Just click read more and remember each bloggers link to their blog is next to their comment:



The first comment is from a wonderful writer Jackie at The Painted Veil



Hi Ann,
Wow I didn't think I would make it in today.

We had some really bad stoprms move through and I had to shut down.

Well I have certainly had some doozies in job force that's for sure.

But, my very worst by far was when we first arrived in Maine.

I went to work for a very brief time as a telemarketer. And the sub-contractor I worked for had no ethics whatsoever.

All was fine the first thirty days while training at minimum wage.

But, then they transferred me over to pay based on the number of people I could talk into signing up for something that in the long run would only add to their phone bill and not save money.

The very first day I was transferred was the day I quit. The owner of this company had tons of people's personal information. This information was supplied to them by one of the world's largest telephone companies.

And, she would take this information and call into the phone company pretending to be the actual person so she could get their latest account information.

By having the person's latest account info. was most definitely a plus if you were going to sale them this plan.

Well, I absolutely refused to do this. Not only was it unethical, but, it is also a federal offense.

I may be blond, and a little numb sometimes but even I know that you don't mess around with the FCC.

So I simply got up and walked out.

The whole experience truly was a nightmare from the start. Telemarketing is a nightmare job and I simply am not tough skinned enough, or, unethical enough to ever have been successful.

That's it...not very funny I'm afraid. But, it is very true.
Hugs,
Jackie:)

February 5, 2008 2:32 PM

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And another wordsmith Robert at Observations From The Back 40

We truck drivers have a hard row to hoe...:)))..mine was a bricklayers helper..I carried bricks up that ladder so many times I was pooped by lunch..not one brick at a time either slats of them 12 to a slat..
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Next, is a newcomer to Tuesday's Question! Welcome

Retarded Sushi

First real job with a paycheck and w2's...the Boy Scout shop. My first and only experience in retail. At least the store was usually very empty leaving plenty of time to play hide the shirt clip thingies. And by shirt clip thingies those little plastic clips that were on the folded shirts. They had to be removed before hanging the shirts. I had a collection of arround 5 lbs of the little buggers and decided to start hiding them through out the store. I heard a few years after I left that they were still finding them.
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Next, the hilarious Paula From Six For Paula

Great question Ann. I love your stories. You and I seem to have led really interesting lives. :-)

The worst job I ever had was a temporary position as a giant Twinkie. I had to wear the Twinkie the Kid costume (complete with cowboy hat that seemed to be about ten feet high) and do promotional stuff at grocery stores. Kids punched me, Japanese tourists wanted their picture taken with me, and it was hot and stuffy.

Once, I ran into my best friends dad while wearing the big suit. The "mouth" portion of the costume was somewhere around my neck/chest area so I couldn't talk. I saw my friends Dad and started to move towards him waving my arms and shouting "Hey Mike!" He was horrified and ran ff. Later when he found out it had been me, he said he heard muffled scary sounds coming out of this giant Twinkie "guy" w who was moving erratically towards him. Needless to say, we had a big laugh.

-And hilarious post Paula!-
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Karen at I'm Just A Little Fish In A Big Pond misunderstood Tuesday's Question and wrote a post with her answer. (LOL) Which is a great post by the way about her first job, and here is the link:

My First Job

Thank you Karen~
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Next up, one of the Queens of Tuesday's Question, and my pal Sandee from Comedy Plus who writes the best comments and most hilarious posts on her own blog, Comedy Plus:


You and I had like jobs. I too was a waitress, bartender and deputy. I also raised my son for the most part alone. I'm proud of it too. Worst job. I really didn't have a worst job. I truly can say that I didn't hate one job that I have had. So, I'll narrow it down to not my favorite.

Working graveyard (11P - 7A) anywhere is not great fun. I've worked graves as a waitress and as a deputy/sergeant.

As a waitress you always got to deal with the drunks at two the in the morning. Of course I was sober and it really gave you a good look at how stupid and rude people could be. I didn't care for that much. Then an hour or two before your shift would end, all the morning people show up all wide awake and ready for their day. That really made me tired.

When you work in jails all the inmates are sleeping and it's tough to stay awake. There are also less staff during this shift which even makes it worse. Our bodies really don't like to be awake at night. Well, mine never did.

The toughest time about working graves is about four in the morning on. The sun is going to come up and you are even going to feel more tired. The winters were the worst. You went to work in the dark and came home in the dark. There just wasn't any day at all.

My son is now 37 years old and I'm retired with a very nice retirement. I wouldn't change a thing even if I could. Whatever I did kept a roof over our heads and food on the table. I'm very proud of that. :)

February 5, 2008 6:38 PM

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Jackie from The Painted Veil stopped back by and tagged me with the Smiling Through The Tough Times Meme Thank you Jackie and I think it's a great idea for a meme and you're right you will get to know the bloggers you tag better! LOL

Hello again Ann,
May I introduce you to a new game?

It's called tag and run for the hills:):):)LOL!!! I'm running now!!!

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The next comment came from Arti, and I'm sad because I cannot find the link to his blog. At first I didn't know what to think, but his blog is from blogger- it's just a private profile. Anyhow, thank you for your comment Arti and I'm sorry I couldn't give you a link back. If you leave me a message in comments however I will be glad to link back to your blog~



hi Ann
the first job of mine was worstest experience coz i didnt know any thing about the concept of the job. i join as a telecaller in a logistic compay(freight forwarding and custom clearences) where i called the exporter and importer of the city n ask him , Do they intrested in our servicees. but when they ask me about the rate ,flight ,or collect or paid shipment criteria i m unable to tell them coz i m new n short of knowledge. the thing i feel embraced when i called a importer n said "do u intrested in our services" and he replied , "mam first tell me who r u, ur company name n detail about ur company profile after that i sould tell u, oh!that moment..........

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Next is Jackie from The Painted Veil coming back to make a comment to Sandee, (LOL) which I love because that is exactly the way I've always envisioned Tuesday's Question to work- sort of like a weekly forum or party with blogging buddies around a question each week, so thank you Jackie for keeping this party going...(smile and hug)


Oh Sandee,
I have to agree with you about working the graveyard shift.

I too did that as a waitress and the drunks were always such a drag!!

I can't even begin to imagine working as a deputy and dealing with them!!



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And last, but most certainly not the least, another Queen of Tuesday's Question, great pal, and a blogger who can certainly turn a phrase, Dawn from Twisted Sister:


Ann... my worst job is the one I'd like to forget! I try not to think about it. My sister Ann and I had just moved and we needed jobs desperately and took the first available positions we could find... at a dry cleaners. Ann was told she would be working at the front counter and I was brought to the back of the building. It was like a sweat shop and I was given the job of washing the greasy coveralls belonging to the local garages. I couldn't believe it but decided to stick it out until I could find something better. The heat was unbearable and I worked alone with no one to talk to. After about a week I put in my notice and the owner wanted to know why I was quitting.. so I told him if I could work on the front counter in the AIR CONDITIONING I might stay.... HIS REPLY.... No your sister is PRETTIER THAN YOU!

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From Me~
I'm sorry but I have to say I can't believe what your boss said Dawn! That's horrible, and I can't even see how it could possibly even be true. I think it knew he was wrong to put someone to work under those kind of working conditions. Isn't the clinical term for that called transference or projection (From my pop psychology magazine reading) you know when someone transfers something onto you that really they feel about themselves? I'm sorry to go on like that it's just that his comment made me mad- mean people stink---!

From me again: Thanks for contributing to Tuesday's Question and have a super, fantastic, and every other adjective in the world week!

What Is The Worst Or First Job You Ever Had ?

When I looked through my archives of Tuesday's Questions this morning to make sure I didn't repeat a question, I noticed that a lot of my regular post titles are questions- I guess because I'm so inquisitive, (which is something you probably didn't already know about me.) Anyway, I thought I asked this question before but I haven't- what I did was write a post entitled My First Job At Chicken Coop, although it wasn't my worst job... and I never asked either question. So this week for Tuesday's Question you get to pick which one you would prefer to answer.

So you can tell us about your worst or first job experience, but remember I will post your comment tomorrow with a link back to your blog, so it will be published for the world to read. (Smile) Also tell your readers that you answered Tuesday's Question, and maybe they can meet a few more bloggers while they're reading your comment and vice versa. Also if you prefer I can link back to the post of your choice instead of your landing page- so please leave the url in my comments and I will be happy to post another link instead. Maybe you have a favorite post in archives that some of your readers missed or your new readers haven't read yet?

Tuesday's Question is my way of connecting and giving thanks to all of the great bloggers who have supported this weekly post and read A Nice Place In The Sun period! I want to say thank you, introduce you to each other, and let you get to know me better!

So I'm going to share one pretty funny post link about my first job at Chicken Coop, and another funny now - sometimes funny then- post about my worst job that I wrote today.

I couldn't stand many jobs over the years when I was a single parent which I'll touch on briefly, then it's your turn! Have fun-


The years after my divorce taking care of my son on my own were the best and hardest years of my life... My main objective everyday was how to manage keeping our heads above water, so you name the job, and I've done it, well...just about everything...

I did write but a writing career was out of the question in those days, with the exception of writing and selling ads for magazines; therefore I was a bartender, a waitress, a deputy, a public relations manager, a sheet rock hanger, a painter, and I even cleaned a few houses....but the absolute worst job of all was driving a meat truck.

At first, I thought the job was perfect, because I could pick my son up from school in the afternoon and continue working- although I didn't expect him to hide in the school bathroom due to his embarrassment of the truck, so that I had to get the janitor to go in the boys bathroom and drag him out while my refrigerator was running in the truck...nor did I plan on having to deal with his adamant refusal to sit on the seat where anyone could see him, preferring instead to sit below the seat where he could view the road fly by from a crack in the floorboard.

The truck was refrigerated so I had to keep it running so the meat wouldn't spoil, hence it ran in our driveway, in front of my son's school, while I went to teacher/ parent conferences and in the grocery store on my way home. My products only amenity was the fact that the meat was vacuum packed, although most of my customers bought some from me anyway either to get me off of their driveway or because they could see my son sitting on the floorboard doing his homework.

Oh how I hated that job, the only one I hated worse was the one I had next, which was selling potato chips on one of those giant potato chip trucks. Except I didn't last long on that one, not after I got the truck stuck in front of a local supermarket all day until it was too late to set up my "chip stand" a part of the job in which I will spare you the details. But, I still believe all work is honorable, and it fed, clothed and put a roof over my son's head- and also a floorboard under his feet- and a refrigerator truck full of meat...in fact come to think of it he would love that truck today...well no, on second thought he wouldn't, but we do laugh about it all the time...

O.K. Your turn~

Weird Things About Me

Drowsy Monkey">Drowsy Monkey tagged my good friend Dawn from Twisted Sister with the 7 weird things about me meme, and Dawn tagged me. I usually avoid the Weird Things About Me Meme's, because, who wants to admit weird things about themselves, especially if they happen to be neurotic? But in this case, I made an exception because, Dawn is my very good friend and has been since I began blogging, and I think that is enough of a reason to swallow my ego and do away with my dignity.

Therefore, here are seven weird things about me the first of which may frighten you from reading the rest, but we will see...

The first weird thing comes from a guilty conscious or at least it’s what my best friend from high school and I decided, since she does the same weird thing-

I'm going to try to articulate the first weird thing about me by giving a made up scenario as an example… So imagine this... While visiting a friend’s house out of town for a while, the friend comes to me her eyes wild with disbelief and says, “Someone took my grandmothers jewelry from my dresser, Ann! Can you believe that? Who would do a thing like that?"

My reaction would be: My eyes would avert away from her, resembling the expression of a bored monkey looking away with disinterest, and a finger in its mouth toward a more amusing event. In the meantime my neck would turn rosy, orange, or blue, but different colors, because when this is happening I actually feel what I think a heated crayon would feel like coloring my neck and face- with the words I am G-U-I-L-T-Y ! When in fact, I would never do something like that in a million billion trillion… years!

Actually, one of my best qualities is honestly especially in friendship, but in this type of situation I would still feel like I appeared guilty, and because I feel as if my expression is that of someone on the wrong side of the law, or the wrong side of everywhere, I think I look that way as well, but that is another meme and another story. My point being, that because I actually feel as if I am guilty, I give off the impression when stuff like this has happened, maybe not that exaggerated, but you get the drift. I am not as bad about it anymore, but my best friend still wrestles with it, and she is the only other person I know who has experienced the feeling. I used to worry that something really serious was going to happen one day and I was going to spend the rest of my life in jail for the for something I didn’t do. This neurosis did as I afore mentioned get better after I realized where it might have come from. I had a critical stepfather who always thought I was lying about everything, so go figure…

Now with the number one weird thing about me out of the way maybe you will believe the next six will be easier to swallow and keep reading….

2) I wear socks all the time, except if I’m on the beach or laying in the sun or in the bathtub…I even sleep in socks … I wore socks when my son was born even though the delivery nurse tried to take them off after she locked my legs in those stir-ups, but my husband put them back on and finally the Doctor told Hitler’s sister to let me wear them if I wanted too.

I have a box of keep sakes I brought home from the hospital that contains my sons baby bracelet , a Hershey bar his daddy gave me, (can you believe I saved that?) a bottle of wine, and of course, the socks I wore during his arrival into the world.

In addition, these socks were not just regular socks they were designer socks… I was not going to have my baby in plain white socks, no sir, these socks
had pastel pink, gray, and blue diamond shapes on them. My Doctor laughed throughout the delivery while my husband (a psychologist) tried to engage him in a conversation about what made people neurotic -no doubt afraid his child was going to inherit my penchant for socks.

O.K, let’s see what else I can think of that is weird about me, seven things Dawn? This is too HARD.



3) I laugh at the most inappropriate times and situations, which I know is a common weird thing to do, but I have the audacity to laugh or begin to smile while someone is telling me about something awful for the first time. I do not know if it is the shock of the expression on their face, or the deep emotional response expected from me, but I feel like running away and hiding behind a tree, where I can let out a huge laugh then return to the person say, “That’s really terrible news.”

4) I cannot eat in a restaurant if awful music is playing in the background. Even if the music is low, especially if it’s low, I cannot tolerate it and it takes me forever to order from the menu. Although it takes me forever to order from any menu anyway, the mission is impossible if the music is awful…you get the picture.

5) I can’t pee in a public bathroom if someone is in the stall next to me, and can hear my pee hit the water in the toilet…it just seems to personal… I don’t want them to witness the sound of my pee… “They just don’t know me like that” Isn’t that a song. I think it is, I heard the saying or the song somewhere, anyway I apologize to the artist who wrote it.

O.k. again number six, (I hope I have a blog after this) Lets see, hmmm Sometimes I blush for absolutely no reason when someone is talking to me, and it’s always a stranger and they always misunderstand my blushing for attraction- which wouldn't be terrible if I were attracted to them, but I never am! Then, the guilty face thing starts, followed by more blushing, and laughter, then I have to go to the bathroom- and it’s usually a public bathroom, and you can guess the rest.

7) I have to run the water in the bathroom sink when I brush my teeth…


I'm going to end this meme with Dawn's words and say "enough weirdness for one evening" (except she said the word "day") and tagged these two bloggers with The Seven Weird Things About me Meme:

Sandee at Comedy Plus
Misty at My Dogs Keep Me Sane