Ten Random Things- Thanks @galenkp!
I was recently nominated by one of my all-time favorite Steemians, @galenkp, to participate in the #tenrandomthings Challenge. So, since he is at the top of my Steemians list and he never, ever tags people in things like this, I took it as an honor that he tagged me and I will try to throw ten things down. The issue I began to have as I was outlining this piece of literary mastery was that I am so open and sharing on my writing platforms that I am having a hard time finding things that I haven't already disclosed or written about.
Before I start, I wanted to give a nod to the original concept creator, @twodorks. Ok, here we go!
- 10. I lived in South America for about two years back in the 90's. I lived in Guyana for approximately a year and a half and in Suriname for 6 months. My daughter's mother is from there and my daughter was actually born in Paramaribo, Suriname.
- 9. Most people know that I am a law enforcement officer and that I have been
so for the past 21 years, but it was not my dream to become a cop. I actually only went to the police academy to make an ex-wife happy because she hated the job I was at. We split up the 3rd week of police academy and my dad talked me into staying and completing the academy just in case I needed law enforcement as a back-up career...lol. I went to academy in 1995 and then in 1997 I was having problems finding work and decided I would work a short time as a cop until I found something else.......21 years later I'm still wearing a badge! I tried a few times to get out of it, but it always found a way to pull me back in. It has had it's ups and downs, but law enforcement has been extremely good to me and I am very proud to wear the uniform. I am also a police instructor and firearms instructor(mentioned those in a few posts). 
8. I have been married to my wife for 10 years. We are actually childhood sweethearts who met in the 7th grade. We dated on and off through high school and then we went our separate ways until destiny brought us back together. She and my daughter are far and above the best things that have ever happened to me and she is the only person who can control me and keep me on a somewhat righteous path...lol.- 7. I graduated high school in the top 3% of my class with honors but I didn't get a chance to go to college and get a degree until a few years ago in my 40's. I have a love a learning though and I have read just about everything I can get my hands on. This makes me absolutely saturated with useless information!
- 6. This one is a bit funny and embarrassing. I was raised, early on, in an extremely rigid, religious environment where just about everything under the sun was a "sin". So, when I was four or five years old I told my aunt's old broken down poodle dog that she was going to burn in hell for wearing fingernail polish(she had just came back from the dog groomer)..lol My aunt freaked out and thought I was being raised in a cult by my mom.
- 5. I have written poetry since elementary school. I have tons and tons of poems written down on anything from Waffle House napkins to leather-bound journals. I get hit with a line out of nowhere like a bolt of lightening and it becomes a frantic imperative that I get it recorded on paper.
- 4. I smoked three packs a day for about 12 years and I quit about 12 years ago. Through the help of medication, sunflower seeds, and gum I was able to quit and no longer need a smoko!(lol @galenkp)
- 3. I do not drink, smoke, or curse. At all. I do have 6 tattoos and three piercings.
- 2. I have won two amateur photography contests and I collect vintage cameras.
- 1. I worked a good portion of my career as an undercover narcotics agent. It was wild and crazy and definitely made me a better cop when it comes to understanding the human condition and building compassion and empathy for others.
Ok, the final part of this "challenge" is to answer a question, tag another person, and ask them an additional question.
So in his infinite wisdom and knowing how twistedly complicated my mind is, @galenkp decided to forgo all attempts at being easy on our friendship and asked me the most difficult question KNOWN TO MAN! He knew I would not be able to just throw an answer out there. He knew in his devious, black heart that I would follow every aspect, scenario, consequence, and rabbit hole associated with his inquiry. He may be masquerading as just a good old everyday Aussie, but I tell you he is an evil genius! Here is his question:
If you could go back in time and eliminate one person, any person, in history, who would it be and why?Wow, right? Where do you even start with this one? Even if you pick the most devilish human to ever walk the face of the Earth, what if you end up with someone worse. What if by compounding effects, you eliminate you family line? The implications are absolutely mind-numbing. The butterfly effect dictates that every action has countless, unknown reactions. Is this power too much for my feeble mind to bare? After hours and hours of contemplation and scenario recreation, my final answer would have to be ....................to eliminate whatever guy Noah sent out to collect the mosquitoes! HAHAHAHA!
Ok, now that my work is done and the world is a better place due to my answers, I nominate @janton and here is your question, my good buddy:
If you had unlimited power, what is the one thing you would do/change to make the world a better place?
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://papacrusher.vornix.blog/2018/10/15/ten-random-things-thanks-galenkp/
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Ok, so that was pretty interesting. I liked the part about you becoming a cop to keep your ex happy and then split up...I mean, I don't like it but the part about you staying in the job, making a difference, putting yourself on the line for others...That's cool and admirable.
Rockin' it all those years later...A good story. One day you might share some it I hope. Yes, I know it's the block chain but change the names...We'll never know it is actually about you... (You could be "Schmappacrusher") No one would ever know it was you.
I was interested to read you don't cuss. I must confess I am guilty of swearing like a trooper (Not in inappropriate situations of course). I can't help it. I have never heard my dad swear though...Ever. It's admirable I think. Maybe your strict religious upbringing has something to do with the cussing or maybe it's just because you are so learned that you have the right word for every occasion where others have to apply the universal F-word in place of a more intelligent option. :)
I really enjoyed reading this man, so thanks for sharing it. I'm glad I nominated you despite feeling guilty nominating you. :)
Oh, if ONLY someone could have eliminated Noah's mosquito-guy back in the day...What a glorious world we would live in.
I'm going to resteem this one sir.
Thanks for reading. I definitely need to get our love story down at some point. She is an amazing woman and I am truly blessed to have her in my life.
As for cussing, it hasn't always been that way. I lived an extremely rough lifestyle up through my early twenties(pre-cop of course) i may have subconsciously stopped due to my religious upbringing, but on a conscious level it was a bit of wisdom imparted to me from a school teacher who was my greatest mentor. He would always say that swearing was for unlearned foolish and that a wise man didn't need to grasp for obscenities to express himself. As I became older and more mature his words would always come back to me and I made a decision to heed his advice. Trust me it was a furious battle of the will and took me a long time to master!!! Lol
Thanks for sharing that mate :)
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haha! sir papacrusher! you have had such an interesting life, the way you got into Law Enforcement is amazing, spending time in South America and you collect vintage cameras, how interesting.
Kind of an unusual thing to collect, but you've been a photography guy for ages so it came naturally I suspect?
Anyway this was a beautiful post until I got to the nomination part! lol.. that was a big surprise. I tell you what..if steemit is still here and doing well at this time next year I'll do one of these.
But I do have an answer for your question though, if I had unlimited power I would make Steem the number one crypto in the world with a price of 10 grand!
Your question about who you would eliminate was a brilliant but super hard one! And you also answered it brilliantly!
Such an interesting read to learn more about you, I also no longer smoke drink and seldom curse,
I really enjoyed reading about you, @papacrusher. And you are indeed interesting!
Ha ha. I am sure we all feel that way to some degree. But it sounds like you have an interesting and happy life, overall, and some cool interests, hobbies and skills.