U-Turn Ahead » Humor

Strange But True Facts About Coryan

Coryan — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:03:13 +0000

Here’s the deal, WAH(web)Mommy (who, by the way, has one of the coolest blog designs on the Net) was tagged to post seven weird facts about herself on her blog. I was enjoying reading them until I got to the bottom of the post. There I saw it…I was being tagged to write seven weird facts about myself.

Well, keeping with the career change theme of this blog, I’ve decided to post seven strange job related facts about myself.

1) I was a waiter for Olivia Newton-John and her date. To make it even stranger, the dinner was under a circus tent in the middle of the field on a horse farm. So let me explain…it was Anita Madden’s famous Kentucky Derby Party being held on her horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky. I was a waiter for the Marriot Hotel that was catering the dinner. Olivia and her date were the only guests at my table. That was 24 years ago and we both looked a lot hotter.

2) I was paid $20 to paint a 12 foot mural in a church Sunday school room. It was my senior year of high school, and I was really into art (paintings, drawing, ect.). The scene was a creek running through the countryside with trees, butterflies and a couple other animals. Was it good? Nope. I was really disappointed, but the church folk seemed to like it.

3) Two weeks after I got married, my wife and I moved into a group home to care for six troubled teenagers. And we are still together today! My wife and I…not the six boys. We worked in the home for a year. That work lead to me getting my Master’s in Social Work and a career in nonprofit administration.

4) When I was a teen, I worked as a bouncer at our county fair. Okay, this one needs some explaining. The main attraction at the county fair in Harrodsburg, Kentucky is the horse show. I got a job working in the reserved seating. I had to check a list of names to be sure no one without paid reserved seating was in the section. At the end of the week, I would make another $20-40 helping the carnies break down the rides. It was my one week summer job.

5) I once made a nearly $200 tip tending bar for a reception with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Jeane Kirkpatrick. She was speaking to the Fort Worth, Texas Chamber of Commerce during her last year as ambassador, and I was assigned as the bartender for the reception before her speech. The tip was 15% of the bar tab for only about 40 guests. They liked to drink.

6) I created the term jobrepreneur to describe those of us who start a business while remaining employed. Jobrepreneuing is not so weird, but the word sure is. I first used it on this blog a couple months ago. I needed a word to describe what I was doing, but couldn’t find the right one. So, like any good wordsmith, I slammed two words together! BTW, did you know that Coryan is also a word smash? It combines the names of my sons, Cory and Ryan. My real name is Jim Lockwood.

And I’ve saved the best for last…

7) I once sold Avon products door-to-door. I was the second leading salesperson in our region despite being a 20 year old man selling in the housing projects. I had just graduated college and needed money for a car. This was the only work I could find in our small town. I sold five days a week for six months, even recruiting other moms to sell for me for a small commission.

I hope you enjoyed this little break from the regular U-Turn posts. Now, I’d like to see some weird facts from Ben at TheBlogscape.com, Tish at BloggingGal.com, KoTa at Ko-Ta.com, and Shari at ExpressMarketingMemo.com. You’ve all now been tagged! BTW, these are all great blogs, so check them out.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Fun and Clever Ads: Take A Look

Coryan — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:57:46 +0000

To grab attention, you need to set yourself apart from the pack. We can do this in many ways, but using humor and creativity have to be the most fun. So, check out this eye catching ad for the Silberman’s Fitness Center! For some fun photos and more clever advertising, visit Sutra Photos. More Clever Ads>>>

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Career Change Advice from The Onion

Coryan — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:07:58 +0000

If you’ve not been a fan of The Onion, America’s Finest News Source, you might be after reading their advice for “Making a Midlife Career Change“. In typical Onion fashion, they peel back the layers of a complicated matter and boil it down to its humorous essentials. Here are my favorite tips from this classic 2001 article:

• If you are married and have children, it may prove difficult to change careers while maintaining financial stability. Consider moving across the country in the middle of the night and assuming a new identity.

• Why not sink your life savings into self-publishing a book of essays about your reflections on aging? There’s a gold mine for ya.

• Know what you would be good at? Writing movies. After all, you watch a ton of them, and it’s just thinking up stuff for people to say.

For more, uh, career advice, read the rest of the article at TheOnion.com.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

How About Some Career Humor?

Coryan — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:18:15 +0000

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.

For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said:“Look mate, don’t ever do that again. You scared me!”.

The passenger apologized and said, ”I didn’t realize that a little tap would scare you so much.”

The driver replied, ”Sorry, it’s not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver – I’ve been driving a van carrying dead Bodies for the last 25 years…….” –From funinlife.wordpress.com

A young man, hired by a supermarket, reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom and said, “your first job will be to sweep out the store.”

“But I’m a college graduate,” the young man replied indignantly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that,” said the manager. “Here, give me the broom, I’ll show you how.” –From WorkJoke.com

Cartoon from AhaJokes.com.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Catch Their Attention With Creative Advertising

Coryan — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 06:16:00 +0000

I came across this site during a break today while using StumbleUpon. It is a collection of photos showing some very ingenious advertising campaigns. Check out the other photos at Hemmy.com. Wow, the creativity that some advertisers have!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.