I can fix anything using only super glue, duct tape and baling wire.
That doesn’t help much in General Questions so I read much more there than I contribute. I do ask questions there. Is that an area of expertise?
Originally Posted by Emony Dax
I’m a financial aid counselor at a large university. I specialize in the student employment/human resources side of it, but can answer lots of fin aid questions.
Which University, Baylor?
Egads, no. I’m a recovering Baptist myself, so you couldn’t get me anywhere near Waco. Well, except that my in-laws live there, but that’s another story.
No, this would be a state university. Beyond that, you’ll just have to guess. I’m a coy sort 
Public relations and feature writing (popular culture type stuff) for newspapers and magazines.
Expertise might be too strong a word, but the genera Lithops and Mammillaria are two of my specialties (obsessions?). I’ve had a number of papers published, and have a world class collection of these plants.
I’m also pretty good at science education…physics, biology, and anatomy, but retired now.
In 1995 I survived a Traumatic Brain Injury. I’m no expert, but I am frequently consulted and speak on disability and recovery and returning to the real world. I am an occaisional advocate for the disabled. People say that being disabled and recovering as well as I have makes me note-worthy on the subject. I am 41 and I am studying civil engineering as all my working skills had been wiped-out and I had a chance to start again.
Expertise would be too strong of a word. However, I am a pretty good firefighter and paramedic. I’ve been playing this dual role for 12years now. It is an extremely rewarding field to be a part of.
Then perhaps, as someone with expertise in Flanders and Swann, you can answer a question that has been plaguing me:
In The First and Second Law, an exchange occurrs which sounds something like this:
“I’m hot”
“That’s because you’ve been working”
“Ahh, beetle’s nothing”.
Can you explain to me what it is that sounds like “ahh, beetle’s nothing”? And what it means?
Yeah we’ve done some admonishing of Oracle too . You’re lucky tho’ - if you’re a DBA and not a developer you’ve probably never had to use Oracle Reports ::runs away screaming::
Degree’s in comp sci & math.
Job is programming.
Hobby is waterskiing (slalom, barefoot, and wakeboard).
Been a flight instructor for 20-odd years (don’t know whether to count this as job or hobby. I get paid, but not very much).
Job history (in rough chronological order):
Fast food
Gas station attendant (dating myself)
Retail sales (JC Penney)
Linecrew (fueling airplanes)
Sailboat race worker
School bus driver
Wonder bread route deliveryman
Loader/Sorter/Hossler/Driver (at UPS)
Offshore pipeliner (actually “drove” a submarine pipelay vessel – Honest! my “coolest” job by far)
Flight Instructor
Computer Sales
Contract Engineer (aka. “job shopper”)
I can probably answer questions on the above subjects, but I hesitate to use the word “expertise”.
I know a fair bit about a lot of mundane daily living things. I can teach people to do things that most everyone already knows how to do. This usually ends up being a bit more useful than you might expect, since while most everyone knows how to do most of the stuff, everyone has a few things that they can’t do.
I know a bit more than necessary about “The Lord of the Rings” and “Silmarillion” but I am not well read in the works collected after Tolkien’s death.
I am willing to do the arithmetic when people make broad claims regarding the size or extent of some aspect of the world or universe, to see just how high the sky really is. I have a calculator, and use it.
I am often able to distinguish between knowledge and opinion. Sometimes that ability extends even to my own knowledge and opinions.
Tris
“Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.” ~ Anonymous ~
I’m extremely good at making inappropriate comments, but I try not to do that too much on here.
Any useful stuff I know is fairly eclectic. I know a fair amount about finance, fraud, copyright, internet stuffs and IT, but I find I get beaten to the answer most of the time. I’ve got a good understanding of icky stuff from working in mortuaries, and I love kitty cats.
HIJACK
pullin I challenge you!
What is the hardest thing about driving a bus load of kids? ( I’m toying with the idea of becoming a substitute driver in my area and need to know the plus/minus factor.)
And,directed to the doper that posted this…who are **Flanders and Swann **?
**This concludes the Hijack. Please resume touting your expertise. **
Roughriders…hehe. The only think saving you from a stream of burning criticisms directed at your team is that the Blue Bombers are well on their way to usurping the 'Riders claim to the choke title.
Back to the thread:
Application developer here. I know it’s just a fancy term for computer programmer but I’m in a small IT shop and got to pick my title. Plus I manage projects from start to finish as I’m the only programmer. I guess that qualifies me as having professional knowledge on programming and development, with a side of database design and networking as I’m the DBA and the Network Admin as well.
Away from work I can generally hold my own in riddles, logic puzzles and cryptograms. I read any book I can get my hands on that I think will teach me something. LOTR and Sherlock Holmes are probably the two stories I’ve read in the past decade. As a kid, I would read encyclopedias so I’m another person that doesn’t get too many offers to play trivial pursuit. However, I believe I’d get wiped playing against any dopers.
I don’t really believe in calculators as I think people should be able to do simple math without a computer so I’m pretty good at head calculations. I used to race the cashier at the grocery store while she was ringing up the groceries (before the scanner took over and I couldn’t win). I have a photographic memory and can pretty much read the answers to an exam question off the back of my eyelids. While that doesn’t make me an expert in anything, it does allow me to seem smarter than I am because I can recall virtually everything I come in contact with in great detail. I literally never forget a face
The only topic I would consider myself an expert in is hockey strategy with a special interest in goaltending styles and theory. I’ve grown up playing and studying the game. I also like hockey history but I’m more inclined to study a forechecking system than I am to remember who played right wing with Gordie Howe (trick question anyway so don’t look it up).
Hi Shirley Ujest (cool name btw)
I contemplated several humorous responses to your question about the “hardest thing about driving a busload of kids”, but decided to be serious.
I drove kids from a really, really bad area of town (they were bussed across to a nicer school), and it was kinda hard just to watch them leave the bus for their hellhole of a home some days. Occasionally one would “break the rules” and I would need to report them to the school officials. After watching the way one “father” dealt with it (the kid was terrified to go home, crying etc.), I stopped even that, and just tried to keep them under control myself. I found out 2 smaller kids were getting attacked/bullied every day and started delivering them directly to their door (in violation of policy). Some days I felt more like a warden than a bus driver.
If you’re in a less-blighted area, it’s really not a bad job (I had a route on the other side of town, too). It works great if you’re in school (you work a coupla hours early, and a coupla hours in the afternoon, you’re free for classes during the day).
I guess the hardest thing about the actual driving, was dealing with the noise.
Good Luck.
Pullin
PS sorry 'bout the hijack everybody.
Well, I’m not that poster, but I’ll answer anyhow… Michael Flanders and Donald Swann were a team of English comedic songwriters from approximately the 1950s who were notable for their extremely erudite humor and very clever lyrics. More info about them can be found here.
If songs about the first and second law of thermodynamics are up your alley, I definitely suggest you give them a listen.
Me, too. And Friends and Seinfeld* trivia. I can do that.
What else? I teach nursery school, and I’m a parent, so I can do the kid stuff.
I can answer migraine questions.
My husband and I have done a lot of home remodeling, so I can do that, too.
I read a lot, and have tons of useless knowledge rattling around in my brain. All it means is that I’m in the “No one will play Trivial Pursuit with me!” club, too.
Ecology, botany, GIS (geographic information systems,) relational databases.
Published a book with World Wildlife Fund a few years ago on North American aquatic biodiversity, did part of the GIS on their study of Indo-Malay birds.
I caught two eastern worm snakes in one day this past weekend. A lot of lifelong herpetologists can’t say they’ve seen even one. Oh, and an American narrowmouth toad, and a huuuuuge northern red salamander (now, if only Pseudotriton ruber ruber would visit this thread.)
I’m also a fearful music snob, and not too bad with food.
I’m a music promoter and musician specializing in jam and acoustic oriented genres.
I also have worked extensively as a photographer and graphic designer specializing in the music industry (album & poster design, concert and studio promotional photography)
I spent six years as a touring musician myself, so I’ve logged quite a bit of road time.
I publish a local independent music paper, so I’m well versed in the trials and tribulations of independent publication
So I guess I’d be considered an expert on the following topics:
Music Theory & Performance
Music Business and Promotion, especially regarding Jam based music
Tour Promotion & the logistics of touring
Photography, especially live concert photography
Grassroots marketing and promotion
Album and poster design
Artist Management
Local, regional and national booking
Music Industry PR and media relations
Jam Bands - small and large
Festival and event promotion
A lot of my artists are heavily involved in the reform of marijuana laws and medical marijuana, and consequently my company works extensively with NORML and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). So I might be able to answer some questions regarding legalization, or at least point you in the right direction.
I was born and raised in Poland, so there’s that. Any Polish pronounciation questions, food identification, stuff like that, I’m all over it.
I like to think I’m pretty well-informed on the subject of Korean pop culture, and maybe even the language. Movies and music are really more my area, though.
Public restrooms of New York City. Although I’m certainly not the biggest expert, I have quite a bit of experience in the matter.
How many birthdays does Paddington have?
I am a molecular biologist but I am frankly not up to date with the literature. I have a ton of real world lab experience but that hardly ever comes up here.
I have a fair bit of book knowledge about North American wildlife, especially birds, and birds in general but there are people on the boards who know far more.
I can discuss downhill skiing and Chinese cuisine pretty knowledgeably.
I am a pretty sizeable Tolkien geek but again there are people here who put me to shame. My specialty is obscure aspects of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings…the parts that people tend to forget, the edges of the stories, as it were.
I used to know the *Star Trek * universe pretty well but the knowledge I did have is fading from not having watched any episodes in about 4 years, and I know nothing about Enterprise, and very little of any of the novels.
Oh, I know a fair bit about popular music from roughly 1963 to 1995, with special emphasis on 80s New Wave/Alternative.