Facebook, Psychology and Inherent Insanity

Wow, here I am again, finally, maybe? It's been nuts, but you already know that if you know me at all! But see here? I'm workin' ya!
I learned in psychology that "intermittent" reinforcement increases behavior more than constant reinforcement...if you give the Pavlovian dog a treat every durn time the bell rings then he'll eventually quit salivating...but if you only do it every third or fourth time? He just never knows when the good stuff is gonna happen so he keeps slobbering....that's my excuse for not being a reliable blogger. (Hey, it sounded good!). I am intelligently unreliable?

I just keep waiting for myself to do something completely stupid and hysterically funny so that I have something to say and the remarkabl things is, I haven't f+*+*d up in days! (Well, yeah, but it's not funny blog material!).

But I do realize that if FACEBOOK had been around when I was a Private Investigator and/or skip tracer? I would soooo be unemployed! NOTE TO PEOPLE TRYING TO AVOID DEBT COLLECTION OR SUSPICIOUS SPOUSES! DON'T GET ON FACEBOOK!

I just got on when a gf invited me, and I thought it'd kind of be cool to keep tabs on the wicked stepson (love that kid!) so I joined up....and I used the same profile picture that's on this blog...simply because it was handy and I haven't had my picture made in years (don't ask how many!)...and I honestly didn't know anyone I knew would actually see it! Well, darn near my entire senior class and then some found me, and all had compliments on how I "haven't aged a bit!". LOL! I am so tempted to keep that picture up to keep the illusion, but my cousins' wife is coming out tomorrow and we're going to play with the cameras and get me a new, updated, prof pic! From further away!

Then, an old, dear wonderful friend found me...THAT was crazy! I looked for him for years in the city we both used to live in and he was just gone! I had resigned myself to memories! I got on Facebook and WHAM! It's so exciting, we have a long phone convo planned for the future!

AND, then, one of the most pivotal people in my life, an old "colleague" happened to be on facebook and I found him, I thought, and sent a message, and it WAS him and we've been chatting and have another long phone convo planned...I just might need a social secretary by the end of this!

It's great, but I realize that if I had any aspirations to go back into the PI business? Someone should hit me over the head with an enormous reality check. How people can hide anymore is beyond me. Oh, I'm sure they still do, but they are beyond my capabilities to find! Cyber-sleuth I am not!

As a PI, a suspicious husband found a number on his cell bill...I called the number pretending to be a UPE delivery person (intentional...can't say UPS!) and that the label had gotten wet and all I could read was the number, they'd give me the address and I'd go from there...busted. As a skip tracer for a private company, we'd call references from the credit ap and lie our ass off and convince the references that they had: a)applied for credit and we needed to verify information (they won't give them up but they'll help them steal more) or 2) they'd won something and we needed to mail them the certificate. We'd also go into utility companies with the social and lie, but I never told you that....

It was hard work! Being a professional liar! Now? All ya gotta do is get on facebook and you can, apparently, find anybody! I'd say that the computer age had pushed me out of the PI business but I honestly got out a long time ago.

I P.I.'ed in the Texas Panhandle. People might think that following someone is easy, but it's not, even in the flatlands. I moved to Austin and my old boss had me set up with a PI there and I knew instantly I could not tail people in the hill country with all the trees! I quit!

Ditto with the computer age. Criminals and deadbeats can still hide, and often phone work will be the only way to find them....but this job has soooo outsourced me!

I'm a shit hauler remember? My days of playing "hide and go seek" are behind me! It was fun to play Sam Spade and I have funny stories....but I'll leave the skip tracing up to the experts in computers now! I do good just to post on this thing!

NOTE: We had Harry Haines, who has published "Orphan" with Mayhaven Publishing come down here and give us a presentation on "taking your writing to the next level". It was awesome, I learned a lot....and the dear, sweet man offered to read my stuff and help me out at the next PPW meeting! I was dying to ask for his help and guidance but published authors get inundated and pummeled with those kinds of things...I thought it was very gracious of him to offer and you can bet I'll take him up on it! On that note? Better go do some "real" writing!