Charlize Theron as Stella in "The Italian Job" -- one of my girls' favorite movies. (Yahoo Images)
When we were on vacation last month, we read in the newspaper that Australia’s Secret Intelligence Service is looking for a master locksmith. The ASIS is advertising for a “corporate locksmith” to provide “services and advice across the organisation.” The job is “a unique role for a highly motivated and dedicated locksmith” who will be required to travel and often on short notice. ASIS is offering a salary of up to A$93,581 (more or less on par with the American dollar). Work could include cracking the safes of foreign embassies in the Oz capital of Canberra, as well as looking after ASIS’s secrets. The successful candidate would also be responsible for managing the purchasing of all locks, safes, and secure containers for ASIS. Applicants should have a squeaky clean background, with no criminal behavior.
On a related note — and this will make sense in a moment — Saturday was Grace’s 14th birthday. Among her gifts were the following:
Please note that it is illegal to buy tools with criminal intent and that what we actually bought our daughter was a wax carving set. There is, as far as I know, no crime in having a book on an interesting topic.
As for the book, as someone commented on Facebook over the weekend, is there some sort of impractical lock picking?
She also asked for and received this:
I don’t worry too much about her using her powers for evil and not good.
So, as you can see, Grace is a good candidate for the job listing above. Of course, she lacks experience and age, but she could always revisit the possibilities in a decade or so.
If you could do any job in the world, regardless of your skill set, your age, the salary, and the location, what would it be?
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Ooh, good question. Hmm. I’d like to write for TV or movies, or be an archeologist. I remember being fascinated by a dig that was happening at Colonial Williamsburg during a visit when I was around 7 or 8. I seriously could have stood there all day and watched them sift through the dirt. As an adult I’d probably need to overcome my fear of insects in order to do that job. Hahaha
The other job I’d love to have some day is to be a mom, but the clock is ticking on that one. (What? TMI?)
I would love to be a reading tutor, or a caterer. Still may become a reading tutor, the caterer, probably not. Grace sounds like a well-rounded young lady. Have you all been to the Spy Museum in DC? It’s awesome. “The Italian Job” is one of my favorites too
This one is easy. I would love to be the live-in caretaker for an hhistorical house somewhere. I’d just live in an apartment up in the back, and when all the tourists were gone the whole place would be MINE!
I am available.
Jenny
Honestly? Right now I’m so totally craving being an old fashion housewife. You know – not having to work, having “help” with the kids/housekeeping, and all the time in the world to actually get my hobbies done.
Perchance I’ve been watching too much Mad Men lately? And feeling a schedule crunch.
Happy Birthday G! If we didn’t already know how awesome you are, those gifts sure tell the story!
Wife and mom would be on top of the list, second, director of a non profit.
My all-time most awesome dream job would be to design historic costumes for films.
I’d like to go back and create model space ships for science-fiction movies, and set up scenes to film. But I don’t think I’d be as interested in the way it’s all done on computers nowadays. Or, I’d love to create maps, but the kind people used to create where certain things were highlighted, not boring place-maps.
Have you and Grace looked at the CIA internships that are available for college students? Emma is interested in those. Although, really, I think her interests are in a different direction –she wrote a script for a spy-series and she and her friend are now filming it (and soliciting extras from her class mates).
Laura and I got to take a tour of the NSA a while back as part of a group Laura belongs to. We learned about code-breaking, secret cyber stuff, and had lunch (just the three of us!) with a real-live agent in the NSA cafeteria. It was AWESOME. So, Grace might consider looking into the NSA, which isn’t as far from home as the ASIS.
As for me, I would like to be a writer. What? OR . . . if I hadn’t gotten too old before I thought of it, I would like to work for the FBI.
Send Gracie out to Vegas for the annual hackers convention in a few years. She can commune with her people. For good, not evil. Really.
I have always and forever wanted to be an author of Young Adult novels. YA novels saved my life as a kid/teenager and I want to “give back.” I’ve written 3 novels but I suck at going back and editing so…
But yeah. that’s my dreamiest dream job ever.
I have always wanted to be a writer. I would love to be a Rachel Maddow in my next life.
LOVE your daughters.
Does Mrs. Tim King count as a job? (Go see today’s blog) OK after setting back women’s rights and equality I’ll stop joking. My ultimate job would be working with animals. Kind of a multifaceted job. Part running a animal rescue. Completely no kill of course. I’d like to have some wild rescue and rehab be part of it. Then I’d also like to bred a few hybrid kind of dogs for kids with allergies that wouldn’t cost a fortune. Lastly some animal training and helping train dogs to work with special needs individuals.
What fun!
I would still be a teacher of some sort. Though I guess a whitewater rafting guide is sort of a teacher and that would be fun, too.
Please tell me you have taken your girls to the International Spy Museum in DC!
My ultimate dream job was to be a SAHM.
But at one point, I did fantasize about being an artist (watercolors? Oils? Not sure) and living on a refurbished tugboat in SE Alaska in the summers. Pure fantasy, since my art skills begin and end with stick figures.
I’m crazy for that girl. B wants a “real” grappling hook for his birthday. They’d make a heckuva team.
My ultimate dream job would be NPR reporter.