I just finished watching this movie called Light It Up. I didn't mean to watch the whole thing, but I couldn't stop myself. It starred Usher and Rosario Dawson and Darlene from Roseanne and that guy who played Derrick's thug friend in Save the Last Dance. I think it was supposed to be a modern day Breakfast Club, but it really didn't hold up. And yet, I watched it.

I was offered a job that requires a background investigation to be done, so I have all this paperwork to fill out. I haven't decided if I'm going to take it, but I figure I might as well get the ball rolling just in case. Yesterday I tried to go to the police station to get my fingerprints taken, but the lady who takes the fingerprints didn't come in that day. Seriously. The police officer says to me, "Yeah she didn't show up today, so you're going to have to come back at 8 a.m. on Friday." Are they kidding me? Because they were the police and I grew up with a police officer father, I didn't press it. Respect for the blue and all. But I was thinking to myself, "Is this or is this not a police station? Don't they teach all the cadets how to take fingerprints in the academy?" I did say, "Are you sure there isn't anyone here who can do it? I did come all the way down here." He didn't need to know that I live .25 miles from the police station. He tells me he's sorry, but she is the only person there who can do it. I was tempted to say, "What if I kill you? I bet someone would be here to take my fingerprints then." But I didn't. I just thanked him for his time. He suggested I go to the sheriff's office at the court house. So I drive to the court house, and the member of the sherriff squad (deputy? I don't know. Who knew we even had a sherriff?) tells me that they only do fingerprints from 3-4 and it was about 12:45. I had class from 3-4, so I gave the deputy dude my sweetest smile and said, "Are you sure they can't take me a little early?" And Deputy Dude says to me, very seriously, "You can't just go down there. They have prisoners down there." Prisoners? Seriously? At the Sherriff's office? Unheard of! I mean really, what were the prisoners doing, running around loose? Was it really that dangerous?

That reminds me of my old job. Once I had to interview this guy who worked in a prison. So I get to the prison and the guy meets me at the door, but to get to his office we had to walk down the corridor with the prisoners on either side. It reminded me of a movie, and the man I was interviewing reminded me to stay in the middle of the hallway. Creepy! I half expected some crude shouting or something disgusting to fly at me, a la Silence of the Lambs, but the prisoners were surprisingly docile. Too bad. It would have made a better story if something exciting had happened. But it was kind of nerve wracking just to be there.

OK. Back to bed. Hopefully I'll get four hours of sleep before I have to get up and go to the police station for my fingerprints.