Getting Personal is an email Q&A with a local personality. Here, Paul Wood chats with Urbana police Chief Patrick Connolly. Getting Personal appears first in print, in Sunday editions of The News-Gazette. In the Feb. 12 newspaper, we'll have a chat with  M. Cynthia Oliver of Urbana. She is a choreographer, performer, scholar and professor in the University of Illinois Department of Dance.

What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning?

I am up at 5:20 and am at Starbucks by 6:15. Myself and five, six or seven other guys solve all the world's problems on a daily basis.

What did you have for lunch today? Where? With whom?

A run at Truly Fit in lieu of lunch.

Best high school memory.

Although I was nowhere close to being as good as my brothers, participating in wrestling and baseball were some of my fondest memories.

Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes.

They are called Bunny Boots. They are a great cold weather boot I wear when I am outdoors.

What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include?

Probably participating in the indoor archery league with friends.

Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read?

'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

Where on earth are you dying to go? Why?

Ireland. We (my family and I) think it would be the trip of a lifetime. We would love to see where my dad's parents grew up.

Tell me about your favorite pet.

Without a doubt, it was a department-owned yellow Lab by the name of Levi. He was a very active drug-sniffing dog that was most notable for a 1,123-pound cannabis find in a semi that was traveling through the area.

Have you discovered that you are becoming like one of your parents? Which one and how?

Absolutely! Probably more like my dad than my mom. He is very involved in family, and I find myself going in that same direction.

What would you order for your last meal?

I am addicted to seafood. Probably crab legs, a baked potato and a salad.

What can you not live without?

My family, both immediate and the guys I have coffee with every morning.

Who do you have on your iPod?

Sorry, don't own an iPod.

What's the happiest memory of your life?

The day my daughters, Kaitlyn and Nicole, were born.

If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, whom would you invite?

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf because of his incredible leadership ability, Robin Williams because he is incredibly funny and Jennifer Lopez because she is incredibly beautiful.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

A very wise man (my dad) quoted Abraham Lincoln: 'It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.'

What's your best piece of advice?

Care about others and do something each day that shows you care.

What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour?

Selling fruit at a fruit stand in Milwaukee, and I think I earned $1.25 an hour.

What was a pivotal decision in your career, and how did you arrive at that decision?

Leaving the narcotics unit to become a sergeant was probably the hardest choice I had to make in my career. I was leaving a job that I enjoyed better than any other, but I knew I had to take the promotion if I was going to advance further in my career.

Do you have a bad habit? What is it?

A number of them. Not enough sleep and eating too late.

How do you handle a stressful situation?

I guess it depends on what is causing the stress. Having dealt with crisis situations for over 30 years, the type of stressful situation created by a spontaneous event is often robotic in response. We have systems in place, and you go through a mental checklist to address the event. Those are a lot easier for me than other stressful situations like problems at home. I am sure my wife would say I don't handle those quite as efficiently.