69 posts tagged “qotd” (page 3)

When has your first impression of someone turned out to be completely wrong? 
Submitted by Mana'olana.  

When I first met my boss, I thought he was about 22 years old and perhaps fresh out of college. Lo and behold, he was already old enough to have two children in high school. He looked fresh out of high school himself! (He was only in his 30s, by the way--he had become a parent at a young age, and to this day he looks extremely young.) It was pretty surprising to me. Also, I initially thought my boss was just another normal "suit"--not a Renaissance man who served in the Marines; became an electrical engineer; traveled the world; learned how to forge his own metal doorknobs in a a furnace he designed himself using a garbage can, some concrete, and a few other materials; and participated in the annual tomato throwing festival in Spain. In other words, he's completely bizarre! And that's part of what makes it fun to work with him and know him.

How many jobs have you had in the past five years? Where and what did you do? 
Submitted by M.  

If this question had been posted September 30, 2007, then my answer would have been "one job" because I have been at this same company doing what I do for 5 years as of September 30th.

But because this question was issued on August 6, 2007, instead, I have to answer "two jobs," but under one boss--the same guy was my boss at both companies. He has been my boss for almost 10 years now.

I try to separate my work life from my personal life, so I can't really get into details about what I do here. I can say that I work for a small federal government/defense contractor, and my business card title is "assistant program manager." I travel a lot for my job. I also do a lot of writing, and some marketing and business development stuff as well. Even though my title at the previous company was different, I performed a lot of the same categories of tasks there.

What are the 5 words that best describe your life right now?
Submitted by mojito.  

1. Stressful. Will (step)son arrive home OK today or not? How fast will pay day get here?

2. Confusing. Too many details! Too many things to remember! Go here or go there? Do this or do that?

3. Fortunate. I have a family, I have a house, I have a car, I have a job, I have health insurance.

4. Messy. I am sitting in our messy, messy house that will never be truly clean because I myself am messy by nature.

5. Content. Despite any problems I might have right now, generally speaking I am a fairly content person. I have not accomplished all of the things I want to do, but I know my life right now is much better than it has been in past years, so I'm grateful for what I've got.

If you knew you had one week to live, what would you do, where would you go, who would you see? 
Submitted by normatheartist

Wow, I doubt I could get everything done in only one week! I'd want to spend some time with my husband and stepson; some time with my mom and my 3 siblings; and some time with my closest friends. Then I'd jet over to Finland to see the family there. If there was any time left I'd jet back over to Arizona to see the in-laws. I'd want to spend some time with my friends The Stepmoms. Responsible girl that I am, I'd also have to get all my financial and legal papers in order to make things as easy as possible on my survivors. I'd probably also eat every single dessert I could find, all week long, interspersed with lots of cheese. I'd pet my cats a lot. And I'd probably run out and commit some silly, harmless petty crimes like toilet-papering Mr. Cranky Pants' house, just because I could. Finally, upon death, I would become a prankster ghost, and I would run around haunting people in a friendly fashion for eons and eons, doing things like scrawling "Who loves you, baby?" into steamy bathroom mirrors when they aren't looking.

What would you consider to be your 15 minutes of fame so far in life?

I guess my biggest claim to fame/public accomplishment thus far is I successfully authored a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations budget request that resulted in more than $1 million in research and development funding for my company.

Or maybe it's the fact that I am named as the editor on 3 volumes of a particular reference book that is on file at the Library of Congress (under my maiden name, so only select individuals know I was involved in such a project at all.)

Truly, in the big scheme of things, these bits of temporary career fame are quite meaningless to the rest of the universe, but I'm still impressed I got to do these things at all. I mean, I'm just an average, ordinary, punky sort of loser, and usually average, ordinary, punky sorts of losers don't get these kinds of opportunities.

I guess on a personal level, my big 15 minutes of fame was during the few years that I published a print zine in the punk world under a pseudonym. I'm no Jen Angel, but my zine traveled to Finland and Serbia and all over the USA and helped me meet some pretty exciting people.

Who is the cheapest person you know?  (Not frugal... just annoyingly cheap!)
Submitted by kryan70.

I'm not allowed to say their name, because the person is a close relative! Whenever I go to a restaurant with this person, after they leave the tip and head for the door, I always have to sneak extra dollar bills into the tip pile because this person won't even tip 15%, even when service has been stellar.

Tell us about a time when you were brave. 
Submitted by Hops.

On August 4, 2003, my mother had a heart attack by my father's bedside as he lay dying in the hospital. It was the first time in my life that both my parents were vulnerable and in danger at the same time, and I had to pull it together to try to help them both. Even though I was scared and upset, I had to act calm and tend to both of their needs. Both of my parents lay in the Critical Care Unit about two rooms apart, so I continuously moved back and forth between one room to the other, making sure my parents remained calm, too. Dad never found out about Mom's heart attack; my family members and I simply told him Mom had gone downstairs to take a little nap, and he was pleased she was getting some rest. Soon thereafter, Dad for the most part ceased being verbal, except for one moment, the last moment he ever spoke to me (and probably the last moment he ever spoke to anyone at all), when he said to me, calmly: "I'm dying." I said "I don't know, Dad," because people always told me you have to keep patients calm and positive, no matter how dire their situation may be. When it became apparent that Dad was drawing his last breaths, the hospital let us wheel Mom over to his bedside so she could hold his hand and say goodbye. He died very peacefully and gracefully, with dignity. I knew then that I had to focus my all of my attention and my energy on taking care of Mom, so that's what I did. Somehow, I dug deep inside myself for courage and did what had to be done, one step at a time, even though the situation was, quite frankly, horrifying. I had the support of my husband and my family members, so I can't say I survived this situation alone, but I still shocked myself at how I somehow pulled it together to remain calm, cool, and collected when deep inside I was actually quite frightened.

Which saying do you believe to be true, but just can't seem to follow? 
Submitted by Maxvan.

Wow, I definitely have to answer this one, 'cause my husband seems to have submitted this particular question of the day.

This is actually a tough one for me, because right now I can't think of any sayings or aphorisms. Not one. My mind seems to have gone totally blank. Max would be quite disappointed by this.

OK, so here's my workaround--I just went to a page of aphorisms online, read through them, and picked one that I can't seem to follow. Here it is:

If you see the teeth of the lion, do not think that the lion is smiling to you.

See, my problem is I walk around assuming that all animals are my friends, that if I just coo at them and get really low on the ground at their level, they will see that I am really a nice person who just wants to offer them a loving pat. I have a scar on my face, afterall, because I tried to comfort a frightened feral cat once and it did not want my particular form of comforting at that time. I tend to assume anything with fur is lovable and pettable and will know that I have good intentions. I think of all the animals as my friends. The problem is, certain animals--gators, bears, lions, for instance--will not see me as a friend. Instead, they will see me as dinner.

I know, I know, I'm interpreting this aphorism much too literally. What it really means is: be careful when you sidle up next to power, power can hurt you. I get it. 

Who is the very first friend you ever had?  Are you still in touch?

I find this question kind of depressing because no, my childhood friends and I are not in touch anymore. There used to be this little gang in my neighborhood, me plus three other girls--Erin, April, and Leah. We all went through preschool, kindergarten, and our early elementary school years together. We all drifted apart over time. April became popular and obsessed with growing up early (she was the first one to start shaving her legs, even though they did not need shaving at the time); Erin became a tomboy who broke her bones on the playing field about weekly; Leah moved away and went to another school; and I became a school freak/reject/object of contempt. We weren't really similar enough to remain friends over the long haul. I wish I could say I'd love to meet with them all again to revel over how we have all changed, but I'm actually scared of how little we might have changed since those formative years. I think I would be about as understandable to them as an extraterrestrial.

Who is your favorite wizard of all time?

I sort of identify with Luna Lovegood.