We have a problem, and I need to sort it out. And I’ve got other stuff to do, which really has to be done by the time I clock off on Friday. So a teeny-weeny bit of concentration would be useful. Fat chance.
And it’s the 17th today, too.
79,5 hours to go. Past the half-way mark, at least.
Voice in my head: Shakira – Underneath Your Clothes
92 hours to go.
Just thought I’d mention it.
Voice in my head: Erik Bye – Så lenge skuta kan gå
…saying I was going to stop doing the Monday Mission.
Well, you shouldn’t hold your breath, obviously.
1. Chrystal said in last week’s Monday Mission that the chore she dreaded most was having to “fold and put away clothes.” What regular chore(s) do you dread the most?
I don’t do ironing.
2. Have you ever tried any of the “tabbed” browsers like MyIE2, Safari or Mozilla Firebird? Do you like it better than a one-window browser? How come?
I like tabbed browsers. I’ve been planning to download Mozilla for ages, I’m just too lazy to have gotten round to it yet. The benefit is pretty obvious if you’re in the habit of having several webpages up at a time, which I am – especially if you also tend to have a lot of other applications up, the task bar can get rather crowded.
3. I was told last night that normal people don’t spend as much time on the computer as I do. That if I’d devote that energy toward something else, anything else, I could have probably cured cancer by now. I don’t think my time is wasted when I am on-line or otherwise working on the PC, but maybe it really is more time than so-called “normal’ people. Do you ever get criticized for being on the computer too much? How much time do you spend on the PC and/or on-line? Is it too much time are or do they just not “get” us?
I can’t remember the last time someone criticised me for spending too much time online, but then I don’t suppose most people have any idea of how many hours I do spend online (and that includes myself).
4. One of the phrases I notice every week when read in the job listings is “must be a highly motivated self-starter.” I have no idea what that means. To me it sounds like what they really want to say is “must be able to take a lot of crap and not complain.” That could be why I don’t get many second interviews. In your opinion, what is a “self-starter?” Are you a “self-starter?”
I would hope that what they mean is that they want someone who will do a job they see needs doing (and see that it needs doing in the first place) without having to be told to do it. I’m one and I’m not one. It depends on the job. If it’s something I’d like to do, I certainly won’t wait for instructions, but otherwise I might just pretend not to have noticed…
5. Let’s take that thought one step further: Write a Job Ad that describes you perfectly (as you are now, not as your “ideal” self) as well as the ideal job you’d like to get paid for doing.
Yikes.
6. As you may know, I have (Adult)ADD in a bad way, severe even. Although I’d very much like to be rid of it, I don’t take meds for it because they made me very irritable and very unpleasant to be around. Do you take medications on a regular basis, or ever attempted to? Have they caused any side effects? Is it worth enduring them for the benefit you receive from the medication?
(I didn’t know, actually.) No. I don’t take medication regularly, I have, thanks be, never had any reason to.
7. Some things should just stay in the past, you know? I’ve found many memories are better as memories. When you try to re-live them they never seem to be able to live up to the memory. Maybe we glamorize them over time. Or maybe they were as good as we think, but something from “now” gets in the way and you just can’t get past it. What moment from the past have you tried to re-live that has fallen short of the memory?
I used to love going to the circus. It’s no fun anymore. I keep thinking what a waste and feeling concerned about the animals’ welfare and such and it all gets in the way of the enjoyment.
Saturday evening is a long way away.
121 hours to go.
I can tell you’re going to get a lot of interesting posts this week…
Voice in my head: Vonda Shepard – I only want to be with you
It seems Heather has been receiving flak for linking to kabalarians.com for one of the Friday Five questions. Ok, people: Get a grip! What’s the fuss? I thought it was an interesting question and if you don’t like it, just STOP DOING THE FRIDAY FIVE. It’s not as if anyone’s forcing you to.
Anyway, one positive upshoot of all this is that more links have been added for name analysis. Astroexpert seems somewhat useless (without more explanation), though it turns out I’m a Scorpio in the Rasi astrological system:
Ascendant : Scorpio (LORD : Mars)
Sun Sign (Western) : Aries (LORD : Mars)
Birth Sign (Rasi) : Scorpio (LORD : Mars)
Birth Star : Anuradha
Charan : 1
But triggur.org has to be the best yet:
RAGNHILD
——————————————————————————–
From the Mesopotamian root meaning “Ugly Brute”
——————————————————————————–
Expression: Ragnhild is empowered by hurting other peoples’ feelings.
Personality: Ragnhild is cruel and compassionless in positions of power.
Natural: Ragnhild is pale and sickly.
Emotional: Ragnhild hates happy people.
Character: Ragnhild will turn on you in an instant.
Physical: Ragnhild doesn’t bathe regularly.
Mental: Ragnhild isn’t rowing with both oars.
Motivation: Ragnhild hates dealing with the details.
Home again. Much better. At least I can work off some frustration by emptying the closet to get at the box of maps-and-such which has been hidden at the back there since I moved in. I’m sure I’ve got a road atlas of Britain or something. Time will tell.
Voices in my head: Elton John and Marcella Detroit – Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing
So. He’s gone and I’m at my grandparents. The latter might not have been the most brilliant decision ever. True, if I hadn’t gone now, I wouldn’t have been able to make it until some time in November, which would have left them waiting for a visit rather a bit longer than preferrable. On the other hand, it’s so quiet here that I have very little to prevent me continually thinking about the next 7 days.
I’m rereading OotP (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) to distract myself – which sort of helps. As long as I’m reading I’m at least not thinking about anything else. But my grandfather is world champion in dalmilling*, so I keep being distracted from the distraction, so to say, and so have plenty of opportunity to experience flashes of acute longing.
I’m torn between feeling immensly sorry for myself and two more positive emotions – a sort of gratitude that I’ve actually found someone to miss so intensly (I was beginning to doubt the possibility) and fascination at the totally out-of-character flavour of it all: I do not want to spend time with anyone 24/7 – at least, I never used to want it before. Alarmingly, I talked to my mother earlier – my father is in Finnmark for some job-thingamagig – and she claims it doesn’t actually get any easier. And they’ve been married for 30 years… I hope, at least, that it’s possible to get a bit more used to the feeling. At the moment it seems especially fervent because it takes me by surprise every time it hits. Still, I’d rather feel like this than not – I’ve been humming Bjørn Eidsvåg. Specifically:
Eg like å savna – då kjenne eg at eg høre te,
då vet eg at eg e glad i nåken, som gjør meg te den eg e.
(“I like to miss – I feel then that I belong,
I know then that I love someone, that makes me who I am”)
I hope, at least, that he’s having a good time. It would be a pity to go though this for no good reason.
10 hours down, 164 to go.
Voice in my head: whasername – It might as well rain until September (except it’s already September, so that’s a bit silly)
…silence, please.
Johnny Cash is dead – the Man in Black has ridden off into his final sunset.
A rose by any other name would not make The Friday Five…
1. Is the name you have now the same name that’s on your birth certificate? If not, what’s changed?
It’s the same, though the name I use when speaking English, Robin, which I feel as much as home with as with my real first name, is not on my birth certificate.
2. If you could change your name (first, middle and/or last), what would it be?
Well, I wouldn’t (I mean, if I wanted to, I could, couldn’t I?) – though I have considered adding Robin as a middle name.
3. Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?)
My parents had only decided what to call me if I’d turned out to be a boy – in which case they were planning on naming me after my great grandmother. Her name was J?rgine, which is quite an old-fashioned name, and though they did not want to name a girl J?rgine they thought J?rgen – the male form – would do nicely for a boy. How they came up with Ragnhild, I don’t actually know – I’m not named after anyone in particular, at least.
4. Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why?
Hate? Not really. There are a lot of names I’d never use for a child of my own, but that’s got as much to do with association as with the name itself. Love? Well, yes, but I’m not going to start listing them all here, as it would take all day.
5. Is the analysis of your name at kabalarians.com accurate? How or how isn’t it?
Your name Ragnhild has given you tenacity of purpose and has made you extremely independent. Whatever you undertake, you approach from your own point of view, and others either have to conform to your ideas or go their own way and leave you to work things out for yourself. You are so narrowly focused in your pursuits that you frequently overlook the little personal considerations and attentions that create a bond of understanding and sense of companionship. Thus it is difficult for you to merge your efforts harmoniously with others. In the home, you can inadvertently be offhand and abrupt when you would really like to show your affection. In circumstances that require a little finesse, you find that you are inclined to be too direct and straight to the point and suffer frustration in your personal relationships as a result.
That’s a bit over the top, I do think. It starts off well enough (I’m quite happy with the first two sentences). I’m not sure that the accusations of abruptness and lack of finesse are entirely undeserved (I have been accused of being startingly candid – however, some of us call it honesty, you know), but I can’t say it’s caused me to “suffer frustration in [my] personal relationships” as of yet, so I hardly think there’s any need to worry.
Addendum: Forgot the health hazards… “Tension could affect the eyes, ears, teeth, or sinuses. Frequent head colds or severe headaches are potential problems.” Uhm. Yes. I do get tension headaches. But does anyone not get tension headaches? Frequent head colds? Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say “frequent”.
(Via Anja.)
A day for quizzes, this:
Your soul is worth ?30257. For your peace of mind, 16% of people have a purer soul than you.
(Via Ole.)
And this seems pretty accurate:
My inner child is ten years old!
The adult world is pretty irrelevant to me. Whether
I’m off on my bicycle (or pony) exploring, lost
in a good book, or giggling with my best
friend, I live in a world apart, one full of
adventure and wonder and other stuff adults
don’t understand.
How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla
Though if I stick to giving just one answer for each question I turn out to be younger:
My inner child is six years old!
Look what I can do! I can walk, I can run, I can
read! I like to do stuff, and there’s a whole
big world out there to do it in. Just so long
as I can take my blankie and my Mommy and my
three best friends with me, of course.
How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla
So who knows? (Also via Ole.)
Voice in my head: Pink – Family Portrait (getting quite sick of it, to be honest)