Meme from my wife and blue_micha

[fbhjr]

If something is forbidden, do you want it less or more?
I’d say something’s forbidden status is desire neutral for me. I want what I want. It doesn’t matter if it is forbidden or not.
Now, its status as forbidden has a big influence on if I get what I want. But, that’s not the question asked.

Is there an area of your life where you feel out of control? Especially in control?
I’m not sure control exists. I hear a lot about it, but can’t say I’ve ever seen it. Much like UFOs and/or bigfoot there are often other explanations that might make more sense.
To me life is more like skiing down a mountain or surfing a big wave. You’re riding a huge force of nature and no matter how much you may think you’re in control, that force of nature isn’t even going to notice.
You can position yourself, equip yourself, get assistance from friends, go at it in groups or alone and hopefully have a great time of it.
But control it? Nope.

If you unexpectedly had a completely free afternoon, what would you do with that time?
This happened Monday when I was given the day off. I cleaned the office, some of the spare room and did laundry. After that played computer games and watched some stuff on Netflix.

Are you comfortable or uncomfortable in a disorderly environment?
I’m not big on either extreme. I don’t like to trip in the night because the items in my home are randomly placed every day, but I don’t want to be in trouble because everything wasn’t in its labeled place either.
Order takes effort. (As shown in the Third Law of Thermodynamics.) And there is only so much priority I’ll give that effort.

How much time do you spend looking for things you can't find?
Generally as much as it takes to find things. I’m not very good at giving up.
I will sometimes suspend searches until later, but generally don’t stop, just put them on hold.
If you’re talking on average, maybe 5 minutes a day. I’m pretty good at knowing where I put things, so it often isn’t a big problem for me.

Are you motivated by competition?
Yes, but with myself.
I set myself goals and try and reach them. Then, I try and do better the next time.
I will look around to see how others do, but not really to compete with them so much as to measure my goals and make sure I’m not being either too easy or to hard in what I set.

Fill in the blank: "I really wish I could make consistent progress on my project to: “sleep better at night."
Sorry. Generally I’m making progress or it isn’t a project for me. So, I’m not sure I understand this question.
But, I would like to be able to sleep better, and try almost every night.

Do you find it easier to do things for other people than to do things for yourself?
I’m not sure I understand this question. Tasks do not vary in difficulty based on recipient. I think it must be a question of motivation…
No, it isn’t easier or harder to motivate myself to do things for me or others.
But, I do often get around to doing things for others first as I know my level of need and it isn’t always clear for other people, so better or err on the side that they need it soon. (Assuming I don’t forget, which I often do.)

Whom do you envy? Why?
People who had immediate families that love and support them. Why? For those folks I know who have that, it seems very nice.

What do you lie about?
I do my best not to lie. There are a few times it is required. And, even then most of my lies are lies of omission.
That doesn’t always mean I’m a slap you in the face with just what I’m thinking.
I’ve known a few folks to do that under the name of honesty, and I don’t buy it.
You may not like someone’s haircut, clothing choices or similar things, but you don’t have to say “I hate that” to not lie. But, there seems to be a myth in society that telling the truth means unfiltered speech. Not sure where that came from or why. But, I don’t agree with it.

What did you do for fun when you were ten years old? Do you still do that activity-or would you like to do it?
Lets see, that would be 5th grade…. Play in the woods out behind our house, with or without my brother and/or our dog. I remember playing a lot of street hockey with a kid who lived down at the end of the road. I didn’t much like it, but he did, so we did it a lot.
Don’t do either of those any more. Although I do still enjoy walks in the woods.
I remember my friends and I played some sort of board game based on buying and selling used cars. While I haven’t played that game in 40 or so years, I still play other games.

Do you work constantly? or think you should be working?
I’m generally at work from before 7AM to about 5PM most weekdays. It is not at all rare for me to bring home things to work on, have my boss call me with problems, or have to stay late or work weekends too.
And my job involves solving problems. My brain does not stop working on that just because I’ve driven home.
There have been plenty of times I get ideas for things in the middle of the night, at dinner, in the shower, etc. So, I usually email them to my office and work on them when I next get there.
I’m not sure that answers the question…

Do you embrace rules or flout rules?
I’m not big on rules. I’m very big on guidelines.
So, stupid rules I am more than willing to flout. For example:
My office has a rule that all documents must be signed in either blue or black ink or they are invalid. As a general guide, I have no problem with that. But, when the QC guy tells me my design review two years ago didn’t count because one of the people who signed off on it used a red pen to sign his name and I have to track that person down, who works in a different building, and get him to resign it with a different color? No, that’s stupid.
So, I’ve started using different shades of blue to annoy him.
“What is this color, periwinkle?” he asked me the other day.
“It’s blue,” I replied.
“Not blue, blue!”
“The specification does not call out a specific shade. But, I assure you that would fall under blue.”
He scowled, but accepted it.

So, I embrace rules, but with limits.


Do you keep New Year's resolutions?
Don’t make them. I do “hope this year is better” at the start of each new one. And, I certainly try and fulfill that hope.

Do you work well under pressure? Deadlines?
Yeah. Otherwise I’d procrastinate too much.

What would your perfect day look like?
Do something fun with my wife.

How much TV do you watch in a week?
Probably an hour or two each day, so 7-14 hours.

Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning.

What's more satisfying to you: saving time or saving money?
Time

Do you like to be in the spotlight?
No, not really.
I’m more than willing to be there if needed. But, I’d much rather be the one pointing the spotlight or just off to the side of the person in it.

Is your life "on hold" in any aspect? Until you finish your thesis, get married, lose weight, move?
As I said up in one of the early questions, I see life as riding a wave or skiing down a mountain. I don’t see how you can put things on hold in that situation.
You can aim at different things, take different paths, go other ways.
But, not put things on hold. And, I think folks who think they are doing that are just taking different paths anyhow and still moving.

What would you do if you had more energy?
Sleep.

If you suddenly had an extra room in your house, what would you do with it?
I think I found one cleaning last weekend…
I’d fill it up with stuff. That’s what I do with all of my rooms.

What people and activities energize you? Make you feel depleted?
Sharing ideas, or at least ideas that interest me, always energizes me.
Interacting with people socially depletes me.

Is it hard for you to get rid of things that you no longer need or want?
Not at all. I’m more than happy to dump things I don’t need or want.
The problem is the not wanting or needing things.
It is very hard for me to look at something and not imagine a use for it. Maybe only a hypothetical one somewhere in the future, but I still see it.
So, my life is full of stuff that one day I might be able to put to use.
It does often work out. There are plenty of times a need arises and I’ve got what is needed.

On a typical night, what time do you go to bed? How many hours of sleep do you get?
I try and go to bed by 10 to get up before 6. That would be 8 hours.
It rarely works that way. I’m almost never asleep before 11 and frequently wake up before my alarm clock. Often hours before and often have trouble falling back asleep. I’d say I probably average about 6 ½ hours a night, but some it’s a lot less.

If at the end of the year, you had accomplished one thing, what is the one accomplishment that would make the biggest difference to your happiness?
Having my wife love me is the biggest thing to my happiness. I certainly like to think I’ve already managed that. I’m not sure what else would be a big thing.

Is there an activity that you love to do-yet somehow never seem actually to do it?
I love all sorts of things that I am just not good at. Archery, bowling, bike riding, card games, computer games, and all sorts of other things.
I go through phases where I do some for a while, then stop.
Right now, I haven’t done archer or bowling in a long time.

And, the disclaimer came with it:
The process of answering these questions is meant to help spur ideas for possible change. I often find that once I start paying attention to an area of my life, it becomes natural and easy to make helpful alterations in my everyday habits.
Here's a final question for you: What questions would you add to this list, to help other people know themselves better? It's so important, and so elusive.