19 things you might not have known about me: If you like this status, Ill give you a number and you’ll have to post that number of things about yourself, unless youve already taken a turn at the game I guess. 1) Familiarity breeds contempt in me. I find myself resenting people for little inconsequential things that are just part of who they are. Really stupid stuff, like talking to themselves (which I’m very much guilty of). Im really trying to make myself stop doing this. 2) I think I flit between two personality types depending on what Im doing and what state Im in. Most of the time, Im a self-conscious, occasionally judgmental idiot. When I catch myself going too far in that direction, I try to force myself to be calm and objective. 3) Ill use the words of friend and colleague of mine: Im sometimes a bit of a half-assed, trial-and-error engineer. You kind of have to be sometimes. My strategy is usually to start with a little tinkering and if that fails, read some of the documentation or papers that are out there. Well, I’ll skim the datasheet to make sure I won’t blow up the chip, but beyond that, I read the details as I need them. This approach works pretty well sometimes, but Im running into more and more cases where its not so good. I need to be more systematic. 4) I often put off talking to people. I make up all sort of stupid excuses for why I should talk to them later, but they usually dont hold up to scrutiny. 5) I emulate the people I respect and admire most, maybe without being critical enough of what Im doing. 6) Ive been lifting weights for the better part of a year, and Ive made a lot of progress with that. Im afraid it’s turning me into something of a narcissist. I check myself out in the mirror maybe for a minute at a time every time I take my clothes off. 7) Ive been buying 40 oz bottles of steel reserve about once a month after some inspiration by a friend. Its really not that bad. 8) I had a short but intense relationship at the beginning of this year. I ended it. I probably should’ve given it more of a shot for my ex’s sake. What can I say, I run away from commitment and other things I’m scared of. Hahaha, I’m also afraid that people are sick of hearing me talk about this, so I’ll shut up about it. 9) I denigrate myself too much. I probably call myself an idiot or an asshole at least 4 times a day, much more than that during the couple of months after said breakup. 10) Im a liberal, a feminist, an empiricist, and a bit of a Buddhist. 11) Im finding myself around more and more business people and I really dont like them. I met a woman today who just got hired on to be director of operations (or something like that) for the consumer electronics company I work for. Every analogy she made during the course of a 1 hour telecon was some misogynistic crap. I suppose she was speaking the language of the good ol’ boys club that is typical of the environment, but I just don’t appreciate it. She also advocated that we raise the price on our product by another 50% to “establish an initial price point,” after which it can be brought down to give people the impression that they’re getting a bargain. Sure, there’s nothing really all that wrong with doing that and it’s a common strategy in the consumer electronics market, but a lot of these people (not all of the ones Ive met, but most) are psychopaths who are only concerned with profit and are not afraid to manipulate people in any way to achieve that end. I’m disgusted with the business world, and since there’s nothing I can do to change it, I can at least get the hell away from it (which I plan to do, and I’m really looking forward to it). 12) I’ve written about 30 poems in the last year, most of which are about love. 13) I have a bit of a one-track mind. I go from one interest to the next, sometimes revisiting old ones. Novelty is the fuel that drives my brain, or at least a major one. 14) I used to make up stupid stories and lie about really stupid stuff as a kid. Nowadays, I’m pretty proud of my running track record of honesty. I might not always do the right thing, and I might just not say anything, but I’m honest a great majority of the time. 15) I’m fighting the urge to be consumed with material things. I really don’t need a project car. I don’t have time for one. 16) I often feel more comfortable talking to strangers than people I know. I feel that I have nothing to lose when I’m talking to someone I probably won’t see again. 17) I met a girl this week who is in charge of designing electrical systems for rockets and/or other space applications despite only being a freshman. She was incredibly passionate about her work and very concerned with the future of mankind. I couldn’t give two shits about Ford’s bottom line or adding another 1-2% to the fuel economy of one of their SUVs, nor do I care a lot more about developing more obnoxious consumer electronics crap. I want to do what she does. 18) I take a shower every other day on average. 19) A couple of years ago, a stranger (had one class with her) walked up to me and told me that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I wasn’t expecting that. I probably exchanged pleasantries with her once or twice before, so I didn’t know what gave her that impression. I still think about whether or not she’s right.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:45:32 +0000