Another one of those question thingies. At least this one is short.
1. Do you have a pet name people call you?
Well, of course, there’s “DannyO”. I don’t know if that counts as a pet name. It’s more of a nom de plume.
My wife used to call me “Boo.” I have no idea why, but one day, after I bought a copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, she stopped calling me that. That reminds me–I should really read that book someday. I’ve heard it’s pretty good.
In my younger days, I used to be called “Duck” or occasionally “The Duck”. There’s a long and mildly interesting story about that, but it’s not brief. Maybe I’ll write it down another time.
2. Do you play a musical instrument?
I used to play several, but I’ve mostly let it go.
I would probably pick it up again, except the instruments I play make a lot of noise and that limits when and where I can practice. My leisure activities have become things I can do quietly, in the middle of the night, when the kids are asleep. For example, this.
3. When given a choice what chain restaurant do you choose to eat at?
The one whose name a preposition ends in.
Or probably ‘On the Border’ or ‘The Border Cafe’. I forget which of those is a chain. Maybe both.
4. What sports teams do you follow?
None with much fervor, although I do follow the local teams because everyone else seems to and it has a big impact on the local mood. For example, the morning after the Yankees sweep the Sox, it’s a bad idea to come waltzing into the status meeting all smiles and proclaim what a wonderful day it is to be alive, just because the computers are behaving. People will have been up late the previous night, and they’ll be pissed.
5. Quote that you live by?
Life is too short.
6. Favorite dessert?
I don’t know. These things are highly contextual.
7. Pet peeves? Name 3.
a) People who ask limiting questions. What if I only have two pet peeves? Or what if I have four that annoy me equally? Why three? The question should be flexible and adaptable to the needs and situation of the answerer.
b) When other people have pet peeves that show greater emotional maturity and perspective than I’ll ever be able to muster. Which is pretty much everyone, all of the time. I get annoyed by little things, such as being annoyed by little things.
c) Unfairness. Let me give you a stupid example that illustrates both unfairness and my singular lack of emotional maturity and perspective: in my division, offices are assigned according to a formula that is both baroque and byzantine. Here’s the result: although I am the senior member and leader of my ten-person team, I am also the only person who does not have a window office or my own office thermostat, except for the intern, whose office is larger than mine. I consider it unfair that there are empty window offices, and new hires are being placed directly into them, while in the meanwhile I (and several people in similar circumstances) are left languishing in dark, airless, internal offices. I shouldn’t take this personally, because I am just a pawn in a bullshit territorial game the vice presidents play against each other, and my office really is entirely adequate for my needs, but I still can’t help but be annoyed that there are empty offices overlooking a small forest that is starting to show its autumn colors, while in the meanwhile, I’m looking at the walls of a small, unventilated office that doesn’t seem to have been painted since leisure suits were popular. I think this is unfair.
