Lesson Learned: Home Buying

If you flip through my posts from last year, you'll notice that I've been on something just short of a mission to find a house.  Well, finally, we did and we moved in just over a month ago.

And there are a number of things we should have brought with us to do an accurate perusal of the house.

1. Multi-tip screwdriver
2. Flashlight
3. Disposable cleaning supplies

Here's why...

The Hunger Games Trilogy

If you know me, then you know that I practically devour books.  If a story catches my interest and imagination, I can get through it in about a day.  However, I also am not prone to believe the hype of any given story until I've given it a fair shake.

The last time I heard of a series that was getting as much hype as the Hunger Games was The Millennium Series, and I got through maybe 50 pages before giving up on it. The subject matter wasn't something I would consider interesting or entertaining.  The characters seem pedestrian and flat.  And seriously, there wasn't even a hint of where the first book gets its name from anywhere near the beginning.

But I digress.

The subject here is The Hunger Games Trilogy.

I have been hearing much about the books and the movie.  I've heard some obviously ignorant opinions of the story (I was told that the love story doesn't progress past hand holding... obviously not true if you've read through the first book) and some glowing reviews from friends.

So I did what I did when I began reading the Twilight Series: Scrubbed all other's opinions from my mind.

In order to give it a fair read, I needed to go in with an open mind and forget everything I've heard about it.  By and large, I am pleasantly surprised by the story... but if you do not want to have the story ruined for you, do not read on.  Suffice it to say that it is a good story and I doubt that the movie(s) will do it any justice.

WANTED: Scummy Gym Shorts

I'm sure you're either wondering why I want Scummy Gym Shorts or why there's a picture of a pair of UA compression shorts...

Well, I heard a pretty disturbing story today from one of my co-workers.

So he was at the gym last night after work.  He did his usual exercise and when he went to take a shower, he did his usual routine.  Stick his shoes in the locker and pile his dirty clothes by the locker.  He goes to take a shower, and when he comes back, he packs up.  He has the feeling that he's missing something so he digs everything out of his gym bag...

... and finds out that he's missing his grey UA compression shorts.

EEEEEEEEWWWWWW.

Okay, so I know people sweat, I now exercise clothes collects it, and I know that after a wash, they're as good as new again.  But really, a pair of compression shorts is like underwear.  They hug the lower part of a person's anatomy (especially in guys) and they collect just as much sweat as the shirts.

That was just gross and I just had to share this.

Misery loves company! :-)

INTJ

So the other day I was asked what my Myers-Briggs type... where my questions was, "Huh?"  It turns out I knew what it was, have taken the tests, and knew (with a 90% certainty) my type.  I just didn't know what it was called (minor detail, that).

Anyway, I knew for a fact that there was an "I" in there somewhere, as well as a "J".  I was mostly certain of the "T" part, and based on our conversation, we concluded that I must be an "N" as well.

I decided to look it up, and found a very good description of INTJ personality.  Now mind you, since it is a generalization, it may not be 100% accurate for everyone, myself included.  After reading it, I decided to take the test again and found a useful website, HumanMetrics, with a bunch of questions to answer.  The result was INTJ.

There are people who state that their results aren't accurate at all, but the thing is, you have to be 100% brutally honest with yourself while taking the test.  Throw out all of the things that parents, friends, lovers, acquaintances have told you of what you should be and dig deep down to the core personality you have and answer the questions.

I was actually surprised at how accurate the INTJ description was for me.  I don't put a lot of stock in generalizations or tests of this nature, but I must be honest, this is pretty damn good.  There are bits of the description that I'm sure most people would have never guessed about me based on our interactions.  In fact, there are some things in the description where I had the thought of, "Huh, that does make more sense."

I'm not saying that you need to make everyone you know take the test, or that you need to know a person's personality type in order to interact with them successfully or develop any sort of meaningful relationship (whether it be friendship or romantic), but it sure does help.  If for no other reason that to know yourself better, it helps.

Blogger vs. PR Agents

The facepalm.  It is a common physical reaction to the thought of, "You've gotta be f-ing kidding me."  Or at least it is for me.

I just read a blog entry by TheBloggess, and if you've ever read her entries, you know that she's pretty much out there.  She's not afraid to say what's on her mind, regardless of how deranged it may sound (seriously, read her entries!  they're absolutely hilarious if you don't take most of it seriously).

Being a blogger who generates revenue by advertising, she gets notices from numerous PR agencies who are trying to get their content on her page(s).  Totally legitimate, but every so often she'll get something that has no bearing on her blog.  Being the sarcastic and rarely serious person that she is, her usual response is to send them a picture of Will Wheaton Collating.  The usual response to that: removal from whatever mailing list she was on or more relevant content.

However, her latest response to the canned message was met with indignation and an accusation of being "unprofessional."  Followed by someone hitting "Reply All" without checking the recipient list and called her a "Fucking Bitch".

The thing that boggles my mind is their lack of understanding of the nature of blogging.  Even if someone is a professional blogger, it is a more casual form of journalism than print reporting or television news casting.  Even more so, if a person is blogging about personal things and not getting paid by a larger corporation to blog for the corporation, then the personality behind the words is generally blunt and outspoken.  The fact that they did not expect such a response from her is evidence of their lack of due diligence.  If someone is on their mailing list, someone should have done their research to make sure that they are part of the appropriate audience list.

Their accusation of her unprofessionalism was laughable when they were unprofessional enough to not check before sending out the email.  Anyone with half a brain knows that the upfront time spent on properly categorizing potential customers for mailing lists is going to save you a lot of time, effort, and rejections in the long run.  If you don't have the "time" to do this work, you deserve all of the snarky responses you get.

I've noticed that not many people think, "How would I feel if our roles were reverse?"

This is heralding the death of the Golden Rule.  I know that I've been accused of not following the Golden Rule, but what people fail to realize is that if someone disregards the Golden Rule, I turn into a mirror and reflect it back to them.  If people hate me because of it, then so be it.  There is nothing in this world that will make me nicer to you than you are to me, nothing in this world that will make me tolerate your "me-centric" mentality and actions.  I will admit that everyone has their "me moments," but I draw the line when it turns into something that will negatively affect others.