172 posts tagged “qotd”

Who was the last person you offended?
Submitted by May.

My wife. I'm always offending my wife. That's just me, I guess, and she is who she is, which is easily offended. I speak plainly, and more so the older I get. She doesn't like to hurt feelings, so she doesn't. It's said that opposites attract.

Whose house (besides your own) were you in last and why?

I don't go into other people's houses. Why the hell would you want to go into somebody else's house? Weird!

What most excites you about the way you're living your life right now?

Fuck all, really. If you call work-home-work-home five days a week, flight simming on weekends because I can't afford to do anything else, then I s'pose that's exciting. Frankly, I'd always hoped there'd be more to it.

What would you like to do more of?

Just about anything which doesn't require that I work at a job that I don't enjoy, simply for the money.

Which popular slang expression drives you nuts?

"Touch Base". It's such a meaningless inclusion into everyday business speech.

If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.

For a mere US$2m, plus a likely equivalent sum to build a decent home, install solar and wind power generation, and a small desal plant, there's White Island. (the second link will provide a Google Earth KMZ file). Looks wonderful, isolated and within reach of an airport if needs be. Naturally, I'd have my twin open pilots licence, and be flying myself into and out of my island escape in my new Antilles Goose. At US$1.3m for the radial engined version, and US$2.3m for the thirstier, albeit more powerful turbo-props, I think I'd rather stay traditional and opt for the radials.

What do you think is too serious to joke around about?

The Iraq War. We know from the news that 4,000 American military lives have been wasted. What we don't know are the number of civilian lives - Iraqi and foreign - which have been squandered to suit the ideology of a tiny political elite inside American politics. It's not a joke. It's not something to respond to questions about by saying "So??". The entire scenario is a crime. Invasion was always illegal. Those who planned and perpetrated this gross display of human pride and ineptitude need to be held to account. Not just by history, but by the present. In the here-and-now. They need to be made to pay.

What do you most hate sharing with other people?

My time. It's too valuable to waste on other people. Lords know we get so little of it to ourselves and then others want to horn in on it. As Ford Prefect tells Arthur Dent, "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so". To me it's so illusory I seem to always have someone else wanting theirs and mine as well. Fuck off! Give me my space. If I want to share my time, I'll put up a sign saying so. Until then.....HTRJ.

What's the one thing you're most neurotic about?

Sexual performance, believe it or not. But then, aren't most men?

If you could go back and change one thing you've done in your life, what would it be?
Submitted by Devinoid.

In 1972 I won a cadetship to study drafting at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now the Queensland University of Technology). I enjoyed what was then called, 'technical drawing' as a subject, but didn't have any understanding of what drafting was. The education system didn't provide any guidance either. It was simply a matter of "Hey, you've won a cadetship. You wanna take it up, or not?" Of course, being entirely ignorant of just what I'd won, I opted out. I only found out years later that what I'd won would have seen me eligible to enter a vast field of studies leading to architectural, engineering and design professions. Instead, I joined a bank, taking up a job secured for me by my parents through a friend who was high up in the bank at the time.

Where would I be today? Would I be happier? Would I be better off financially? Would I have lived the life I've lived to date, seen the things I've seen and done the things I've done? It's a complete unknown, but I'd sure as hell like to know. The message to me over the past 36 years has been to always make your own decisions. Never allow others to decide what's best for you.