are you kidding? That guy was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and crudely stapled to a ticking fucking time bomb. He was either going to hit somebody or start a blog

7. What advice do you try to remember?

       First Runner Up is still not winning

14. Why did you start blogging? What is your blog’s purpose? What do you hope to gain from blogging?

     that last question made me snort aloud. What do I hope to gain? Clearly not money or comments. I started blogging because a couple of good friends were doing it, and I enjoyed their blogs (each had multiples), and for a while we were a clique: library catalogers who were also literate women with varied interests. My purpose, though, was to sort out my feelings and create a framework for life as a single person. I started blogging not quite a year before the end of my 12-year marriage.

21. Do you have a work routine that allows you to live a productive, happy, and balanced life?

      hadn't really thought of it that way, but yeah I do. I work 7:AM-3:PM most days, and then I'm free to do what I want, or at least what needs to be done.

    Now that the weather is fine, I'll be walking most afternoons Sunday through Wednesday, plus Friday. 

    I see family a couple times a week, typically Thursday and Saturday. I see a friend usually for one evening walk per week. Other friends by arrangement.

    I read 3-5 books per week. Watch, on average, 4 movies. Write 7 blog posts and draft a few more for revision. Wrap and ship 5 eBay items. Eat dinner at home 6 nights, including crock pot and other meals with intentional leftovers. Water and care for plants in 3 rooms. 

28. Write about the deadly sins and pitfalls to avoid. 

     in general, or ...? Taken literally, there are seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. Obeying one's ego to the detriment of others; wanting more than one's fair share; holding one's own emotions as paramount over all others; putting desire ahead of sense; failing to recognize when enough's enough; and rejecting motivation and need in favor of relaxation and avoidance. Are those the only pitfalls? I think it's a difficult analysis, to determine how much self-interest is necessary and appropriate, and where that balances with proper degrees of consideration of others. Too much of the former is selfish; too much of the latter is obsessive, passive, and/or submissive.

    The worst of the sins may be focusing on sin and pitfalls, and not seeing people as they are: human, faulty, complicated, and individual.

5. Is there any reason why a company wouldn't want to hire you?

    work from home has become part of my inherent nature, and I would find it difficult (if not, frankly, impossible) to adapt back to in-person staffing. For work that can be done remotely, it makes a whole lot of sense to me that it should be done that way.

    - employers don't need to pay for things that on-site employees take for granted, such as parking lots, toilet paper, ADA-compliant staff areas, and maintenance. (See this article regarding the benefits of telecommuting to both workers and employers.)

    - fewer people working in a confined space results in lower transmission of communicable disease

    - flexibility makes people happier, which makes them more productive and better performing

    - carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions fell by 5.4% in 2020 (see this article for more about the effect of the pandemic on the global atmosphere)

    - when I strongly believe in something, I tend to get bossy and start making lists of reasons that I'm right, which is probably off-putting

42. Do you have any personal, family, or business traditions that you stick to?

      regular meals, being available to each other by text, and spending most holidays together. Those holidays are casual and often involve a meal followed by unlimited grazing, sometimes jigsaw puzzles or board games, and usually a movie or a couple episodes of Perry Mason. 

49. Describe your perfect day. What would you do? Why would it be so wonderful? How can you create more days like this in your life?

      a perfect day (not "the") could involve a long walk, playing with a kitty, reading an engrossing book, lots of text messages, a good surprise, no pain, a fun movie, no responsibilities, and some long hugs

56. What amazing online tools can’t you live without?

     I use Blogger, eBay's seller hub, and a couple of different photo editing tools. Really, though, it's reasonably easy to adapt when something goes wonky or is no longer accessible.

57. Which are the most useful to you? What apps are underrated?

     Libby for audiobooks. Merlin Bird ID for... bird identification. NYT Games for the daily battle with my mom. 

10. What business committees and groups have you been expected to participate in?

     at the library, I was involved in (and served as chair of) a committee of catalogers in a consortium, where we made policy and developed procedure to support consistency and quality in our work. It was a valuable but often intensely frustrating process that resulted in a much easier to use catalog both from the patron side and the staff side—which made every committee member's job easier.  

 

 [from What to blog about: 101 Irresistible blog ideas with a couple of additions from 301 Best Questions to ask on your Interview the title quotation is by Lev Grossman, from The Magicians]