there must be quite a few things a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them

1. In a movie of your life, what soundtrack would convey the mood of today's events? 

    something soporific. I'm doing the most ungodly boring make-work, periodically escaping to blog and keep my head on straight.

 

2. What was the last molehill that you made into a mountain? 

    I work with a bully. Last week, he pushed the wrong button and I snapped. It was not entirely a response to the direct provocation but more of a general You Need to Fucking Stop It resetting of boundaries. His response, though not unexpected, was precisely as annoying as always. Now that it's out of my system, though, and he's had a few days to absorb it, our interactions have been slightly more collegial. 

3. What would you like your spirit animal to be? 

    wolverine. "The wolverine is noted for its strength, cunning, fearlessness, and voracity, and the species is renowned for its ability to face down and fight larger predators that are more than twice its size." That seems like a good vibe to channel (sometimes).

 

4. If you had to answer questions on your specialist subject, what would the subject be? 

    European neutrality in World War II, highly advanced alphabetizing, poetry about grief and sadness, or estate planning and settlement.

 

5. Have you ever been disappointed by a hotel room that looked nothing like the brochure? 

    yep. It was small, over-warm, awkwardly laid out, and noisy. Its ideal location and the steak in the hotel restaurant made it totally worthwhile anyway.  

 

6. What would you do if you saw a colleague steal something from your workplace? 

    under the current circumstances, that act would be at least a firing offense (regardless of what was stolen) and could be a felony. For me to do anything except report it would also be a firing offense and could be a felony, even more egregious than the act itself. 

    Every other job I've worked, though, has involved some of that. "Broken" cookies shouldn't just be thrown out, right? Walking out with a pen behind your ear, making a few copies on the company copier, a cheese curd off the plate before it goes to the table... none of that seems like a huge deal. We all know, though, that it adds up, and it has even more of an effect in attitude than it does in the direct cost. I think I mentioned it once or maybe twice. I never saw anything that really poked my conscience, though.  

 

7. When was the last time you shared a bath with someone? 

    four years, give or take. One of the all time great moments in history.

 

[from 3000 Unique Questions about Me; the title quotation is by Sylvia Plath, from The Bell Jar]