Realizations and Questions

I wash my hair every morning.  It’s the only way to make it look decent.

One morning last week, I was having a great hair moment and decided not to wash it during my shower.  I threw on a shower cap (I know, so hot) and did the rest of the washing up.  And then dried off and got dressed and looked at the clock.

Normally I get out of the shower and only have a few minutes to spare before school drop off; not enough time to get anything accomplished.  But suddenly I had 35 minutes.  35 minutes?  I could write a blog post in 35 minutes.  I could edit part of an article in 35 minutes.  I could answer a shit-ton of emails in 35 minutes.  I took the twins to school after 35 minutes of productivity, and it carried over into the rest of my morning, keeping me on task.  I even started making the components of dinner at 8:45 in the morning.  Rock star.

Which makes me think that maybe hygiene isn’t such a great thing.  I got 35 extra minutes to accomplish something this week.  But let’s say I stopped showering on weekdays altogether — I could gain 175 minutes per week.  That’s 9,100 minutes PER YEAR.  That’s almost 380 hours.  That’s like shoving over an extra two weeks into your year.  Actually, scratch that.  We’re not awake 24/7, so that’s more like shoving four extra weeks of work time into your year.

And the only trade off is the lack of shower during weekdays.

Just think about what I could accomplish if I didn’t brush my teeth, cook meals, or exercise.

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Not only did people answer the ChickieNob’s questions last week, but some people posted their own.  So I’ve collected 20 to answer below.  I apologize if you posted questions and I didn’t bookmark them.  I only thought to do this after a read a few of the meme posts.  Send them my way and I’ll answer them.

And you can answer these, too.  Links to the original lists below.

These are from A Half Baked Life:

1. What would you do with $5000 and eight weeks to spent it however you want, without any other responsibilities to worry about?

My original answer was re-do the kitchen, because I really want to re-do the kitchen and it would make me happy.  But I’m going to find that money elsewhere and take the family to the Faroe Islands.  $5000 isn’t going to cover much of that trip, but it’s a start.  And I’m totally willing to pitch in the rest.

2. What is your least favorite chore?

Maybe cleaning Truman’s cage? I love cleaning, but not his cage. A close second is shopping. I hate shopping. Even online shopping.

3. What do you wish you had more time to do?

Play interactive fiction and read books.

4. Where is the career you’d least want to have?

Where or what? Probably anything in front of a camera or on a stage (being on television or in a movie or on a stage), which also sometimes takes place in two places I’d never want to live: California and New York.

5. What would you do for a living in another life?

Does it have to be real? I wish I could be a potions master. Like Professor Snape.

6. What superpower would you want: flight or invisibility?

Definitely flight. I think I would creep myself out with invisibility.

7. What was the last book you read? Was it any good?

One Day by David Nicholls. Yes, it was very good. Enough so that I bought his new book, Us.

8. Which would you be: Anna, Elsa, or Olaf?

Good question, but I didn’t personally relate to any of those characters.

9. Describe your ideal day off.

I wake up in the morning to coffee and Hay Day. The twins all of a sudden want to play Hay Day, too, and they give me everything I need for my farm. Then the four of us laze about, eating scones and reading.  Oh, did I mention that we’re at the beach? So we go hang out on the beach. After dinner, we get ice cream and bring it back to the beach house (oh — and all the bugs in the world have died in this scenario or gone elsewhere) and watch Harry Potter movies.

10. Pose your own question and answer it.

What is your favourite accent? For me, it’s probably Australians. I think Australians have the best accent.

And now the ones from Earth & Ink.

1. What topic is so interesting to you that you could talk about it for days?

Word origins. I taught etymology for years, and I still geek out on it.

2. Dream home: cottage at the beach, river house in the woods, lake house, penthouse in a city, farm house, castle in Europe, family home in a burb? Something else?

APARTMENT at the beach. One time, we were at a beach house and there was a snake in the house. A snake! So since then, I’ve been thinking that I’d rather have an apartment at the beach. Then I also wouldn’t have to take care of a lawn.

3. What talent would you like to have that you don’t have already?

I’d like to be able to speak and read many more languages.

4. If you could make one food that’s not good for you, good for you, what would you choose?

Probably bread. I love bread. I try not to eat a lot of bread. But if I could eat unlimited bread, I’d be a happy woman.

5. The one piece of advice you would give to everyone and wish they’d follow.

Be the change you wish to see in the world, and think through that change before you start the ball rolling. I think too many times people try to fix a problem by creating a new one. And too many times people don’t do anything active to fix problems at all.

6. What period of history would you want to visit as a tourist?

That’s hard because I think we romanticized history. I wouldn’t want to live without modern comforts. I don’t think Victorian England would really look like a steampunk novel. So… I’d revisit the 70s and 80s and see if my memories match what I’m seeing in real time.

7. Do you have a hobby?

Yes, I make and play interactive fiction games. The playing of games has been going on for a little over 30 years.

8. If an animal could talk, which animal would you want to talk to?

Truman! Of course! Even though we already have the best conversations daily. But I’d always take more.

9. If you could be friends with a fictional character, who would you choose?

Quentin from the Magicians. He’s whiny, he’s self-absorbed, but I’d still love to hang out with him.

10. Introvert or extrovert?

Absolute introvert.

This is your friendly reminder that tomorrow is #MicroblogMondays.  Get writing!