cellio | over 30 questions for people over 30

I got this from

1. Do you prefer solicitors and service staff to address you by first name or by title+last (e.g. "Ms. Smith", "Dr. Adams", etc.)?

If we have no other relationship, they should address me as "Ms $lastname" until I invite them to do otherwise (which I almost always will). It's not about the title; it's about premature familiarity and presumption.

2. How many careers have you had?

Two, I guess. I've always been in the software world, either as a technical writer (writing for programmers) or as a programmer. Now I'm straddling that line (again).

3. How many jobs? How many employers?

Six employers, counting CMU twice (different departments separated by other employment) and not counting acquisitions that changed the name on the paycheck but not my actual organization. Jobs? There were a few internal promotions and changes of job title, but I haven't tracked it closely. (I now forget how many levels of "engineer + modifiers" I worked through at the first company.)

When my father retired he had only worked for three companies. I don't expect to be able to retire for at least a couple more decades. My, how times have changed.

4. What was the best employer you worked for?
5. What was your favorite job?

Where I am now before our acquisition.

6. How many companies, businesses or incorporated organizations have you founded?

None.

7. Did you grow up to be what you wanted to be when you were 5? When you were 10? When you were 15? When you were 20?

Not really. I didn't have persistent, strong career aspirations as a child -- sure, some of the greatest hits (astronaut, lawyer, science geek), but they were fantasies, not goals. In high school I figured I was probably going to be a mathematician; I didn't know what they actually did for a living, but I was good at math and it was suitably geeky, so...

8. Have you published any books or academic papers? How many?

While I do write software documentation for a living, you can't find it in bookstores so I'm not counting it. Other than that... one refereed conference paper, one self-published book (with a co-author) on renaissance Italian dance, four self-published recordings (with On the Mark), and a whole pile of less-official articles. THe conference paper is the only thing here that's ever been resume-fodder (and it isn't now because it's stale).

9. Do you hold any patents? How many?

Nope. (I must say, though, how refreshing it is to see questions like that on one of these surveys, instead of "ever made out?".)

10. Are you licensed or certified to practice a profession(s)? If so, what?

No. The software world doesn't swing that way, and sh'lichat k'hilah isn't a profession (though I suppose it could be a first step toward one).

11. Ever served in the military? What branch and how long?

No. I doubt there was ever a time when they'd have had me.

12. What's the largest number of employees you have ever managed at a time?

Five.

13. How many countries have you lived in?

Just this one.

14. How many times have you been married?

One. Not looking to change that. :-)

15. How many kids do you have? How many grandkids?

None. Not looking to change that either.

16. Whom do you observe Thanksgiving with?

Normally we spend Thanksgiving with my parents and then I head off to an SF con for the weekend. I don't know how long I'll keep going to the con. (Lately Dani's family has started to have a gathering on that weekend.)

17. How many parents have you had?

Two, and they're still happily married.

18. How many of your parents are still alive? How close are/were you to them?

Both of them. We're reasonably close.

19. What's one way you were surprised to find out you turned out like one of your parents?

I turned out to be religious, though in a way completely different from my father.

20. What's one way you expected to turn out like your parent(s) and were surprised not to?

You know, I've stared at this uestion for a while and I can't think of anything. I think the root cause is that I never had those kinds of expectations.

21. Do you own or rent your home? If the former, how many years on your mortgage, if any?

Own. We've refinanced a couple times, which always resets the clock, so I'm not sure how many years are left on the mortgage. Most of them.

22. Do you have roommates (i.e. non-family adults living with you)? If not, how long has it been since you had roommates?

My last non-Dani roommate was almost 15 years ago.

23. Have you ever sat on a jury?

Almost, twice. Once I was an alternate (so no deliberations for me, alas), and once I was seated but the case was settled before the trial started.

24. Have you ever run for office? Held office?

Only within organizations, not in the broader community.

25. Are you a member of a political party? Do you volunteer with it? Do you donate money to it?

I'm registered with the state as a Libertarian, but I'm not a card-carrying member of the party. I was, and was involved locally, in the past. I've donated money.

26. What's the nicest restaurant you've been to in the past year?

We don't tend to go to the really fancy ones, the ones with all the mysterious cutlery and glasses that you have to dig out Miss Manners to understand. So hmm, Casbah? (We went there for my birthday.)

27. What's the nicest item of furniture you've bought? (Gifts don't count!)

I define "nice" by utility and comfort rather than appearance and price, so I think I'll have to say the rocking chairs (with separate rocking footrests) we got for the TV room. They're great! We went out looking for a loveseat, sat in a bunch of them without liking any of them, and then sat down in these chairs at the end of the day just to rest our feet for a bit. Then we said hey... it doesn't have to be a loveseat, does it?

28. What kitchen appliance are you most happy you bought? (Gifts don't count!)

Most of my kitchen appliances were solicited gifts (you know, when family members ask you "so, what do you want for $occasion?" and you're afraid of what will happen if they guess), so I'm going to count those. I'm not sure whether it's the small food chopper, the crock pot, or the hot plate, all of which have made my life immensely easier. (The hotplate is primarily for Shabbat, to make lunch be the right temperature when lunch isn't in the crock pot.) I guess the crock pot wins for general utility.

29. Do you have a preferred airline? How many frequent flyer miles do you have?

No preferred airline. I fly rarely enough that airlines tend to go bankrupt before I can accumulate enough miles to be good for anything.

30. Where do you like to go to vacation?

Well, I like going to Pennsic because I have a lot of friends there. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Israel in a couple months.

31. Women: Do you wear skirts or trousers on the job?

Jeans or other casual pants.

32. Men: Do you currently have facial hair?

(Not a man.)

33. Do you have grey hair yet? If so, do you try to hide it?

I have some silver hair and I don't try to hide it; I see nothing wrong with it. Maybe I would try to hide it on my next job interview, since age discrimination is alive and well out there, or maybe I wouldn't on the theory that if it's that kind of company I'm only delaying the inevitable. (Hiding will never involve coloring agents, however.)