I was up at 6:30 this morning, and at Anna's house at 7:30 to take her to the hospital for her physical therapy appointment - and she wasn't home. Huh? I left a note on her door asking her to call me, "Did I get the wrong day?", and she hasn't called. So now I'm a little worried. I'm supposed to take her Thursday morning, too.
Piper called mid-morning, so I went in to his office to discuss what's happening with the bond purchases, and then we had one of those multi-hour lunches. I like talking with him (when he's not taking about the market). He has a wonderful grasp of people, motives, and relationships. Oddly, he left his wife of a gazillion years several years ago, and he seems not sure why, except that it was the right thing to do. Physician, heal thyself?
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Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95. (If you like the idea, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
18. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?
Social skills. The ability to engage strangers in conversation. Knowing the proper thing to say in various situations. Knowing what NOT to say. I can get through maybe the first two or three exchanges, and then I go dead. I don't know where to go from there. I even forgot to say things like "Good morning" or "Hello" when I passed people in the halls at work. Partly I think it's that I don't like talking just to exchange useless information. People who ask "How are you?" when they don't really want to know annoy the hell out of me. My friend Fran and Daughter have both scolded me, "When someone asks how you are, the proper answer is 'fine, thank you'. They don't really want to hear about your ingrown toenail, or how much work you have." My response of course is "Then why do they ask?" So, the skill I'd want to painlessly acquire is the ability to engage in inane and meaningless conversation. Doesn't sound like an ability I'm likely to grow it myself, does it?
19. You have the chance to meet someone with whom you can have the most satisfying love imaginable -- the stuff of dreams. Sadly, you know that in six months the person will die. Knowing the pain that would follow, would you still want to meet the person and fall in love?
Yes. I'd rather love and lose than never to have loved at all (knowing of the possibility in advance).
What if you knew your lover would not die, but would betray you?
In that case I'd rather skip it. If he is going to betray me, then it wasn't "the most satisfying love" to begin with. It's not satisfying unless it's reciprocal. Betrayal would make the whole experience a lie.
20. If you knew of a way to use your estate, following your death, to greatly benefit humanity, would you do it and leave only a minimal amount to your family?
Um, define "greatly benefit humanity". And if my money can "greatly benefit humanity", then it probably wouldn't take all that much to do it. And if it doesn't take that much, then how 'bout we let some fabulously rich person do it with a piddling little portion of their estate, that their heirs wouldn't even miss. Besides, if Daughter is fine with the idea, then let her donate it after she gets it.
21. Do you prefer being around men or women? Do your closest friends tend to be men or women?
Both, at different times. They both have their advantages. Same with friendships, although men have been my longer-term friendships. Women tend to drift off as their lives and concerns change.
22. If you could use a voodoo doll to hurt anyone you choose, would you?
This is similar to question 11, where I invoked the fifth, but here we are just hurting them, not killing them. Again, it would be very tempting, and this time I might not be able to resist the temptation. Right now, I can't think of anyone I'd want to use it on, but there have been candidates in the past, and there may be some in the future. But I probably wouldn't actually use it. It would just be so satisfying to have the ability to.
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