These are Steffen ’s answers so you can more easily read them with the questions.
1. What were you doing when you last felt a sense of peace and contentment?
Last September I was on vacation at a small nature resort. It was during non-peak visiting times, so I had an outdoor Jacuzzi to myself, a five-minute walk from the beach, adopted a giant African snail that would be outside my cabana at night, and had breakfast at the pool-side while birds would fly up to my table to steal the sugar. Plus a hammock for reading. Ah, bliss.
2. What annualevent/holiday/happening do you dread, and why?
New Year's Eve. Not fond of the fireworks and other related noise.
3. Do you watch your local news? If so, what’s good and bad about it?
No. It's all bad.
4. How do you feel about people using terms of endearment when talking to you?
Seldom happens, so I'm kinda neutral towards it.
5. Will you watch the winter Olympics? If yes, what’s your favorite event?
No
6. What’s your favorite soup and/or salad?
The kind that's easy to push aside so you can get to the main course on the table.
7. In
Storm of the Century, SK said,“Hell is repetition. (I agree.) What do you think hell is?
My incredibly monotonous jobs. Them bills ain't gonna pay themselves, unfortunately.
8. How long do you think you could go without watching TV/streamingprograms?
There are many shows I love, but as long as I have my books, I can live without TV.
9. What is something you created or worked for, of which you were especially proud?
At my third job where I was the IT Administrator at a medium-sized retailfirm, my MD gave a mandate that everyone be computer literate, regardless of their job (be it Admin Assistant or forklift driver). I busted my tail coming up with training programmes and exams, and stayed back on my personal time to get the training done and made sure everyone passed their exams. There was one guy (he drove one of the company vans doing deliveries) who just couldn't quite get there because he didn't have much schooling and was embarrassed that his colleagues would find out. I used to stay back to coach him. It took somedoing, but the poor guy really made an effort so I didn't want him to get discouraged. A few years later this really clean-cut guy approached me in a mall and it took a while before I remembered him. He told me that the time I spent with him at that old job made him realise that he was capable of more than just driving a van, and now he owns his own laundry service.That made me realise that it's really the little things you may overlook which make a difference to others.
10. What book do you think everyone should read and why?
Oscar Wilde, if you want to appreciate the beauty of the English Language. Also, tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, because everyone needs a little magic sometimes.