There are three things I feel like I’m good at, one of which is no longer useful to me, one of which helped me survive last year, and the last I can’t talk about.
The second thing is job interviews. Despite my severe introversion and social anxiety, I seem to rise to the challenge there, whether I am the interviewer or the interviewee. I’ve always seemed to hire the right person for the job, and I’ve managed to get interviewers on my side from the start. I always feel like if I can get the interview, I will get the job. I have so little confidence elsewhere. I’m extremely grateful for this.
Gonna leave the other two on the table. Not this kind of thread,not this kind of board.
In discussion with my co-workers and colleagues from other companies (many of which learned the basics of our trade from me) I have come to realize that, at 62, I am the oldest technician in the trade still working in the field.
I was born with the non-stink gene (and yes there is such a thing).
Seriously. My wife is jealous. I can go for two weeks without showering, with 25 miles per week of running, and there just is no pit stink or body stink. Just as long as the naughty bits are kept clean nobody knows how long it has been since my last shower. Usually oily hair is what sends me to the shower.
Occasionally I wonder why I couldn’t have been blessed with something cool like perfect pitch or the ability to play good jazz, as opposed to my mediocre attempts,
but then I realize what a blessing it is to never worry about pit stink.
I’m in my early 40’s and still manage to discover and enjoy new music. Rather than endlessly listening to the same bands and genres from my high school and college years.
Not that it means anything, but I’ve always been proud that I’ve never smoked anything and have never taken an illegal drug. I’m also (sort of) proud that I’ve never taken a prescription drug, though I suppose it’s mostly due to my good genes.
I’ve twice taken the Graduate Record Exam and both times scored a perfect 800 on the Verbal section. Never actually went to, or even applied to, grad school, mind; but I did have a dean of a history department oohing over my GRE scores, once.
Romper Room. Boy, that takes me back. Way before Sesame Street was a gleam in a Muppet’s eye. Ah, to be a kid again.
I’m proud of how well my spider plants are doing. Yeah, they’re pretty easy to grow but the fact that they’re doing so well on my watch makes me inordinately happy. Almost all of our other plants are pretty well off, too. A couple of the orchids are even in bloom right now. Yeah, all I do is water everyone once a week or so and give them some fertilizer every now and then. (And, yeah, I have to occasionally chuck one.) But they still make me happy. Go me!
I don’t have the non-stink gene, but the few times I’ve gone without a shower unusually long, multiple people have commented on how good my hair looks. I don’t have a dry scalp or anything, but it never seems to get oily.
As for you posters with good senses of direction, I definitely envy you. My mom is an incredible navigator, but I inherited my dad’s (lack of) skill in that area. I spent nearly my entire childhood in the same tiny village, yet I can still get lost there.
Ever read Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather? There’s a character in it who’s the God of Hangovers - he inherits the hangovers from people who drink but don’t get them.
I have visited all six inhabited continents (I tend to doubt that I’ll make it to Antarctica). Lots of people have done that these days, but I’m still proud of having done it.
Perhaps there is a “law of conservation of hangovers” that causes the unused hangovers to manifest themselves as migraines in unlucky strangers…
ETA: Hey Stainless, my dad and his wife just did their dream vacation on a cruise to Antartica–I am avoiding them these days until they have whittled down the 5,000 photographs to a reasonable 36 prints. They loved it, and it seemed to be quite a milestone in their lives, more than just a vacation. He’s 70. Go for it!
