Do you think real love can last throughout any distance, or will long distance end most relationships?
Submitted by Miss Joy.
Had you asked me a few years ago I would have said no to the former, with no hesitation, and yes to the latter.
Now I'll say yes, that love can last "throughout any distance" (that bit made even *my* grammar alarms go off). But I believe love is an action, not just a feeling, and that loving someone requires a conscious choice to continue loving them, and to continue working towards being with that person, and to continuously, actively, choose to believe the two of you will succeed. It's the part of you that longs for that person (and wishes you were with them), that is almost beyond your control, although if you choose to give up, even that part will fade, over time, and possibly disappear. Some days making that conscious choice is easy, and it happens with no thought, much like breathing. Some days it hurts, and everything feels so difficult that you may want to just give up. Those are the days when what you choose matters the most.
I also believe that real lasting love is uncommon. So for that reason, I say yes to the latter. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I believe most relationships are not built on love, and will therefore crumble in the face of any adversity. Distance is a big enough challenge when you do love someone, I can't imagine even wanting to battle it without love.
Grr. Now I must kick puppies or something. Can we have a mean question now please? Something non-sappy? I feel like such a girl.
How do you keep calm?
Submitted by L33tchica.
Well, I'm normally pretty calm anyway. So I assume you mean in the face of a crisis? If something is on fire?
Stop thinking and just breathe. I find that thinking is often the worst thing you can do in such a situation. Your body knows what to do, *you* know what to do, and if you get lost in your thoughts, they will just distract you.
I'm afraid of heights, by the way. Not greatly, but it's there. My last entry mentioned jumping off of piers in Avila and Cayucos. The only way I could do it was to climb over the railing and not look down for more than a few seconds before jumping. Climb, look, jump. The very last time I climbed over the railing in Cayucos, I looked down for too long. I allowed myself to think. Only took 15 seconds and my fear crept back in, and paralyzed me. I knew it was silly and illogical. I'd jumped at least a dozen times. But because I gave my mind an inch, it took a mile. I had to climb back over the railing and sit down for a moment. I never jumped off a pier again.
Fear annoys me. I hate it, I want to eliminate it. But I find that what I do, usually, is deny it and push past it as though it isn't there. Which works for me until it resurfaces.
What food item would you miss the most if it were removed from your diet and recipes?
Submitted by scorpion1116.
Bread. Any breads or anything made with bread. Garlic bread, cinnamon bread, bread with raisins, corn bread, banana bread, sourdough, whole wheat, white bread, and brown breads with oats on top. Croutons count, yeah? And stuffing. Mmm.
/gains twenty pounds just thinking about it
Show us your job.
I usually just tell people it's a job working with computers and networking. Some years ago, I couldn't have said networking, people would have looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. I've worked for startup ISPs and large corporations with locations around the world, and right now I work for a small company, which I love (and some days hate) because I wear so many different hats.
I configure routers, switches, vpn appliances. I swap out hardware and run cables. I write up access control lists and manage firewalls. I set up users in Windows Active Directory and delete users who have left the company. I change email addresses and reset passwords and write up project plans for 60k dollar projects that affect every one of our ten locations. Mind you, most of our locations have under 10 people on site, and we have a lot of home office users, but still...we're in a lot of places around the world (if only we could get a location in Toronto...then I'd be thrilled). Right now I'm writing up policies and defining standards and procedures related to employees' VPN access. I'm coordinating a revamp and reimplementation of our broken Sharepoint server (it was installed before my time and was handed to me on the basis of "I've built web sites" and "no one else knows what to do with it"), including company wide training and things like presentations and coordinated webinars (involving something close to public speaking, which I hate, which is why I work with ROUTERS, ffs, instead of people). But some days I'm working in Visio, creating diagrams, or staring at debug info on one of our routers, trying to determine why our rtsp streaming isn't working, and some days I'm replacing the toner in a fax or troubleshooting a laptop connectivity issue. I do network security scans, and sniff ports, and teach, and learn on a daily basis. It's exhausting, and some days more satisfying than others, but I work with some really good people, I get paid a decent amount, I get to laugh nearly every day, and I go home every night feeling like I've accomplished something.
Not to mention that I can sneak a few moments to blog at work, sometimes, too. Hey! I just wrote up a blog entry! Look at that.
Too bad you're all dead of boredom now...
I've been ignoring you, Vox. I'm sorry. I'm in a bit of a slump, I suppose, what with so much of my life right now not open to anyone except those closest to me. Good and bad, I mean, so not like I'm experiencing some horrid tragedy, I'm just...feeling private.
If a qotd I could answer would just hurry up and make its way through, I'll jump on that. Because I miss writing. Maybe I need a muse. Selva?
What do you do for fun when you're broke?
Submitted by Kim.
It depends. On sunny summer days I take the dogs and/or the kids to the beach. On rainy days, when I am stuck inside (like today, with a brand new camera), I take photos of my cats. Because that's the kind of wild and crazy lifestyle I lead.
