(no subject)

[pcdrumstamper]

• What sort of profession in the wizarding world would you choose and why?
  Probably floo network/portkey technician. I am in the computer networking world in RL,and I have that sort of thing on the brain right now. I can imagine rooms full of robed technicians monitoring the creation and removal of brief connections between fireplaces, and I am pretty sure that there would be some collision avoidance involved, and path determination. There are a number of fireplaces in the ministry allowing a large number of people to arrive at the same time, so someone or something is chosing them in a round-robin fashion. But what happens if a dozen people in different places try to floo themselves to the Weasley's? Are they queued up, then popped out one by one? Do they bounce back home? Do they end up at the Lovegood's? We've not heard of large delays, or of people being lost or refused entry... well, someone is on top of that. I suspect that since the floo network gets routed through the ministry, which is how Umbridge almost snags Sirius, that there is a floo network operations center with witches and wizards keeping an eye on things. That's where I'd be.
  
  
• You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one Harry Potter character other than Hagrid and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you'd want with you.
  Albus, but not because he's best wizard around. He has a genuine regard for the creatures there, and his relationship with them is hinted at, but not revealed. He provides a place for centaurs, merpeople, and a dozen other oddities in the areas around Hogwarts. But why is it that he can roam freely there and do things like extract Umbridge from a pack angry centaurs or talk a bunch of Mermaids into playing along with a Wizard's cup trial and not kill people? Because he has a special relationship and his treatment of non-wizards is recognized. I'd like to take Albus, but mostly to see him interact with the creatures in the forest, just to get an idea of how he is with them.
  I'd bring the Weasley's car, it has good rescue timing and can give you a ride out. Good against acromantulas, too.
  
  
• If you had the opportunity to live forever, but your family and friends did not, what would you choose? And if you did choose to live forever, what would you do with eternity?
  
  Duncan McLeod, anyone? I've now got the theme song from Highlander--"Who wants to live forever?" by Queen--stuck in my head.
  
  I'd keep living, because there are a lot of places to go and things to do and so very little time. I'd spend my endless days reading, and getting around to various things that I would like to do, but don't have time for. I'd like to get back into
  Scottish Drumming, expand my stamp collection, and learn how to sing. I'd like to travel, too. Every time I go travelling I realize how much I would like to keep doing it. I'd learn some languages while I was at it.
  
  
• If you could travel back in time to one point, when and where would you go? Why?
  I would like to go to the 1930's. I'd like to meet my grandfather as a young man and see what he was like. He supposedly was in a boxing match in the town square and went several rounds with a golden gloves champ. Also, he played in a high school football game against Nile Kinnick (Kinnick Stadium at the U of Iowa, anyone?) and their team got destroyed by something like 150 to 7. A defeat, but it would have been something to see.
  
  
• What HP character do you identify with most and why?
  Hermione. She's smart, but awkward around her peers. She has trouble with being a little stuck up, and I was as a child, and probably still am. She's got some good friends and sticks by them.
  
  
• What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised? That would be me, getting paid what I'm worth at a job I love, while kicking some serious butt at Trivial Pursuit. Yes, lexispice, you are there, too. So are my two sons.
  
  
• Do you believe that moral actions should be judged by the intentions behind them, or by the consequences they create?
  
  I think most of history can be explained by this statement: "Everyone thinks they are right all the time." That goes for the bad guys, too, you know. It is pretty easy to say that so-and-so was just evil. Well, they didn't wake up one morning and decide to be evil. They slipped into a mindset that convinced them wholesale genocide of a race was actually good for the "real" people, or that stealing the savings of clients was okay because they would put more back later, or that slavery was actually good for the slaves, and so on. They always have a reason, however crazy, and they see their intentions as good. So when it is our own turn to ask ourselves if we are moral, how do penetrate through such a blinding mindset? There must be an objective measure, and the consequences of the actions are where we start.
  
  
• What was your ideal job as a kid? Has that changed? What is your ideal job now? I wanted to be a Paleontologist, and dig up dinosaur bones. I lost interest over time. By the time I went to college I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew that I wanted it to be something in the computer arena. I followed some bad advice, didn't pursue computer science until it was too late. I got a job at a small computer store, learned a few things, and over the course of my twenties became way overqualified as a computer tech. Now I'm working in IT consulting, with various network and server duties. I love it.
  
  
• If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it, and what would you call it? Probably a potion that gives you back 5 minutes of time. I don't think a time-turner would be necessary for such a short and trivial thing, but I often need a few extra minutes to clock into work on-time.
  
  
• If you were to face a boggart, what would it turn into? And what does it turn into when you throw the counter-spell, Riddikulus? My old manager at work. She was pulling me into her office every day for a while, trying to get me to quit. She had my internet traffic monitored so she could confront me with every little webpage I went to, and for a month or so that year I think I had an ulcer because of the stress. One guy gave me a written note, suggesting I find another job for the sake of my family, and he wrote the note by hand because he knew that she was watching everything that came in or out of my computer. The woman had no qualms about making my time at work into hell. When I throw the counter-spell, the senior VP shows up and demands to know why she has missed 80 working days last year while calling in sick for such things as running over her neighbor's dog, why she is concealing a relationship with her boss, why did half the department leave when she took over last time, and just what does she actually do around there anyway? Then the senior VP realizes that firing her makes more sense than laying off 3 people who do real work.
  
  
• What do you look for in a friend?
  
  A real connection. A genuine concern for the feelings of others is also very important. It helps if we share some interests, but I think that can come with time, too.
  
  
• What trait most annoys you about other people?
  Insensitivity to the feelings of others is an annoying trait. There was a guy I worked with that talked really loudly, and if you tried to interrupt, he'd keep talking, get louder and start to close his eyes so as better not to see that someone else was talking. It was so annoying that I really couldn't talk to him.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five abilities or qualities?
  
  Intelligence:
  I'm a smart guy, and I have the glasses to prove it. Seriously though, I know lots of things, useful and useless, and am rather good at trivial pur9suit. I'm good at picking up new things. I was voted most intelligent in High School, so it must be true...
  
  Computer skills,:
  I've spent ten years working on computer problems all day long, so I know a thing or two. Early on in my career, I decided that I really wanted to be the best computer tech around. After five or six years, I had pretty much seen everything that could go wrong on a computer, so things started to get boring.
  
  sense of humor:
  Am I funny? Yes. Yes, I am. My wife may say otherwise, but deep-down she knows that I am hilarious. I enjoy witty humor with a little sarcasm. In the past, I often blew off steam at work and vented anger toward our clients by sending funny IMs to my co-workers.
  
  kindness:
  I'm a nice guy. I go out of my way to help people in my job, and I really just do it to be nice. When I worked retail PC support, I would often fix little things and not charge customers if I had spent only a few minutes on the issue--again, just to be nice. Now, as an IT consultant, being good at my job and doing things right the first time are really well appreciated, not to mention good for business.
  
  I'm a good Dad:
  I've got two kids, and they're pretty good kids, so I must be doing all right. The older is 5 and the younger is 3. The older is very helpful, and he tends to be very sweet. The younger is still pretty little, but he doesn't bite and loves his brother. The two of them are relatively close in age, and given the overlap in their toys and space, you'd think they be fighting constantly, but they rarely do. The older one tries to help the little one when he cries, and it just makes me think that I've done something right with him.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five weaknesses or worst qualities?
  
  Obliviousness- I tend to be literal-minded and often miss what people mean versus what they say. For instance, I'm typically unaware if someone is flirting with me, and also if someone is angry at me. This causes a lot of consternation, as it takes awhile for me to figure these things out.
  
  Sense of time- I have trouble getting places on time. Work, school, church, returning library books, etc. Also, it also takes me longer to do some things than it should, like shower. I lose all track of time in the shower, and take 45 minutes in there. I tend to underestimate how long other things take, like driving from here to there. The end result is that I don't plan ahead well and I always run out of time.
  
  easily distracted- I get caught up in books and movies easily, and typically I'll read or watch to the exclusion of other things. I have a tendency to multi-task to the point where nothing gets done.
  
  Stinky feet- I have had very smelly feet since I was a kid. I have to leave my shoes on in polite company, or people start looking around, thinking that there is cat pee somewhere nearby. I have to remove my shoes at work to let them air out sometimes, and fortunately there is nobody close enough to smell them. Although, when I was about ten I used to roll up my stinky socks and throw them at my sister, which I still think is hilarious.
  
  procrastination- I've always had this problem, and it almost ruined my college career. I was a successful student in high school, but somehow I kept a 4.0 gpa despite my habit of procrastinating. In college, it combined with my inability to correctly gauge how long things take and my tendency to get distracted, and I started failing classes. I wasted a full year as I had to withdraw from two semesters midway, as I hadn't done any work. Eventually, I found a balance, a different major, and eventually graduated. I do still tend to put things off, though.
  
  
• Define in your own words the following key traits:
  
  • Courage: To persevere despite fear (Do I get points for rhyming?)
    
  • Loyalty: Loyalty - not compromising a person or institution--like one's country. I'm not a confrontational person, and certainly not violent, but some years back I was driving some friends around town when someone I didn't know, but was a friend-of-a-friend, made disparaging remarks about my best friend, who wasn't there. I was all set to pull over and make him walk and make things rather clear that one did not speak that way about my good friend Erik. Before I could, I realized that it was poorly worded joke by this guy that was really an old high school friend of Erik. Was I thinking of
    loyalty? No, but when I heard what he said something solidified in me and I was resolved not to have it in my car.
    
  • Intelligence: Intelligence is the speed with which one assimilates concepts. It does not necessary equal knowledge, unless one has spent a lot of time coming into contact with many concepts, such as through education or through the passage of a lifetime of experiences. Intelligence is a handmaiden to wisdom, which is an understanding of human nature and the ways of the world, and if intelligence has served her well, wisdom can come to the young.
    
  • Ambition: A desire to improve one's place in the world. Ambition is an impetus--a motivational force, and it can be good or bad. I think a desire to improve the life of my family is a good desire, but my desire to have a bigger tv and nicer car than my neighbor is actually a bad desire..
  
  
• Name: Jeff
  
• Age: 33
  
• Where did you find out about us? My wife is lexispice.
  
• Do you plan on being active in the communities once you are sorted? I hope to find a niche.