What I did on my weekend
Aug. 4th, 2008 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadesfireI keep starting to type up stuff about this weekend and keep getting distracted. Your lives are way more interesting than mine, and I've got about a hundred things going through my head at the moment. But I shall try to concentrate long enough to get this down...
I did post on Friday, so most of you know I was in a pretty upbeat mood, which continued for most of the weekend. Having been afflicted by the transport gremlins on the coach (what does 'the network has no connectivity even mean?) and the tube trying to get to my mother's, there were no problems at the dentist's, and we had a good time up in central London, pottering round, shopping and nattering. My mother bought me some new shoes - iridescent blue pumps - and I got a shirt to replace one of the ones that are falling apart. She then bought us dinner at Brown's, which is one of my favourite restaurants, and all was right with the world :) I even managed to figure out how her new iPod works and load some videos onto it for her. It's giving her some trouble now, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.
All in all, a lovely, gentle, quiet day. Just what I needed.
One day, my mother and I will go somewhere and arrive on time, rather than half an hour early.
Sunday was not that day.
We were running 35 minutes before time, so we stopped at a petrol station and had coffee and second breakfast [as an aside, let me just say how much I love the fact that more and more service stations/garages have M&S food on sale, as well as fresh ground coffee - it's a small thing that vastly improves my journeys], before trotting along to the conference centre for 9ish.
There was more coffee there, although long experience with Christian Coffee has taught me to be wary of it (seriously, guys, just because it's fair trade doesn't mean it has to taste foul). We sat with a lady who'd come on her own, and within five-minutes my mother was recommending some self-help books and I was hearing her life-story. This happens to us more than you might think. Mum once had a check-out girl burst into tears on her, and I have a habit of learning more about my neighbour on the bus/train/coach than I ever, ever needed to know. Anyway, this lady, S, was very nice but the kind of person who I definitely felt the need to 'mother', or at least hold her hand to make sure she got to the right place at the right time.
The day was pretty intense - 9.30 to 5, and you're encouraged to discuss what you've learned during the breaks, so my brain got a good work-out. As expected, I identified as an ENTP, and my mother is my polar opposite, ISFJ. After some discussion yesterday, we reached the conclusion that my other half is an ESTJ, albeit a shy one. I do recommend the page I've linked to, by the way - it collects together the information in an easily understandable way, and has lots of links to other places.
Rather than go into extensive, navel-gazing detail, let me give you some quotes about ENTPs:
To perform in their best fashion, they prefer flexibility and versatility. While they like status and titles, they ultimately want to be judged on their innovative accomplishments. They take advantage of changing circumstances and work those circumstances into their plans. As a result, they function effectively in chaotic times.
Usually, it is feast or famine. ENTP's have a lively circle of friends and are interested in their ideas and activities. They are usually easy-going, seldom critical or nagging. At their worst, they can show undependable, fickle characteristics and may be rather easily discouraged.
ENTPs are less interested in developing plans of actions or making decisions than they are in generating possibilities and ideas. Following through on the implementation of an idea is usually a chore to the ENTP. For some ENTPs, this results in the habit of never finishing what they start.
ENTPs are basically optimists, but in spite of this (perhaps because of it?), they tend to become extremely petulant about small setbacks and inconveniences. (Major setbacks they tend to regard as challenges, and tackle with determination.) ENTPs have little patience with those they consider wrongheaded or unintelligent, and show little restraint in demonstrating this. However, they do tend to be extremely genial, if not charming, when not being harassed by life in general.
ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. [that would be you lot ;)]
Famous ENTPs:
Thomas Edison
Lewis Carrol, author (Alice in Wonderland)
Weird Al Yankovick
Alfred Hitchcock
Tom Hanks
Céline Dion
Matthew Perry, Chandler ("Friends")
Fictional ENTPs:
"Q" (Star Trek--The Next Generation)
Bugs Bunny
Wile E. Coyote
Garfield the cat [*helpless giggling* NO IDEA how they arrived at these]
To be honest, they could just have put "Tigger" in as a description and left it at that, really.
Of course, none of these things really tell you all about me, nor do they give me excuses for my habitual distraction and forgetfulness. Being 'N' rather than 'S' doesn't mean I can forget the real world, and being 'P' rather than 'J' doesn't mean I can put off decisions forever. But it helps explain why I find some things harder than others, and why the things that some of my colleagues/friends/family just do automatically, I struggle with. Similarly, my mother and I were able to clear up a long-standing misunderstanding because it gave us the language we needed to talk about it. It also explained why I sometimes get strange looks when I try to explain the way I think and approach life - only about 1.5% of women are ENTPs and only about 3% of the population in total. Trust me, it's not an easy way to process the world and I'm definitely working on my S and J preferences...
Overall, it was a productive, useful and interesting day, and I'm considering looking at further courses.
The plan had been for mum to drive us back to North London, and for me to get the tube in to Victoria and then the coach home. But I got to the bus stop at 7.55 and the 8 o'clock bus didn't arrive. Nor did the 8.30. There was a bus, eventually at 9.05. Which didn't stop because it was already full. At which point the twenty people at my stop high-tailed it to the bus station, where there were probably already a coach-load of people waiting.
At which point I said blow this for a game of cowboys and went back to mum's.
The journey on Sunday was actually little better, since a huge tour party had decided my coach was the best way to get to Oxford. A two hour journey with a teenage tour group. Wonderful. Although putting my headphones on and putting my head down did at least mean I got my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
gateverse_remix story mostly done, and at least they didn't actually throw things at each other.
The other half and I then proceeded to sleep through most of yesterday. Seriously. I went for a nap at 2ish, he came to wake me up at 3ish, and we both slept through to 6ish, when he got up to make dinner, and I played around with the story some more. Then we had dinner and went back to bed. And I slept properly through the night for the first time in ages. I could get used to this. :)
The other thing I could get used to is 4 day weeks! I've got Friday and Monday off so that we've got time to move house, and it's going to be a real shock having to go back to 5 days a week after that. Not that there isn't enough to do, but these long weekends are definitely the way forwards...
ETA: While out on Friday, we were in a shop that actually sold a microwave for the car. Not for a camper van or caravan. For the car. A whole 'plug into the tiny little cigarrette lighter' type thing. Seriously. Why?
I did post on Friday, so most of you know I was in a pretty upbeat mood, which continued for most of the weekend. Having been afflicted by the transport gremlins on the coach (what does 'the network has no connectivity even mean?) and the tube trying to get to my mother's, there were no problems at the dentist's, and we had a good time up in central London, pottering round, shopping and nattering. My mother bought me some new shoes - iridescent blue pumps - and I got a shirt to replace one of the ones that are falling apart. She then bought us dinner at Brown's, which is one of my favourite restaurants, and all was right with the world :) I even managed to figure out how her new iPod works and load some videos onto it for her. It's giving her some trouble now, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.
All in all, a lovely, gentle, quiet day. Just what I needed.
One day, my mother and I will go somewhere and arrive on time, rather than half an hour early.
Sunday was not that day.
We were running 35 minutes before time, so we stopped at a petrol station and had coffee and second breakfast [as an aside, let me just say how much I love the fact that more and more service stations/garages have M&S food on sale, as well as fresh ground coffee - it's a small thing that vastly improves my journeys], before trotting along to the conference centre for 9ish.
There was more coffee there, although long experience with Christian Coffee has taught me to be wary of it (seriously, guys, just because it's fair trade doesn't mean it has to taste foul). We sat with a lady who'd come on her own, and within five-minutes my mother was recommending some self-help books and I was hearing her life-story. This happens to us more than you might think. Mum once had a check-out girl burst into tears on her, and I have a habit of learning more about my neighbour on the bus/train/coach than I ever, ever needed to know. Anyway, this lady, S, was very nice but the kind of person who I definitely felt the need to 'mother', or at least hold her hand to make sure she got to the right place at the right time.
The day was pretty intense - 9.30 to 5, and you're encouraged to discuss what you've learned during the breaks, so my brain got a good work-out. As expected, I identified as an ENTP, and my mother is my polar opposite, ISFJ. After some discussion yesterday, we reached the conclusion that my other half is an ESTJ, albeit a shy one. I do recommend the page I've linked to, by the way - it collects together the information in an easily understandable way, and has lots of links to other places.
Rather than go into extensive, navel-gazing detail, let me give you some quotes about ENTPs:
To perform in their best fashion, they prefer flexibility and versatility. While they like status and titles, they ultimately want to be judged on their innovative accomplishments. They take advantage of changing circumstances and work those circumstances into their plans. As a result, they function effectively in chaotic times.
Usually, it is feast or famine. ENTP's have a lively circle of friends and are interested in their ideas and activities. They are usually easy-going, seldom critical or nagging. At their worst, they can show undependable, fickle characteristics and may be rather easily discouraged.
ENTPs are less interested in developing plans of actions or making decisions than they are in generating possibilities and ideas. Following through on the implementation of an idea is usually a chore to the ENTP. For some ENTPs, this results in the habit of never finishing what they start.
ENTPs are basically optimists, but in spite of this (perhaps because of it?), they tend to become extremely petulant about small setbacks and inconveniences. (Major setbacks they tend to regard as challenges, and tackle with determination.) ENTPs have little patience with those they consider wrongheaded or unintelligent, and show little restraint in demonstrating this. However, they do tend to be extremely genial, if not charming, when not being harassed by life in general.
ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. [that would be you lot ;)]
Famous ENTPs:
Thomas Edison
Lewis Carrol, author (Alice in Wonderland)
Weird Al Yankovick
Alfred Hitchcock
Tom Hanks
Céline Dion
Matthew Perry, Chandler ("Friends")
Fictional ENTPs:
"Q" (Star Trek--The Next Generation)
Bugs Bunny
Wile E. Coyote
Garfield the cat [*helpless giggling* NO IDEA how they arrived at these]
To be honest, they could just have put "Tigger" in as a description and left it at that, really.
Of course, none of these things really tell you all about me, nor do they give me excuses for my habitual distraction and forgetfulness. Being 'N' rather than 'S' doesn't mean I can forget the real world, and being 'P' rather than 'J' doesn't mean I can put off decisions forever. But it helps explain why I find some things harder than others, and why the things that some of my colleagues/friends/family just do automatically, I struggle with. Similarly, my mother and I were able to clear up a long-standing misunderstanding because it gave us the language we needed to talk about it. It also explained why I sometimes get strange looks when I try to explain the way I think and approach life - only about 1.5% of women are ENTPs and only about 3% of the population in total. Trust me, it's not an easy way to process the world and I'm definitely working on my S and J preferences...
Overall, it was a productive, useful and interesting day, and I'm considering looking at further courses.
The plan had been for mum to drive us back to North London, and for me to get the tube in to Victoria and then the coach home. But I got to the bus stop at 7.55 and the 8 o'clock bus didn't arrive. Nor did the 8.30. There was a bus, eventually at 9.05. Which didn't stop because it was already full. At which point the twenty people at my stop high-tailed it to the bus station, where there were probably already a coach-load of people waiting.
At which point I said blow this for a game of cowboys and went back to mum's.
The journey on Sunday was actually little better, since a huge tour party had decided my coach was the best way to get to Oxford. A two hour journey with a teenage tour group. Wonderful. Although putting my headphones on and putting my head down did at least mean I got my
gateverse_remix story mostly done, and at least they didn't actually throw things at each other.The other half and I then proceeded to sleep through most of yesterday. Seriously. I went for a nap at 2ish, he came to wake me up at 3ish, and we both slept through to 6ish, when he got up to make dinner, and I played around with the story some more. Then we had dinner and went back to bed. And I slept properly through the night for the first time in ages. I could get used to this. :)
The other thing I could get used to is 4 day weeks! I've got Friday and Monday off so that we've got time to move house, and it's going to be a real shock having to go back to 5 days a week after that. Not that there isn't enough to do, but these long weekends are definitely the way forwards...
ETA: While out on Friday, we were in a shop that actually sold a microwave for the car. Not for a camper van or caravan. For the car. A whole 'plug into the tiny little cigarrette lighter' type thing. Seriously. Why?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 02:28 pm (UTC)In the U.S., the plug-in microwave is very popular with long-haul truckers, who also have tiny plug-in fridges. That way they can hot meals on the road with healthy food they brought from home. My neighbor who drove a truck on a route from Georgia to Michigan every week had those.
I can see it being popular with people who like to go camping but don't want to do all their cooking over a firepit, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 04:00 pm (UTC)Hmmm...see, I can understand truckers in the U.S. needing those kinds of things, and I get having a little fridge. But over here, the longest you're going to have to drive, even going from one end of the country to the other is about 12 hours, and there are service stations all the way. I do sort of get it, but it still made me blink, because the words "microwave" and "car" don't usually feature in the same sentences ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 04:07 pm (UTC)my internet company tried to shut me off the day I rang as well. fortunately she 'double checked' with me, and I was able to say, "No! when I said the 30th, I meant the 30th, not today which is the 18th."
GOOD LUCK WITH THE MOVING!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:19 pm (UTC)It's so frustrating - we've had nothing but trouble from TalkTalk since we started with them, and I shan't be sorry to see the back of them!
THANK YOU! I shall keep everyone informed as best I can with no internet. Argh.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-07 01:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-07 07:11 am (UTC)Now all I have to do is make some of those things work, and I'll be doing much better ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 02:28 pm (UTC)In the U.S., the plug-in microwave is very popular with long-haul truckers, who also have tiny plug-in fridges. That way they can hot meals on the road with healthy food they brought from home. My neighbor who drove a truck on a route from Georgia to Michigan every week had those.
I can see it being popular with people who like to go camping but don't want to do all their cooking over a firepit, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 04:00 pm (UTC)Hmmm...see, I can understand truckers in the U.S. needing those kinds of things, and I get having a little fridge. But over here, the longest you're going to have to drive, even going from one end of the country to the other is about 12 hours, and there are service stations all the way. I do sort of get it, but it still made me blink, because the words "microwave" and "car" don't usually feature in the same sentences ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 04:07 pm (UTC)my internet company tried to shut me off the day I rang as well. fortunately she 'double checked' with me, and I was able to say, "No! when I said the 30th, I meant the 30th, not today which is the 18th."
GOOD LUCK WITH THE MOVING!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-04 05:19 pm (UTC)It's so frustrating - we've had nothing but trouble from TalkTalk since we started with them, and I shan't be sorry to see the back of them!
THANK YOU! I shall keep everyone informed as best I can with no internet. Argh.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-07 01:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-07 07:11 am (UTC)Now all I have to do is make some of those things work, and I'll be doing much better ;)