Richard Eriksson's blog

QotD: My Dream Job

What's that secret dream job you've always believed you'd be good at, but never gone for? 
Submitted by wedgeh.

Truck driver or bus driver.  There's something romantic about the open road in the former case, but from what I've read the time window between picking up a delivery and when it needs to arrive is fairly small, and that many drivers lose out on sleep, something I value very highly.  In the latter case, it would be an interesting experience but lately in Vancouver there has been a lot of press about rider-driver confrontations, something I don't think I'd handle very well, and driving in general demands more attention than I think is worth.  Bus driving is even worse, because you would have to watch for passengers waiting for stops and remember to drop passengers off when they pull the 'stop request' cord. 

Neither are for me, but I like to dream.

QotD: Search Me

How well does your name Google? Who are you up against? (Celebrities, etc.)
Submitted by Matt Blank.

I do rather well, and have no competition.  It used to be that the top 10 results were all from sites I had administrative control over, but now user profiles on social networking sites have creeped in.  Not a problem at the moment, since I say what goes on there.  I used to be #4 for my first name, but have since dropped down a few spots because I've temporarily ceased updating my main weblog.

QotD: Lesson Learned

Tell us about a lesson you had to learn the hard way.

While shelving books at the library I worked at for four years, I saw a book that looked to me like it belonged under a different Dewey Decimal number.  I took the book to the back, added a sticky note explaining what why I thought it should appear in a different category, and left it in the lead cataloger's inbox.  Big mistake.  In a unionized workplace more than non-unionized workplace, job definitions are well-defined, and resentment about doing someone else's work runs pretty high.  My dad, a union man all his life, warned me about this, but it took doing it and finding out the hard way, and apologizing to the guy (in email) and remembering never to do that again.  Working in a now non-unionized shop, this is less of a problem, and job definitions much less defined, and were we have no official titles.

QotD: Mispeled

What words, for the life of you, can you never spell correctly?
Submitted by Byrne.

The word 'bright' or my brother's name, which is Bryan.  Because I work for a company called Bryght, and type the company's name at least half a dozen times a day.

QotD: Many Happy Returns

What are you going to do with your tax return?
Submitted by KB.

What tax return?  I have to pay taxes this year.

QotD: Also Known As

What's in a screen/user name? Tell us how you found yours.
Submitted by Bill.

I can't remember when I chose it, but I needed something that was similar to the title of my weblog, Just a Gwai Lo, that wasn't the same as the title of my weblog.  So I tried to think of an adjective that described me, and 'silly' was the closest approximation, and 'gwai lo'—white dude—was also true.  So sillygwailo it is.

QotD: Kitchen Impossible

What was your worst cooking experience?

Pretty much all my cooking experiences.  Okay, I just don't like cooking, but the worst experience of all was I was boiling water at my parent's house, went downstairs to watch TV, then promptly forgot about it.  The fire alarm started beeping, and it took me a few minutes to realize that it was the element having burnt the pot.  I raced up, took the pot off the element and made the mistake of setting it on the counter, noticeably burning it.  The burn mark is there to this day, covered by a cutting board.

Did I mention I don't like cooking?

QotD: Fooled

What's the best April Fool's Day prank you've pulled off or been fooled by?

My best April Fool's prank was blogging that I was dating someone when *gasp* I wasn't.  Fooled only one person, who claimed to be off the hook since she was technically in a time zone that she read it the day after. 

But the official party line is that April Fool's Day jokes suck, so I believe that too.

QotD: Showing My Support

What are some charitable causes that you support or would like to support?

Vancouver Community Network, which helps deliver Internet access to non-profits and the less well off in the Lower Mainland.

QotD: Hoop Dreams

Who's going to be in the Final Four?

I stop caring whenever Duke gets eliminated.