True Personality Test: Builder/ Explorer

So, was watching tv this afternoon (came home early after a completely horrid day – never mind that …) and I saw the advert for match.com that they had a new personality test. So decided I had to go try it (because I like doing tests!). So resurrected my old username and password for match.com and got to doing my personality test (I was surprised my profile was still there – I just fill too many internet profiles for my own good!). Got to say it is pretty accurate.

They classify me as a BUILDER/ explorer (Builder being my major personality and explorer being my minor personality).

Here’s the meaning of these two personalities (I’ll highlight which is true):

Builder, 28%: Usually very popular. Deep attachment to home and family. Calm demeanour and low anxiety. Often consistent, loyal and protective.

Explorer, 27%: Known for high energy, high creativity and spontaneity. Seeks novelty, risk and pleasure. Intellectually curious and not easily swayed by opinion.

But that was just the general categories. Here is what they said about my personality – and I got to say it does reflect a lot about me (I’ll highlight the bits I think are very true!).

You are popular, trustworthy and dependable. People like you for many reasons; but among them you tend to be stable, loyal and caring and you have a wonderful knack for common sense.

You are a guardian. Your relationships with friends, kin and colleagues are important to you. So you spend time and energy developing and defending these social networks.

You are a good executive and manager. People almost instinctively feel you can supervise financial, business and social issues effectively. And because you are sensible and factual, you can.

You work hard. You like schedules. You are detail oriented. And you tend to respect traditions. So you bring strength and stability to your social and business environments.

Yet you admire people who are spontaneous and you enjoy new and different ideas and experiences, as long as they are not dangerous. Respectability and appropriateness are important to you. And you are capable of deep, solid friendships.

Get your bananas ready …

Mood: cheeky
Now Playing: You’re the Inspiration (Chicago)

Your fair-trade bananas that is! Tomorrow from noon to Saturday noon (GMT time), a new record is trying to be set. The record is the number of fair trade bananas that could be eaten in 24 hrs!

Now, you don’t have to eat a tonne of bananas, you just have to eat one and tell the fair-trade foundation that you have . Or you can just tell me – and I would send it in to them .

So, have you got your banana ready – I have mine!

As a side note:Yes, I know this blog-post would have ended nice and punchy with the last line – but I just like adding my personal experience and making these posts more boring than they should … just want to say that I always buy fair-trade … not because I’m really huge into it – but because I always buy Caribbean bananas (I got to support my region!) – and they just happen to be fairly traded. Besides there is this lady at church who makes sure we know all about fair-trade and she is promoting this event … .

I love Caribbean bananas … the variety is Cavendish – the best banana in the world (well, it is the only variety people in the UK is most likely to get). I used to get it when I lived in St. Vincent … when I moved the Guyana had a similar variety called Cayenne and then in Trinidad a slightly different variety which is called Gros Michel.

I am jealous …

Mood: spacey
Now Playing: If you leave me now (Chicago)

Right at this moment it is Carnival Monday in Trinidad – I imagine lots of people are enjoying the holiday, playing mas or at the beach making a ‘cook’ (Trinidad slang for cook-out) whilst I’m stuck here in my office in the UK.

Now, whilst that might be enough to be jealous of … I completely jealous about something else. Also, at this moment … my brother and his girlfriend and my sister and her boyfriend are all visiting my parents in Guyana for the long weekend. Today is also Masharami (Guyana’s carnival).

Now, I’m the only one not there to make the family complete. Hmmphhh. The only reason that pops out immediately as to why I’m not there is obviously because I’m not paired up with somebody !

I’ll show you CBS Radio … uh, maybe not

Mood: chatty
Now Playing: Country Comforts (Rod Stewart)

Yesterday, I went to play my Yahoo Radio (Launchcast) when I found out something extraordinary … Launchcast was now taken over by CBS Radio. Sure that was fine until I found out they were no longer giving you your personalised radio.

How dare they! How double dare they! I did not spend the last 5 years of my life rating songs, albums and artists for that to be taken away from me. I was at  over 6000 ratings – another 3000 and something ratings and I would have been a Rating Master (I already passed Rating Addict ). My personalised radio was so customised, there was not a song on there I never liked.

Well, I thought I’ll show them. I’ll go over to Last.Fm and set up my radio station there instead – I have to admit whilst Last.Fm allows you to tag songs etc., I still prefer Yahoo Radio (well, what it used to be), since I could rate songs, albums and singers on a 4 star scale and then they’ll know to what extent I like the songs and play them in that priority. In Last.Fm you either love or not love the song … hmm, not good. And for artists, well, if I say I like an artist – I may like some songs of theirs but not all – but that is not a consideration!

Plus, on Yahoo radio there was a mixture of recommended and songs I rated on the same radio – on Last.Fm you either play your library or recommended and it is such a pain to add artists. You have to go directly to their artist page to add them – on Yahoo Radio, you could just rate them right there as you’re listening.

Not pleased with Last.Fm but at least I can have a customisable radio since CBS Radio saw fit to take out the one good thing about Yahoo Radio! Anyway, I thought by joining Last.Fm I will show CBS Radio for spoiling my Yahoo Radio, until I read the history of Last.Fm and found out they’re also owned by CBS radio! Well, so much for showing them .

Statistically Significant Other

Mood: a-ok
Now Playing: Give me the night (George Benson)

Statistically significant other

I just saw this on my facebook from one of my friends … I thought it was so hilarious … it is from the www.xkcd.com website written by Randall Munroe.

Ok, so how many people thought this was really funny? Just checking to see the extent that I’m a geek

Test for Chlamydia and win a Wii!

Mood: lazy
Now Playing: Big Girls Don’t Cry (Fergie)

According to the Milton Keynes radio this morning (listening for transport news because of the snow) … if I test myself for Chlamydia, I would have a chance to win a Wii Fit … woo! Hmmm, sounds like a good bargain – I think I’m seriously considering it!

The incentives these days for stuff like this, is really interesting – it’s no longer sufficient just to say you’ll get free Chlamydia testing and that the odds of getting it is high (supposedly 1 in 10 persons between the ages of 16-25 … I’m so long pass that age group!) but now there is need to provide incentives!

Spectacles/ Glasses

Mood: cool
Now Playing: Walking Dream (Patsy Cline)

I was just thinking about all my glasses I’ve had over the years and thought I would make a post on it. I think I’ve had almost every type of glasses one could have. I’ve been wearing them since I was 13.

Geek Transformation

I actually had a very geek transformation when I was 13, the same day I got bracers, I got glasses – so in one shot I moved from being normal to the number one geek/ dork in the neighbourhood. One will think that will be a heavy negative stigmatisation but in the school where I was we thought bracers and glasses were cool and interesting. When I got my glasses, everyone wanted to try it on and see how they look with glasses (probably my class was geek-oriented!). 

My Glasses over the Years

My first pair was black and I’ve maintained black frames all the way true, except for an unfortunate tortoise coloured one when I was 16 – it was plastic and huge (absolutely hideous!). I currently have these great red ones which I love! After awhile I had a nice collection of glasses, which formed the glasses cemetery, where I could borrow a screw from or a nose-pad depending on what I lost in my current glasses.

Treatment of Glasses

I’ve never been careful with my glasses, I think I treat them quite recklessly but possibly because I’ve been wearing them for over 15 years, so, don’t think they’re that precious unless I lose them. Went sailing once and I was on the pier buckling my sandals and it slipped from my face (meant to tighten the screw but forgot!), bounced off the pier and then sank slowly into the murky water below whilst I was watching as if frozen and my mouth hanging open in surprise. So it was lost and  didn’t have an extra pair – was a nightmare for a couple of days since couldn’t drive!). I have a friend who treats hers like gold! But she doesn’t wear it regularly and probably why she treats it so well.

Great Things about Glasses

My sister has been encouraging me to get contacts but don’t know, quite like how I look with glasses.

• First of all, everyone thinks I’m intelligent because I have them on (talk about a great first impression!).
•  Secondly, when I’ve just made a great point in an argument, pushing my glasses up my nose bridge, just intimidates my opponent a little further.
• Thirdly, when I’m thinking really deeply, I could chew the end of my glasses for concentration (don’t do that much these days, the chewing I mean, but still hold it pretty close to the lip region).
• Fourthly, when I’m bored and wasting time, I could always play with my glasses … it makes for all sort of amusing pastime … example checking to see where dirt has accumulated and whether I could get it out.

Trying to Find Glasses

Besides every morning it gives me a chance to play an amusing game of hide-and-seek … the game of “Where did I put my glasses?” Of course, the first things I do when I’m looking for it, is check the usual places and then the not so usual:

• next to my laptop
• in the bathroom
• ’safe places’ I may have put it to make sure I didn’t sit or trod on them
• check the not so safe places such as on the bed in case I forgot,
• and of course the great hiding places of on top of my head, hooked on the front of my jumper
•  and last but not least, if they’re actually on my face and I had them on all the time. 

Other People with Glasses

Last but not least thing that I’m going to talk about are glasses on other people. I actually quite like people who wear glasses, I tend to smile and talk to them more – I think they’re usually more friendly and approachable . But this may be only me … considering I actually prefer guys with glasses (well nice glasses) – sometimes I see a guy without a glasses, I’ll pass him straight, but if he happens to put on a glasses, I will notice him …

So, everyone get your glasses out and wear them, they’re lot more fun to wear them than not .

Vin Diesel …

Mood: a-ok
Now Playing: Music off the night

So, today I went to the cinema watching “Role Models” with Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott (pretty funny movie – but not watching it over and over funny) …

Anyway, the trailer for the new Fast and Furious movie came up with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker … and this is what I heard one guy said to his girlfriend (?),

“Vin Diesel is really f–king sexy … and I’m not gay”.

Ok then … sure a guy could say it … I mean Vin Diesel is kinda hot in a different, strange sort of way and he does look a lot hotter than Paul Walker in the trailer, so, I will agree with the guy, “Vin Diesel is really sexy … and I’m not gay”. .

VTP (2): The actual event

Mood: chatty
Now Playing: Change a heart, Change the world (Jump 5)

Food Preparation

The Volunteer Tea Party (VTP) preparation was not difficult at all. When I arrived in the pantry, I was assigned to cutting tiny rolls and along with Hilda (not real name ). Anyway, we buttered these and filled them with smoked salmon and cream cheese, ham and cheese, and just plain salad.

Eventually, I ended up helping Mabel (again not real name) … who is from the Catholic congregation. Oh yeah, the church is ecumenical - never heard of that until I arrived in the UK. Pretty much ecumenical means that all denominations are welcomed to worship together and at the moment we have 5 main denominations: Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Anglicans and the United Reformed Church (which makes up the Presbyterians – which I am! – and the the Congregationalists – which I’ve never heard of).

Scones, Jam and Teeth

Anyway, Mabel and  I were spreading strawberry jam on the scones which were eventually going to have cream on them (they tasted heavenly! … I love scones particularly raisin scones with clotted cream … hmmm… delicious). Well, as we spreading the strawberry jam, Mabel was telling me all about her dentist and how he did a botch job on her dental plate, and really wanted to assure me of the following:

“I have all of my own teeth except for that dental plate”.

Ohhh… did I happen to mention the next closest person in age to me during that volunteer tea party and for the preparation was probably 45 – if so little? I wanted to laugh out aloud because, here was this relatively old lady talking to me about have her own teeth, I thought I was in the twilight zone for the moment … I’ve never had discussions and assurances of people telling me they had their own teeth.

Confession Time

Anyway, Mabel went on to tell me a funny story about one confession that she had with a Priest down in London. Mabel related the following story to me:

“Well, when ever I go to confession, I usually tell the Father something about myself, so he will understand the context. Some of my friends don’t and they think this is strange, but I always do this. I always say how old I am and what my status is”, she told me setting the scene and continued,

“So, I went in to the confession booth, and I said, I am 66 and I’m single. Then the Father replied to me, ‘Me too!’”, and with that she started laughing and me joining in.

She said later, “My friends said I should have told him, let’s hook up – won’t that have been funny!”.

The Party: Barber Shop and Jiving

Anyway, Mabel and I worked a bit longer together in particular setting out the plates and coffee cups and saucers and the joined in with the party, which was quite fun even though I was at least 15 years younger than everyone. The food was good – after all I did help prepare it! There were some fun quizzes, a raffle and they had a Barber Shop performance (all females and 12 of them to boot!). One of the guys quipped at my table,

“That’s one large barber shop!”.

The singing was quite good and then we were entertained by the kids who usually do dance classes at the church during the week (there are a lot of secular activities that occur at the church).  It was great fun since they did some jiving for us. And I decided then and there I really should go learn to do jiving.

I took 6 lessons in salsa and that served me really well during my trip to Mexico … I think I could take 6 lessons in jiving – besides I like jive music, so shouldn’t be too much of a hardship. So, let’s see … I’ve learnt salsa, learnt some traditional Mexican dancing, snuck into a ballroom and learnt 18th century ballroom dancing and did some barn-dancing. Yup, I think jiving should definitely be my next dancing lesson adventure.

VTP (1): The Guilty Conscience

Mood: chilling
Now Playing: Hard Habit to Break (Chicago)

On Sunday I had to help with doing food preparations for the Volunteer Tea Party (VTP), that the church was hosting for all the volunteers (the stewards, the people on the front desk and the people who help out in the pantry and kiosk … it’s a large church). Anyway, I often wonder how I get myself into these things, but I’ve found the answer. Let me illustrate how I got into volunteering for this in the first place:

At a meeting, sitting at my chair, trying to make myself look as inconspicuous as possible, particularly when I hear them start asking for volunteers for particular events. Then they mentioned the volunteer tea party and they were looking for some people to help in the food preparation as well prepping the place for the party and they wanted people who were not already volunteers since they wanted to make this special for the volunteers.

And  then I could feel it, all eyes were on me, just with burning intensity, and I could hear the voices in their heads going, “You could do it. We know that you’re not doing anything. You’re free on Sunday. You have nothing burning to do. No prior commitments. Of course you can do it”.

And before I could stop myself, I’m saying  out aloud, “Uh … I … uh … I could …um … probably do it”, whilst my inner mind is screaming, “What are you doing!!! Who told you to volunteer?”.

But you know being the reflexive person that I am, I know that beyond a doubt there were no burning eyes on me … it was just my guilty conscience making itself known … I really have to sit down and  have  a serious talk with that guilty conscience because it gets me into all sorts of scrapes .