Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it? Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of? Tell us how you work best.

I don’t go looking for pressure, I avoid it if I can. But shit happens and sometimes there’s only so much in your control. When it happens the best way to deal with it with a little urgency, keeping a cool mind and to not let it frustrate you otherwise it can overwhelm you and eat you inside out.

My best stuff comes out when I am not facing a deadline and when I have less bullshit to deal with. At times things have worked out well in adversity and against the clock but even if I enjoy the outcome I do not enjoy the pressure of dealing with a 1000 things that could go wrong. Once it a while it’s alright but to always be under pressure isn’t good for you. I would rather have a breather more often than just at the end of a project – keeps you healthier both physically and mentally.

For those of you who feel that you must have pressure to do your best – here’s to ya. More power to you, great for you. That’s ok but it’s not the same for the rest of us. Enjoy!

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

At what age did you realize you were not immortal? How did you react to that discovery?

I think I was pretty young when I realized that all of us, including my family, friends & myself are mortal and that we all will eventually  grow old and died. And that the rest of us who live on after a loved one’s death do miss and mourn for the dead person. I was lucky that I never did experience someone close to me dying until much later in life. Would it have helped, if I had experienced it earlier in life? I dunno.

Since 1992 I have lost an aunt, an uncle I was close to and both my grandmothers. There were a few other deaths but not relatives I was really close with. In the last few years a couple of old friends & colleagues have passed away as well. I also lost two cats and a dog that I loved with all my heart. Losing pets is a lot devastating, especially since you can’t tell them how you feel in words and neither can they speak back to you. But yes the feeling is still the same even without understand the words and it is hard to get over. My dog was with me for 11 years and it has been a little over 10 since she passe but I still haven’t gotten over it and I still think of her every day. Not a day goes by without me thinking of my Shawny.

Which is probably why I came up with this fictional futuristic world in where all humans and other earthlings were infected by an alien created virus that added with a protective shield / forcefield stunted aging and made us all immortal and when you take into affect that our living conditions and technology have made us be able to live comfortable and cushy lives, things are awesome with no deaths, injuries, illness, thirst, hunger or pain. That sounds fine to me.

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

So I woke up after a heavy sleep at 8:45 am and after brushing my teeth and washing my face I went to get a cup of coffee. First of the morning. A little after that I needed to go to the toilet and while I was sitting there, doing my business, when out there in the corner just under the sink I see a little spider coming out. I hate spiders, in case you don’t know. They suck and they are disgusting. Since I was still on the toilet, I picked up the bidet shower (you know the water hose pipe thingy on the sides of toilets) and squirted the little beast.

He scurried away under a plastic dice designed stool I have in the corner of the bathroom and which sits under my sink. Thinking he wouldn’t dare show up again, I went back to staring into space and doing my thing but lo and behold! the little beast shows up again. I hosed him again thinking that this would kill him but he scurried away yet again, only to come out in another 30 seconds. Persistent little bastard, aren’t you? is what I thought before I squirted him with a longer streak of water and he turned upside down and disappeared behind the stool. I was almost proud of myself which only lasted another minute when he comes out again!!!

This time I was even a bit pissed off and I squirted the bugger with a prolonged dose and he once again went belly up and disappeared behind the stool. Feeling like Clint Eastwood, I sat back and waited. Well? Are you going to show up again?A minute or two passed by and no little spider. “Oh, I must have killed him for good this time” but I wasn’t sure. I had completed my business but I didn’t get up. Hell, was I actually worried about the little guy, having gotten a grudging respect for him by now! I was sure he was a goner but there he comes out. “Alright spidey, atta boy!” I said to myself. He went off into the gap behind the sink’s hose.

Wait a minute! Was I actually rooting for a spider?

Look out your back window or door — describe what you see, as if you were trying to convey the scene to someone from another country or planet.

Looking out my back window – well it’s the back window of my bedroom and I live in a 7th floor apartment – I see the road next to my apartment building. It’s getting dirty and it’s in dire need of repair works and it’s water logged at the sides and the potholes at the moment due to the massive rainfall we had most of yesterday, throughout the night and continuing this morning. Bikes, cars, trucks and people all trying to make their way through that road.

I see some buildings, a few houses including one large 3 storey home, a few bigger apartment buildings and lots and lots of trees and greenery. That is one of the things I do like about living here – the green is good! Lots of trees and bushes and plants and stuff. Green is the dominant colour especially when you see the view from above. Plus yeah we do have a lot of the apartment buildings and some that being built in the view as well.

There’s a lot of pollution, garbage kept in one corner of a plot and alot of junk as well. Our rather rich neighbours who own that big 3 storey house have a tendency to buy stuff (including what I suspect is plastic as well) in their vacant lot that’s just behind my building. Which makes it difficult when the smoke comes in through your windows and doors. But that’s my view.

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

In your own life, what would be the equivalent of a walk-off home run? (For the baseball-averse, that’s a last-minute, back-against-the-wall play that guarantees a dramatic victory.)

I don’t know baseball at all but I know what the term Grand Slam means in tennis. The Grand Slam tournaments, or Majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of field, and greater number of “best of” sets for men. The term Grand Slam also, and originally, refers to the achievement of winning all four major championships in a single calendar year within one of the five events: men’s and women’s singles; men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles. The term “Grand Slam” without qualification refers to winning the four majors in a single calendar year.

For me, a personal life “Grand Slam” – to which I am no where near to achieving is very simple. A four shot at success would be to a) get a heavy duty and well paying job where I get all the perks and benefits possible or get a work at home job where I get paid a lot but don’t have to deal with corporate BS b) find, fall in love with a wonderful woman and have her fall in love with me and get married for a successful & happy married life c) buy a nice home with a green backyard for kittehs and puppies to play in & d) get to travel and see the world as much as I want to and even move to where I’d want to move and live there.

I am no where near achieving any of that. So no Grand Slam for me. Not even one single Grand Slam tournament or final showing. Yet!

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com