Daily writing prompt

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

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In my undergraduate years, my major was Foods in Business, a major designed to position people into the food industry. This was not what I ultimately did with my life, having discovered Family and Consumption Economics, and my life’s work, my junior year. But as an undergraduate, I wanted to work in a consumer affairs position, or even better, in a test kitchen.

I took a class my senior year called Food Science, where we spent the first half of the semester learning the chemical and physical properties of food, and the second half of the semester testing hypotheses about food. Mine was testing for substitutes for butter in baking poundcakes — margarine, butter flavored shortening, and regular shortening with butter buds flavoring. (Note: people preferred shortening over everything, including butter.) I fell in love with test kitchen work and, if it weren’t for the fact that I loved the thought of graduate school more, I might have gone into test kitchen work.

So, if I had a choice of any job to step into for a day, I would walk into a test kitchen. I think I remember the basics 40 years later — standardized recipes where one weighs all the ingredients on a scale (including a very sensitive one for small amounts like baking soda and seasoning), tasting rooms with good ventilation, white walls, and neutral lighting, testing of texture, crumb, and viscosity using simple and complicated testing. I think I can do it for a day with very little coaching.

Daily writing prompt

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

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This is not going to be a very exciting answer. If I were a better person than I am, I would say something like meditation or reading, or walking. But the truthful answer is that I come home, recline in the recliner, and surf the Internet on my phone. I kill time in the most prosaic way possible.

I am a voracious reader of minutiae. It comes from wanting to absorb information and having a short attention span. So I binge-read Wikipedia, science websites, and Quora, looking for things to learn. I also like to read advice columns, because I like to know the right things to do in an awkward situation.

Sometimes I fall asleep in the recliner. I guess this is how one really winds down.

Daily writing prompt

How has technology changed your job?

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I started my research career in the realm of DOS PCs, card catalog library searches, and statistical computing on mainframes. Today I have a computer where I can see what I type in full color. I can search my library catalog from home and run statistical analyses. The change is enormous, because I can now work from anywhere I have wi-fi. I hardly even need to set foot in my library because I can download articles from the Internet. If I wanted to, I could compose articles and lectures on my phone. A pretty dramatic change in technology right there.

Technology also allows me to create graphics-filled slide shows for students that I can show on my computer with a projection unit. Before, I was using typed overhead sheets and an overhead projector. I can use a color copier for handouts, where once I was using a mimeograph. I produce clear and attractive documents with little effort. A couple of weeks ago, I produced a 3×4-foot poster with graphics and sections for a research conference I will soon go to.

Because of the technology, we do more ourselves. It doesn’t bother me to compose my work instead of sending it to the secretary; I have more input into the process and I can change things instantaneously. We also expect to have a level of sophistication in our products we weren’t able to achieve before. Research papers are more complex, document design more exacting, and with the expectation of quicker deadlines.

I am so much more productive, having the means of production in my hands. Despite the faster pace, I prefer this era of technology.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

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What’s a secret skill or ability I wish I had? By secret, I am assuming there’s a reason I’m keeping it secret. That makes me think it’s a superpower or something, although the original question says “you have or wish you had”, which sounds more like a mundane activity. Why would I keep a mundane ability secret? If I could build cabinetry I would not be keeping it secret; I would go into business. So I will assume superpower for the sake of this question.

I wish I could teleport. I wish I could blink and end up somewhere else. Travel would be insanely easy with this talent. Ireland could be a weekend excursion. Going to work would be an instantaneous action. Around the world in eighty hops? I’m game.

It wouldn’t be that easy, though. If I wanted to be undiscovered, I would have to teleport into hidden places. I would have to know where I am going before I got there, which would necessitate having been there before. So, in reality, I would not be teleporting to Ireland unless I have visited before and I had a storage closet in mind.

Another downside would be energy expenditure. Dissolving into one’s component molecules and reforming would have to take a lot of calories. Not that I think eating whatever I want would be an onerous task. It could be, though. How much can one really eat in a day?

Teleporting would be a great talent. And a great burden, which is a given for any superpower. Maybe I’d rather try carpentry.

Daily writing prompt

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

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Every year at New Year’s, my husband and I have a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Over two days, we watch the immensely long trilogy ensconced on our couch. It has happened at least three times, which, in my reckoning, makes it a ritual.

The movies have aged well. Gandalf is as droll as ever, the Ringwraiths just as menacing, and Aragorn is just as hot. The one obnoxious line in the movie — “Legolas, what do your elf-eyes see?” — is just as annoying. We look forward to seeing it every year.

There are other movies we watch yearly, such as the Patrick Stewart version of Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the holiday season. But the marathon of Lord of the Rings is the one I most enjoy.

Daily writing prompt

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

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Where would I go on a shopping spree? I assume someone else is footing the bill, right? Otherwise, I would not go on the shopping spree, because if I had the money I would already have gone.

I would like to get the most out of someone else’s money. And if this is a timed shopping spree, I want to get the most out of the time I have. I’m going to go to an Apple Store.

I would like a top-of-the-line MacBook Air, for example. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for. It would be a delightful addition to my iPad. I’d grab a new case for my iPad, and one of those fancy keyboard/stand things that Apple makes for iPads. A new iPhone? Yes, please! We need a new Apple TV, so that would be a wise choice. And accessories! I need accessories!

It’s fun to spend someone else’s money. In reality, though, I will do fine with the computer I have, and with my current electronics. But we do need a new Apple TV.

Daily writing prompt

What is the last thing you learned?

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I learn so much in a day. I read the news, informational websites, and cereal boxes. I almost compulsively seek out information. So much of what I learn, though, isn’t of great import.

For example, this morning I found out that Gene Hackman, movie star, died with his wife and dog. I didn’t know Gene Hackman and I don’t watch many movies. The event was of great import to him and his family, but not to me.

Last night I learned someone had put a hand-held electric espresso machine on the market. For 150 dollars, I could own my very own gadget. Again, not of great import because although I love coffee, I drink little espresso.

Sometimes what I learn has a more immediately pressing character. Tuesday, I learned that the remote for the DVD player in my classroom was not working. This caused me to revise my lesson on the fly, and I gave a presentation on Flow that I had not prepared for. It didn’t go to the end of the class, but at least I presented something.

As humans, we are always learning. Without learning, we will die, because learning helps us make sense of the world surrounding us. But most of the time we learn, it’s something we hardly notice, because we do it so much.