Last week, I received an email from the higher-ups at work stating that I was going to be the featured employee in next months newsletter. They had me answer a bunch of questions so my coworkers can get to know me better. I just turned in my final answers and I figured I’d post them here so you all can get to know me better as well. I had to edit a few of them for the blog because they were work-specific and wouldn’t make any sense to you guys.
Who makes up your family (i.e., spouse, children, siblings, pets, parents, roommates, etc.)?
Just got married in September, so my little family is just me and my wife. Hoping to add a puppy sooner than later.
How many states have you lived in? Have you ever lived outside the country?
Just the one state – born and raised in Minnesota. Lived in the UK for four months while studying abroad.
What was your most unusual job?
Corn Detasseling
What could we typically find you doing after work and on the weekends?
Reading after work. Fishing on the weekends.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/magazine?
The best book I read this year was East of Eden. Second best was The Poisonwood Bible. Favorite TV show is 30 Rock.
What types of music do you enjoy listening to? Favorite artists?
Mostly indie stuff, like the music they used to play on The OC. I’ll pretty much listen to most types of music…I’m not too picky. My top four concert experiences: U2, Sufjan Stevens, Travis, Martin Sexton. My favorite song of the decade: Someone Great by LCD Soundsystem
What makes you laugh?
*Edit* – I had listed one specific coworker who sits by me, but you don’t know her.
What is your favorite time of the day? Are you a morning person or an evening person?
I think I used to be a morning person, but now I’m kind of a night owl. I’d like to get back to being a morning person.
Where would you like to go on your dream vacation and why (cost is not an issue)? Where did you go on your last vacation? Where are you going on your next vacation?
New Zealand. Because it’s really far away and it doesn’t seem likely that I will ever get there in real life. My last vacation was my honeymoon and we went to Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco. My next vacation will be to Florida in January.
If you were stranded on a desert island for a year, what five things would you bring if the basics were taken care of?
Swiss army knife, beach ball, duct tape, hammock, and *edit* my last item was a thing we use at work which no one ever would want to take to an island. trust me, it was a hilarious answer 
What is one of your guilty pleasures? (work appropriate only, please)
The TV show Glee. The guilt doesn’t come from watching it, but from singing along.
Do you look in others’ medicine cabinets when you visit their homes?
No.
If we came to your house unexpectedly, would we find your bed made or unmade?
Most likely unmade.
What’s on your bedside table?
Nothing interesting….alarm clock, book, lamp, dust
If you could have breakfast with any person, past or present, who would it be? Why?
Winston Churchill because I hear the English are known for really good food.
If your house was on fire and you could only save one material possession, what would it be? (excluding pets, children, etc.)
Saving my laptop is like saving a whole bunch of things in one package (pictures, music, etc.)
What three things would we always find in your fridge?
Cheese, meat, slimy carrots
If you had to eat one thing only for a year, what would it be?
Tacos.
What is something that few of your coworkers know about you? Is there one thing that you would like to share that hasn’t been discussed?
I once won a shoe kicking contest.
What is something that you would like to know about your coworkers that hasn’t been asked here?
I’d ask the classic question: pirates or ninjas?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I thought only kids from Southwestern Ontario corn detasseled! I did it for one summer when I was 12. It was horrible! So hot and wet and the corn rash… And we (my sister and I) once woke up to go to work to find maggots in our muddy shoes! At the end of it I think I lasted maybe 3 weeks before I didn’t make the cut when they were shrinking the crew. I made enough money to buy a bike that I rode to school almost every day for seven years. It was almost worth it. If all else fails, it makes a great party story (I’m known to explain it using a few shot glasses and beer bottles).
Great story. I did it when I was 13…I wonder if there is a reason they use such youngsters.
I lasted one whole summer and the next year I signed up but only lasted a day. I think I was making $4.25 an hour and it just wasn’t worth it! Not sure I’d ever run into anyone else that had ever corn detasseled, so thanks for leaving a comment.
At home the only rules were that you had to have a social insurance number and be tall enough to see over the corn. A lot of people did it before they were old enough to get a “real” job.
Do I want to know what corn detassling is? The other comments are making me think the answer is no.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detasseling
Basically you walk through a cornfield all day under the blazing sun and pull off part of the plant. Repeat. About as manual as manual labor gets. And did I mention corn leaves are really sharp?
Slimy carrots??
Yeah, I always buy those little baby carrots but then I never get around to eating them and they end up slimy. It’s a sad fate for such a cute little carrot.