The Vent and Rant Thread

[cromag]

I would never get an "Introvert" tee shirt. Other people don't need to know that.

[FizzyWater]

I always thought I was an extrovert. I can talk friends' or family members' heads off. But then I was given a Myers Briggs personality test and it labeled me solidly introverted. When I read the definition - that it's not necessarily the inability to interact but *where we get our energy from" - I understood.

After a busy day at work, I just want to go home - yes, alone - and play with the computer. (I miss my cat. Sigh.) I dread holidays with families (mostly because of the running, screaming rug-rats who are my great-nieces). I almost always have to be coerced to go to a get together, but I usually do enjoy myself, as long as I can find a friend or two to have one- or two-on-one discussions with.

But at the end of the interfacing - I need to go home, maybe grab a book or get online - and recharge my batteries.

The book said extroverts actually are energized by interacting with others! Blows my mind.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I always thought I was an extrovert. I can talk friends' or family members' heads off. But then I was given a Myers Briggs personality test and it labeled me solidly introverted. When I read the definition - that it's not necessarily the inability to interact but *where we get our energy from" - I understood.

Ah. Is that the definition? Never paid that much attention to it.

After a busy day at work, I just want to go home - yes, alone - and play with the computer. (I miss my cat. Sigh.)

I'm sorry for your loss. Never forget that there are MILLIONS of cats, every day, seeking new homes, at shelters, who would love to help you be happy. :-)

I dread holidays with families (mostly because of the running, screaming rug-rats who are my great-nieces). I almost always have to be coerced to go to a get together, but I usually do enjoy myself, as long as I can find a friend or two to have one- or two-on-one discussions with.

OMG, that's me and Mr. Hitch to the nth. His sister has grandchildren, of the running-screaming kind. (One of the boys is intellectual, thank god, and reads. I'm sending him books like crazy, to nurture any sign of a brain. He never has been the "performing" kind, either, so I suspect introversion/shyness there.) But the others are thrust into the spotlight to entertain us each year, singing, dancing and the like. Now, that in and of itself would not be dreadful, but there are HOURS of very loud practice, before the grand entrance.

But at the end of the interfacing - I need to go home, maybe grab a book or get online - and recharge my batteries.

I am usually physically exhausted by the time we leave to head to our nicely empty (of people, not our cats) and QUIET house. The whole reason we put up with the horrid inconvenience of living where we do is the quietude, which is unmatched in any place I've resided, here, Europe--anyplace.

The book said extroverts actually are energized by interacting with others! Blows my mind.

Hmph. I confess, I don't get that either, but I've seen the effect in others. (I've also seen this in horses. Yeah, sounds weird, if you are not a horse or animal person, but some horses simply turn it all on, the moment they step into a ring at a show or competition. I had a fabulous showjumping mare like that. I assume it's the same thing. In horses, we call it "presence" and it cannot be taught. They have it, or don't.)

Question: do we think that introversion and shyness are the same thing? Are they always hand-in-hand?

{SIGH} Crappity, you just reminded me that Xmas and the concomitant family get-togethers are right around the corner. BUGGER.


Hitch

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I always thought I was an extrovert. I can talk friends' or family members' heads off. But then I was given a Myers Briggs personality test and it labeled me solidly introverted. When I read the definition - that it's not necessarily the inability to interact but *where we get our energy from" - I understood.

After a busy day at work, I just want to go home - yes, alone - and play with the computer. (I miss my cat. Sigh.) I dread holidays with families (mostly because of the running, screaming rug-rats who are my great-nieces). I almost always have to be coerced to go to a get together, but I usually do enjoy myself, as long as I can find a friend or two to have one- or two-on-one discussions with.

But at the end of the interfacing - I need to go home, maybe grab a book or get online - and recharge my batteries.

The book said extroverts actually are energized by interacting with others! Blows my mind.

I am mostly the same. In a group I can talk a lot, but at home I am mostly quiet. At work I almost never go to social meetings (only when I cannot avoid it) and I don't like large crowds. Luckily my wife is almost the same. I charge my batteries by being at home, reading or programming. Somehow I get energy from thinking about hard and complex things.

My little girl is totally different. Not only is she a chatterbox, she gets energy from being on stage. Since she was two she has a dream of becoming a ballerina (not just a ballerina, but the Prima Ballerina at the Duch National Ballet) and it appears she has the talent. When she is training or performing she actually gains energy, it is very strange to see (for us at least). We, we are just glad that at one time she goes to bed so we can recharge...

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Question: do we think that introversion and shyness are the same thing? Are they always hand-in-hand?

Nope. That's in fact the most common mistake about introverts (leading to the wrong belief introversion can - and should be "healed")

shyness is anxiety or unsureness. An introvert can be shy but doesn't have to.
I know best because I am NOT

No problem to talk to people - even strangers If! I see a reason for it.
Say I see someone with a book/device/etc. I'm interested in or with tools for using a skill I have questions about.
Or if I notice people seriously talking about something I could give them a data dump. I probe if they want one (and are capable to process it) If yes then I do so.
Same thing with asking for directions (me) or linguistic help (them).
I CAN do that socializing dog and pony show (aka small talk) too. (I'm as much for 'shiny facts' as Dennis said he is, so I have enough material if needed to not look like an idiot) It just tires me and pisses me off.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

No problem to talk to people - even strangers If! I see a reason for it.

That makes it easy in the Netherlands. There's never any reason anymore to talk to someone. Most people younger than I am don't have a field of vision that is bigger than about 4.7 inch; although it did expand to about 5.5 inch recently.

(aka: everyone's glued to their phone, tapping away in Whatsapp.)

[covingtoncat73]

OMG! Mom just just chased a woman out of my shed and down the street.
She was coming out of the storage shed with my bike pump. Mom thought she looked like a homeless person. She texted me this as I was already at work.

[CRussel]

Ouch. Time to upgrade the lock on that shed, I think. And suggest to Mom that it might not be the best idea to chase someone. She might catch up to them and then things could get ugly.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Ouch. Time to upgrade the lock on that shed, I think.

Ditto.

Originally Posted by CRussel

And suggest to Mom that it might not be the best idea to chase someone. She might catch up to them and then things could get ugly.

And also "ditto."

If nothing else, that woman had a bicycle pump she could swing!

[pdurrant]

My mailserver's mailstore is on two mirrored external hard disks.

This morning I found out that one had silently failed in June. The other failed this morning around 7am.

I've just ordered a new external raid enclosure with status lights rather than just power on lights!

Luckily it seems that it was the enclosures failing, not the disks. Currently making a backup of the most recent copy of the mailstore. before doing anything else!

Sigh. Mirrored disks are great, unless you don't notice that they're no longer mirrored because one has failed.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

... Most people younger than I am don't have a field of vision that is bigger than about 4.7 inch; although it did expand to about 5.5 inch recently...

So true! I like it!

[Blossom]

Ugh! Our auto insurance has decided it is going to take a payment out tomorrow.

This is why I hate auto payments. They already taken out a payment this month.

It's a mixed up so I just spent 10 minutes trying to talk to a human because she wasn't getting our member number right only to be told by the auto phone announcer that all offices are closed now!!!

What company does not have 24/7 customer support in this day and age?

Seriously the website is outdated. No way to cancel anything even though the help files say different. I give up!

Sent from my XT1528

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by drjd

So true! I like it!

Oh, and it's creeping up to people older than I am too.

Sometimes I'm missing connections in public transport because some bus drivers HAVE to grab their phone and read/write some message every other bus stop.

One day I'm going to note down bus numbers and start filing complaints. It's bad enough that my travel time is 75 minutes where the same distance by car could be traveled in 20-30 minutes, without having 30 minutes wait time wasted by the driver.

[PeterT]

Here it's illegal for a drive to use a smartphone to text even when stopped on the road.

[drjd]

It makes me feel like I'm getting dumber in a crowd like that!