My father is extremely easily amused. Today mum collected the new vacuum cleaner we ordered a few days ago, since our old one was on the brink of expiration, not to mention extremely heavy and awkward.

After dinner I was sitting downstairs in my bedroom (in our split-level house, built into the side of a hill) and up above me I hear a series of bangs and crashes and “Be careful of the piano!”.

For the sake of explanation, my bedroom ceiling is also the living room’s floor, so every noise and conversation upstairs carries through into here fairly clearly.

Having concluded it was unlikely to be neither burglars, nor a stray possum in the house, and therefore it was safe for me to investigate, I went upstairs to find out what was going on. I went into the kitchen and mum says “It’s Dad’s new hobby”. Then, in the living room, I see my father, surrounded by packaging and the largest collection of vacuum cleaner accessories I have ever seen in my life, gleefully vacuuming the floor. He was accompanied by the cat, who was delighted to have such a huge box to hide in!

Yup. I suspect we could be living in an extremely clean house for the next few weeks, or however long it’ll take for the novelty to wear off. Oh well, it’s not like I’m complaining, so long as he doesn’t engage in this hobby while I’m trying to sleep!

Btw, the vacuum cleaner we have is, sadly, nothing like like the ones in the photo. I wish it was, that would be awesome.

Wow, two blogs in two days. Impressive! Yesterday I was reading Breathless Mind and saw this post about whether or not personality tests are an accurate measure of an individual’s personality. The main one she mentioned was this Myers-Briggs test, where you answer a whole lot of questions and then receive a 4 letter “code” which is supposed to be able to be interpreted to tell you what kind of person you are.

I remember taking this a couple of months ago, and ending up as an ISFP:

ISFPs are warmhearted, gentle people who take their commitments seriously, and seek lifelong relationships. They are very private people, who keep their true feelings and opinions reserved or hidden from others. This may cause them to constantly defer to their mates in their intimate relationships, which may cause problems if their mates are not extremely aware of the ISFP’s feelings. Some ISFPs who are in the habit of not expressing their needs and feelings find themselves in situations throughout their life where they feel overshadowed, overlooked, or even “tread upon” by others. Highly practical and cynical by nature, these feelings may cause the ISFP to become bitter, and to either give up on their relationships, or to start using their relationships for their own personal gain. Although this problem is observed sometimes in the ISFP type, it does not seem to be present in those ISFPs who consistently express their feelings to those closest to them. These ISFPs have a very positive, warm outlook on life and love, and are not as likely to find themselves in relationships where they are taken for granted or taken advantage of. ISFPs go to great lengths to please their partners. They’re very loyal and supportive, with a deep capacity for love. They detest conflict and discord, and highly value being seen and understood for who they are. They need space to live their lives in their own unique way, and will respect other’s need for space.

At the time I thought this suited me reasonably well, and I just thought “Oh. Ok. That’s interesting!” and moved on, but after Jenny posted her result (admittedly from a slightly different test on a different site) I decided to do that one too, partially to compare myself to her, and partially to see what, if anything, has changed. As it turns out, things have. This time I was an INFP:

INFPs present a calm, pleasant face to the world. They appear to be tranquil and peaceful to others, with simple desires. In fact, the INFP internally feels his or her life intensely. In the relationship arena, this causes them to have a very deep capacity for love and caring which is not frequently found with such intensity in the other types. The INFP does not devote their intense feelings towards just anyone, and are relatively reserved about expressing their inner-most feelings. They reserve their deepest love and caring for a select few who are closest to them. INFPs are generally laid-back, supportive and nurturing in their close relationships. With Introverted Feeling dominating their personality, they’re very sensitive and in-tune with people’s feelings, and feel genuine concern and caring for others. Slow to trust others and cautious in the beginning of a relationship, an INFP will be fiercely loyal once they are committed. With their strong inner core of values, they are intense individuals who value depth and authenticity in their relationships, and hold those who understand and accept the INFP’s perspectives in especially high regard. INFPs are usually adaptable and congenial, unless one of their ruling principles has been violated, in which case they stop adapting and become staunch defenders of their values. They will be uncharacteristically harsh and rigid in such a situation.

These two different results almost drove me batty. I was SO confused over how my personality could have changed since February, but then I began to wonder just how reliable these quizzes are. Although I think that INFP describes me the most accurately, I’m very interested in the influence that the Barnum effect may be having on me.

For those of you who aren’t aware of this, the Barnum effect is the thing that allows people to see “personal meanings in statements that could apply to everybody”. Ever thought your horoscope was just perfect for you…then realised you’re reading the wrong one? THAT is the Barnum effect.

Because of this, I think the only thing I can conclude about this type of personality test, is that the taker will see what they want to see, or what they think they’re going to see. Although the results might not be very telling about what kind of person you are, I think they CAN be rather revealing for people reading about the results of their friends who have taken the test, since it allows these third parties to see their friends “as they see themselves”. Interesting.

What do you think of these tests? If you’ve taken it (click on my badge) post your answer and let me know how accurate you thought it was.

It has just occurred to me that I haven’t blogged for almost a week! This is due to my having a rather large amount of work to for uni, considering the semester, which I swear only just started…finishes in two weeks! After this I will be 5/6ths of the way through my degree, which is far too far for my liking thank you very much! o.O

In closing this extremely short blog, I leave you with this brilliant sign I saw on Friday night. Some people need to learn to PROOF READ!

I know I hardly ever write about books here (in fact I had to create a whole new category for this post!), but last night I was talking to a friend of mine and she was telling me about this book, that someone had told her about.

I was curious, so this morning I Googled it and came across the website. Basically, the premise is that everybody responds to relationships in slightly different ways. Although the original book seems to be intended for married, Christian couples, there is now a whole series of them for people like counsellors, ministers, singles and even military personnel!? o.O

It says that every person has a “love language’; a way in which other people can connect to them on their level. These languages are said to be…

Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch

I’m not sure what I think of this, since I’ve only read the website and not the actual book. On one hand it sounds plausible enough, but on the other hand it sounds as if it’s a rather generalised way of looking at relationships, and as if it’s trying to squash people into specific boxes.

I’ve formed this opinion because when I tried to do the quiz to find out what mine was, I couldn’t. None of them fitted me perfectly. I seem to be combination of 2 or 3, as opposed to one obvious answer, indicating the type of attention I value. If I HAD to pick one, I’d probably pick “Physical Touch”, but it’s not an easy call!

Am I the only fence-sitter here, or do other people feel the same? If you did the quiz, what was your result?

Without a word of a lie, this sign is on the library window at university. A warning that the window is not an access route. This might not seem so strange, if it weren’t for the fact that as I was taking this photo, I was standing ON THE 10TH FLOOR!

It would be logical to think that the vast majority of university students are reasonably intelligent beings, so why on earth do the administration feel it necessary to stick a warning sign, complete with demonstrational picture, on the window!? Do they honestly think there are people here who would be foolish enough to try to climb out, or who would be small enough to even be able to FIT through this very small window to begin with!? o.O

I suppose it’s most likely that they HAD to stick it here, to clear themselves of liability should there actually be an accident, but still, it struck me as bizarre, and funny enough to be worth taking a photo of!

Yup. So that was my daily entertainment! What’s the most ridiculous sign you have ever seen?