My scores on the Big Five personality test

Openness to Experience/Intellect

High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.


You prefer traditional and familiar experiences.
(Your percentile: 16)

Conscientiousness

High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.


You are very well-organized, and can be relied upon.
(Your percentile: 92)

Extraversion

High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.


You are extremely outgoing, social, and energetic.
(Your percentile: 91)

Agreeableness

High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.


You tend to consider the feelings of others.
(Your percentile: 79)

Neuroticism

High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.


You probably remain calm, even in tense situations.
(Your percentile: 3)

Generally, I think these attibutes are pretty close to reality.

The "Big Five" Personality model

These are the five main attributes that show up in the workplace. Having or not having some of these attributes can determine which jobs are right for different people.

1. Introvert/extrovert
Sales, marketing and management lend themselves to extroverts while finance, accounting or analysis or lab work is best for introverts

2. Agreeableness/Empathy
Sincere interest and care for other people and their feelings. Primary school teachers, physical therapists and counselors need high empathy, while some jobs call for a more calloused, results based attitude. In some jobs, high empathy can be a 'push-over' and not get assignments completed.

3. Openness/Creativity
Some are practical and focused, while others are creative and more care-free. Design, marketing need very open and creative people, while airplane pilots and other jobs simply need someone to do the job--not think of a new way of making it happen.

4. Natural Reactions/Emotionally resiliant/reaction to pressure
This attribute is how people deal with stress. Some are calm and relaxed under all circumstances. Others get emotional or cannot deal with stressful situations and deadlines.

5. Conscientiousness/work ethic
Some are focused and project driven, while others are more easily distracted and care-free. Many jobs require you to be dependable, on time and driven. Other lines of work might not value this skill quite as often.

Word of Day: recalcitrant

1. Adj, unruly, opposed, or difficult to manage or rebelious
2. Noun, someone who does not take orders well.

Converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit

From Celsius to Farenheit: divide by five, multiply by nine and add 32.

From Fahrenheit to Celcius, subtract 32, divide by nine and multiply by five.

Easy temperature conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit:

38-100, 32-90, 27-80, 21-70, 15-60, 10-50

Malapropos

Definition:
1. Adj. Unsuitable, unseasoned, untimely
2. Adj. same as above

Pronunciation:
mala-pra-POH

Example:

1. A malapropos remark
2. It is best to watch what you say. You never know when a malapropos comment will return to haunt you.

Philippines

Basic Facts:
Population: 91 million
Literacy: 92%
Life expectancy: 70

History: Conquered by the Spanish in late 1500s. Ruled until the U.S. took over the country in 1898. Received independence from U.S. in 1946. Ruled by president Marcos in 1960s to 1970s. There was economic growth for the first ten or so years, until President Marcos wouldn't relenquish power and continued to rule as dictator until 1986.

Interesting Facts:
Philippines has over 7,000 islands
Philippines is named after King Phillip II of Spain (ruled the last half of 1500s)
Over 10% of Filipinos live outside the Philippines
The flag is put upside down in times of war so that the red stripe is on the top.

Congo-Kanshasa

Basic Facts:
Population: 65.7 million
% Literacy: 65%
Life Expectancy: 57
HIV/AIDS 4.2% population
GDP per capita (PPP): $700


History:
Congo was colonized by Belgium in 1870s but was under the private control of King Leopold. By building railroads the King increased rubber harvests. By the 1880s a police army was brought into the country to encourage and intimidate locals into gathering greater amounts of rubber. Often police would cut off limbs to intimidate locals to work harder. During the next 20 years, until 1908, about 10 million local Congolese died of disease, killing or being overworked. It is estimated that the local population was cut in half during this period. Finally, bowing to international pressure, Congo was taken from the power of the king and given to Belgian elected officials. After release of the country after WWII, Mobutu gained power in 1965 and ruled as a tyrant until 1997. At which point an order to expel the tustsi ethnic group from the country on pain of death inspired a revolt and overthrow of government. By 1998 there was a second Congo War, the bloodiest war since WWII. This war ended in 2003.

Names: The country was called Ziare from 1965 to 1997, and is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo, not to be confused with the Republic of Congo.