The Saturday Six -- On Monday

Over at Patrick's Place, Patrick posts "The Saturday Six" -- six questions to answer each Saturday.  I've been reading other people's answers to the questions for some time, and wanted to play along with this week's set.

1. In honor of this being the thirteenth edition of the "Saturday Six," here's a question about triskaidekaphobia, the fear of all things "13:"  You're building a skyscraper and workers are installing room numbers and programming the elevator.  Do you allow them to label the 13th floor, or do you have them skip from 12 to 14?

I'm building a skyscraper?  I omit the 13th floor.  This because I will want to actually get maximum rent from the offices in my skyscraper, and if I number a floor "13," everybody else's superstitions will come into play, decreasing demand for that floor.

2. You receive an envelope in the mail from God.  (Don't ask why the Almighty is sending something through the postal service...just go with me here.)  Within the envelope is a note and a second, smaller envelope.  The note explains that contained inside the smaller envelope is the exact date and time of your death.  The choice of whether to peek is completely up to you.  Do you look?

I open it.  It might be different if the little envelope contained the location and manner of my death -- in which case peeking would likely turn my life into that Twilight Zone episode (and you know which one I'm talking about -- yeah, falling down the steps of the library).  But it's just a date and time -- which means it is unavoidable, which means there'd be no point in trying to avoid it.  Instead, I'd have this extra tidbit of knowledge with which to better plan the time I have left -- get my affairs in order, and make sure I have just enough money left for my Last Day Of My Life party.   

3. What pattern or design appears on your personal checks?

Ugh.  My bank just changed check manufacturers on me, and I am extremely unhappy with the result.  My checks used to have a light marbled background, with a strip of green marble around the edge, and a little gold line.  Very snazzy.  Looked elegant.  With the new manufacturer, they sent me the checks they thought were "closest" to what I used to have -- these come in all different colors.  So now I might be writing on a blue, or yellow, or brown check with a little line around the edge.  Not elegant.  Corny.  I must do something about this travesty.

4. Who are you more afraid of:  your physician, your dentist, a highway patrol officer, or an IRS auditor?

Dentist.  Although, thanks loads for making me remember I need to go get my third HepB shot.

5. Last week I asked which word you had last looked up in the dictionary.  This week, which of the following words are you most curious to see defined?  (No cheating...you can't look them up in advance!)
A) Allochthonous
B) Gallimaufry
C) Oubliette
D) Tatterdemalion
E) Zumboorukchee

I know "oubliette" (geez, people, didn't anyone else see "Labyrinth"?) and I might know "tatterdemalion."  Of the others, "allochthonous" sounds like something that describes a type of dinosaur (I am probably thinking of "allosaurus" here), and "gallimaufry" sounds too frivolous a word to be of any use in my vocabulary.  I get no feel whatsoever from Zumboorukchee (is that even a word?) so that's the one I'd want to look up.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #11 from Rickpar01:  Take a look at yesterday's newspaper:  what is the top headline?

Oops.  I don't get the newspaper.  I have an old stack of legal newspapers in my living room.  The top headline there is

[insert me walking to living room]

[me picking up newspaper]

[me chuckling]

That's funny.  The top paper is from February 5 -- and the top headline is "Court Insists on Full Rights of Marriage for Gay Couples."  Well, that sure started something, didn't it?