In this week’s Six Questions, meet Front End Development Manager Greg Lavallee, who shares with us his affinity for mountain-dwelling rodents and his mysterious aversion to Mississippi.
Greg contemplating his laundry list of lottery winnings
When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
How young? A racecar driver or pilot when I was in elementary school wouldn’t have been far off, but a Linguistics professor would have been a better bet once I got out of high school. I never really settled on something – and I guess I’m not done growing up yet because I still haven’t settled on something.
What’s one thing that few people know about you?
I’ve driven through every state in the U.S. except Alaska and Hawaii… and Mississippi.
Whom do you admire?
My Grandpa. He’s the most interesting, humble, and genuine person I’ve had the pleasure to know. How many 96-year-olds have you met that grew up on a farm, went to Columbia, navigated planes in WWII, taught high-school physics, tuned pianos, and can still sit cross-legged?
You’re stranded on a desert island with one book, one album, and one object of your choosing. What items do you have?
A desert island is a tough place and it’s hard to predict where your mind is going to be. I figure that the first few days will be spent worrying about food and water, which makes some sort of book about how to survive on a desert island seem practical. But if the island is small I’ll figure it out, get bored, and wish that I had a better book with me. The last thing I’ll be thinking about is music until about the second, maybe third month. Heck, I read Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island and I don’t remember a thing about music.
Oh wait, this question isn’t really about an island at all…
Book: Something that takes a few readings to understand, I suppose. Maybe Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I’m ¾ of the way through it right now and would definitely re-read it a few more times.
Album: Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.”
Object: Some kind of computing device. It doesn’t need to be the latest MacBook Pro, just something that I could execute scripts on. I’d take a TI-82. I’m happy when I’m creative and my most creative outlet is programming.
Getting a head start on his desert island music selection
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
A good lawyer. Wait, we’re not just being practical? In order: A brewery, a plane, then this bike, then water for the world, then biolites for the world, then laptops for the world, then the rest to Amnesty International.
What animal are you most like?
A pika. I’m small, I like the mountains, and I tend to make loud noises. I also like bourbon, and think pikas should too. I speak for my brethren.