draliman on life

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

If money was no object, what would be your ideal holiday?
Hobbits! Plus everything else New Zealand has to offer. I’d make sure I could pop back and forth whenever I wanted by hiring a team of scientists to solve the issues they’re currently having with quantum entanglement teleportation. After all, money’s no object 🙂

Do you save for a holiday or put it on plastic to pay off later?
I buy almost everything using a credit card, including any holiday. For a start, if anything goes wrong you get a huge amount of protection if you use a card – if the service is not delivered and the company can’t/won’t help, the credit card company will refund you. I’ve got cash to pay the card back straight away if I had to.

Have you ever been on a cruise?
No. I quite fancy it, though. My parents went on a cruise every year for ages and they loved it. A lot of places they visited are now in some way dangerous, occupied or a war zone though 😦

Do you send postcards or buy mementos?
I might buy a trinket or bookmark or something.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Growing up, were you closer to your mother or father, or was it a balance of both depending on the circumstances?
A balance of both. Mum did the day-to-day sort of stuff (getting us ready for school etc), Dad played with us on Saturday mornings and so on.

What was your favourite toy as a child, and do you still have it?
Hmm, I did love my bike. I also loved my first ever computer, but that wasn’t so much of a toy.

Did you have any secrets?
Not at all, I was a completely open book! Apart from all the secrets…

What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you anywhere close?
I variously wanted to be a train driver or a football player (that’s actual football, not American football, which no-one had even heard of in those days). I’m not even remotely close to either of those. Though to be fair, there was no such thing as “IT” in those days.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

The First of May is a Bee Gees Song. Do you like the Bee Gees and if so, what is your favourite track?
They’re not a particular favourite, but some of their songs are okay.

What was the first record (single or album) you bought?
I believe it was a cassette tape of the album “Super Trouper” by Abba.

Do you know what was top of the charts the day you were born?
Nope. But I shall use the handy link supplied to find out!

It was apparently “Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” by “Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg”. Very sexy. Like me 😉

I also looked up Number 1 on my 18th birthday, which the site says is my “life theme” and coincidentally it was “You Win Again” by the Bee Gees!

Do you and your partner have a ‘special tune’?
No special tune. No partner!

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

What was the most memorable gift you gave someone?
God knows. I really have no idea. I have a terrible memory for stuff like this.

What was the most memorable gift you received?
That’s a choice of two, both from my childhood. One was the little wooden fort my Dad made for me and my brother one Christmas. The other was my first computer, which I got for my birthday. It was a Sinclair ZX81.

Do you surprise your partner with something for no reason at all?
Nope, as I don’t have one. Sometimes I surprise myself with something for no reason at all. Though it’s not a massive surprise, as I know I’m giving it to myself.

Have you accepted a gift with pleasure, even if you hated it?
Probably. It’s a bit rude to tell someone their gift stinks worse than the lowest depths of hell, after all.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you have a special talent (ie music, art, singing, dress making, pottery etc).
No, nothing I can think of. More a jack of all trades. Some trades. A couple of trades. No.

What was your best subject at school and was it your favourite?
Either English or Physics. They were both favourites of mine. I always enjoyed writing stories and I ended up doing my degree and PhD in Physics.

That was English Language, mind (in the UK, Language and Literature are separate exams). Shakespeare, Great Expectations etc etc… aargh! I enjoyed my German Literature more, at least they chose fun books to read (mostly).

Do you like to cook?
Not really. I do cook a lot of stuff though, mainly batches of curry, chilli, stuff like that. I like eating the result!

Do you get riled easily?
Riled? Riled? Why are you asking me this, for God’s sake, questions, questions, never-ending questions, it’s enough to make me… ooh! Looks like the answer is “yes”! 😉

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you celebrate the Easter holiday and if not, do you have an alternative?
Well, I don’t have to work on Easter but I don’t celebrate it in the sense of it being a religious holiday. But a couple of days off is a cause for celebration!

Do you exchange gifts or have a traditional meal?
We all get together on the Sunday and we exchange Easter eggs.

How many Easter Eggs (or alternative) did you receive/give?
I received and gave three Easter eggs. Somehow, though, I have seven Easter eggs to eat. I must have “accidentally” bought too many again…

Was Easter a Bank Holiday in your country or did you have to work this weekend?
Yes, Easter Friday and Easter Monday are both Bank Holidays in the UK. I have a feeling years ago Easter Friday wasn’t officially a Bank Holiday, but most people had it as holiday anyway.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you have a favourite movie?
No, I have a number of favourite movies. It depends on what mood I’m in. It could be anything from Working Girl to Expendables to Armageddon to Die Hard to something Marvel or Star Wars or even some Resident Evil or Underworld.

Sometimes I’m in the mood for comedy, sometimes I just want to see people’s heads get blown off 🙂

Who is your favourite actor and actress?
I don’t really have a favourite. Only favourite films.

Do you attend or have you ever attended a live theatre production?
Yes, I’ve been to a few, mainly musicals when I was younger.

Have you ever wanted to be an actor/actress?
Oh goodness me, no way! To be the centre of attention and have it recorded for all time 😮

And to finish, here’s a random photo of a horsey I took while on a ramble around the country roads on Friday with my friend.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you have a lot of friends or do you know a lot of people?
I have a small number of friends, some work colleagues and then a few other people I know, the sort of people you say “hello” to as you pass them in the village.

If you are at a party and know very few of the guests, do you mingle and introduce yourself, sit on the sidelines and people watch, or discreetly leave?
In general I wouldn’t be there in the first place… I’d probably sit on the sidelines until I’d been there long enough that leaving wouldn’t seem rude.

What is the best job you have ever had?
The job I have now is pretty good. I haven’t had that many jobs in my life.

Can you swim?
Yes, my parents took me for lessons when I was little, and then we had swimming lessons at school.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you use an ‘air freshener’ in your home/car/office? (solid, gel, spray, pot pourri, etc)
No, I’m not so keen on artificial scents constantly around the place. I sometimes use Glade (a powder you shake onto the carpet) when I do the vacuuming.

How often do you clean the oven or microwave?
Hoe often do I do what, now? I have cleaned the microwave a couple of times. My oven is “self-cleaning” so I didn’t clean it and now it’s fecked. Lying bastards.

Do you use a fabric conditioner in your laundry and/or fragranced tumble drier sheets?
I use a standard liquid fabric softener which I put into “drawer 2” in the washing machine.

If you have the choice, do you prefer to get your laundry dry outside on a line or use a tumble drier?
I haven’t had an outside drying facility for decades. The garden isn’t really big enough. So I get to sit here and watch the pennies click away on the smart meter remote display while the tumble dryer does its job.

It’s in the “amber” at the moment as the water heater is on for my shower later. Obviously the heating’s not on as you can see by the blistering 13 degrees C… (which for the benefit of Americans and really old British people is 55F)

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

What kind of music do you like?
Quite a wide range, depending on my mood. Starting with Abba, Dido, Marina all the way through to Iron Maiden, The Pretty Reckless, Marillion, Nightwish and Within Temptation.

So that’s pop through to symphonic rock and heavy metal.

What is your favourite food?
All the stuff that’s really bad for you. Pizza, chilli, burgers, chocolate and ice cream. Mmm, chileh…

What is your favourite tipple? For those who don’t drink, what do you order when out with friends?
My go-to drink when I’m thirsty and want something really refreshing is a dash of lemon juice (the kind used in cooking), two thirds lemonade and one third chilled water.

What relaxes you?
Listening to music, reading and walking out in nature.