draliman on life

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World series.

Does your first or middle name have any significance (or were you named after another family member)?
No to both questions (and names), as far as I’m aware. My first name is a mixture of English (Dad) and Scottish (Mum) spellings, though it’s quite a common spelling. I’m used to people spelling it wrong, though.

Just last week I emailed someone and signed off “Alistair”. He replied “Hi, Allister”…

Music or silence while working?
Music, usually. I often listen to music at work on my headphones. Most people in IT at my company do throughout the day. Not if I’m doing something really complicated, though.

If you had a special place for your three most special possessions (not including photos, electronics, people or animals), what would they be?
Not electronics? What does that leave? 🙂

I put artwork by my friends’ kids on my fridge.

The Never List: What are things you know you never will do?
In true Bond style, I will “Never say Never Again”! Except I’m never going to bungee jump. Or do any extremely dangerous things. There are enough ways to suddenly die already without flinging myself out of an aeroplane.

And on that happy note, I shall leave you to your Sunday!

Though I will just add, did anyone know that cheese toasties can be quite dangerous? I left mine under the grill for less than a minute on Thursday and when I went to check they had burst into flames! I was going to fetch my phone to take a photo, but I decided discretion was the better part of valour and put the fire out instead.

They tasted nice though after I’d snapped off the charcoal. They had quite an authentic flame-grilled taste.

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World series.

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Hmm, tricky one. I’d better use a clever computer algorithm to work this out. Let’s see now… link in the Moto Body app, heart rate, blood pressure, random number generator (careful with the boundaries), carry the one, take away the number you first thought of…

702.

That can’t be right, can it? Well computers don’t lie. 702.

So, you’re on your way out and it’s raining. Do you know where your umbrella is or do you frantically search for it all over your apartment/house?
I know exactly where it is. Nowhere. Brollies are either so weak they blow inside out the moment someone sneezes or so strong you get blown in front of a bus. You’ve just got to hope one of those happens before you poke someone’s eye out.

Thinking about it, brollies are few and far between these days in town. There just isn’t room in the crowds.

Do you recharge your energy by going out with friends for a good time or by spending with quiet time alone?
Alone. I’m not sure how one can recharge one’s batteries by going out. It can be very tiring!

Name three things you and your spouse, partner or best friend  to have in common.
Like the same films, same sense of humour and, um, something else makes three things.

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World.

Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
I don’t use lifts as a rule. In Cornwall we don’t have any buildings high enough that I can’t take the stairs. I don’t like to be squished into a little metal box with lots of other people.

However, if I do need to take the lift I push the button once. Pushing the button more than once will have one of the following effects:

• No effect (most likely)
• Slow it down slightly as it processes the extra button push(es). This can also happen if you keep pushing a link on a website if nothing seems to be happening – all you’re doing is asking the server to process more and more.
• Break it

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?)
If I was driving there I’d check out the route and parking. If I was staying there I’d book in advance. Apart from that I’d check out what there is to see there and then just play it by ear. The worst thing I could do is make an itinerary as I’d panic if it didn’t go absolutely to plan.

Describe yourself in at least four uplifting words.
I can’t think of anything. I don’t really do “uplifting” 😦

If you had a choice which would be your preference salt water beaches, fresh water lakes, ocean cruise, hot tub, ski resort or desert?
Beaches are okay.

But I prefer lakes.

Horsies

I would like to visit a desert once day but there isn’t one for thousands of miles.

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World.

Ever ran out of gas in your vehicle?
No, my car runs on petrol ha ha ha. Ahem. No, I’ve never run out of petrol. I have, however, had my battery die in the middle of nowhere. Someone had to come out and give it a recharge, then he drove behind me while I limped back to his garage where I had to buy a new battery. Turns out my alternator was broken so it wasn’t charging.

Sometimes I miss the days of my very first car (a 1985 Fiesta) with its clangy doors, trying to start it in the cold by pumping the accelerator and pushing the manual choke in and out.

Which are better: black or green olives?
I like both, but I usually have green olives. My local supermarket does a range with feta, stuffed with garlic and so on but I like the ones with the roasted tomatoes. Here is this week’s supply. I haven’t opened them yet so you can only see the top of the packet.

If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?
I would explore that wondrous and enormous landscape known as the human psyche. I would carefully examine, probe every nuance, spend years educating myself until I knew every little corner of what makes us tick. Then, once I became expert in every side of the human mind so that I could practically tell what someone was thinking, I’d go out on the pull.

Quotes List: At least three of your favourite quotes?
First off, here’s one from Lethal Weapon 2.

Nasty murdering chap from South Africa (holding up his passport): Diplomatic immunity!
Sgt Murtaugh (shoots him in the head): Has just been revoked!

Ha, classic.

Here’s one from BBC’s “Call the Midwife” a couple of weeks ago. I can’t remember the exact wording. The old nun and a nurse are off to check out a mental hospital.

Old nun: I find two opinions are always better than one. Especially when one of them’s mine.

We’ll finish up with some classic Grumpy Cat, taken from the calendar I got from Secret Santa at work. This one kept me laughing all through February.

Inspirational stuff, no?