draliman on life

Here is my contribution to Cee’s Share Your World. Week 40 already!

If you have been to a foreign country name those you have been to?
Well, to Cornish Nationalists England, Scotland and Wales are foreign countries so can I claim them? 🙂 On top of those,

• Germany (up in the north) twice on school exchanges
• Germany (Stuttgart, in the south) for a year during my first degree
• Switzerland (for a day trip during the afore-mentioned year in Germany)
• France a couple of times (day trip and business meeting)
• The Netherlands a couple of times (business meetings)
• Ireland (four years)

That’s it, I think. I haven’t been to most of the usual places like Spain. And some places many people go to have become too dangerous or have “changed hands”. My parents managed to visit Crimea shortly before it became unexpectedly Russian.

Is the glass half empty or half full? What type of glass is it and what is in the glass?
Any old glass will do! I’m known as a pessimist (though apparently I’ve been showing a more positive attitude over the last year). So my glass has a dribble of water left in the bottom. There’s a fly floating in it. It’s struggling to get out. But it won’t.

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
Hmm, tricky. All the foods I would like an endless supply of would cause massive obesity and early death, like ice cream, chocolate and pizzas. But if the calories, fat, sugar and salt weren’t an issue I’d either go for a premium expensive(ish) chocolate like Thornton’s or Lindt, or an expensive cheese.

List:  List at least five places worth shopping.
Five? FIVE? I pretty much buy everything on Amazon. I buy my groceries at Tesco but it’s neither good nor bad, it’s just “there”. I occasionally get stuff from Argos (like my bed, or small things like shower curtains). I bought my cooker from Appliances Online – I can recommend them, they were very efficient. I bought bedding for my new bed from Dunelm, they have a good range.

There you go, five. Though I’ve only used the last two once each! Looks like I really do buy nearly everything from Amazon.

It’s time to Share My World again, with the questions posed by talented photographer Cee.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?
Over, obviously :-).

As well as ensuring that one doesn’t smack one’s hand into the wall while using this configuration, according to the excellent website and essential research tool Toilet Paper History (hey, you really can find anything on the interwebz) the “official” inventor of the toilet roll holder, Seth Wheeler, clearly showed the toilet paper in an “over” configuration in his patent application.

Picture via cnet.com, but since it’s a patent I’m assuming it’s public domain

So there.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Recently I had to be a pen, now a crayon. I’m regressing. Soon I’ll be a finger paint.

I guess some sort of purple/mauve/indigo/deep blue colour. That’s my favourite.

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?
That depends on what “nothing” means. I’m assuming just sitting there not reading, watching TV or anything. I don’t really do that. But if I’m in a situation where I’m waiting for something, say at the doctor’s, I’m okay just sitting there watching people come and go.

Would you accept $5,000 to shave your head or dye it bright lime green and continue your normal activities while not explaining the reason for your haircut or colour?
Well, five grand is five grand! I’d go for the shaving of the head, I think. It would only take around three months for my hair to grow back to the way it is now. I don’t know how I’d get away without telling anyone, though. They might think I’m having chemo or something and that wouldn’t be fair on them.

I suppose bright lime green would quickly grow out, too. And think of all the lovely things I could buy!

It’s time for another Share Your World, hosted by Cee!

What do you do to make a living or during the day if you are retired.  If you are a student what are you studying?
I work in IT for a small internet-based company. I write code, review other people’s code, help other people write code, test code, put code live, look after servers, look after databases, provide support…

Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.
No. Doing so would place unnecessary strain on our National Health Service :-).

What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
Weekend/Public Holiday/Annual Leave: “Yay! Let’s get this day started! Oh, the possibilities!”

Work day: “Ugh. Morning already? Ugh. How can it be morning already? I only just went to bed. Ugh.”

Complete this sentence: Look out behind you, it’s a…
…monkey.

How great would that be? Monkeys are cool. They even have a cute name. Monkey. Hee hee :-).