draliman on life

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

What is your favourite colour of hair? You can name your hair colour or a colour that you just like.
Wow, I had to add four letter “u’s” to that sentence to make all the red lines go away 🙂

For myself, nondescript brown with grey bits is fine. Woman-wise, any sort of brown, natural blond, or any hair with cool colouring. Highlights, all bright red – it says something about the personality I think.

List at least 5 things that you are good at.
Huh. I’m not particularly good at anything. I’m acceptable at lots of things. Everything I do, I tend to reach “okay” level and get no further. It’s like my job title, which basically means “jack of all trades, master of none”.

What is your favourite animal or type of animal? (pets, dolphins, stuffed, wild cats, etc)
Anything that’s stuffed. In real life, widdle kittens and kitty cats. And bunnies 🙂

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?
I appreciate having a week off this coming week. 10 days off in a row for the price of 4 leave days. Cheap at the price!

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

What is your earliest memory?
I have a very vague memory of my brother’s birthday, which was announced on the TV on a little segment called Gus Honeybun’s Magic Birthdays. Gus, a puppet, would do a handstand or whatever was asked of him. I was about four or so at the time I guess.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?
Over! Over, I say. Here, once again, is the original patent for the toilet roll holder. Note, “over”.

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

What makes you feel grounded?
Being out for a walk in nature, I suppose. I spend most of my life either at work or lost in TV/vide game/book-induced fantasy. Reality is overrated, I find.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?
My friends’ oldest, who has a birthday next week, named me as being someone he wants at his birthday tea 🙂

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

If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favourite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?
Wow, over the past couple of years I’ve lost an awful lot of distant relatives hereabouts, and they’re all leaving me money!

I’d start by paying off a chunk or my mortgage, I guess. Because 50 grand off a mortgage is a lot more than 50 grand once they recalculate the interest.

What sound or sounds do you love?
Trickling water in a bubbling brook. Also the swish of the waves on the sand. Water-related things.

St. Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall

What’s your middle name? Why?
Francis. Why? That’s the one my parents gave me 🙂

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?
Nothing springs to mind 😦 Just very busy at work.

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

What did or did you not like about the first place you lived without your parents?
Well, it was a room in university halls. About half men, half women and half first years, half final years. Fourteen rooms on my floor, sharing a kitchen. So it was what it was. Noisy but not lonely. A nice sense of community.

What is your most favourite smell/scent?
Mmm, bacon. Nom nom nom.

Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?
It’s a wonderful magical sight to look outside and see everything white and still and quiet. However, I have to drive to work and my whole area is very hilly. The other week I couldn’t get off my drive until I cleared it let alone up the hill. The gritted road was 100 metres away and I couldn’t reach it.

So while I have to drive to work then no, I would not prefer snowy winters.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?
We had a nice birthday tea for Mum on Friday out at a local pub. It was a good evening.

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

What are you reading right now?
I’m reading two books, “Spy Glass” by Maria V Snyder and “The Vinyl Detective – Written in Dead Wax” by Andrew Cartmel.

What was your first adult job?
I worked a summer job in the local county council’s computer department, back in the “mainframe” days. All spinning tapes and whatnot, like you see in old films.

What’s your favourite breakfast cereal?
Breakfast cereal? I’m British so that means the “full English”. Eggs, sausage, bacon, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms and toast. “Cereal”, indeed.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I appreciated that the snow melted and that I could work from home when I couldn’t get my car up the hill.

I took some pictures out the window. I was quite impressed with my camera. I just pointed and clicked and it did quite a good job. The first two are unedited. For the last one I just pushed some buttons in Lightroom to see what would happen and managed to make it look a bit colder 🙂

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

How do you like your eggs?
Any old way! Not raw, though. I often fry them when I have sausages and bacon. I make omelettes sometimes. And if the eggs are on the verge of their use by date, I pop them in water and if they still sink I hard boil them. I don’t know of that extends their “run time” but it couldn’t hurt 🙂

Have you ever met anyone famous?
Not really. At one of my graduations, I think the PhD one, I kind of met (and possibly shook hands with) HRH The Duke of Kent, as he is my old university’s Chancellor.

What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
It was a cassette tape of the album “Super Trouper” by Abba. I still listen to the album but it’s a digital version now.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I appreciated that we’re getting there at work during our ultra-busy time.

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

Are you a practical jokester?
No. I like jokes, but not practical jokes. I haven’t seen much sign of them since leaving school, though. Practical jokes often seem to be about humiliating or scaring people.

Who cuts your hair? You, a friend, or professional.
A professional. She’s a “gentleman’s barber” and I’ve been going to her for years. I’m not sure how you can cut your own hair. Presumably you’d need a series of mirrors or maybe a video camera set up so you can see round the back?

Did you have a stuffed animal when you were a kid, if so what kind?
I had two or three but the only one I can remember was a little yellow elephant. I believe it was called Jumbo and I had a dressing gown cord around its neck so I could drag it around behind me.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
Gaah. It’s an insanely busy month. I appreciate just getting through the week.

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

What would be your ideal fantasy way to spend Monday?
After an extended lie in, me and my supermodel actress wife, Princess Bethany of Muldrongia, would go for a bit of a sail on the yacht to our private island where we’d spend the rest of the day being pampered. I expect our private Michelin-starred chef would manage a good old feast for our tea!

What one person that you are out of contact with would you like to say thank you to?
Well, there was this one girl from many years ago…

List your favourite toys or games as a kid?
Pretty much the standards. Monopoly, card games, Lego (I liked the space Lego).

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I appreciated getting to work safely when we had a spot of snow. Now, don’t laugh, I know it’s only a couple of millimetres. But it was early in the morning and there was frozen hail underneath so it was pretty slippery.

And remember, this happens once every few years in my area so we’re not set up for it, and not used to it. The last time we had lying snow was 2010, I believe.

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

If you had an unlimited shopping spree at only one store, which one would you choose? Why?
I either chose Amazon or some sort of IT shop last time we had this question. This time I’m shooting for the stars and going for a Ferrari main dealer.

I’ll bring me mates and we’ll clean that place out. Ferrari’s for everyone!

What is the worst thing you ate recently?
I don’t really eat bad things. I make my own meals and it’s hard to screw up a sandwich. I did have a tin of soup last week which was pretty uninspiring but I wouldn’t call it bad.

Name five things you like watching…
I like watching the waves, running water and my godson having fun with his toys. I also like watching all things sci-fi and fantasy.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
Just getting through the week. And next week promises to be even busier!

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

List 2 things you have to be happy about.
I’m happy that I’ve bought a new fridge freezer! It’s both a fridge and a freezer, so that’s my 2 things. The freezer bit at the bottom has little drawers and everything!

Have you ever owned a rock, pet rock, or gem that is not jewellery?
I owned a pet quartz/flint cross as a kid but one day I left the garden gate open and it got run over.

Very sad.

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?
I hug back 🙂

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I spent the day last Sunday with my godson on his fourth birthday (which I mentioned in last week’s SYW post). He and his little friends had a bouncy castle, ball pit and so on in the morning and then he had a birthday tea in the evening. Judging by his face he had a great time the entire day 🙂