draliman on life

It’s week 51 of Share Your World for 2014. I probably should have made an effort to do this one at the beginning of the week so that it was posted in the correct year, but never mind.

The questions are posed by Cee over at her Photography Blog.

Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?
I love snow. It’s all magical and whatnot. But you can’t easily drive through it and I have an eighteen mile commute so unfortunately I’m going to have to say no to the snow.

If I didn’t have to drive in it, I would definitely like snow in the winter. We had snow a few years ago and that was actually okay, but then it froze and that was awful to drive on.

I should point out that where I live we rarely get snow and when it does snow it’s rarely more than a couple of inches.

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 might have an “emergency” umbrella somewhere, I’m not sure.

Me and umbrellas don’t mix. I can’t control them, they blow inside out, they poke people in the eye. It’s a disaster. I have a little cap to wear in the rain.

Here’s a funny story which happened to my Mum a few days ago. She had one of those telescopic brollies and when she pushed the “open” button the end flew off and nearly hit someone :-). It must have been one of those KGB assassination brollies.

Do you prefer your food separated or mixed together?
Well, I definitely prefer to separate my main course and my dessert :-).

Otherwise, it comes as it comes. Some stuff is supposed to be mixed together, like stir fry, otherwise everything just goes on the plate and I eat it. A bit of meat, a bit of potato and a bit of veg on the fork. Into the mouth.

What is set as the background on your computer?

Here is my contribution for Share Your World, hosted by Cee at her photography blog. This week’s questions come to us courtesy of Dawn over at The Day After.

Do you have a signature dish? If not is there one in your family?
Here is my recipe for “Saturday Pizza”!

1. Pre-heat oven to 190^oC (because that’s the temperature I cook everything at)
2. Remove pizza from freezer and take off plastic wrapping
3. Bung in oven for 8 minutes
4. Whip it out and add extra pepperoni and cheese
5. Bung back in oven until cheese melted
6. Take out of oven and eat

Does that count? No? Boo :-(.

Do you have a favourite board game?
Not really, as board games are a bit boring on your own. I quite like Monopoly, though. And also Trivial Pursuit because I don’t like games where you have to use any brain power, so “knowledge” games are good – you either know it or you don’t. (I don’t, I know virtually nothing about anything.)

Is there a household chore that you enjoy?
Is this a trick question? It is, isn’t it? No?

I actually used to quite like ironing. It was quite relaxing, with some music playing along. Of course, now that I’m alone again I haven’t done any ironing for six years. I don’t enjoy it that much. I have an iron and ironing board, but the ironing board (which I bought in 2008) is still in its plastic wrapping!

Here is my cupboard under the stairs, in which I’ve marked the ironing board, iron and Hoover with blue arrows. In a few months they will probably be buried!

What is one thing you will never care about?
There have been some great answers to this in other people’s posts, and I don’t want to copy them.

I’m sure there are lots of things I will never care about, but since I don’t care about them I don’t think of them and therefore I don’t know quite what they are.

* Disclaimer to all prospective girlfriends who may be reading this – it’s all in jest! Obviously I’m constantly cooking delicious food and cleaning and ironing and whatnot 🙂

I hope everyone had a great Christmas/holiday and Happy New Year to everyone!

It’s time for Share Your World again, with the questions posed as always by Cee at her photography blog.

What is your preferred hot drink: coffee, tea, water, hot chocolate, or other?
Coffee, obviously :-). I don’t actually drink any other hot drink.

I love chocolate but hot chocolate – I’m not a fan, for some reason. I’ll occasionally drink tea but I hate milk so it has to be black or preferably with lemon.

So it’s coffee for me, all the way.

What was your favourite toy as a child  . . .  and now?
I liked Lego as a child, but I also had a great fort which my Dad made for my brother and I. It even had a working drawbridge, which had a cotton reel providing the counter balance. We spent hours playing with that fort. It’s possible it’s still in my parents’ loft, I’ll have to check!

As for now, I don’t know if it counts as a toy but my PlayStation 4 is pretty cool.

Candy factories of the entire world have become one and will now be making only one kind of candy. Which kind, if you were calling the shots?
Noooooo! It’s like my worst nightmare come true :-(.

Wait a sec, we still get one kind of sweet, you say?

I don’t know exactly what the word “candy” encompasses (it’s an American word) but I’m going to assume it includes chocolate, ’cause I luuuuurve me some chocolate. Look what I got as part of my work Secret Santa present.

390g of pure chocolate yumminess

And it’s entirely possible that I bought too many boxes of these delicious Guylian seashell chocolates. I’ve eaten one, wrapped one (pre-photo) and I need to wrap two more of the five remaining. I guess I’ll have to take one for the team and eat the extra boxes :-).

It’s a tough job but someone’s got to eat them

Would you want $100,000 right now or $120,000 in a year (tax Free)?
I don’t need the money right this minute so I’ll take the extra $20k bonus for waiting a year. In theory.

In practice, I’d need to check the current exchange rate and exchange rate forecasts. In a year’s time, if I’m extremely unlucky, the larger amount could convert to the same amount of pounds Sterling as the smaller amount does now.

If the US Dollar collapses in a year compared to the pound Sterling, I could end up with nearly nothing. At least it’s not Roubles.

I’m over-thinking this. My brain hurts :-(.

Thanks for Sharing My World with me this week!

It’s time to Share My World with you all, courtesy of Cee at Cee’s Photography Blog. Thanks for posing the questions, Cee!

What is your favourite toppings on pizza?
Everything! Chuck it all on.

Well, none of that vegetable shit, obviously. Or those weird little fish. Cheesy meaty goodness, that’s what we want. Olives are good (I checked and they’re fruit, not veg). And peppers too (also fruit). So the “no veg” rule holds firm.

Is that extra cheese? Why yes, yes it is.

I want to learn more about …
I’d quite like to learn the guitar properly, rather than just the easiest chords (I know that’s technically learning to “do” something rather than learn “about” something, but hey).

Because everybody knows the lead guitar gets all the girls. And because it would be cool.

I have a 20 year old electric guitar which is largely broken. I need a new one. It’s on the “list”.

What are three places you’ve enjoyed visiting?
That’s tricky – I’ve got to choose places I’ve enjoyed visiting but not lived in, so that rules out Ireland and Germany straight away.

North Scotland – summer holidays with my Granny when I was a kid. Beautiful.

North Wales (my little holiday last year). Beautiful as well!

Tintagel (Cornwall) – I had a wonderful day out during the summer.

Do you prefer eating the frosting of the cake or the cupcake first?
I’m not anti-frosting per se, but it can be pretty sweet and overwhelming. So I attempt to eat the frosting and cake together, which is a good combination. I suppose if it weren’t a good combination, people wouldn’t frost cakes.

Bye bye for this week!

Welcome to a special edition of Cee’s Share Your World this week! Instead of four questions to answer, this week we’re asked to list at least 50 things that we enjoy.

Fifty?

FIFTY?

Boy oh boy. That’s a lot of things. Let’s give it a whirl, anyway. In no particular order. Read more…

It’s my regular Share Your World time here, with questions posed by Cee from Cee’s Photography blog. Head over and check out all her lovely pictures!

On a vacation what you would require in any place that you sleep?
Not a bed, is the first thing I wouldn’t require, which is not what the question asked.

That was an odd sentence.

I’ve got a choice of two things here. First, I’ll say my phone. I know this is a common answer to a lot of “what would you require” questions, but my phone gives me a timepiece, alarm, “book”, music, video, light, communications etc etc.

As an alternate answer, a bit of peace and quiet! I love regular sounds, like wind, or rain. I find it especially relaxing on the rare occasions I sleep on a boat, with the throbbing noise of the engines and the rocking, but I can’t sleep if there are sudden noises from outside, like sudden shouts, sirens or cars revving.

Music or silence while working?
Music is the thing for me! I don’t generally listen to music at work, though, because then people have trouble catching my attention. I listen to my iPod or phone before people start to arrive. I could listen with just one earphone in, but I find that really annoying, getting music in just one ear.

The alternative isn’t silence, though. There’s the usual office noises, plus the radio in the background.

If you were to move and your home came fully furnished with everything you ever wanted, list at least three things from your old house you wish to retain.
That depends a bit on what “fully furnished” actually means. I’ll take it to mean “actual furniture”, in which case first of all I’ll need my “entertainment corner”.

Matthew MacFadyen, as featured in Entertainment Corner

Second, I have some mementos from my dear Granny, who passed away 15 years ago – the candlesticks you can see in the picture below, and the gong. When we were little and visiting her in Scotland, often before dinner my brother or I would bang the gong to say “dinner time!”

From Granny’s house, now on my mantelpiece

The gong-banger (I’m sure there’s a proper name for that) is actually from a larger gong, which is why it’s not hanging on the side.

My third item? I guess my photos, as they are memories which can’t be replaced. I haven’t gotten around to scanning them all to the cloud yet.

What’s your least favourite mode of transportation?
I think that would have to be air travel. It’s not the travel itself, though that can be a bit of a chore. It’s all the security and hassle at the airport. It was bad enough the last time I travelled by air, but it’s awful now. I’m hoping never to have to travel by air again. Although if I ever have enough money to travel to New Zealand to visit the Hobbits, I’ll have to. I’d be willing to put myself through all that to see the Hobbits!

See you again next week for more Sharing of My World!

Hello, it’s that time of the week when it’s all about me in Cee’s Share Your World challenge. Pop over to her photography blog and check out her cool pictures!

What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen in your childhood?
Hmm, kitchen, kitchen… Is that the one with the “cooker” in? Where the “food magic” happens?

Just kidding. I cook! Well, microwave. I remember standing on something and helping mum wash the dishes (at least I thought I was helping). I was 5 years old and we’d just moved to a new house. I was too old to go to nursery and I had to wait a couple of months for the new school year to start, so I had time on my tiny hands!

As a child, who was your favourite relative?
That would be my granny up in Scotland, who sadly passed away about 15 years ago.

Every summer, we went up to Scotland to spend a couple of weeks with her, and every Christmas she came down to spend a couple of weeks with us. Granny’s arrival was when Christmas really started. She was a very kind-hearted person and she’s sorely missed.

Here she is in the middle, with my Mum and Uncle, taken at Cape Wrath (Northern Scotland) in 1954.

What did you or did not like about the first apartment you ever rented?
We’ll pass over the room in student residences I had in my first year at university (it was a boring, standard student-issue room – bed, desk, chair) and go straight to the house I rented in Guildford with three other students in the second year. That was way more fun!

Our landlord was Iranian and as dodgy as they come. He didn’t even pay tax. He was the “agent” for the landlord, who was supposedly in Iran. Yeah, right. He used to go round to buy houses for “the landlord’s” portfolio with suitcases full of cash.

He’d come round to check the house, complain about the kitchen floor, then race around with a dustpan and brush demonstrating how to clean while we all stood and watched, trying desperately not to laugh. It was hilarious to watch!

Another time one of the lads had dropped tomato ketchup on the carpet and this guy came round. I had to stand on the stain and as the guy walked around the room, I just rotated on the spot to keep my foot on the ketchup.

We didn’t half have some fun that year. Ah, halcyon days!

What kind of TV commercial would you like to make? Describe it.
I’d prefer to make a comedy spoof TV advert. It would have loads of that “but wait, there’s more, order in the next 10 minutes and…” in it. I don’t really have any interest in adverts. I record most stuff that I watch on commercial TV and fast forward through the ads. I refuse to spend an hour of my life watching something that’s only 40 minutes long.

It’s time to Share my World again. This is a weekly challenge hosted by Cee over at her photography blog – go check out her wonderful photos. Thanks for posing the questions, Cee!

What is your favourite time of day?
This is a tricky one. I’m a morning person in terms of getting things done, so I start work quite early. I really enjoy the evenings though, especially in the winter when I can snuggle up in the living room with the fake fire on.

Action shot of my fake fire.

The middle of the day is rubbish. I’ve started to get tired from my early start, but it’s ages until the evening.

What’s your favourite charitable cause and why?
Probably Macmillan Cancer Support. They help cancer sufferers, send round nurses, give advice and so on.

How do you like to spend a rainy day?
Watching TV, playing on my PS4. Colour me boring :-(.

When writing by hand do you prefer to use a pencil or pen?
I don’t prefer writing by hand at all. My handwriting has gone seriously downhill over the years, whether a result of age, laziness or lack of use I don’t know. I prefer pens to pencils because they “slip” across the page more easily, if you see what I mean. Pencil would probably improve my handwriting though, as “easily slipping” across the page is part of the problem, I fear.

Here’s an example I’ve scanned in. It appears to be a rapid “brain-to-page” poem-type thing I must have had some ideas about a while ago. If you can make any of it out, it appears to be about some cute little birds, then some lines I haven’t worked out yet (the dotted lines), then they all die! Presumably because they didn’t get up early, didn’t catch any worms and starved to death.

Does anyone know what this says?

That’s all for this week!

It’s Sunday morning and therefore time for me to Share My World again. Thanks as always for hosting and posing the questions, Cee!

What would be your preference, awake before dawn or awake before noon?
If I’m awake before dawn, I’m automatically awake before noon as well!

Seriously, though, I’m very much a morning person so I prefer to get up early, whenever I wake up (within reason). Not on a school morning, though. I have trouble getting up when I have to go to work!

On a weekend or a day off, I often have an afternoon nap to make up for any lost morning sleep. My bedtime at the moment is around 10pm.

If you could choose between Wisdom and Luck, which one would you pick?
Luck is all very well, but I think I’ll go for wisdom. Hopefully one day I will be wise enough to make my own luck!

Anyway, the question doesn’t actually specify “good” luck. Let’s not take any chances.

If you were given the opportunity for free skydiving lessons would you take them? Why or why not?
No way. Maybe once, but not any more. I’ve never had any broken bones and I don’t intend to start now. I’m not very adventurous and I always see the worst case scenario. Just thinking about skydiving, I can feel myself splattering against the ground in a tragic accident.

Since I’m so short-sighted I’ve been told I’m at risk of detached retinas and to avoid hard knocks to the head, so splattering against the ground would not be good for my eyesight. I would imagine skydiving might also invalidate my life insurance, as they need to know if you do anything “dangerous”, lifestyle-wise.

With all this over-thinking and worry, it’s a wonder I summon up the courage to get out of bed. I think I worry about dying of terminal bed sores.

Is the glass half empty or half full? What is in the glass?
After my last answer, can you guess?

That’s right, it’s half-empty. Probably a little less than half. It contains contaminated water. Or maybe lemonade that’s got all warm and lost its fizz.