Gratitude

It’s lockdown day 13 in the UK and I think I know every square inch of my house now. It’s a bit weird getting up and then working in the comfort of my own home, with the occasional video conference to remind me that my work colleagues still exist. In fact, at the moment, I am quite busy so the day passes quickly so I am managing to cope without going stir crazy.

Weekends are a little surreal too. Although we are locked down, we can, at the moment, pop out for exercise and to walk the dog. So I have been getting up early to avoid any others out there and strolling around the neighbourhood and local park for half an hour or so before starting work.

I must say that joggers annoy me. I won’t rant about it now – I think I will save that for a post in a couple of days.

Anyway, it’s Sunday and therefore time for a few silly questions from Sunday Stealing.

Off we go …

1. Name a highlight of your day

A highlight for now, given the lockdown situation, is to venture outside for my daily exercise. As I stated above, I like to go early to encounter as few people as possible, which is actually quite easy since the streets are largely deserted. It reminds me of when I was a child doing my newspaper round, walking around deserted streets with my mind wandering off to all sorts of weird places as people sleep in their beds. The introvert within me feels extremely content during these walks.

2. What made you smile today?

Nothing yet. But last night, we had a Whatsapp video call with some friends of ours. We all had beer and wine and had a decent chat for a while as if we were out in the pub. It was fun.

3. What made you laugh today?

It is Mrs PM’s step-mother’s birthday today and this morning on the family Whatsapp group, her daughter, who is a policewoman, made a really funny video of her and her daughter singing happy birthday. It was hilarious. She is as mad as a bag of badgers.

4. Recall a time when you needed encouragement.

Probably within the last two years generally for everything. I have actually been quite disciplined trying to prepare myself for retirement in a few years’ time, looking for new and interesting things to do and ways to occupy my mind. It’s not been bad but I’ve needed the occasional word of encouragement from Mrs PM. I’m getting there.

5. What is a luxury you are thankful for

At the current moment, I am thankful for all of the things that keep me entertained at home, such as my laptop (writing, communicating, internet, music), smartphone (communicating, internet, games), PS4 (games, TV), smart TV (NetFlix, Amazon Prime, Sky), Kindle (reading) and my old iPod (music). There’s enough to relieve the boredom of lockdown.

6. Favourite childhood memory

We used to live next to a park and I remember hanging around with friends all day in and around the park, playing football, messing about and generally just spending the entire day outside, no matter what the weather was like. It was particularly good in the summer. We were rarely indoors. It was great.

7. Favourite song–and why?

I have so many favourite songs that I can’t pick one. However, I will endeavor to select one that I have been listening to a lot recently. Devin Townsend – Genesis.

Devin Townsend is an incredible artist who has crossed many genres from ambient rock, progressive rock to progressive metal.  With his last album, Empath, he mixed all of his styles together and, in the case of Genesis, into one song. The result is astonishing with ambient rock, choral music, dance, power metal, electronic pop, dance and tropical beach music all headlining at various parts of the song. The video is epic and quite amusing.

8. Where is your favourite place?  Why?

Outside the UK, I would say Hong Kong. It is a magnificent city with a culture of its own. It is also the place where Mrs PM and I got together so it also brings back wonderful memories.

9. What is your favourite scent

I don’t have one really but I quite like the smell of the English countryside in early summer.

10. What is your favourite topic to talk about?

My goodness. Music and movies, probably followed closely by sport. I also enjoy talking about politics but please don’t get me started because it tends to annoy the hell out of me (that’s why I have tried to avoid it in recent years as I watch my country fall apart).

11. What do you like doing so much that you lose track of time?

It usually involves sitting at a computer and writing and researching but also, reading. It is very easy to get lost in a good book.

12. If you had 5 minutes and the whole world was forced to listen, what would you say?

I would tell the world to unite and come together rather than trying to tear itself apart. The policies of isolation from some of our so-called world leaders (Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, Bolsonaro) is pushing the world into a dangerous place. I would urge people to question their governments and actually consider the fact that the only thing that comes from their lips is a pack of lies.

13. Whose life do you envy the most, and why?

My own life back in 1981. I was just beginning on a wonderful adventure and I would love to do that again with the knowledge I have now.

14. What would you different with your education if you got a chance to start over?

I would focus more on English and foreign languages. I was good at both but better at science, hence the reason why I drifted down that path. I would perhaps have been able to expand my horizons and travel more had I been able to write and speak foreign languages, taking the science side of my mind down the path of hobbies and interests rather than a career choice. Oh – and I would have learned to play the piano and guitar too.

15. What would you do with your life if you had no fear?

I would probably be higher up the corporate ladder and making my own decisions about where I want to go rather than having to succumb to the constraints I have at the moment. I would have earned enough money to have retired now.

Who knows? I might also have ended up in politics and might be ruling the world now – which would be bad news people who annoyed me. I have a master plan that when I rule the world, I am going to build a spaceship and send it off to the deepest darkest depths of the galaxy manned by all of those people who have pissed me off – you know, people like Piers Morgan, Simon Cowell, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, the Kardashians, Kanye West  etc. I’ll make space explorers out of the lot of them and make our world a better place.