7 Layers

Greetings from South Manchester. We have just booked a trip to Tenerife and we are off on Wednesday for five days to escape the dull and dreary February weather in Manchester. I’m looking forward to it so that I can take walks along the coast, relax and practice my Spanish, even though English is fairly widely spoken there. It’s more fun trying to communicate in the local language and I am lucky because I can make myself understood (though understanding Spanish spoken back at me at 100 mph is not easy – I am sure there will be some humorous misunderstandings).

Shall we answer some silly Sunday Stealing questions? 

LAYER 1: Tell us your...

* Eye colour: 

I have blue eyes I’ve been told they are quite nice. 

* Hair colour: 

My hair used to be very blond but now it is a kind of light brown that is slowly being invaded by grey.

* Height: 

I am 5ft 11 inches (or 1 metre 80 centimetres).

* Righty or lefty: 

I am right handed. 

LAYER 2: What's...

* Your heritage: 

I answered this last week as a class thing. I didn’t mention that I am almost certainly an Anglo-Saxon with some elements of Viking (the blond hair and blue eyes). I need to take a DNA test to find out for sure. However, when I go to Europe I am almost always mistaken for a German. Mrs PM and I once flew from Manchester on Lufthansa to Munich and as we boarded the aircraft, Mrs PM was greeted in English and I was greeted in German. It happens all the time (though less so now because the grey invasion is perhaps removing the impression that I might have German heritage). 

* The shoes you wore today: 

I went for a walk in my sturdy walking boots this morning. 

* Your weakness: 

I am possibly too nice and too helpful. I find that sometimes people try to take advantage of this. 

* Your fears: 

Spiders and heights.

* Your perfect pizza: 

I love anything that is described as a “meat feast” with as many different slices of meat of any kind on it, all trapped in lots of cheese. It’s not particularly healthy but then again I don’t eat pizza very often at all. 

* Goals you’d like to achieve:

I would like to retire, write a book, travel the world and live until I am 200 years old.

* Your first waking thoughts: 

Am I working today?

* Your best physical feature: 

I don’t regard myself as attractive at all. I don’t care – I am 60 years old. However, several ladies have told me in the past that I have a very nice arse. I don’t actually know why this is a plus point if I’m honest. 

* Your most missed memory: 

Not quite sure what this means. If it is a memory the implication is that you still remember it. Therefore how can it be missed?

LAYER 3: Do you...

* Smoke: 

No. I tried it once as a stupid nineteen year old. I was drunk and promptly threw up everywhere. I have never tried it since.

* Cuss: 

Oh yes. I try not to swear in front of relatives or anyone who might be offended but sometimes (quite often actually) things get the better of me. My cats have learned several new words in their two years on this planet. 

* Sing: 

Yes – I have just been singing to this:

although obviously nowhere near as brilliantly as Sharon den Adel.

* Do you think you’ve been in love: 

That’s where I am now. So yes.

* Did you go to college:

I went to university in Liverpool. I have a Batchelor of Science degree with Honours. I loved it.

* Liked high school: 

I went to a Grammar School and I had a love/hate relationship with it. There were times when I despised it but a lot of the time it was “okay” I suppose. I look back with gratitude for what they helped me to achieve though.

* Believe in yourself:

Largely yes. I know what I like and I know what I am good at. I also, largely know what I want. 

* Think you’re attractive: 

As I said above, I don’t think I am attractive at all. However, I am not a woman and so I don’t see myself from the female perspective. I guess history will record that women find me okay given that I have two serious relationships. It could be personality though I guess but even that surprised me because I think I am just a weirdo. 

* Think you’re a health freak: 

Not really. I have always been relatively fit, running, swimming and playing football in the past. These days I try to walk four miles a day. As for food, I tend to eat a balanced diet with little chocolate and sweets, not much junk food and generally healthy options such as fruit, vegetables, fish. I am a carnivore though. I rarely eat desserts. I do like beer though.

* Like thunderstorms:

I absolutely love thunderstorms. A couple of years ago we were in Croatia and, in the middle of the night, I was woken up by the distant rumble of thunder. It was about 2am. I looked out of the window and could see distant lightning in the sea – and it was getting closer. I sat on the balcony for an hour watching it make landfall. Thankfully the balcony was sheltered and I didn’t get wet when the rain came. There was so much lightning and the thunder was really loud I thought the sky was going to crack. Mrs PM opened the door and said “Come inside you weirdo!” I stayed out for another ten minutes until the wind blew the rain straight onto the balcony like a shower. It was fantastic.

* Play an instrument:

Yes. I can play a trombone – well at least I could when I was 16. I am teaching myself to play the piano at the moment. Baby steps. 

LAYER 4: In the past month have you…

* Drunk alcohol:

Yes I have. I had a couple of beers last night (since it was Friday). 

* Smoked: 

No. 

* Done a drug: 

No.

* Made out: 

I’ve always wondered what “made out” actually means. We don’t use that phrase in the UK. So I will say “I don’t know but probably yes”.

* Gone on a date:

Only with Mrs PM. 

* Gone to the mall: 

No. I hate shopping and I avoid shopping centres.

* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: 

I’ve only ever eaten Oreos once or twice in my entire life. And then I only had one or two. 

* Eaten sushi: 

No. But I love sushi. There is a Pan-Asian restaurant fairly close to us and this makes me consider going there sometime soon.

* Been on stage:

No. 

* Been dumped: 

I hope not. 

* Gone skating: 

I haven’t been skating for years (ice skating that is). 

* Gone skinny dipping:

No. I have never been skinny dipping, the reason being that I wouldn’t want to subject the human race or even the animal kingdom to such a revolting sight. 

LAYER 5: Have you ever…

* Played a game that required removal of clothing: 

No. For the same reason I gave in the answer to the last question.

* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated:

Absolutely – but not for many years.

* Been caught “doing something”: 

It depends what you mean by “something”. The answer is probably but I don’t know for sure. 

* Been called a tease:

Yes – I quite enjoy winding gullible people up and teasing them. It’s a bad character trait that I am trying to overcome. 

* Gotten beaten up:

I have lost a couple of fights but only when I was a kid. I have never had a fight as an adult. 

LAYER 6:

* Age you did get/hope to be married:

I got married at the age of 25 and then got divorced ten years later. I have been in a relationship ever since but at the time of writing neither of us have really thought about marriage.

* How do you want to die: 

As quickly and painlessly as possible.

* What did you want to be when you grew up:

I honestly didn’t know; I just fell into my career because I was very good at maths and telling computers what to do. If you asked me now, I would probably say a travel writer.

* What country would you most like to visit: 

Any Scandinavian country, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and other south Asian countries. But given the chance I would go on a round the world trip taking in all of those countries, Europe and the Americas.

LAYER 7: Now tell...

* Name a person you could trust with your life:

Mrs PM.

* Name a favourite CD that you own: 

Hand. Cannot. Erase. By Steven Wilson.

* Number of piercings:

Zero.

* Number of tattoos:

Zero.

* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: 

Zero (hopefully). 

* Name a past experience that you regret: 

I try to look forward not to the past. So I shall end this post on a positive note and say the future is unwritten and ready to be conquered. I intend to do that.