A B C

Welcome to a mixed South Manchester in terms of weather. It is currently sunny with a few scattered showers and, here in the north of England, we managed to avoid Storm Ciarán which struck this week and battered the south coast and northern France, with winds up to 100mph that caused a lot of damage. We were in the eye of the storm and consequently suffered nothing more than a little rain.

This post is called ABC and I am not going to talk about the 1980’s pop band of the same name. However, I will mention them briefly. Thanks to Spotify I found an absolute banger from the band that I had never heard of before, dating from the mid-80s. In typical ABC fashion the lyrics make no sense. 

It is called “15 Story Halo” and he sings “10 20 30 40 – 15 Story Halo”. Surely the song should be called “50 Story Halo”. 

Okay – I am quibbling but here it is – a great tune you can listen to while reading my silly answers to silly questions from Sunday Stealing. 

A - Ambition: 

My ambitions aren’t really ambitions; they are goals that I may or may not achieve. First is to write a novel – or maybe a non-fiction book. Second, I am going to learn to play the piano well enough to justify buying a synthesiser and actually creating some music. Finally, I aim to become fluent in Spanish.

If I get some way to achieving those I will be quite surprised but very happy.

B - Birthday: 

My birthday is October 8th and I was born in 1962. I share that birth date with Bruno Thiry, a Belgian rally driver and an American composer called Michael Abels. 

C - Computer: 

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop with an Intel processor (2.9 GHz) and 16G RAM, running Windows 10.

My work laptop is a lot more powerful.

I also have a powerful Samsung smartphone, a Samsung 10 inch tablet and a free Chromebook that came with my phone.

D - Dream: 

I have some weird dreams but I don’t remember them all. I have thought about writing them down and then trying to look up what they mean but they will probably just tell me what I already know: I am a weirdo.

E - Exercise:

My main form of exercise is walking. In the past I used to run, play 5-a-side football and go to the gym but now I walk between 4 and 5 miles per day. Last year I walked just over 1500 miles and this year I am almost certainly going to improve on that. In terms of steps it, currently my average is about 8800 per day.

F - Favourite Food:

There are too many to mention but I love food from India, China, Italy and generally Mediterranean food from Spain, France and Greece. I also love Mexican food and a lot of Asian food, like Vietnamese. I’m not a fan of Thai food though.

G - Garden: 

My garden is quite small and is paved with various plots for shrubs, bushes and flowers and a lovely cherry tree. We love to sit there during the summer and chat with each other or the neighbours. The cats own it of course (the truth is they also own our house – and us too).

H - Hobby:

I have several. I try to write on this blog and various other bits and bobs, I am learning Spanish and Italian, I am learning to play the piano, I love to walk, I love sports (as a spectator) including football, cricket and rugby union. And I sometimes play PS4 games, watch TV and read weird science fiction novels. I listen to music a lot and go to gig as often as I can. There are more but that’s about it. 

I - Idol:

I don’t really have an idol as such. There are certain rock stars who I think are immensely talented and also a lot of football players but I don’t really idolise them.

J - Job:

I am a software engineer, that is a person who spends most of his time trying to get computers to behave themselves by filling them with detailed and complex programs. I swear at them a lot, if I am honest. 

You could sum my career up as a mad geeky looking weirdo who interfaces with computer hardware via a keyboard and then shouts when they don’t behave themselves.

K - Kids:

I have two grown up boys aged 30 and 27. I actually feel really old writing that. They are my sons but they are both good mates too.

L - Location:

I live in South Manchester, about 5 miles from the city centre. Manchester is in the north of England and if England were to be split in two it would really be the capital of the north. It is about 35 miles east of Liverpool, about 38 miles west of Sheffield, 86 miles north of Birmingham and 200 miles north of London. We are about 35 miles away from the nearest coast. 

M - Military:

I have never been in the army, navy or air force and I am delighted about that.

N - Name or Nickname:

I have had a few over the years. My main nickname is my one syllable surname with “y” added to it. One or two people have their own special name, for example “Dilbert” (because apparently I look like him). 

My actual name is Dave.

O - Optimist or Pessimist:

I am a realist with a tendency to be an optimist. But it does depend on what we are talking about because I can definitely be a pessimist. 

P - Pets:

I have two three year old black cats called Ziggy and Star(dust). Mrs PM liked the name Ziggy generally and I immediately leapt on the Bowie theme. Mrs PM doesn’t like the name Stardust but she agreed to Star (I just add the “dust”).

Here they are doing what they do best.

Q - Quote:

“I believe I can see the future 'Cause I repeat the same routine

I think I used to have a purpose Then again, that might have been a dream

I think I used to have a voice. Now I never make a sound

I just do what I've been told I really don't want them to come around, oh no

Every day is exactly the same”

R - Reads:

I am currently reading a history book and a strange science fiction space opera series about space assassins. See what I mean? I am a weirdo.

S - School:

I went to a Grammar School where there was a massive emphasis on success. The school had an entrance exam but I didn’t need to take it because I got a really good grade in a compulsory exam called “The 11+” which no longer exists. 

I had a mixed time there and I really have to thank them for guiding me through my academic qualifications, ultimately leading to university.

T - Travel:

I could write a whole book on this. This year I have been to Spain, Morocco, the Netherlands, Croatia and Italy (Sicily). Next year we plan to go to Spain and/or France and Malaysia with a few days in Hong Kong. I can’t wait.

U - Unfulfilled ambition:

When I was a kind I wanted to be both a footballer and rock star. I was a terrible footballer because I was hindered by my dreadful eyesight and my almost laughable coordination. I learned the wrong instrument (a trombone) when really I should have learned the piano or guitar. Hence the reason why I am not Dave Grohl!

V - Vacation spot:

It depends on what type of holiday you are talking about. I don’t like sitting by the beach all day (though we do spend time relaxing in such places) so I am more likely to go and explore a country. I can’t really narrow it down any more than that. I’ve been to 30 to 40 countries and they were all amazing in their own way.

W - Wardrobe:

I have one, yes. 

X - X-tra facts about me:

I have spilled a few beans on this blog since 2008. Here are some you may not know.

I am 5ft 11 inches tall. My once-blonde hair is now a light brown with grey appearing at the sides and in my beard. 

I know the word for beer in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. I also know the word for “Hello” in those languages but it seems less important.

Y - Years online:

I have been online since the 1990s, when I bought my first PC. I work in IT so I probably went online for the first time with work earlier than that. I have only been a blogger since 2008, though. 

Z - Zodiac sign:

I am an indecisive Libran (as Mrs PM describes me).