Not Far Enough?

Welcome to a sunny but cold South Manchester where the temperature dropped back to zero overnight and, thankfully, has recovered a bit. It’s sunny and it looks like there will be some rain later. Typical April weather – short sharp showers. 

We’re nearly in May though and heading towards summer, my favourite time of the year.

Here are some silly questions from Sunday Stealing. 

1.    What's the best thing to inherit other than money

In my opinion, property. I guess you could say that if you inherit a house then really you are inheriting money but to some people it isn’t that way because they may choose to actually move into the property they inherit. Inheriting jewellery or things like that are the same I guess because sometimes the item of jewellery can be worth money too as indeed can anything else. 

2.    What one  thing would you most like to happen tomorrow?

I would like it not to rain. 

We are meeting some friends in an outside setting and although it will be cold I think it will be perfect if it doesn’t rain. But, as I said above, we are in April and the chances of rain are always relatively high no matter what the weather forecast says. We shall be prepared. 

3.    Who is the person with whom you've been most infatuated?

I don’t get infatuated with people; I think it’s unhealthy. I’m not infatuated with anyone famous and certainly not anyone I know. 

Mrs PM would be the closest I guess if you are demanding an answer.

4.    In what part of the day does time go slowest and fastest?

It depends on whether I am at work or not. When working, the mornings always seem to drag on and on. I look at my watch expecting the time to be midday, say, and find that it is only 10:30.

Weekends seem to go too quickly because before I know it I am back at work.

5.    Whose thoughts would you most like to read?

The truth is I would like to be able to read the thoughts of my two cats. I wonder what makes them tick and what is going on in their heads. 

If you are demanding that I specify a human being, I would struggle butI would probably pick our Prime Minister at the moment, Mr Rishi Sunak, who hopefully won’t be Prime Minister much longer.

When he decides to finally call a General Election my dearest wish is that he and his corrupt, incompetent party are kicked into touch with maximum prejudice be the electorate.

 Sadly he is running scared and is waiting for the polls to shift in his favour – which I don’t think will happen. He’s running out of time because he has to call the election by the end of 2024.

I would like to know what he is really thinking and when this election might be. 

6.    Who is the person you'd least like to touch?

Piers Morgan. I wouldn’t even want to be in the same room as him.

7.    What is the best quality you inherited from your parents?

My dad was a really calm and laid back man and I think I am probably more similar to him. I try not to let things phase me and I like to approach things with a smile and a bit of humour. He was the same. 

My mum was a different person who could be stubborn, dogged and determined and I think I have inherited a little of that myself. Some people may think that’s a negative quality but sometimes can be a positive thing. 

8.    Who is the friend you most often disagree with?

I have disagreements with a lot of friends and these disagreements are usually over trivialities. There are one or two though that support the current government and when the subject of politics comes up, there is scope for escalation. We choose to simply not talk about politics, other than perhaps joke about it.

9.    What's the best ritual of your daily life?

Doing my “daily duties” as I like to call them. Basically I have a few habits that I follow every day: walking, writing something, learning Spanish, playing piano and usually reading something. 

10.    What is the most useful job you've ever had?

I guess my current job is the most useful one I have had. As I have said, when I retire finally I will open up about what that job actually is. It is very interesting if you strip away the crap like office politics and all of the other things that make me sick of it. 

11.    In which year of your life did you change the most?

That would be in 1984. 

It was my final year of university and in that year, I applied for jobs, studied hard for my final examinations, passed those examinations which got me my honours degree in Computational and Statistical Science, travelled to Europe with a couple of mates using Interrail for a month, moved to Manchester and started my first full time job and then moved in with the woman who would become my ex-wife. 

A lot changed that year. 

And Big Brother was nowhere to be seen apart from in a movie starring John Hurt. 

12.    What's the best thing you've ever gotten for free?

A trip to Australia. 

Well when I say “free” it wasn’t really but it was a lot cheaper thanks to the generosity of Mrs PM’s mum. 

She turned 60 that year and she said that she had always wanted to go Down Under and she asked us to go with her because Mrs PM and I were “seasoned travellers”. I told her that we’d love to but it was too expensive at the time for us. So she offered to pay for all flights and some of the accommodation. 

Mrs PM took her up on the offer and I felt guilty about it so we did spend a lot of money on them regardless. We went via Hong Kong (of course) and returned via Singapore, visiting Port Douglas, Cairns, Brisbane before driving from Brisbane to Sydney over a period of about eight days. It was the trip where I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge so it was a momentous one for me. 

I wrote an account of the trip and presented it to her as a gift after we had returned. 

One day we will go back to visit our Australian buddies but this time under our own steam. 

Look out Aussies – I will be back hopefully. 

13.    What is the thing you are best at?

I’m really good with logical and mathematical stuff. My job demands it. I am one of those weird geeky guys who gets maths and actually, in the past, has voluntarily solved maths problems FOR FUN. I’m good with computers too (you would have hoped so since I’ve been dabbling with them for over 40 years) and this is a by-product of my mathematical and logical mind. 

I am so sad that I am thinking about rekindling my relationship with maths when I retire. 

Yes - I am truly a geek.

14.    What was the luckiest moment in your life?

Meeting Mrs PM. 

No contest.

15.    What is the single most important thing you have ever learned?

Be yourself, enjoy life and don’t take it too seriously. And as a bonus – don’t let ANYONE get you down.