Dave Was Here

Welcome to a very sunny and warm South Manchester. Last week I was due to go to a T20 cricket match but the rainy weather ruined it completely resulting in the game being abandoned before a single ball was bowled. I am going to try again today and I hope that I will have more success because the weather is so lovely. Having said that, there is a global IT outage today which has resulted in various worldwide services being affected. It has caused some issues here in the UK but nothing, hopefully that will ruin the cricket. The tram network is moving, my bank appears unaffected and I have cash so keep your fingers crossed. 

Let’s answer some silly questions from Sunday Stealing. 

1.  What would you put in a time capsule?

I have several large time capsules upstairs in my attic. Actually, it is several storage boxes that really should be labelled

“Dave was here (1978)” through to “Dave was here (2023)”

consisting of what a lot of people would call junk. To me, however, it is personal junk and I love it. 

Strictly speaking though, a time capsule is meant to hold present day objects that you bury for somebody in many years’ time to find and get a picture of what life was like way back in 2024, so I couldn’t really put old stuff in there should I create one now. For 2024, I would put in:

Today’s newspaper (sealed), a printout of the journal post I wrote today, a PS4 game I have literally just finished, my work notebook (which I won’t need for much longer), a recent bit of tech (like my old smartphone), a recent boarding pass, a cricket ticket, a photo of myself, Mrs PM and the cats, my old glasses from last year and a polo shirt with my company’s logo emblazoned on it. 

That should do I reckon. 

2.  What’s something you’re really good at?

I’m very good at moaning and ranting but I’ve been trying to mellow over the last year or so. The recent change in UK government will go a long way to helping me achieve this because the Tory party are now, hopefully, a spent force. 

I’m also very good at making certain computers do the right thing. 

3.  What part of society would you like to change?

I am constantly appalled at the unfairness of society. We live in a world where the less-well off are considered inferior to the so-called well off and the mindset of certain people seems to be “who cares?”. If I had any power at all I would like to equalise this a little. 

4.  What have you eaten in the past 24 hours?

Starting from yesterday lunchtime, I have had a salad, a chicken pasta, some flame raisins and almonds, a banana, an apple, a peach, a satsuma, a cheese and ham sandwich, several cups of tea, a mixture of apple and orange juice, a couple of glasses of water and two bottles of Peroni. 

5.  What is an unusual fact about you?

I am terrified of heights but I have visited and climbed some of the tallest structures in the world including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Empire State Building in New York, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai and the CN Tower in Toronto. 

When I say “climbed” I don’t mean that literally; I have just been inside them and been to the top (or as near as possible). 

We are planning to visit Malaysia next year and Mrs PM wants us to climb the Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur but I have already told her that I am not going anywhere near them. 

I’ve also mentioned that I actually did climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Never ever again!

6.  Do you collect anything?

I certainly used to but I don’t really collect anything anymore. I used to collect football programmes and beer mats. I am now using Spotify but before that I used to collect CDs. I certainly still have the football programmes and CDs but I threw away the beer mats many years ago. 

I guess electronically, I collect Kindle Books and I have a fair collection of hardback books and non-fiction books that Mrs PM has done her best to wipe out over the years. I have put my foot down though and (before she stamped on it) I managed to persuade her that having a book case with lots of books is actually aesthetically good for the lounge. 

7.  Have you played sports?

My only sport these days is walking.

In the past (and in my youth) I have played football, rugby union, badminton, squash, tennis, basketball, hockey, softball, rounders and cricket. I have jogged, run in cross country races and, as far as athletics is concerned, I was quite good at 100m, 200m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m as well as long jump and triple jump.

I’ve tried javelin throwing, shot putt and discus but I was hopeless at them as I was at high jump. 

My best was reserved for middle distance running, where I made the school team. 

I can also swim and have played water polo (but badly). 

8.  What is your favourite blog?

The Plastic Mancunian, of course. 

Only kidding. I haven’t got any real favourites because all the blogs I read are amazing, including all those I read on Sunday Stealing – mainly because it gives me an insight into other places and different lives. A special mention has to go out to my Australian blog buddies, such as Pandora at “Princess Pandora – Queen of Denial” , “Elephant’s Child” and River at “Drifting Through Life” because we have been reading each other’s blogs for a few years now. 

9.  Ketchup vs. mustard?

Ketchup wins hands down because I hate mustard, especially English mustard which is absolutely disgusting.

10.  Do you believe in ghosts or aliens?

I would love for both to exist and I dearly hope they do. 

I wouldn’t say I believe in either because I am one of those people who needs absolute proof. 

I live in a house that is over 120 years old and if ghosts do exist then there must be spectres hovering around the rooms watching me as I go about my business. They probably think I’m really weird but I don’t care. To be honest, if they did make their presence known in a scary way I would be terrified. I would hope that are more like the ghosts in the BBC (and now US) sitcom Ghosts.

As for aliens, I would like them to be like this guy:

rather than this guy.

11. The last movie you saw in a theatre.

I haven’t been to the cinema for a few months. The last movie I saw was this one:

I will probably pop out to see Deadpool and Wolverine when it comes out in a week or two. 

12.  The silliest thing you have done this week.

Sadly, I don’t think I’ve done anything silly apart from cracking the odd joke in a work meeting. I do that occasionally. 

13.  Have you ever done anything illegal?

Some people may say that publishing rubbish and inane posts on a blog is illegal (or at least should be). If so, then guilty as charged. 

14.  What would you wish for right now?

I would love enough money to be able to travel around the world for a year. 

15.  What shoes do you wear the most ?

I guess that would be my trainers (or sneakers in American English), though I do have a great sturdy pair of walking shoes for my daily walk.