Mix and Match

Welcome to a sunny and cloudy South Manchester where the sky is covered in white and light grey cloud. I have seen the sun today and I think I might see it later.

The football season starts today (YIPPEE!) and I will be wathcing my team, Walsall, later hoping that they win their first game.

In the meantime, shall we answer some silly questions from Sunday Stealing? 

1. I am looking forward to ...

I am looking forward to Friday next week when we travel to Nice for four nights, primarily to celebrate Mrs PMs birthday. I have been brushing up on my French and, while it’s not as good as my Spanish, I should be okay. If I’m not, I will rely on Mrs PM who can speak French really well, having lived in Toulouse for a year while at university. 

Last time we went to Nice, it was Bastille Day back in 2016 when something dreadful happened, which you can read about here.

Nice is beautiful so such events haven’t put us off the place and I am looking forward to revisiting the city immensely.

2. Least favourite words

There are certain word that get on my nerves when used badly, especially in business-speak. Here are some examples:

Journey – this word is inoffensive but has been shanghaied into something else. I blame Simon Cowell and his bloody terrible show “Britain’s Got Talent” where the failed contestants embark upon a “difficult journey” or have had a “terrible journey to get to this point in their lives”. Now, it has been used and abused in the world of business. For example “We hope you all join us on our journey to a new way of working”. 

Like – this word has been grabbed and hung out to dry by the youth of today. It’s now used totally out of context as a pause word. For example “Last week, like, I was, like, going out with Sharron and, like, she bumped into Dave, her ex-boyfriend and he was, like, giving her the evil eye, like and I said, like, you know, like, just forget him, like …” and on and on it goes.

There are some nasty words that I just don’t like; words like:

Maggot, Mucous, Phlegm, Bile, Ingest, Bloat …

I could go on.

3. If I ruled the world

I have to rein myself in here, dear reader, because there is so much wrong with the world. I do have a plan, should I become World President to rid the world of everyone who aims to destroy it, be unpleasant, or basically people who I simply don’t like. 

My plan is to build a fleet of spaceships and send all of these people out there to explore our galaxy looking for a new planet to colonise. Actually, preferably a different galaxy and, let’s face it, it’s a one way trip.

Here are some candidates for a space flight:

Piers Morgan, Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson, Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Donald Trump, Simon Cowell, Jamie Oliver, James Corden, Kanye West, all of the Kardashians, David Miscavige, Tucker Carlson, David Cameron, Valdimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, Jim Davidson, Katie Hopkins, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Elon Musk …

And that is just the tip of a very, very large iceberg.

4. Favourite websites and blogs

I love all of the blogs I read. I have a few favourite websites that I go back to a lot, such as the BBC web site and a few websites that cover football and music. 

5. Things I do for myself

Everything that I can do. For example, I don’t examine my own teeth – I let the dentist do that for me because I am unqualified and would do a very poor job. Similarly when I go to Nice next week, I will allow the pilot of the aircraft to fly me there because I cannot fly one myself. 

6. Weekly rituals

Work is a weekly ritual (for a few weeks more). I have a list of daily duties such as writing, learning Spanish, trying to play a piano and walking. There are a few things that are weekly duties such as household chores, writing this blog (though I will increase the frequency from late September). Nothing particular leaps to mind apart from that, but there are definitely things that I do weekly.

7. DIYs I want to try

I can do some DIY but I am not very good. For example, I’m not bad at building furniture from IKEA, doing some electrical work such as light fittings. I can paint and put up shelves etc. The thing is I hate DIY really because while I can do it, it does frustrate me and I’m at the point in my life where I am definitely not going to try to expand my DIY horizons into such realms as building, plumbing etc. 

8. On my shopping list

I have just bought a few new T-shirts, shorts etc for my trip to Nice and also the one to Skiathos in September. There are a few gadgets I might look at but nothing is pressing. 

9. Places to see in your town

Manchester is a great place to visit. The city has loads of museums, restaurants, pubs and bars as well as other places of interest, such as sports stadia like Old Trafford football ground (home to Manchester United), the Etihad Stadium (home to Manchester City) and Old Trafford cricket ground. We have loads of music venues of varying sizes including a brand new one called Co-op Live which is the largest indoor arena in Europe. Alongside this, we have the AO Arena which is also huge, plus smaller venues like the Manchester Apollo Theater, Manchester Academy plus its three smaller venues. There are a few theatres too where you can see plays, musicals, opera, ballet etc. We have a couple of comedy clubs too. There are lots of different areas to explore, each unique in their own way plus some of the surrounding towns are interesting too. 

It's a great place.

10. Road trip must-haves

I don’t really like road trips, I have to say. I find them a little dull. If I were to do a massive road trip across Europe, Australia or the US, I would want a lot (and I mean A LOT) of decent music to listen to and interesting people with me to keep me from being bored out of my mind. 

11. Guilty pleasures

I don’t believe in the term guilty pleasure. 

But while I was walking this morning, a couple of songs appeared in my playlist that people would be surprised to know that I like because they are not what they would expect me to like, given my preference for progressive rock, heavy metal and hard rock. Here they are:

I don’t care what people say; I love those songs and many more besides them.

12. Things I'd rather be doing right now

Walking around a foreign city. And this time next week I will be doing just that.

13. Books I'd like to read this year

I have a load of books on my Kindle that I aim to finish this year. Some are sci-fi, others are slightly supernatural and I think there’s a thriller in there somewhere. I will have more time to do just that when I retire. 

14. Lessons learned

Never argue with a policeman unless he or she is a family member.

Never catch a ferry from the UK to Holland if you have a hangover. 

Never try to conquer your fear of heights by climbing up the tallest building in the world. 

Never eat a raw chilli pepper.

Never sit next to a person on a flight who is scared of flying.

15. Vacations to take

As I said, I am going to Nice next week. After that I am going to Skiathos in Greece for a week in September. And then I am meeting my old university buddies in Budapest, Hungary in October. We are also hopefully going to Malaysia in January, calling in to Hong Kong on the way back. Oh and we're going to Malta next May with Mrs PM's mum and uncle to celbrate her 80th birthday.

16. Olympic events I like to watch or follow

I don’t usually watch the wall to wall coverage of the Olympics but I sometimes dip in and out of it. I usually watch the athletics but I also like the cycling events too. It depends and I have seen some of this year’s games in Paris when I’ve had an hour to kill.