More Me

Welcome to a quite warm but wet South Manchester on a late Sunday afternoon. Let’s just dive into a couple of silly questions from Sunday Stealing, shall we? 

1. What was the last song you listened to?

That would be a cover of the Rolling Stones song, Sympathy for the Devil. The band covering it is Motörhead and it is actually very good.

2. What is your favourite thing about the place you live?

Manchester is a vibrant city with great people and I love it here. I live in the south of the city and it is not far from the Cheshire countryside and easily commutable via train or car to other great places like Chester, Liverpool, the Lake District, the Peak District, Wales and Yorkshire. 

We also live not far from Manchester International airport from where we can fly to many places directly. 

Also, if we fancy popping down to London, it is about two hours on a fast train. 

I like the convenience of the city and the fact that we can escape to the country in a short time – and even further afield via the airport. 

3. What is your earliest childhood memory?

That’s a tough one. I remember a few things, like some of the early toys I was bought and a giant inflatable plastic thing that looked like a punch bag. It used to sit next to my pram apparently but we had it for years and both my sisters inherited it from me. There are so many things but I can’t quite put a timeline on them. 

Here, for your amusement, is a picture of my and my massively blond curls when I was probably about 2 years old. My mum’s parents lived next door so we spent a lot of time there, as you can imagine. In the photo I am outside an outside workshop that my grandad had built all by himself. At the time he was a retired bus mechanic and he basically couldn’t stop building and making things and that workshop was where a lot of the magic happened. Incidentally, somewhere out there a friend of my mum’s had a lock of that fuzzy mass in a presentation case because she thought my hair was “beautiful”. I wonder what happened to it?

3. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

I would probably opt to be a seagull. They are big birds and they live by the sea – but best of all they are famous for stealing food from people. I would have a lot of fun.

4. Who do you trust the most in your life?

Mrs PM and my sister.

5. How many languages can you say "hello" in?

English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Czech, Chinese and Japanese (and possibly more?).

6. What is your favourite kind of weather?

A sunny day with a few clouds in the sky and a temperature of between 22 and 30 degrees Celsius (72 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

7. How did you discover that Santa wasn't real and how old were you?

I recall seeing my dad sneak into my room on Christmas Eve with a bag full of presents when I was about five or six. The next day he tried to pretend that Father Christmas had left them downstairs because there wasn’t a chimney in my bedroom so he had had to bring them upstairs. I had already been asking questions like “How does Father Christmas get around the whole world in one night?” and this episode was one step too far.

8. What is the best feeling in the world?

Sitting on a balcony overlooking the sea next to a deserted beach in a foreign country with temperatures within the goldilocks zone mentioned in question 6, sipping a cold beer with a few nibbles next to me, whilst listening to some great music. 

9. What is your favourite colour?

Teal.

10. Is there a language you would love to learn?

I am currently learning Spanish and refreshing my French. I would love to refresh my German and also have a go at Italian. I think Italian sounds amazing. 

11. How do you feel about reality TV?

I hate 99% of it. The only show I can tolerate is the British version of The Apprentice. The British equivalent has Lord Alan Sugar doing the honours and the only reason I watch it is to see pretentious wannabe entrepreneurs with egos the size of Wales trying to lie and fumble their way (badly) through tasks. During the later, the candidates that are left are interviewed by Alan Sugar’s “trusted advisors” and those interviews are brutal, particularly when they involve a guy called Claude Littner. Have a look and a laugh at this:

12. Did you ever skip school when you were a kid?

No. My attendance was perfect apart from when I was poorly. 

13. What is your least favourite food?

Rhubarb. It is disgusting and even typing the word out makes me feel nauseous. 

14. Do you have a good luck charm?

No – I’m not a superstitious person at all. Such trinkets will make no difference at all to your luck. 

I don’t mind people having them though. If you are such a person and you believe in good luck charms and you think they actually bring you good luck then that’s absolutely fine by me.