Plastic Analysis

Welcome to a wet and miserable South Manchester where the rain is drizzling down and making my cats wet. You may think this is funny but it isn’t. Off they go outside through the cat flap and spend their time wandering around getting soaked before having a dig in soil and then coming back in, leaving a trail of dirty footprints on the kitchen floor, the windowsills and, arguably worst of all, the clean trousers that I put on this morning. To add insult to dirt, they shake like a dog to let me know how it feels to be outside at the moment. 

The good news this week is that my favourite band of all time, the Canadian band Rush, have extended their tour to include Europe and, in particular, Manchester where they will be playing at the brand new Co-op Arena. There will be a post about Rush coming soon (if you are interested) but the great news is that I managed to get a ticket despite the gig being pretty close to being sold out. Such is their popularity that they have added a second date in Manchester. I have to wait until next year but I already know it will be one of the gigs of 2027 for me. 

Let’s dive into a silly Sunday Stealing survey. 

Silly Survey Questions …

1. Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today? 

I will have a cup of decaffeinated coffee later today. I stopped drinking caffeine around 2016 after I realized the effect it had on me. My boss asked me to come in early one Friday to fix something and because I succeeded he decided to reward me with several large mugs of what I can only describe as a nuclear caffeine bomb. I have to say that it tasted delightful but a couple of hours later I was so wired that I didn’t know what to do with myself at all. I’ve heard of the phrase “climbing the walls” but I was more like Spider-man; I honestly thought I could walk on the ceiling. I can’t imagine what I was like to talk to. I decided to eliminate caffeine that very day and that includes in tea. 

There are some places where the concept of decaffeinated coffee is as alien as Mork from Ork. A couple of years ago, I went to Amsterdam for a university reunion and at breakfast in a lovely café I asked the waiter for a decaffeinated coffee. He looked at me as if I had just grown a second head and, in a delightful Dutch accent he said “Decaffeinated coffee? We only have NORMAL coffee!” 

I sometimes indulge in coffee made from decaffeinated coffee grounds when I want to treat myself and that brings back memories of decent coffee from my past. 

I have to add finally that while I like coffee, I prefer tea (the decaffeinated variety). 

2. Who did you last have a text conversation with and what was it about? 

It was to my eldest son who was asking for my sister’s phone number so that he can invite her to a big party he is having later this year. 

3. Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? 

There are hundreds of trains in and out of my city per day. Manchester has two enormous railway stations called Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly, as well as several smaller ones in the city centre. I can catch a direct train to most other UK major cities from there. For example, trains run to London two or three times and hour and it takes about two hours to travel the 200 miles between the cities. 

The local light railway or trams, called Metrolink, also has a station at each railway station making it easy for most Mancunians to get to the stations from the suburbs and surrounding towns.

4. Have you ever been hospitalised due to dehydration?

I have never been hospitalised. I drink lots of fluids so I rarely get dehydrated. 

5. Someone texts/IMs you just as you’re about to go to sleep. Do you reply? 

It depends on who it is and whether it is urgent. I will ignore it unless it requires my immediate attention. 

6. Do you grind your teeth?  

No – but Mrs PM does. She has woken me up doing it in the past. 

7. When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise, or do you blast it?

It depends on where I am. I have a pair of earbuds and when I am out walking in the morning, I have it on a very low volume so that I can hear what is going on. However, if I am walking on a main road, I usually turn up the volume a little to lessen the impact of the engines of buses, cars and lorries. If ai am in a park I have the volume as low as possible.

On trains, trams and aircraft, I have the volume a little higher to lessen the impact of the engines of the vehicle I am travelling in. 

In a car, I don’t use my earbuds. 

8. Are you wearing nail polish?

Absolutely not. I have never worn it and I never will (unless for some crazy reason I decide to become a rock star or an actor in my old age – and even then I will only do it if I am paid a lot of money to do so). 

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door?

No, sadly. I think it would be a useful thing to have. Mrs PM’s dad has one and in the summer it is quite useful. We (or should I say Mrs PM) plan to have a new kitchen in a year or two so we may consider it then. 

10. Do you have a friend named James?

Yes – I have several friends called James. One of my oldest friends, who I met at university, is called James but I haven’t seen him for about twenty years sadly. Closer to home I have an old workmate who I still keep in touch with called James. 

Oddly both of them insist on being called James as opposed to Jim.  I used to work with a guy called Jim and I used to call him “Jimbo” with the emphasis on the “BO”. Why? Because one of the first things he said to me was “Don’t call me Jimbo!”. It’s an unwritten law amongst a lot of blokes that if you react negatively to a name or a nickname then that name will stick. I discovered this to my own cost many years ago and occasionally I have to deal with old friends who still call me a nickname from a few years ago because I objected. 

Word Up!

Welcome to South Manchester where it has been absolutely throwing it down today in a way that is typical of my least favourite season. I can’t wait for winter to be over. 

You may have heard about a royal scandal this week and, of course, it happens to involve Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the Andrew formally known as prince. He was arrested this week for allegedly releasing material to Jeffrey Epstein that he shouldn’t have and the picture of him looking totally distraught in the back of a police car has made headlines worldwide. The last time a member of the royal family was arrested was back in the 17th century and that man was King Charles I. While Andrew was in custody, police searched his homes for evidence and while he has been released, it’s not looking good for him. 

The Epstein files are causing a lot of turbulence in the UK at the moment with this arrest and also the former UK Amabassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, has had to resign and give up his peerage. That is another chapter that will be reopened soon, I think. 

It’s little wonder that in America, there is surprise and irritation that more is not being done over there because there will be far more people who will be more than a little concerned. 

Anyway, enough of that. Let’s have some Sunday Stealing silliness. 

Word Association. Share what comes to mind when you hear the word ...

1. Biscuit

Custard Creams

In the UK a biscuit is the equivalent of a US cookie. What Americans call a “Biscuit” is more like what we call a “scone”. 

A custard cream is a variety of English biscuit that I used to love as a child. It is basically two small biscuits with a very sweet light yellow cream in the middle of them. They are still very popular today and I haven’t had one for years. I think the last time was when I used to work because people randomly used to bring in packets of biscuits for others. At home we rarely eat biscuits which is a good thing for my teeth and weight I guess. 

Having said that, I might just treat myself to a packet when I go shopping this week. 

2. Crayon

Wax

I haven’t used a crayon since I was a young child. We used to have wax crayons and use them to either colour pictures in a colouring book or just use them to draw stuff. 

The second thing I thought of was “crayon eaters” and this is a term used to describe people who struggle to think for themselves and just gobble up rubbish that certain politicians tell them no matter how ridiculous it is and support these charlatans no matter what. For example people who love the Orange Goblin in the White House despite the fact that he blatantly lies and is a convicted felon. 

3. Warmth

Cats

My cast, Ziggy and Star(dust), have the uncanny ability to find the warmest spot in the house. It’s usually a human hot water bottle, and they have two to choose from (me and Mrs PM). Star(dust) in particular will lie so close to my leg that Mrs PM says “She has become one with your leg”. 

Both of them do it though as you can see from this picture.

4. Flip

Flop

When I say flip-flop I don’t mean those used in electrical circuits. I am talking about what Australians call “thongs”, which are very uncomfortable rubber sandals that people wear on beaches and in hot climates. 

I hate wearing them because they irritate my toes. I prefer proper sandals. 

Incidentally, in the UK, “thongs” are extremely skimpy swimwear like this. 

And no – I never have and never will ever wear them myself. Mrs PM would never allow it. 

5. Slush

Winter

In Manchester, it rarely snows. We are far more likely to get rain in the winter. However, when we do get snow and it is followed by rain, the settled snow starts to melt and becomes a sopping mess of half melted snow called slush. We have had some this winter actually and I think it is worse than snow because it is wetter. I hate snow but I hate slush more. 

6. Wing

Holidays

You may think that is a bit of a stretch for word association but when I go on holiday I usually fly and on short flights I like to sit by the window and look out over the wing. 

7. Candle

Scent

Mrs PM used to buy (and be given) scented candles as a gift. I think as far as presents go, they are a bit rubbish – just my own personal opinion of course. Granted, they can smell nice when lit, but sometimes the smell is just overpowering. She is less inclined to buy them these days but she does get the odd one as a gift. 

                                                    

8. Cinnamon

Stick

I like cinnamon and Mrs PM uses it sometimes when she is trying new recipes. I don’t think that I have ever used a cinnamon stick personally, because we tend to use ground cinnamon instead. However, the phrase is quite common and I know people who buy cinnamon sticks for cooking. 

Love - With a Capital S

Welcome to a chilly and rainy South Manchester where the dreary temperature of 6°C doesn’t even begin to compete with the 33°C of Malaysia and 24°C of Hong Kong.

Yes – I am back from a two week jaunt to the Far East where we spent ten days in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang) and four days in Hong Kong. The jet lag is just about over now but the weather in Manchester will take some time to get used to again. 

Let’s wade gently back into the land of bloggery with some silly questions from Sunday Stealing.  

Things I Love Beginning with S 

1. Spain. 

One of the reasons I started to try to learn Spanish is because I love Spain. 

I first visited the country back in the mid 1980’s when myself and two mates travelled there on Interrail from Paris. We visited San Sebastian in the north, Vigo in the west before heading (via Portugal) to Sevilla, Madrid and Barcelona. Perhaps the first word I learned in Spanish was cerveza (beer). Since then I have been back countless times, visiting most areas of this magnificent land. I’ve also been to the Balearic Islands (Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca) and the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote). 

We are going back in May to Nerja on the south coast and I am really looking forward to it. My Spanish, although pretty poor, is getting better and I quite enjoy stumbling through sentences when talking to Spanish people. When they speak back though it is a struggle. I soldier on. 

2. Saturday

When I was working, Saturday was the best day of the week because I could have a lie in and enjoy a day that didn’t have work at all (apart form the odd exception of course). Saturday is typically a great day for sport (football, rugby and cricket) and I can relax and have fun. One of my old pals, who retired before I did, told me: “every day is like Saturday, Dave”. And now that I am retired – he’s right – well sort of. 

It is still a special day because Mrs PM still works and it is the best day for us to get together and do something interesting. 

3. Sea

I live on an island and no place here is too far away from the sea. Manchester is 40 to 50 miles away from the nearest coast so if I want I can easily get there. Mrs PM comes from Blackpool which is a big holiday resort on the west coast of England and I get to see the sea whenever we go to visit her parents. 

However, I like to sit watching the sea in sunnier places than north west England (mainly because it can be quite cold here, even in the summer). Whenever we go on a beach holiday I like to just sit there and contemplate life as I listen to the gentle sea or ocean lapping against the beach. It is very mindful and relaxing, especially as the sun goes down.

 4. Star Trek

I am a geek and a lot of the people I used to work with are also geeks. On one trip to Muscat in Oman, I was sitting in the hotel bar with such a person. The conversation was one of the most nerdy that I have ever been involved in. It wouldn’t have been out of place in The Big Bang Theory.

PM: What are you talking about? There is no way that Star Wars is better than Star Trek!

Geek 2: Are you insane? Star Wars is far more successful than Star Trek. People who like Star Trek are weird!

PM: Weird? Bloody hell – weirdness is a sad movie that had Jar Jar Binks in it! 

Geek 2: Okay that was a mistake. But what about Wesley Crusher? And NEELIX! If you think they are great characters you have no taste. Well that’s obvious because you prefer Star Trek.

And so it went on. And I am sure people started staring at us, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.

And worse, nobody won the argument because secretly we BOTH like Star Wars and Star Trek. 

I’ve loved Star Trek since the original series and, while not everything is good (let me mention Neelix and Wesley Crusher again – I agree with Geek 2 about those two terrible characters), the best bits of Star Trek are far better. 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn and Star Trek: First Contact are far superior than any Star Wars movie in my opinion. 

Talking of the Big Bang Theory, I love this scene – and yes I know it involve Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) but I have long since forgiven him (mainly because of this scene!):

I have to say that I have never been to a science fiction convention and if I did go, I wouldn’t get dressed up. Nor do I ever plan to learn Klingon:

Qapla’Ha’qu’ ghajbogh wanI’vam.

I can use Google translate!

5. Summer

As I sit here in a rainy city in north west England in the middle of winter, my positive mind is already searching for summer. I had a taste of it in Malaysia and Hong Kong and I can’t wait for May to come along. I live in England so we can’t guarantee that we will have a good summer. I do know, however, that I can and will jet off to Europe to enjoy the warm weather, the sunshine and long days. Last year in the UK we were lucky because we had four or five heatwaves here, which meant that I could enjoy all of those benefits from the comfort of my own home. 

Summer is only a few months away and I can’t wait for it. 

6. Sunday Stealing, of course!

It’s fun and silly!