In a recent blog post (“A Social Experiment - Ask Me Anything”) I asked for any questions people would like to ask me, with the promise that I would answer them in return. Here’s the result;
I know your love likes to Knit. Do you ever pick up the needles and, say, make a sock or two?
Unfortunately my knitting ability didn’t progress beyond banging several nails into the end of a wooden cotton reel, and doing “French Knitting” as my grandparents called it - where you end up making a long thin tube.
Actually, that’s not true - my Grandad taught me to knit when I was about 5 - I suspect he learned in order to fix things while living in various tents throughout southern Europe and northern Africa during the war. I can’t remember any of it now though.
Have the recent terror attacks in the UK caused you to change your daily life any?
Not at all. I feel really sorry for anybody who is either of asian appearance, or is wearing any clothes associated with the muslim faith - because now they are all tarred with the same brush and face prejudice wherever they go.
I think Europeans in general are very liberal and tolerant in that regard though - apart from Spain, there seems to be very little racism in Europe - and then even in Spain it’s football “fans”.
Do you ever schmooze?
I just had to look the word “schmooze” up in the dictionary (giving a hint to the answer). The dictionary says “To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.”
Nope. Never “schmoozed”. In a group situation I will often be the one who breaks the ice and gives the more quiet members an “in” to the conversation. I like to include people - I don’t like others to be left out. I would never direct a conversation for my own purposes though.
How many coffees do you drink every day?
Until recently, far too many. After not drinking coffee for the last couple of years - except for the odd cup in restaurants - I started drinking esspresso in order to wake myself up for the London commute. This rapidly turned into four or five cups a day (not good), which lead to repeated headaches at weekends.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that I wasn’t drinking coffee at home, and the sudden withdrawal of it was causing banging headaches.
Having said that, I promised myself to stop drinking it but while racing to meet a deadline this week ended up grabbing two cups in two hours in order to work faster on Wednesday afternoon.
What is your favorite board game?
Chess. I cannot remember learning to play chess as a child, which is slightly strange. I can remember learning to tie my shoelaces though (sorry… getting off-topic). I’m never going to be that good at chess, but I enjoy it because it’s so hard. I enjoy reading about the lives of the famous Grandmasters too.
Are you prepared to learn all 490 Pokemon?
I am quite proud to say that I have never even held a Pokemon card in my hand. I have never played a Pokemon computer game, and I have never watched a Pokemon cartoon on the television. Therefore, the answer to that question would most likely be “no” unless somebody tells me that the impending arrival of children in our house will force a re-think.
What effect do you think the new prime minister will have on relations with the US?
I have a feeling George Bush has lost his Ally. Where Tony Blair concentrated very much on outward appearances - of “looking good” on the world stage, Gordon Brown seems to be a “get things done” prime minister. That will probably mean the armed forces coming home, the schools and health service being sorted out, and the “special relationship” with the USA being torn up.
Do you get tired of commuting into the city everyday and sometimes think there must be a better way?
Funnily enough, No. I do get tired, but I don’t blame the commute for that (for those who have not been reading my blog, on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s at the moment I am commuting into London - a 2 hour train journey each way). Having a commute puts a division between my work and home life, which is quite good.
While travelling across London on the underground trains can be frustrating sometimes due to the unthinking, rude minority, it can also be very entertaining - again, because of the unthinking, rude minority. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people frown at their mobile phone as it cuts out when the train goes into the tunnels…
Do you have a housekeeper? If your answer will be no, why not?
We do not have a housekeeper, but we do pay for somebody to clean for us half a day a week (Friday’s at the moment). We both work full time, so it at least means we don’t spend the entire weekend doing housework.
We could not afford a housekeeper, anyway.
Will you put out the bin tonight?
Ummm…. when W got in last night I said “I need to put the bin out”. We then both completely forgot about it. I woke up at 7am this morning and heard the bin lorry coming down the road. I jumped out of bed in the clumsy / half awake manner you do when something like that happens and looked for my robe in order to run down the road with the bin.
I ran down stairs with no clothes on, went straight to the shower - no robe. I then ran into the back room and looked for it on the back of the chairs. No robe. I then ran back to the bedroom, and finally found it on the back of the bedroom door (I never leave it there). I ran back across the landing, hooking my arms through the arm holes just in time to see the bin lorry disappearing around the corner of the street.
Why do you insist on leaving your socks all over the house?
My socks have a life all of their own. They climb out of my shoes in the night (or the laundry mountain), and strike for freedom - exploring the house as they go. As soon as we enter the room the fall to the floor, just like the toys in Toy Story.
Will you come and eat your dinner please?
I did. We had a back of the freezer special last night - chips, vegetables, and weird breadcrumb coated vegetable burger things. They tasted good though.
Will you take a candid shot of the person opposite you on the train tomorrow and tell us their life story as you can make it out from the resulting photo?
If I was in London today, I would, but I’m not. We had another adoption interview this morning (talking about the various disabilities, conditions, or diseases we feel we would be able to cope with in terms of our eventual adopted children). I will look through the various London photos I have though and see what I can come up with.