w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

I got tagged by 'er, so...

10 years ago

The office I moved from Yorkshire to Sussex to manage was closed down. Within six months (and still working for the same firm) I’d worked in Kingston-on Thames, Solihull (pronounced So Lee Hull) and Brentwood. So it was (another) start of an itinerant working life. I was 42, and it hurt. Life was not all that good. But I was determined to hold it together for the kids’ sake.

5 years ago

I’d re-established myself, career-wise, and apart from having to commute around the M25 for up to four hours each working day, was happy. And foreign holidays were becoming an annual event again, with the kids becoming ever independent. Not financially, y’understand. That ain’t ever gonna happen.

1 year ago

I thought I was dying, after a problem during a scuba dive in Crete. It turned out Ok, but was blummin’ scary, even so. I wrote an article about the incident, which was published in the May 2005 edition of "Dive" magazine. It was called "I’m forever blowing bubbles".

Yesterday

Was a fairly routine day. Re-booted the Broadband hub three times to get it working. Got an e-mail from Number One Son announcing the impending end of his World Tour (he’ll probably get home while we’re off on our – by comparison – bland two weeks abroad).

Cooked tea for Number One daughter (Steak pie with Guinness, chips and ‘special’ beans – a recipe handed down through, oh, at least two years. The secret is a judicious use of cayenne pepper). And had a glass of red waiting for Mrs.D. when she came in from her late shift. You didn’t know they still employed women down the mines? Shame on you, in this egalitarian world.

Today

So far, so good. The latest company takeover augurs well for our little division (he wrote, with all digits crossed).

Tomorrow

Is POETS day (Push Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday) and we’re off to Pompey to spend the weekend with our mates at the IFOS exhibition. (We’re all Pompey born and bred, but have managed to lose the accent along the way?)

5 snacks I enjoy

Not much of a nibbler, actually. And definitely sapid, not sweet.
Pork pies
Crisps
Kracker Wheat with cheese.
Tuc biscuits
I love nuts but, as they say, they don’t like me. Hmmm.

5 songs I know all the words to
Wish you were here – Pink Floyd
Take it to the limit – Eagles
Hammer to fall – Queen
Sky will fall – The Bluetones
Willie The Pimp – Frank Zappa

5 things I would do with £1,000,000
Buy a trawler-sized boat.
Go to Navigation classes
Equip it with everything to cope with disabled kids.
Take them out fishing.
Stand back and watch them having just the greatest fun.

5 locations I would love to run away to
Hawai'i (Big Island)
Molokai
O’ahu
Maui
Kaui

5 things I like doing

Barbecuing. Man. Fire. Etc.
Listening to music (really loud)
Scuba diving. Stressful peace.
Photography (really getting back into it, since going ‘digital’)
Reading (books, not the place in Berkshire. Though I'm sure it's a lovely place)

5 things I would never wear

Socks with sandals (or even sandals)
Pyjamas (if we ever have a house-fire in the night, I’m bu99ered)
A cap
A sarong
A thong

5 recently-seen movies I like
Not much of a film buff (why are they called that?)
So…
About Schmidt
Touching the void
Master and commander
Er, that’s it.

5 famous people I’d like to meet
Bob Geldof (yeah, I know, I know)
Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Jack Nicholson
Dubya (he’d get such a slap from me)
Johnny Rotten

Shallow? Me?

5 biggest joys of the moment
Both kids (so different, I’d swear they’re not mine, if I hadn't been at the conception)
Blogging
(Still) having all senses/limbs intact, to enjoy reading, listening to music, scuba-diving
Having finished decorating our bedroom. That’s the last flatpack I assemble for a long while
And... drum-roll…...

Mrs.D.


5 favourite toys

Sony minidisk (keeps me sane and removed from the other commuters)
Fuji S5000 digital camera
Blogger (yeah, let’s hear it for Blogger)
Our Mini Cooper
Suunto Gekko dive computer

And the baton goes to..

Bruv
Buddy
Bsag
Soapy
Gert