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Mar. 20th, 2007 06:40 pmHappy Birthday Sharon
bugger - I went and closed notepad without saving and just lost the three questions for Trav and 4 for Petar
dammit, they took me ages to come up with and now I've got to remember what the heck I wrote.
any old road up - here's Claris's questions
1. So far I've read about wine tasting & astronomy - what's the course that you're taking next? Why?
Well, I *really*really*really* want to do the Beginners Roman Archaeology course over at Sutton. Why? because I'm a big sad geek :)
2. Since you're the only person I know who's possibly spent more time in cars than I have... do you think I should get a New Beetle for my next car?
Also, why the hell do 5-speed Jags have to be special ordered over here in the States? Is it that Americans don't want to drive standards, or that you guys just won't share your toys?
Well, the Beetle isn't bad but if it was me I'd rather go for the Golf if you're having the roof or the Eos if you want the convertible. The Beetle just seems to try a bit too hard.
Is driving a stick more popular now? Last time I was over it seemed people wanted the ease of a full auto.
*giggle* just remembered Diane Benson giving Amber grief about not knowing how to handle a stick *nudge*wink* and she doesn't know how to change gear either
3. I know that you do rally cars, and you sail, but how did you start that? Was there an actual impetus to put yourself in harm's way, or much like my stupidity, did someone you know suggest it & you went, ::shrug:: "Okay, I could try that, sure."
Rallying started due to cheap beer. The local motorclub had a discounted bar so I figured it was worth going along to.
My family have all been major motorsport fans so I then thought as I was a member I might as well try marshalling.
It was good fun, but those pesky navigators kept claiming strange rules to try and get an advantage.
To get a copy of this mythical rulebook they kept quoting I could pay £30 or get my navigators licence for £20 and get a free copy of the book. I paid the £20. Never had any intention of ever competing.
Friday afternoon my dad picks me up from my training course and informs me there's a rally team outside the house, their navigator was "broken" and they needed a replacement as the race started in an hour and I lived the closest. Before I realised what had happened, I was decked out in fireproof overalls / helmet / map and shoved into a car. As I was desperately trying to explain how it was all a big mistake, some bloke started counting down from 5 and waved the start flag.
Sailing... My earliest memories as a baby were sitting on the deck of a boat. My dad had a side job doing yacht repairs and again, you see what your parents do and follow in their interests.
Sadly my sailing skills are utter pants, especially when compared to rallying. I'm really determined to get more practice in this year.
4. Do you have a goodly amount of life insurance?
I tried being honest once about my leisure interests in the hope of getting suitable life insurance. The bank declined me and threatened to investigate my mortgage application - turns out I was one point from being denied a mortgage too!
My mom would get a nice amount if I died rallying. Sadly she'd not get much from my climbing/sailing policies.
5. When you're standing in the pub, trying to tell a story about a race, or a mountain climb, or the time you had to hide from the British Tax Authorities in Germany for a couple months - do people believe you, or do they think you're just havin' them on?
I don't believe me so I don't see why anyone else would. I tend not to talk about things like that if I'm at the pub. I'm more likely to tell them about the latest dotNet application I'd developed (which reminds me, I need to do an update about the C# code and how it intercepts incoming SMS messages, analyses them for keywords and sends a text to a webserver if they match - it's well cool)
bugger - I went and closed notepad without saving and just lost the three questions for Trav and 4 for Petar
dammit, they took me ages to come up with and now I've got to remember what the heck I wrote.
any old road up - here's Claris's questions
1. So far I've read about wine tasting & astronomy - what's the course that you're taking next? Why?
Well, I *really*really*really* want to do the Beginners Roman Archaeology course over at Sutton. Why? because I'm a big sad geek :)
2. Since you're the only person I know who's possibly spent more time in cars than I have... do you think I should get a New Beetle for my next car?
Also, why the hell do 5-speed Jags have to be special ordered over here in the States? Is it that Americans don't want to drive standards, or that you guys just won't share your toys?
Well, the Beetle isn't bad but if it was me I'd rather go for the Golf if you're having the roof or the Eos if you want the convertible. The Beetle just seems to try a bit too hard.
Is driving a stick more popular now? Last time I was over it seemed people wanted the ease of a full auto.
*giggle* just remembered Diane Benson giving Amber grief about not knowing how to handle a stick *nudge*wink* and she doesn't know how to change gear either
3. I know that you do rally cars, and you sail, but how did you start that? Was there an actual impetus to put yourself in harm's way, or much like my stupidity, did someone you know suggest it & you went, ::shrug:: "Okay, I could try that, sure."
Rallying started due to cheap beer. The local motorclub had a discounted bar so I figured it was worth going along to.
My family have all been major motorsport fans so I then thought as I was a member I might as well try marshalling.
It was good fun, but those pesky navigators kept claiming strange rules to try and get an advantage.
To get a copy of this mythical rulebook they kept quoting I could pay £30 or get my navigators licence for £20 and get a free copy of the book. I paid the £20. Never had any intention of ever competing.
Friday afternoon my dad picks me up from my training course and informs me there's a rally team outside the house, their navigator was "broken" and they needed a replacement as the race started in an hour and I lived the closest. Before I realised what had happened, I was decked out in fireproof overalls / helmet / map and shoved into a car. As I was desperately trying to explain how it was all a big mistake, some bloke started counting down from 5 and waved the start flag.
Sailing... My earliest memories as a baby were sitting on the deck of a boat. My dad had a side job doing yacht repairs and again, you see what your parents do and follow in their interests.
Sadly my sailing skills are utter pants, especially when compared to rallying. I'm really determined to get more practice in this year.
4. Do you have a goodly amount of life insurance?
I tried being honest once about my leisure interests in the hope of getting suitable life insurance. The bank declined me and threatened to investigate my mortgage application - turns out I was one point from being denied a mortgage too!
My mom would get a nice amount if I died rallying. Sadly she'd not get much from my climbing/sailing policies.
5. When you're standing in the pub, trying to tell a story about a race, or a mountain climb, or the time you had to hide from the British Tax Authorities in Germany for a couple months - do people believe you, or do they think you're just havin' them on?
I don't believe me so I don't see why anyone else would. I tend not to talk about things like that if I'm at the pub. I'm more likely to tell them about the latest dotNet application I'd developed (which reminds me, I need to do an update about the C# code and how it intercepts incoming SMS messages, analyses them for keywords and sends a text to a webserver if they match - it's well cool)
