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oh-a-very-toxic-octopus · 1 year ago

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Seeing a few people blitzing the answers like this and decided to have a go too!

1. What was the first piece of furniture you bought?

A leather sofa and armchair we bought from a charity shop for £25. We thought they were black leather, but as we walked the sofa outside and into the sunshine, it became undeniably green. For £25, though, who can complain?

2. What proportion of your meals do you cook?

Probably 90% at the moment. Jim likes cooking more than I do, but he's in his final year at uni and has been flat-out on his project. I have a decent rotation of doable meals going now, and he volunteers to chop veg/roll fajitas/make gravy, which keeps me p calm in the kitchen. (I have not always been calm in the kitchen.)

3. Foaming hand soap or normal hand soap?

Normal. Bar soap is the way.

4. Favorite chore?

In summer, laundry. There are a few factors here:

I am deeply invested in the well-being of the fancy Samsung washing machine I splurged on when we first moved here and enjoy keeping it clean and efficient.

I hate clothes shopping and waste, so I want to look after my kit and make it last forever. FOREVER.

I am very finicky about the texture of my clothes, towels and bedding and want to get them Just Right.

I am just as finicky about smells, with added backstory: when I worked retail, I only had one uniform and had to wash it too regularly to line-dry it, so for ages I relied on a tumble-dryer and smelled depressingly of rubber, while one of my colleagues was always wafting about smelling clean and lovely. For a long time, smelling good was my one goal in life. And now it has been achieved. I am a successful adult and I smell of line-dried Persil.

I enjoy the excuse to go outside and stand in the sunshine patting my line-drying clothes, eyy.

In winter I want to die, obviously, but cooking (from my limited set menu) is probably top. Prepping a good dinner sometimes breaks the SAD fog.

5. Least favorite chore?

Cleaning the fucking toilet.

6. Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed?

I have blanked this from my memory for my own good. One time I woke up and my late cat, Spider, was humping the absolute shit out of my cello, though.

7. Any groceries you've been getting into lately?

Sweet potato fries. Also this fancy salmon en croute that cooks in half an hour and bubbles up immaculately.

8. What cleaning product do you swear by?

Ehhh. I was a vinegar stan for a while. Now it's basically antibacterial spray for general grime, washing up liquid for grease, bleach for nasties, vinegar for mould and mildew. I have an emotional support bottle of Cillit Bang that I occasionally use on the bathroom.

9. What's your emotional support craft?

I don't really craft. I doodle a fair bit and write sometimes.

10. Youtube, cable TV, or streaming?

Streaming. Netflix and Prime, plus sneaky access to Jim's parents' Sky subscription.

11. What's something you saved up for and then regretted buying?

Oh fuck me, so many things. I hate buying anything. Buying things sucks.

Off the top of my head: a wool trenchcoat, leather boots, clothes in general. I have a Gtech Multi hoover that cost way more than my little Makita stick and is infinitely less useful, too. I'm not 100% sold on my current laptop, either. Should've fixed my desktop instead.

12. How many cups can you see from where you're sitting?

None, but only because I tidied up three before sitting down.

13. Which filter are you most likely to go "eh, it's probably fine" when you find out you need to change it?

My shop vac is currently filterless. I just stuck some old t-shirts in there. Basically the same thing.

I hand-wash most foam filters for as long as I possibly can tbh.

14. How often do you take baths?

Never. I do not own a bath and I'm grossed out by the idea of using one in a hotel.

15. Do you go down each aisle when you grocery shop, or only the ones you know you need stuff from?

I do my grocery shopping online with home delivery. This means that when I have to shop in person I am perpetually lost and must wander the labyrinth for several hours.

16. Where do you go when you need to get out of the house but it's raining?

If it's raining and I don't have a pressing reason to go outside, I will not go out.

17. What's a movie you saw recently that you liked?

The Children of Men.

18. Pro or anti tchotchkes?

Had to Google this word (it is an incredible word, btw) but it was worth it to know I am anti, so anti, in every single case save for my growing army of dried bug skins. These alone may clutter my shelves. These and a few pottery dragons. And a wooden dragon. And some tiny porcelain cats. And a lot of books I will never reread. A few framed art prints. Uhh.

19. What's your go-to tape?

Electrical. I make the case: nice block colours, good stretch, snaps off the roll easily, holds together your indicator relay when you crash.

20. What's in your freezer right now?

It's rammed, honestly. I've got batches of roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and Dauphinoise potato; some stuffing balls I batch-rolled; curry sauces; bread sauce; Moroccan lamb meatballs; Swedish meatballs and gravy; minced beef; minced lamb; fish fingers; four tempura battered fish fillets; Jim's stash of Higgidy Pies; sweetcorn; peas; two pepperoni pizzas; three garlic flatbreads; sweet potato fries; hash browns; two apple strudels; onion rings; breaded mushrooms; and battered chicken nuggets. I'm sure there's more but I CBA to get up and check.

21. Last concert you attended?

Uhhhh, the Taste of Chaos tour — Disturbed, Halestorm and Papa Roach — in 2011. 💀 We almost went to Download this year, but given the mudfest it became, I'm okay with having missed it.

22. Favorite grocery store?

I'm a Tesco native but I heckin love M&S, just walking around looking at their fancy food.

23. Paper bags, plastic bags, or reusable bags?

I like Hessian reusable bags the most. In reality, I have a stash of plastic Bags for Life that's so huge they're probably more damaging than the OG one-use plastic bag.

24. Do you get your government mandated 8 hours every night?

No. We go to bed some time between 22.00 and midnight, depending on what we're up to that evening, and inevitably hang out in bed for so long we don't go to sleep until past one. It's my favourite thing, so I'm not complaining, but I am sleepy.

25. Favorite old person activity?

Does reading count? I like walking as well.

26. Would you rather sit on the porch drinking sweet tea or sit by the lake drinking beers?

Lake lake lake.

Beer beer beer.

27. Do you prefer Boardgame Night, Build-Your-Own-Pizza Night, or Movie Night with your friends?

Movie night.

28. Be honest, do you like all of the pictures of their babies that your friends send you?

My friends don't have babies, but I do not enjoy the pictures from my colleagues and acquaintances either. The human child is grim and sticky and I fundamentally don't understand the mindset that leads people to have them. Jim and I have been discussing it pretty intensely as we're 35 this year and our decision will soon be permanent, but my stance never really wavers.

29. Go-to holiday card format?

Unsure what this means. Jim's mum is hugely into sending cards, which I find quite daunting. Daunted, however, I rose to the challenge of sending cards back, and now I quite enjoy keeping an eye out for nice cards to add to my stash so I've always got a few ready to send — to her or to my own parents, who seem to appreciate my shift toward sending them.

30. How many pairs of scissors do you own?

So many scissors. We have a drawer of scissors. I want to say 15–20 pairs of scissors.

31. Do you still own your first car?

I do not. It was a 2003 Ford Ranger that was scrapped (not by me) for rust-related issues. Its engine went to Poland, I believe.

I note my first vehicle was a Yamaha YBR125 Custom, which I didn't keep very long at all. Just checked its history and apparently it's been off the road since 2021. :(

32. How do you take your morning coffee/tea?

It's tea, and I like milk and no sugar.

33. What's something you collect?

Bug skins. Specifically dragonfly sheds, but I have some cicadas from when I was a kid.

I also have my childhood spoon collection.

34. What's your commute like?

I leave the house, turn left down our alleyway, mount the bridge, and arrive at my home office in the garden.

Sometimes I *do* get called into the office, and that's a three-hour drive each way, with *people* at the end, eugh.

35. Aisle at the grocery store you never bother walking down?

The fizzy drink aisle. I like having teeth and shunning the betes.

I do however drink enough beer that I may fail on both those points anyway.

36. Do you keep a daily journal or agenda?

Sometimes. I'm insufficiently organised to keep at it. Instead I have a series of spreadsheets to log my chores and batch cooking, and I use my Google calendar to mark important events.

37. Do you still listen to the same music you listened to in high school?

Aw yeah. Favourites include Muse, Fiona Apple, System of a Down, Pink, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, Alanis Morissette, Snow Patrol, Vanessa Carlton, A Perfect Circle, Pendulum and The Prodigy.

38. What's the last filter you changed?

Errr, I washed the filters on my Makita stick hoover. Replaced...? Probably the air filter for my Vauxhall Combo.

39. What little treat do you always get when you run errands?

I am not a little treat person; I want the money to stay in my bank account pls.

I do sometimes buy Jim some Marvelous Creations or a Terry's Chocolate Orange. I get the warm fuzzies from giving him stuff.

40. Grocery list or no grocery list?

List. Colour-coded by section, if I can. How does anyone survive without a list? Do you hold it all in your heads?? Like madmen???

41. What's the oldest thing you own?

My house, built in the 1800s. Whenever I get pissed at how badly built it is, I have to stop and consider that when my childhood home was being built (early enough to be damaged by shrapnel in the Coventry Blitz) my house was already over 100 years old.

42. What's an unjustifiably expensive appliance that you really want?

The ✨Bissell Spinwave✨

Look at that stunning thing. Give me those clean floors, Bissell. Please. Mopping just doesn't cut it.

43. Favorite book you've read recently?

Toss-up between The Priory of the Orange Tree, Slaughterhouse Five and Penance.

Probably Orange Tree.

44. Honest feelings on Settlers of Catan?

Never played it, not really a boardgame person.

45. What's something you wish you had more time for?

Writing, art, motorcycling, bicycling. At the moment, all my time is devoted to work, housekeeping, DIY and mechanical maintenance stuff. I'll get some time back when Jim's done with his uni degree, but I dunno that I'll ever finish writing a book again.

46. What kind of stuff do you keep on the door of your refrigerator?

A bin day calendar, a list of meals for the week with their eat-by dates and a shopping list.

47. Lamps or overhead lighting?

Overhead lighting. I get very angry very quickly if I have to put up with dimly lit rooms. We have some overhead spotlights that drive me a bit insane too, though; they cast intense shadows.

I fitted my office with my ideal lighting: 120 degree beam angle, 3200 lumens, warm temperature light bars. Everything is warmly and evenly lit.

48. If you could build your home from scratch, what outrageous feature would you want to build into it?

I'd move the house to the top of our hill, dig in a huge basement garage and lift the overall roof height by a couple metres to gain high ceilings on both above-ground floors. Skylights, exposed beams, cavity walls, underfloor heating, big windows with electric blinds, American-style HVAC ducting, central vac, some sort of built -in dehumidifier, triple glazing, water filtration and some kind of water pressure booster, giant log-drying facility, sauna.

49. Do you bring a bag with you everywhere you go?

No. On hikes and bike rides I take my Osprey Raven 14, but in urban areas I just stick my keys, wallet and phone in my pockets.

50. Pro or anti throw pillows?

None on the bed, a few on the sofa and armchair. Gotta have washable covers. Gotta get that Persil-fresh scent.

51. How many blankets do you keep in your living room?

Two: a fancy Melin Tregwynt lambswool blanket bought for us by Jim's mum that covers the cracked leather on our armchair, and a thin red washable fleece drape (also bought for us by Jim's mum) that I use as a barrier between me and the sofa if I'm at all dirty when I want to sit down.

We have a few more woollen blankets that go on the bed and on my sofa out in my office. They were all bought by my mum or by Jim's.

52. Did your relationship with your parents get better when you stopped living with them?

MIXED REVIEWS. Stopped living with my dad at eleven and that did not go well. Moved fully out of my mum's home at 25 and that helped a lot, although I think General Adulthood was doing most of the heavy lifting — we weren't at loggerheads even before I left.

I have a distant but amicable relationship with both of them now, where I have to initiate all contact but it usually goes well when I do, although my mum keeps freaking out over my potential ND status and my sibling's ongoing transition.

53. What's worse, the DMV or the Social Security Office?

Not American so I'm not sure. I guess our equivalents are the DVLA and the DWP.

I hate both but the DWP are worse. I worked for them for a little while (unpaid, in exchange only for my jobseeker benefits ��) and it was hell in there. My internship allowed me to be a relatively beneficial figure in the Jobcentre and offer (completely unfunded) tech training and digital support to some of our vulnerable jobseekers, but the permanent staff had to hit targets, targets that centred disqualifying people from benefits. Awful shit.

The DVLA can't type and regularly fuck up my forms, but most of my interactions with them are automated these days and they don't peddle human suffering. Go go DVLA, winning when the bar is in hell.

54. Do you decorate your house for holidays? Which ones?

We dress our trees and the chapel with fairy lights for Christmas. I'm not really a Christmas person — fairly anti-theist — but we've been slowly returning to some of these practices and finding them pleasant. I hate the gift-receiving but enjoy the lights and food.

55. Favorite high-effort meal that you make?

My Beef and Guinness Stew. This one:

56. Favorite low-effort meal that you make?

Asparapasta. Don't think I've bothered adding it to my site, so:

Chop up bacon, an onion and a pack of asparagus.

Put pasta on to boil and start frying the bacon.

When the bacon reaches your desired level of crispiness, add the onion to the pan and cook. Give the onion a slight head start, then add the asparagus too. Fry, stirring regularly, until the asparagus softens and turns a brighter green.

Reduce the heat to low and add the juice of one lemon and a huge dollop of Thai sweet chilli sauce. Stir and simmer while you drain the pasta.

Put the pasta in bowls and top with the other ingredients. Add parmesan and black pepper. Consume.

57. Do you tend to bring an appetizer, entree, dessert, or drinks to a potluck?

Too unsociable for potlucks.

58. What kind of bag do you use for your bag full of bags?

It used to be one of those waxy flat-woven structured rectangular LIDL bags, but now I have a box for them instead. The box is a locking plastic box used by the NHS for human flesh samples. It's clean now.

59. If you died and your ghost was stuck in the outfit you're wearing right now for the rest of time, would you be happy with it?

Jeans - "For the Horde" t-shirt - oversized red jumper - ill-fitting socks.

It's okay. Representative.

60. Do you have an opinion on your local weather reporter?

I do not know who they are as I do not pay my TV licence and thus have no terrestrial television.

61. Do you have a favorite brunch spot?

I do not deviate from the standard three-meal pattern. Get out of here, brunch.

62. Where are you on the minimalism-maximalism kinsey scale?

Standard bi woman. I want patterned wallpaper but bare shelves. I never achieve the bare shelves.

63. Opinion on Bath and Body Works?

I've never been. I hate Lush and The Body Shop, which I suppose are similar. Generally I feel the current self-care trend is just more consumerist bullshit.

(This totally unbiased political opinion sponsored by my scent-induced migraines.)

64. Last time you visited a farmer's market?

A month or so ago, when I discovered one in the field opposite the MOT centre where I was dropping off some motorbikes. I bought some vegetables and a pair of tomato plants.

65. Anything you're procrastinating on right now?

I should be doing some work-work (editing a blog article written by my colleague). I'm pretty on top of things otherwise. As a long-term disorganised mess, I feel weird about this degree of hard work and expect it will not last.

66. Do you get your taxes in as soon as possible, at the last minute, or late?

I'm on PAYE (pay as you earn) so it goes out automatically in real time. Rest assured I'd be a last-minute fuckwit who occasionally submits late because I put a form in a "safe place" if I had to do it myself.

67. Do you keep any stuffed animals on your bed?

Sometimes Max puts his stuffed stegosaurus in there and I discover it with my feet. Thanks, buddy.

68. Are your garbage bags scented or unscented?

Unscented. Scented is beyond grim. I feel I am consistent on this point.

69. What are you looking forward to next week?

A few things!

Get those Tories out of office.

It's Max's birthday! New dog toy time.

Hoping a new bearing arrives for my ebike engine and I can start riding again.

My project YBR is booked in for its MOT on Monday. Fingers crossed it's deemed roadworthy and I can move on to other projects.

Ask meme for people in their 30s

What was the first piece of furniture you bought?

What proportion of your meals do you cook?

Foaming hand soap or normal hand soap?

Favorite chore?

Least favorite chore?

Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed?

Any groceries you've been getting into lately?

What cleaning product do you swear by?

What's your emotional support craft?

Youtube, cable TV, or streaming?

What's something you saved up for and then regretted buying?

How many cups can you see from where you're sitting?

Which filter are you most likely to go "eh, it's probably fine" when you find out you need to change it?

How often do you take baths?

Do you go down each aisle when you grocery shop, or only the ones you know you need stuff from?

Where do you go when you need to get out of the house but it's raining?

What's a movie you saw recently that you liked?

Pro or anti tchotchkes?

What's your go-to tape?

What's in your freezer right now?

Last concert you attended?

Favorite grocery store?

Paper bags, plastic bags, or reusable bags?

Do you get your government mandated 8 hours every night?

Favorite old person activity?

Would you rather sit on the porch drinking sweet tea or sit by the lake drinking beers?

Do you prefer Boardgame Night, Build-Your-Own-Pizza Night, or Movie Night with your friends?

Be honest, do you like all of the pictures of their babies that your friends send you?

Go-to holiday card format?

How many pairs of scissors do you own?

Do you still own your first car?

How do you take your morning coffee/tea?

What's something you collect?

What's your commute like?

Aisle at the grocery store you never bother walking down?

Do you keep a daily journal or agenda?

Do you still listen to the same music you listened to in high school?

What's the last filter you changed?

What little treat do you always get when you run errands?

Grocery list or no grocery list?

What's the oldest thing you own?

What's an unjustifiably expensive appliance that you really want?

Favorite book you've read recently?

Honest feelings on Settlers of Catan?

What's something you wish you had more time for?

What kind of stuff do you keep on the door of your refrigerator?

Lamps or overhead lighting?

If you could build your home from scratch, what outrageous feature would you want to build into it?

Do you bring a bag with you everywhere you go?

Pro or anti throw pillows?

How many blankets do you keep in your living room?

Did your relationship with your parents get better when you stopped living with them?

What's worse, the DMV or the Social Security Office?

Do you decorate your house for holidays? Which ones?

Favorite high-effort meal that you make?

Favorite low-effort meal that you make?

Do you tend to bring an appetizer, entree, dessert, or drinks to a potluck?

What kind of bag do you use for your bag full of bags?

If you died and your ghost was stuck in the outfit you're wearing right now for the rest of time, would you be happy with it?

Do you have an opinion on your local weather reporter?

Do you have a favorite brunch spot?

Where are you on the minimalism-maximalism kinsey scale?

Opinion on Bath and Body Works?

Last time you visited a farmer's market?

Anything you're procrastinating on right now?

Do you get your taxes in as soon as possible, at the last minute, or late?

Do you keep any stuffed animals on your bed?

Are your garbage bags scented or unscented?

What are you looking forward to next week?

#big long questionnaires #i know how these are meant to be done ok but I got nostalgic for livejournal behaviour

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