Gary Simpson aka The Gazzman threw down the gauntlet and challenged members of Alex Jeffreys Coaching to reveal 25 things about themselves when tagged by another member. I have been tagged so here goes….
1) I come from S.Devon, England and I was a war baby.
I now live in the middle of Sweden with my Swedish wife.
I have recently lived and worked in the Middle East for more than 20 years in various countries there – some good, some not so good.
2) My mother was a widow at age 28 and was left with 3 children plus one on the way (my youngest sister).I am the eldest and was 7 years old at the time. Times were tough but overall life was better in many ways then.
3) I left home at the age of 16 and went to sea as a navigation cadet with a Liverpool shipping company. We went to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and down the W. Coast of S. America and I continued with this route more or less for 4 years.
Tales to tell! Then I went to other places.
4) I became a Grandfather (Grandpa) for the first time last Thursday! A boy Tom, 6lbs.71/2 ozs.(about 3 kilos). Mixed feelings – and now I feel really grown up 
)
Internet Marketing took a back seat lately.
5) I learned to scuba dive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and dived in the Red Sea – absolute magic and it can’t get much better than that. Not so magical above the water though.
6) I have flown many hours, in many different aircraft, both civilian and military BUT I have never flown in a helicopter. How weird is that? An ambition.
7) I like good English bitter beer but these days my intake is limited (however been there, done that ).
Now, my idea of entertainment is good company, good food and good wine.
I like photography, golf and sailing. I don’t do enough of any of them at the moment – different priorities
9) I was brought up alongside the sea, lived in it, lived on it, worked with it, have a lot of respect for it and it is very important to me.
I miss it just now.
10) I have twice sailed in the Dubai – Muscat Race, through the Straits of Hormuz. Different!
11) When I was young I always wanted to be a pilot.
My first flight was in an Avro Anson WW2 aircraft. It shuddered, shaked a lot, and just about clawed its way into the sky.
I was in heaven!
12) I do not understand women even when I think I do. I have given up now and accept that they come from a different planet.
How can you save money by buying something in a sale you didn’t need? Don’t fight it, Dave!
13) I am a bit of a loner, mostly because of the way my life was/is, and tend to fly beneath the radar.
I realize this is not good for a would-be internet marketer,and I am working on it.
I am quite sociable when I have the chance.
14) Some memories are precious – I have camped way out in the desert, and also out in the forest here, and at night the stars are enormous and there is total silence.
Beautiful, and something that is becoming harder and harder to find in our overcrowded world.
15) After driving in the Middle East for many years I now tend to be very impatient with the slow (?) drivers here. My wife says I grow horns when I get in a car. I’m working on it!
16) I used to smoke but gave up over 20 years ago after my daughters told me it worried them.
17) I sometimes miss the place I came from but my siblings tell me that I dream of a place that no longer exists. How sad is that?
18) I am not a good dancer. Two left feet might describe me, although I appreciate good dancing and wish I could do it well.
Having spent quite a lot of time in S.America I can truthfully say nobody, but nobody, will ever dance Latin American quite like the natives!
19) I was a sprinter at school, and ran for the school but I cannot run cross country/long distance at all. The last time I did it I tripped, fell into a stream and the guys following used me as a stepping stone across the stream. I had a back covered in muddy footprints. I gave up cross country after that.
20) I have traveled the world and lived and worked in different countries all my life.
I have found that no matter where you are people all want the same thing – a nice job, a nice salary, a nice house, education for their children, freedom to get on with their life etc. What is going on?
21) I hate talking about myself.
22) Some of my favorite books:
Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee – A time and place I can relate to written beautifully. I find his follow up books about Civil War Spain fascinating also.
The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby who was an apprentice on the last of the Windjammers.
The Riddle Of The Sands by Erskine Childers.
I also like most of the classics, “whodunnits” and thrillers.
23) Music – I have very catholic tastes, anything from traditional jazz to opera to rock to classics and so on. All depends on the mood.
I don’t think there is anything out there today to match Pink Floyd, Queen,etc
24) I am now the world’s greatest procrastinator. Probably comes from working in a pressure cooker most of my life. Not good for an internet marketer!
25) The last good film I saw was “Lord of The Rings”. I have read the book a number of times and the director was true to the book as much as possible. I also enjoyed the “how it was made” film. Brilliant work by the Kiwis!!
26) I forgot to do No. 25 until Vance Sova reminded me. So, I have to go one more.
Another ambition is to go with my wife to New Zealand, hire a camper van and just drive all round for a few months, visit some old friends and just enjoy!
Technorati Tags: Absolute Magic, Alex Jeffreys, Ambition, Back Seat, Bitter Beer, Devon England, Gary Simpson, Gauntlet, Good Company, Good Food, Grandpa, Jeddah Saudi Arabia, Last Thursday, Mixed Feelings, Ozs, Panama Canal, Red Sea, Shipping Company, Time Times, War Baby
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