Late Saturday memes

(Both are linked in the meme-roll)
Patrick's Place -- Saturday Six

1. How many flashlights do you own?

We probably have close to two dozen scattered around the house, in virtually every room. I even have one at work plugged in and charging under my desk. We lose power (at home and at work) often enough that this is important.

2. When did you last use a flashlight?

Last night when I was bringing the laundry up to our room after Beast was asleep. I needed to see where not to swing the basket as I passed his feet.

3. When is the last time you lost power at your home?

Within the last month. Like I said, it happens fairly often. I don't even pay a lot of attention anymore; we have a generator, and even when Beast is out of town, I have directions on how to connect it up to the house electrical panel if we're dark for more than a few hours. I haven't had to do that (yet) this year, though.

4. How many light bulbs do you have installed in various fixtures in your home right now?

In counting them up, I get about 42 on the main floor (and porches and garage) of the house, about 32 upstairs, and I didn't even try to deal with whatever is going on downstairs in the basement! So, yeah, about 100. And why do they seem to all go more or less at the same time? I did not include Christmas tree lights, by the way. lol

5. Of those, how many bulbs are the new "CFL" bulbs?

At least half. Some of our lamps don't accept the shape/size of the CFL bulbs, and several of our fixtures require really odd-shapped (smaller- or larger- than standard) bulbs. Where we can, we use them.

6. If you could eliminate either the old-style Edison bulbs or the new-style CFL bulbs, which would get the axe and why?

I'm not really much of a fan of either. The new ones are dangerous if they get broken, and the older ones are designed to fail. The old original Edison bulbs were much better in terms of conservation. Really hate fluorescents, though, 100%!

Saturday 9 -- Band on the Run

1) This song is about a band of musicians that escapes on an adventure. Do you consider yourself spontaneous and adventurous?

Of the two people currently living in this house, I'm way, way, WAY more spontaneous. But we're both rather adventurous in slightly different ways. We like a good challenge.

2) Paul McCartney and Wings traveled all the way to Lagos, Nigeria, to record Band on the Run. That's a long, long way from London. What's the farthest from home you've ever been?

Beijing.

3) Wings featured Linda McCartney on keyboards. Paul said that when Linda died, after almost 30 years together, he lost the love of his life. Who is the love of your life? Or have you yet to meet him/her?

Well, I've been married 27 years, have known Beast fairly well for three years before that... So I guess that means Beast is the love of my life. In the words of Tevye & Golde: It doesn't change a thing / But even so / After twenty-five years / It's nice to know

4) Paul has said he's very proud of Band on the Run, his most successful post-Beatles album. Brag a little. Tell us something you're proud of.

I'm really proud of my son, for whom I can't completely claim credit, but it is nice to see him getting more mature and dealing with the pitfalls of life with some calm and sensible ways. We talked today for the first time in almost two weeks and he has been dealing with a helluva a lot of not-good-things this past week, without once calling us to whine.

5) Paul's birth certificate reads "James Paul McCartney." He's named for his father, Jim. Are you named after anyone?

I'm, supposedly, named after a friend of one of my sisters. They 'suggested' it to my parents because the girls felt my parents' name-choosing skills had been shown to be lacking in the extreme. I'm not so sure the name I ended up with was any worse than anything my parents would have picked. My dad, after all, had had a sister named "Rowena" which is a delightful name, not that I have any idea that they'd've used it!

6) Paul enjoys oil painting in his spare time. What's one of your hobbies?

Wasting time.

7) 20 Forthlin Road, Paul McCartney's boyhood home, has been turned into a museum by the British government. It's a modest 2 bedroom cottage, with a drainpipe that Paul used to climb to sneak in after curfew. How would you describe your childhood home?

My dad designed and built it--it's one of two in the world with the same floor plan. Two bedrooms on the main floor, a full basement with another (big) bedroom, a playroom and lots of storage (and a second bathroom). When I arrived on the scene rather tardily, Dad added a room above the garage that became the master bedroom (it is a GIANT room: probably something like 12 x 30'). The hallway to the bedrooms on the main floor curves to create enough space; if the corner had been squared, there would be no hallway.

8) Paul is 5'11". How tall are you?

I'm about 3" shorter than he.

9) Actor Christopher Lee is on the album cover. He played Dracula in a series of movies in the 1950s and 1960s. Who is your favorite vampire?

I'm not really much into vampires, having seen 'Salem's Lot at an impressionable age. I find the whole concept way past creepy, medieval in all the bad ways, and kind of nauseating. And that's just the 'traditional' vampires; do NOT get me started on the more modern 'sparkly' variety!!