25 Things

I got tagged on Facebook (befriend here) with 25 things, don’t normally do much on FB but thought this would be fun, so sharing here too as if it gets any SE traffic want it here and not there.

1. I used to run a market stall selling ethnic clothing, jewellery and dope paraphernalia

2. In my younger years I played drums and was into glam rock (even sometimes dressed the part)

3. I get secretly emotional when watching films, actually shed a tear when I watched Seven Pounds.

4. I was totally anti-mobile phone for years, I now carry two.

5. I got fired from my first two jobs and in all honesty should have been fired from my last (and final) job.

6. I used to have zero financial intelligence and racked up a serious amount of credit card debt. It got to the point where my parents were advised to disown me if they wanted to get a loan.

7. My daughter Alicia was born whilst I was at University and I spent my final year looking after her, studying from home and creating my first website (which is still live and earning $1 a day now).

8. I am a loyal friend and will do anything to help somebody but when crossed I hold a grudge for an unhealthily long time.

9. I never give vouchers or cash as gifts as think the thought is far more important.

10. My proudest moment of 2008 was inviting a homeless guy called Keith to eat with me and then buying him a room for the night.

11. I support Newcastle United which never fails to cause me pain

12. I want to learn to ski, had one lesson so far and it hurt

13. I read all 3 books of Lord of the Rings in two days.

14. I’ve electrocuted myself twice, both times I survived

15. I dislike sun, pool and beach holidays.

16. I quit smoking about 5 years ago, was on holiday at the time and was embarrassed by parents smoking over their kids, 20-a-day habit kicked.

17. I co-own the most popular budgerigar forum in the world; I know jack shit about budgies.

18. I’m a fan of spicy food though often regret that the next day

19. I own 2 cars and 2 watches, my watches are worth more than my cars

20. I used to play in both a pool and bowling league, my top bowling score is 242 and I’ve cleared from the break on 3 occasions (never in a match mind)

21. I once paid a prostitute to go away and leave me alone (in Ghana)

22. I’ve been arrested twice and cautioned once.

23. I was at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Lewis Hamiliton lost, decided not to go the next year, duh!

24. I can be brutally honest and am not the most tactful of people.

25. If I am over changed in a shop I will always tell them.

If anybody moans that this post is not about making money then yeah it’s not but this blog is Self Made Minds, we’ve never pertained to be a “Make Money Online” site. If anybody else does one of these let us know and we’ll link up.

About Al Carlton

Al quit the 9 to 5 rat race in January of 2007, before then he was a software engineer and systems architect of financial system. Nowadays Al spends the days running his various businesses and experimenting with different ideas and opportunities.
Al can be found on twitter at AlCarlton.

Comments

  1. That’s a fun and interesting post. What did you get arrested for? I’m not sure I could come up with 25 facts about me though.

    Dan @ PowerDosh.com’s last blog post..Breaking the Block - Finding Motivation

  2. That’s one question I was thinking not to answer but hey WTF. First time was for criminal damage, I kicked a car showroom window to see if it would break, it did. Cost me the end of a cowboy boot, a caution and £800 to replace it. Second time was breaking and entry, I drunkenly explored a shopping centre that was being built, my claim of being lost didn’t work.

  3. Great post Al, I think it is a great idea to add personal info about yourself and give your readers an insight into who you are, how you think etc.
    I would do something similar on my mortgage site but I write on forums and stuff and I have some particularly vindictive competition who would scrutinise the info and use it to dig and snipe on there. Small minded bstrds they are!!!
    So I have to be quite careful about what i release into the public domain unfortunately - I´ve lad quite an interesting life so far!

    I think it is a great tool in building trust in the a service industry and does help set you apart from everyone else in the same sector - especially if it is a fairly “corporate” one.
    An enjoyable read - good effort!!

  4. I think photo evidence is needed of number 2.

    Matthew’s last blog post..Minoru 3D Webcam

  5. Wow Al!! Interesting reading.

    What made you invite that homeless guide for dinner (point 10)? The reason I’m asking is that I have had similar thoughts for years now but somehow I just never have the guts to actually do it.

    Mikael’s last blog post..Google Smack af EzineArticles?

  6. #3 I get far too emotional when I watch Forrest Gump on my own. I HATE that side of me and try to never watch it with anyone, just incase I crack!

    • Don’t worry about it David. You can even see me shed tears in action movies 🙂

      Hey the other day I saw “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” where a bunch of 6 US Marines all cried (which obviously also touched me). If they can do why can’t we? 🙂

      Mikael’s last blog post..Google Smack af EzineArticles?

  7. Like your budgies, I own a site on Llamas, and know zero about the animal : )

    -peter

    Peter A’s last blog post..Square Books & Regions Bank [PICart]

  8. 21. I once paid a prostitute to go away and leave me alone (in Ghana)

    22. I’ve been arrested twice and cautioned once.

    LOL 😛 Funny post. You have live a very interesting life for sure.

    Robert Adams’s last blog post..Private Niche Empire

  9. Love it. I usually hate these things and avoid them like the plague, but I got a chuckle out of your list Al. Welcome back!

  10. Thanks for sharing:) You seem like a very nice and humble person. It seems that sometimes when people start making money they lose their humility.

    Maddie’s last blog post..A Warm Welcome

  11. Love the honesty of it! Ok, I’m curious, do you have two very expensive watches or two very cheap cars?

    Jon Essex’s last blog post..Preparing for a Loft Conversion

    • It’s a bit of both but leaning more towards cheap cars. I have a Y reg (I think) Mondeo and an MR2 toy car (old design). Watch wise I have a Tag Heuer and a Breitling. I’d guestimate cars worth £4K whilst watches worth £5K.

      • The older MR2 is the best one! I’m a fan of old toyotas as well, I have a 1984 Celica Supra (Mk2), to keep me busy at the weekends. I did come very close to buying an MR2 myself a few years back, they make very good cars for the odd trackday if you into that sort of thing.

        John Essex’s last blog post..Preparing for a Loft Conversion

        • MR2 is fun, it’s manual like everything. I’m taking it for a track day soon at Donnington, which might be the end of it 🙂

        • Not exactly a track car, but I drive an ’87 Toyota Land Cruiser. Manual as all get out, and built like a brick. When css and piddling little design problems are driving me crazy, there’s nothing quite like working on the car to give me a sense of actually accomplishing something.

  12. 2 Things as my excuse to comment on this post…

    For one I had to smile more than once reading how you realy achieved some good and bad in your life;

    And I must ask - do you use the keyword luv plugin and how do you get to ask for the keyword (title) in a different field?

    Would it be difficult to get a plugin that would set it up so that a WordPress version upgrade would not be a dreaded learn-how-to-redo-something-you-once-did-to-your-template-files learning curve all over again?

  13. You paid a prostitute money to go away? That was actually the best thing for her! Great highlight of 2008! - I bet the homeless man was extremely grateful. I also dislike sun, pool and beach holidays and would rather be in the Highlands of Scotland than on a tropical island somewhere. I also cannot ski… but I think lessons will help you.. I´m a lost cause! I hope 2009 is full of skiing, no beaches and lots and lots of homeless friends (you know what I mean by that) 🙂

  14. Ohh, a window into your soul 🙂

    I definitely LOLed @ the prostitute in Ghana.

  15. I like your 25 points!
    I totally agree with your number 3 - I did not only shed one tear while watching Seven Ponds… 🙂
    But how can you dislike beach holidays?! Isn’t that the best way to relax for anybody?

  16. Its always fun when you get tagged in notes, because than you have to do it and it spreads like wild fire. Your 25 points are pretty good, Im glad to see that you have quit smoking.

  17. Great stuff! I have a lot of facebook friend and have read A LOT of “25 things” posts, and this is one of the top. Maybe the best one! I totally do number 3 too. And I can’t believe about the budgies! That’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard this week!

    Mike @ Diet Blog’s last blog post..Don’t Punish Yourself And Don’t Give Up

  18. This is pretty fun. There are quite a few interesting facts on here. Like wow, you were anti mobile phones for a bit? Yes, its easy to get caught up in a film and become emotional! That’s the beauty of a good movie. Wow you were a good Samaritan that night when you helped Keith out for the night! But man, I don’t know how you can dislike the sun or the pool or the beach! Those are my favorite things, lol.

  19. The infamous facebook quiz. Sometimes the picture that is painted of your personality after doing a mere 25 question quiz is quite startling. I think all of us get sad in movies, come on, everything is engineered to play on your emotions, and a good movie is such an immersive experience that you just can’t help feeling the twing when the sadness moment comes along, complete with poignant soundtrack.

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