Back to the future Hodgepodge 21/10/15

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

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1. October 21, 2015 is Back to the Future Day. Did you see the movie? The sequels? In the second film, Doc takes Marty into the future to prevent Marty's future son from making a mistake. They leave 1985 and land on a 'skyway' on October 21st, 2015. So tell us, what were you doing in the fall of 1985?
In the fall of 1985 I was pregnant with my first child.  (She arrived in May 1986.) Having made the decision to try for a baby we succeeded the first month.  We were so fortunate but suddenly it was all very real and scary.  So we were also trying to finish up work in the house to have a room ready for the baby.   I was still working so I was permanently tired during that early stage. 

2.  If time travel were possible, would you want to go to the future? The past?
I’d go to the past so that I could spend more time with my Dad.  I was only 22 when he died and there were so many things we’d never really talked about – his early childhood where he was separated from his Mother at a young age and lived with his Father.  His experiences during WW2.  He was one of the soldiers rescued from Dunkirk and he didn’t like to talk about it but I would like to have had some insight into what it was really like.  There were huge parts of his life that I never got to hear about first hand.

3. We're not flying cars, but some of the technology imagined in the 80's film has indeed come to pass in real life 2015-flat screen TVs on the wall, tablets, fingerprint recognition, video conferencing, online banking, 3-D movies, motion controlled video games, drone cameras, and smart glasses (Google glass).  Do you worry technology is growing at a rate so fast we'll soon be unable to keep up with its demands? Do you think the Internet does more harm than good?
I do worry that I can’t keep up with technology.  I have an iPhone and iPad but I’m not one for using lots of different apps etc. so all of that is a bit scary.  The way everything is being computerised and mechanised, e.g. robotics means the job market is constantly changing and evolving and I do worry about how that will affect people working in the future.  It’s all very well removing humans from the production lines but what are they supposed to do instead?  And if there aren’t jobs for them how are they supposed to survive.  I think the internet is good in lots of ways – our ability to communicate so easily with one another for example but there are, of course, those who will use it for the wrong reasons and that’s definitely not good.

4. Your favourite dish prepared in a slow-cooker? Your favourite fast food?

A good beef stew with dumplings would be great but if we were pushed for time Chinese take away would be my alternative.
5. No time like the present, down time, face time, pressed for time, in the nick of time, make time, mark time, or just in time...which timely saying most relates to your life right now?

I guess that would be no time like the present.  I have lots of time but lots I want to do so that’s a good mantra for me.
6. Tell us about a place you went as a child or younger person that's no longer there or is now something else. How does that make you feel?

My childhood home.  We moved back to London when I was less than 2 years old and I lived in the house until I left to get married.   A few years later my Mum was rehoused in a council bungalow and the houses were demolished to make way for a relief road.  It was a sad time as it meant a lot of upheaval for my Mum.
7. Describe your comfort zone.
Being in familiar places with familiar people.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

4 sleeps to the wedding!