Things in common with my elderly housemate!
My housemate and I have a good few things in common. For one thing, we are both only children and we are both left-handed. He writes with his right hand as when he went to school you got a clip around the back of the ear for being a lefty. 'did this scar you' I asked one night at the kitchen table. 'Not really we were used to it' he replied matter of factually.
Neither of us eats butter or drink milk which makes for poor hosting when someone drops in and is offered tea or coffee 'but it will have to be black'. We both have a sweet tooth so your tea may be black but you will have a choice of carrot cake, chocolate or scones with jam not too shabby. Along with our fondness for a little something sweet, we like regular doses of good coffee. We both have unruly heads of hair which for a 96-year-old man is pretty impressive.
We also like to get up late and burn the midnight oil 'night owls' and neither of us watches TV which for me is bliss - I'm not a big fan of the TV. We're not that fond of 'the drink' or cigarettes, he gave up smoking in 1946. We love a good chat over dinner, and when we're not talking I'll be on my computer and he will have his head in the paper or be listening to the late-night news on the radio, two peas in a pod!
So really I am a lucky home share companion and have in a sense met my match! My main failing is my lack of interest in sport, any time he strikes up an enthusiastic attempt at conversation about rugby and soccer it pretty much falls flat. I could probably talk to him about David Beckham's children but I don't think that is going to satisfy.
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