Dose received while working at the station was scarcely measurable and a lot less than if I had lived in many other parts of the UK.

1 guy I knew of in the States used to set off the radiation alarms as he came INTO work! He lived in a house with significant levels of naturally-produced radon and his dose (supposedly) should have given him the same cancer risk as smoking 11,000 packs of cigarettes a day! Needless to say, he was outstandingly fit and as healthy as any other worker on the site.

There is even evidence that low levels of radiation exposure are beneficial (radiation hormesis). Not that I want to enter that argument here!!

Alan

Monica – The missus loves them. I prefer Clark Bars, but you can’t really find them around these parts anymore.

5 Things I was Doing 10 Years Ago
- Going through countless weeks of training (with exams – long time since I did any of those!)
- Helping to commission a nuclear power station.
- Visiting nuclear power stations in the USA to learn how you do it and exchanging information and ideas.
- Just escaping from being beaten up in the Carolinas having gone into a no-go black area. My English accent and my appeal to total stupidity saves me!
- Being a husband, father and grandfather (family comes high with me).
- No time or energy for anything else.

5 Things On My To-Do List Today
- Clear my study (it won’t happen, of course but i can dream).
- Spend time with my older daughter who is with us for the weekend.
- Do the “fiendish” Samurai Sudoku.
- Plan a walking/geology trip to Snowdonia with my grandson.
- Watch some more of a video of Queen’s greatest hits. Brian May is brilliant (though predictable).

5 Snacks I Like
- High quality plain chocolate – at least 70% cocoa solids.
- smoked salmon on fresh bread.
- sharing wild blackberries picked on a walk with my grandson.
- kippers (not quite a snack but I get to choose, OK?!).
- Aniseed balls.

5 Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire
- Tell nobody and do nothing different for at least 6 months then plan how best to get rid of most of it to small charities.
- Put aside enough for the grandson’s education.
- Happy with the current model of wife, thank you! Last thing I want is a new model who I would have to assume only wanted me for my money (I have precious little else to offer so that would have to be true!)
- Complete my second degree with the Open University (Earth Sciences)
- Take my grandson on a grand tour of all the exciting places he would never be able to get to otherwise (Many of them in the USA – crawler! – Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Herkimer Diamond mine etc.)

5 Places I Have Lived (For Various Lengths Of Time)
- England (south coast)
- England (London)
- England (Yorkshire at Uni.)
- England (East Anglia)
- England (West Midlands)
Boy, have I moved around!!

5 Jobs I Have had
- Senior technical chemist at a nuclear power station. (Honest)
- Manual labourer at a real ale brewery (I asked for “laboratory assistant” but it got garbled!).
- Preacher (unpaid)
- Taxi driver for 3 active children
- (Almost) unpaid helper to my father – a pharmacist (is that “druggist over your side of the pond?). I don’t ever want to count another aspirin tablet in my life!

best wishes

Alan

RT – D-U-N, done!

Deanna – Relax, deary. She was watching me when I wrote it. She knows I was kidding . . . Or was I??? Muwahahahahahahahahaha!

Um, okay, I was kidding. (In case she’s reading this when I’m sleeping.)

(Visualizing crushing your “boys” between vise grips… you crossed the line with the trading the wife in statement!)

Kim – Yeah, because I need MORE time with surgeons!

Randal – It was one car! But, boy did I do a number on it!

I thought you just crashed cars there. ohhh, sick burn!