Michael’s life story interview

INTERVIEWER: What music do you like?

MICHAEL: What meal do I like?

INTERVIEWER: Music

MICHAEL: Music. Good question, that. My favourite music is… music mix including Scooter, Katy Perry, Olly Murs, I listen to – Depends what’s on the radio. I listen to radio. And then that came up and…. I listen to it every day when I’m not doing much. Because Alexa was doing my head in. Sometimes Alexa, I keep taking her off because she keeps playing up. And when I’m taking her off, I mean, I’m like – I mean it. I’m taking her off it, because there’s no need for me to put Alexa back on. So, she’s quite, she’s winding me up me up. Starting to talk stuff about stuff which I don’t need. So, that’s what Alexa does.

INTERVIEWER: What games do you play?

MICHAEL: Good question. GTA, Fortnite, I got a new game called Mickey, which is the painting. So, it’s the level. So, on the Mickey game, you got to paint every single one of the buildings and what hasn’t been done. So, if we see a baddy or anything like that, you spray on them, which is a blue colour. If you spray them in a green colour, that means you’re the baddy. So, the blue one means that they can get each other themselves. Because when I’m walking or running, I get straight over to that building and I paint. So, I can paint the buildings on every day. So, get them all done. Get them all upgraded. I do all sorts on there.

INTERVIEWER: What console do you have?

MICHAEL: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

INTERVIEWER: What are your favourite takeaways?

MICHAEL: My favourite takeaway? Some – I would say sometimes it’s got to be pizza. Sometimes Chinese, sometimes Indian.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

MICHAEL: You know, a bit of both. Same as I do normally. Like takeaways. We get something way cheaper like pizzas, garlic bread, we do order everything. I stay inside a kitchen, because sometimes I clean the kitchen as well. So, I’m in duty every Monday. So, takeaway is like literally – you know, if you’re not doing much on Saturdays, I have takeaway and I normally listen to – wait for the phone call on my phone to let me know when it’s on its way and then I come down and wait for it outside the door.

INTERVIEWER: Cool.

INTERVIEWER: Have you ever had a job?

MICHAEL: Have I had any job? Yes, I did, I had a job. I had a meeting with Rhubarb Farm people, have a look around, see what jobs need doing. You only get one-to-one, which is – if you’re with two people, me and Steve or – because me and Steve and Richard, we go out in a van because we take out the petrol strimmers and stuff like that. We help the customers [with] what needs doing because they can’t afford to get their own lawnmowers out so we go out and help them. And then we get back, dinner till 12, and then we’re going out again, and get more grass cutting done. So, how we do that is we get the petrol thing started up. Make sure you get loads of petrol. You take the gas where you are at all times when you’re using things. Because now I’m learning on how to use the machines that we’ve got. So we’re just helping customers out, have a cup of tea there and then get back to the base where it needs us.

INTERVIEWER: How do you feel about getting older?

MICHAEL: Getting older. Getting older. I want to be working in council jobs. That’s what I want to do when I get older. Basically, council jobs is…basically you take a van out, you put that petrol hedge cutters in, like petrol mowers. They do that every summer time and spring, and they get trailer out and they can put all different machines in, like two mowers and one driver mower, which is the flayer mower, [which is] what the council use for grass cutting. And I go and watch them when I’m walking towards the buildings and that, and they’re doing a good job of it. So, I’m proud of them.

INTERVIEWER: What are your hopes for the future?

MICHAEL: Future… Just basically moving on to different jobs for my future. And then for my future, I think my missus wants to get engaged, in my future. So if we did get engaged, that means we have to live in a house together, and then I have to get up early for a job. Then she’s got to get up early for Firefly.

INTERVIEWER: What did you do at college?

MICHAEL: What did I do at college.

INTERVIEWER: Yes.

MICHAEL: That’s a good question, mate. What did I do with college? So first up, I go to second floor number two. I do lessons including Maths, English. [I] pick up the bins up. Get my shredder on, – if you take like a – so the metal bit, it’s called a stapler, isn’t it?

INTERVIEWER: Yes.

MICHAEL: And you take the stapler out, and when you’re done with the staplers, you put them in one pile, and then if it’s all in the big pile, you press the button when the shredder comes on. If it’s too full up, we take another bag, we skip it outside, come back in again, and then we do… Sometimes, we change over, one chills out doing some jobs and one goes out in the community and do shopping. Because I used to cook there. I used to make apple crumble. That is one of my favourites I like doing – (Laughs). I do all that and then I used to do. Do you like Jam Sponge?

INTERVIEWER: Yes.

MICHAEL: I do one of them an-all.

INTERVIEWER: Brilliant. What is the weirdest food you have ever tried?

MICHAEL: What is what, sorry?

INTERVIEWER: OK, I’ll do it again for you. What is – What’s the weirdest food you have ever tried?

MICHAEL: I don’t really have weird food, because – Do you watch chef called Chef Ramsay?

INTERVIEWER: No.

MICHAEL: He’s basically – I watch him every day. It’s like if you watched him, you see a chicken what’s not been cooked. If you were in the red team or blue team. That is the weirdest part I watch in my entire life. And if people didn’t cook properly, they close – and that’s what happens when close the restaurant down, pub down. And they won’t be allowed to get it back anymore because you’d have thought, “well, I watched it, no one has cleaned in that pub or restaurant for a couple of years.” And that is a horrible thing I have ever seen in my entire life. That’s a weird bit.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

MICHAEL: But I do really good food at home, I do – sometimes I cook for myself every Thursdays, like – I used like pizza in the air fryer. Nice. And I have it nice and crispy on top of it. Cheesy as well really nice.  And then I add everything onto it, so it’s a good thing to do it that way.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Mondays?

MICHAEL: Mondays? Good question. Mondays, I normally get one-to-one sometimes, like going in the car. Sometimes we go for – myself or my carers, we go [to] Taco Bell once a day. Not every day. One, once a day, because if we have Taco Bell many times, we can’t afford it. Like, sometimes we do go in the car to somewhere like in films. So, I go and watch a film by my carers 1-to-1. Sometimes, I walk around with my carers what they need me for. Like if they need anything from shopping, I go out with them and get shopping done for them and see how much it is altogether really.

INTERVIEWER: What is your favourite Taco Bell?

MICHAEL: That is a good question. My favourite Taco Bell – it’s got to be wrap. And I like chips. Like basically chips, it’s nice and fresh. And I have a drink with it an-all. Sometimes diet coke, sometimes cherry.

INTERVIEWER: What is your favourite films at the cinema?

MICHAEL: My favourite film at the cinema? That is a good question. My favourite film – it’s got to be Iron Man because he’s a good bloke who I normally watch on film. Because Iron Man’s got a strong muscle and he’s got a metal suit on him, and then he’s got a big rocket and on his two arms like this… and if you see anybody coming towards you, you get them. Simple.

INTERIEWER: Do you like the Marvel films?

MICHAEL: You mean horror films?

INTERVIEWER: Marvel.

MICHAEL: No. I don’t watch them.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Tuesdays?

MICHAEL: Tuesday?

INTERVIEWER: Yes.

MICHAEL: Tuesdays. Sometimes at 11, me and my lads goes out, basically have cup of teas and dinners at the same time. For myself, when they go to café, I go straight over to walk around town for quite a bit by myself. And then I get home about 12o’clock due to the fact the – If it gets busy in town, I just go straight home and then I get my dinner from there.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Wednesdays?

MICHAEL: Same thing.  One-to-one, I change my bedding every single day on Wednesdays. I clean my bedroom every day on Wednesdays. Just get it nice and polished and make sure there’s no electric goes off. If I do need to report it, I get it done by carers and they get it reported one-to-one. So my electric’s all good. So, I clean every day.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Thursday?

MICHAEL: Jobs, really. On Thursdays, I got one job called Woodlands at Bolsover. Which is in Chesterfield.

INTERVIEWER: Tell me more.

MICHAEL: I do sometimes leaf-blowing and when grass cuts need doing. Because all of my teams go on the green bus, which is the – The bus is where people takes you for the job. And the job is – what we normally do is we get everybody all together as a group. You get two groups or one group. So if you get three groups, that means if the leaf-blowing needs doing, we get the petrol leaf blower out and then we put it, say where it belongs. So, we put it in the Landrover. We get the garages out ready and put them in to make sure we get loads of petrol in. We normally have a red colour, which is the choke and then we put them in all together. And then if it’s run out, we go back to the Landrover, put in some more petrol in again and then start blowing again.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Friday?

MICHAEL: I work at Rhubarb Farm. I do really good stuff, like – including looking after animals to make sure they get feed once a week. Some lads go out into Lidl, buy some stuff at Lidl next to Crown. And then we – we open up the package then we put them in the basket for pigs. Sometimes, we do feed everybody in that building, so we make sure that chickens doesn’t get hurt by anything. So, if they get poorly, we’ll take them to a vet too, basically get them better and keep them safe and sound, really?

INTERVIEWER: What type of animals?

MICHAEL: Animal? We have got chickens. We have got a donkey, and yonaguni one, which is a little pony. So, we look after pony we look after donkey. Because we are in charge of the building. So, a member of staff is in charge because sometimes when we get customers – we don’t have – we normally get some eggs from chickens.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

MICHAEL: But chickens might break the egg out and then when we get them, I keep using a stick and poking on them. And then – So that’s what I do really, just get jobs done, including grass cutting, and I do strimming and leaf-blowing and stuff like that down there. Sometimes at summer times, I get jobs done. And I finish at 3.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah. What do you do on Saturday?

MICHAEL: Saturday. Chilling out, of course. I listen to my music on Spotify, play some games. If I want to go out, you know, for a day out, I just go out and do what I need to do really. Because sometimes on Saturdays, it’s a takeaway day, I stay in the house, I don’t go out all the time. Because if I do go out, it means that I can go straight over to see my family and myself until 12. Finish there at 12. And then go home as soon as I can.

INTERVIEWER: What do you do on Sundays?

MICHAEL: Help myself cooking Sunday dinner. I do roast potatoes, like I normally do in the air fryer. Basically, you have to cut the roast potatoes into four, so half and half makes four. And then if we have – So I’ll peel potatoes for five or six people. We normally got three people in the house and then the staff comes in at about 10 to help us out to see what we’re going to have for Sunday dinner. Sometimes we have pork, chicken, beef, lamb. We have everything.