I started this blog in May 2007 to chart the path I would follow as i put my house on the market. little did I know it would be two and a half years later that I would be reporting the conclusion of the journey.
Yes, I have finally exchanged on the sale and vacate the property on 6th November. I will be leaving London to live away for the first time in nearly 40 years, and will need to locate the nearest source of London Pride or Youngs Ordinary to avoid my liver going into shutdown.
Thanks goodness for the internet which will allow me to follow the local issues and sporting prowess of the team which i have followed for much of that time.
A lot of things have happened in the time the house has been on the market. Maxine and I have become grandparents, our oldest son, Tim has married, and our oldest daughter is engaged. A few friends have passed away, and we have mourned their loss.
We have travelled a fair bit it has to be said. Peru, Brazil, Egypt, Portugal, Chicago, Edinburgh, Rome. Paris and Cyprus have been on our schedule, as well as a cruise around the islands of the Mediterranean. At that should stand us in good stead now that my Company has cast me adrift by making draconian changes to its final salary pension scheme.
I met the CEO yesterday and asked him outright why I should stay in his Company. His reply was hopeless, and as a colleague of mine once said, 'when the lunatics start running the asylum, its time to leave' . I think they are, and I am. ETD is scheduled for 5th February at the moment which will make the England v Wales game at Twickenham the next day a bit of a blinder.
So the blog has fulfilled one role, and now it takes on a new one as it tracks my progress through early retirement, life in Scouserland and potentially a few entrepreneurial projects. Watch this space one may come to a road near you........
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Flying the flag
'The best things in life are free' or so the saying goes. So I was delighted to hear that the London Evening Standard was to be given away from the beginning of this week.
I have always had a soft spot for the only surviving London evening paper. It used to be the source of cheap and comfortable flats when me and my chums were looking for student digs during the mid 70's. Each year we would take it in turns to be in Fleet Street at 9:30am when the first editions hit the street.it was then a mad dash to the nearest phone box to start ringing round and arranging viewings. We did pretty well, getting places in Northcote Road, Clapham, in Tooting not far from the Common and , of course, Devonshire Road in Balham, gateway to the South. Great days.
The London Paper, The Metro and the London Lite have all been given away at tube stations for many years, but they just never had the substance of the Evening Standard, nor its rival, The Evening News. The News perished in 1980 and but for a brief resurrection in 1987, the Standard has been the only local London 'pay to play' paper.
I have to confess I rarely purchased it, but now I am chasing the man at the tube up the street to get my free copy to read on the way home........
The Standard apart, London, and other cities are full of good free stuff, much of it advertised in afore mentioned rag. Most of the best museums are free, the stroll along the Thames thought the West End and the City is a delight, as are the buskers in the Covent Garden Piazza. The Festival Hall has Jazz every Friday night in its expansive foyer, as well as tea dances and other recitals, and the street markets all over London provide a wonderful photographic and cultural experience.
I have lived here 40 years and it will be hard to leave it all behind when I move away in a few weeks, but, hey, its only two hours away on the train, and with plenty of time to kill from next year I suspect the Capital has not seen the last of me, not by a long chalk....now I wonder where that expression came from?
I have always had a soft spot for the only surviving London evening paper. It used to be the source of cheap and comfortable flats when me and my chums were looking for student digs during the mid 70's. Each year we would take it in turns to be in Fleet Street at 9:30am when the first editions hit the street.it was then a mad dash to the nearest phone box to start ringing round and arranging viewings. We did pretty well, getting places in Northcote Road, Clapham, in Tooting not far from the Common and , of course, Devonshire Road in Balham, gateway to the South. Great days.
The London Paper, The Metro and the London Lite have all been given away at tube stations for many years, but they just never had the substance of the Evening Standard, nor its rival, The Evening News. The News perished in 1980 and but for a brief resurrection in 1987, the Standard has been the only local London 'pay to play' paper.
I have to confess I rarely purchased it, but now I am chasing the man at the tube up the street to get my free copy to read on the way home........
The Standard apart, London, and other cities are full of good free stuff, much of it advertised in afore mentioned rag. Most of the best museums are free, the stroll along the Thames thought the West End and the City is a delight, as are the buskers in the Covent Garden Piazza. The Festival Hall has Jazz every Friday night in its expansive foyer, as well as tea dances and other recitals, and the street markets all over London provide a wonderful photographic and cultural experience.
I have lived here 40 years and it will be hard to leave it all behind when I move away in a few weeks, but, hey, its only two hours away on the train, and with plenty of time to kill from next year I suspect the Capital has not seen the last of me, not by a long chalk....now I wonder where that expression came from?
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Wilson, Kepple and Betty
Just back from Egypt and certainly notice the temperature difference. It was 35 degrees in the shade over there, so i stayed in the sun....groan. Did a bit of snorkeling which was pretty sub when compared to the fish and colours on display in Eilat just up the coast in Israel, and one of the little buggers bit me quite hard, drawing blood and leaving me with a mini jaws scar. I had fish and chips for dinner last night hoping I might be getting revenge on their Uncle or other close family member!
The place was full of Russians, as was Cyprus when we went last year, and I hear that some of the Greek islands are going the same way. I have a few phrases of Polish I can trot out as necessary, but had i known i would have learnt the Ruski for 'excuse me there is a queue' or ' no please feel free to open the door yourself'. Still the legs were quite impressive although what they see in their ex-U boat captain partners is beyond me.
We got back in time for Idwals funeral and it was a mighty turnout as had been expected. there was much singing and merriment and I am sure he would have looked down satisfied in the way his life was celebrated. During the eulogy it became evident how little people knew of his life outside the rugby club, he was a Labour candidate in the local elections, a strong charity worker and loving grandad to his extended family.....he also campaigned hard in recent years for an independent state for Palestine, so I wonder how he would of reacted to me in the suk's of Sharm al Sheik pointing out that they had left Israel off their maps of the middle East...seems they assume the Palestinians have a state of their own already!
The place was full of Russians, as was Cyprus when we went last year, and I hear that some of the Greek islands are going the same way. I have a few phrases of Polish I can trot out as necessary, but had i known i would have learnt the Ruski for 'excuse me there is a queue' or ' no please feel free to open the door yourself'. Still the legs were quite impressive although what they see in their ex-U boat captain partners is beyond me.
We got back in time for Idwals funeral and it was a mighty turnout as had been expected. there was much singing and merriment and I am sure he would have looked down satisfied in the way his life was celebrated. During the eulogy it became evident how little people knew of his life outside the rugby club, he was a Labour candidate in the local elections, a strong charity worker and loving grandad to his extended family.....he also campaigned hard in recent years for an independent state for Palestine, so I wonder how he would of reacted to me in the suk's of Sharm al Sheik pointing out that they had left Israel off their maps of the middle East...seems they assume the Palestinians have a state of their own already!
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