And now the weather in Norwegian

I am finally immortalised on YouTube.

I really thought I was doing well with the Portuguese bit, but when seeing it now it was a fairly disjointed stumble through the guttural and the expressive. Still, I tried and it was appreciated by the key participants and the locals.

Next challenge is to play the piano at number one daughters wedding next year. 'Chopsticks' might not be enough, so I need to start banging those ivories soonest.

Going, going, gone......

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........

Trains Planes and Automobiles

After the excursions of the last few days, we based ourselves in a Eco Hotel in the Peruvian cloud forest, not far from Macchu Pichu. We chilled out chasing photos of humming birds, learning about the sexual life of orchids and the medical properties of herbs and partaking of first class Peruvian hospitality.

We did not meet any of Paddingtons ancestors, nor were we ravaged by mosquitos, so we arrived back in Lima in good order.

The sea level terrain restored my metabolism almost instantaneously and Maxine summarised our holiday thus:

• 9 flights
• 2 train journeys
• numerous cab rides
• 5 hotel rooms
• 2 bottles of win (some mistake shurey?....ed)
• 2 pints of London Pride (Brazil prices)
• 1 fab wedding and

and we tried to drink Brazil dry of Brahma!

Sounds a good summary to me. 15 more hours in the air and we should be home!!

Ding Dong The Bells Are Going To Chime

Well number one son did the deed last week and married the lovely Lili in a wonderful church in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was there with my wife, my ex-wife (both featured in this photo, together), three of Tims siblings,( two, Hannah and Rebecca, also featuring) , the mad mother-in-law Tim has inherited, various friends from the UK and elsewhere and the randoms from Brazil who made up the numbers.

The service was wonderful, the bride looked fab, there was a free bar and I made my speech in Portugese, much to everybody's amazement. It got some laughs but I am not sure if that was a result of mispronounceation or that they actually got how diffciult it is to surf the net of 'famous Brazillians'!

The Brazillian wedding culture is quite strange. For example, I spent all of the Saturday until just before the wedding (5pm) in a beauty salon with the bride, bridesmaids and others. I was there to provide male company for Tim and this is an expected ritual. The bridal party all left from the salon, and for somebody who take 20 minutes to get ready it was a bit of a strain, especially with the Ireland v England rugby match on the tele at Murphy's down the road.

That said, it was a superb event and apart from the conception, it was the first life moment I have been at for Tim. For that alone, it will be the Special One.

"I think you've had enough old son......."

I am off to Wembley tonight for the England v Brazil game, and this, together with some incidents over the weekend, got me thinking about why football followers seem to be so much more aggressive than those of other sports.

At the family barbecue I referred to, there were a mixture of young people. Some from Liverpool had gone to school with Kieran at St Mary's, a Christian Brothers school, some who had gone to Merchant Taylors, next door . Others where at Uni (or Poly ;-)) in Liverpool and had come from other parts of the country, and some were work colleagues of Kieran from the Wirral and around. They all mixed extremely well, and people commented on how well mannered they were.

One poor girl had had a hell of a few weeks with boyfriend problems, and she got absolutely trashed. Rather than leave her to fall about the furnishings and smash the ornaments, two of her flat mates took her home, put her to bed and returned later to the party.

Sometime after that one of the St Mary's lads got some abuse from another of the boys there, and the St Mary's lads closed ranks and suggested to one of the rogues friends that it was time he helped him home, which he did. This passed off unnoticed by most people at the party.

It reminded me of my own experiences as an 'old fart' who regularly attends rugby internationals at Twickenham, in Dublin and in Paris. There are usually six of us, and we do like a drink. It is fair to say though, that in the 25 years we have been acting the fool, we have at worst made bus travel between Twickenham and Richmond noisy, and the ride out of Dublin on the Dart a joyous singing occasion. Any activity likely to provoke violence, either physical or verbal, is quickly stamped on by the group, and the offender parked in a corner and told to behave.

Why then is it not the case at football matches that there is not this same self policing? The tribal nature of the supporters seems to add an 'edge' to the whole atmosphere. It can't be associated purely with the Public school, grammar school, secondary school differential outlined yesterday, as many of the perpetrators are from good stock?

Personally I blame the lager, as we all know London Pride has no alcohol in it!!!

Come on you Greens

I am a huge Plymouth Argyle supporter, having supported them since 1962, when my dad took me to the Argyle v Spurs FA Cup 4th round tie at Home Park. How my dad got tickets I don't know, but he seemed to have the ability to magic them from somewhere, be they for England at Twickenham, Wembley or Lords. Its an ability I am pleased to have inherited, and look forward to going with my eldest son to Wembley in a few weeks time for the England v Brazil game.

I remember being devastated for a Royal Marine who offered my Dad ten bob for the two tickets, in the pub one night. i was really saddened that the poor man did not have a ticket of his own. Oh the innocence of youth.

Anyway back to Argyle. Today they broke their all time transfer record by paying £400K for a Hungarian international left winger, Peter Halmosi. Their squad now consists of three Hungarians, 3 French players, a Dutchman and an Australian, as well as several Devonians, and assorted Brits. It is certainly a sign of the times.

Given that Steven Gerrard has just been awarded £120K per week in wages though, paying £400K seems a bargain.

In the 45 years I have followed the Argyle, I have seen them win at Wembley and lose in three Cup semi-finals. In league terms they have fallen from the Second division, to the Fourth division and climbed back up to the Championship as it is now called. In all that time they have never played in a league called the First division. Next season is already being anticipated with great expectation, however, the recent slump of Nottingham Forest and 'dirty' Leeds only goes to show that expectations and achievements can be a million miles apart.