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........

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?

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!

Big Mac and large fries please......

We stayed in a Hyatt hotel while in Chicago. It was on Ronald Avenue in, wait for it, the campus of Hamburger University. This whole campus had been developed by the McDonalds Corporation to embrace their head office, training centre and local community leisure facilities.

Everything was geared towards the golden arches. The paintings and prints on the walls all had subtle, or not so subtle, images of Big Macs, Ronald himself, the arches or the produce. It was an amazing tribute to the mass market cardboard burger which has contributed so much to the American, and other countries, huge obesity problems.

So I wonder what sort of degree you get from a hamburger university?

Bachelor of Southern Style Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Master of Tarts or Doctor of The Pattie?

I'm lovin' it......

Idwal Morgan

I lost a very good friend while I was away in Chicago. Idwal Morgan and Peter Thomas, two life members of Twickenham Rugby Club, were walking together in Spain, when they were caught in a rock fall. Idwal sadly did not survive, and the effort Peter made to get assistance was admirable but unfortunately the rescue team were not able to revive Idwal. He will be sadly missed.

I first met him when I joined TRFC in 1981.he was an ex-1st XV player who was now plying his trade in the 2nd and 3rd XV, but his skill levels and commitment were evident for all to see. He only had one eye so you never knew which way he was looking or who he was looking at. This helped when he was selling dummies, or facing up to an agressive opponent when he invariably came out on top!

I have a lasting legacy from Idwal as he broke my cheekbone a few days before Christmas in the mid '80s. Christmas dinner through a straw was an interesting experience!

I also toured New Zealand with him playing in the Golden Oldies festival in Aukland. We played Maori teams, New Zealand internationals and 85 year old Japanese players, and ate and drank like kings. We returned via Hawaii where we played golf, joshed with the ladies of the night (business was quiet) and used Idwal's British Gas id card to gain entry to the most exclusive clubs and bars. He was proud of his involvement with British Gas and the joy on his face as he presented it and exclaimed in his soft Welsh brogue were a life memory.

He will leave a huge vacuum at the rugby club, and his wake will reflect the love and affection in which he was held. I often wish one could have ones wake while still alive as its often the best party you would ever go to. Idwal's will be, the members will see to that. Sleep well old son.....

Call that a half Simon?

Now a week is a long time in politics, and I think I have said that on here before, but just imagine that one weekend you are attending the Patterdale Show in the Lake District, and then paddling a raft in a race, dressed as a viking.

The next week you are teeing it up with the greatest golfer of modern times, Tiger Woods, in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill near Chicago.

Next week its Brentford v Bristol Rovers, but hey ho!!!

So first the show. Well my mucker 'Off the record' Dick has reported the events at the show and on the river here in his blog of 31st August, and a fine summary it is too. There were sheep and dogs, and shepherds and shepherdesses, if one is allowed to call them such these days. To my mind thought the best Sheep were the Black ones I consumed throughout the evening!!

I was excused duties on the raft to be honest as it was unclear whether our new design would take the weight of five of us. As Dick points out in the end it would only carry three such. Still we took part and by all accounts have kept the race alive following our pirate escapades last year.

So myself and SWMBO arrived home on the Monday to be presented with (almost) the trip of a lifetime. I got a call from the BMW golf office in London telling me there was a space at the pro-am prior to the third leg of the FedEx Cup and could I get there?

Well a quick call on Tuesday to the boss, then Virgin Atlantic and finally to Octagon in Chicago and we are both on our way. We arrived to be greeted with a chauffeur and a logo'd BMW and so it went on for the week....shopping madam? we'll drop you off, just call when you need a pickup.....off to the course sir, let us take you....and for three days BMW did us proud.

The highlight arrived on the Wednesday when I got to play the pro-am. The previous night my German colleagues and I attended the partner party where we got to choose who to play with. They fancied a European, but by the time our number came out of the hat they had all gone.

I suggested we went for Lucas Glover. That would sandwich us between Tiger and his team and Sergio Garcia. It would also give us a first tee start and Lucas is after all the US Open Champion. They went with it and that's how we got to be in reception inthe hotel at 5am with the Tiger man himself. He signed a few autographs and drove himself to the course (in a Buick!!).

We followed his group all the way round, and beat them by 4 shots, coming a creditable 4th out of 52 teams, but sadly just outside the prizes. All in all though, a great day, which I shared with Lucas Glover, my caddie Joe, a Chuck Evans Scholar, and a few hundred other people who were gracious enough on the 18th green to applaud my approach putt.

As I mentioned in my blog only a few days ago, golf is one of those games where you can tread the boards on which perform your hero's. On this occasion I was able to do it at the same time

general update

At last, I have accepted an offer on the house in Chiswick, and with a following wind the transaction should be completed by mid-October. The stock of flats seems to be in short supply so may keep my powder dry for the time being and see if there is a glut of buy to lets which come on the market over the Winter. In the meantime it will be The Lensbury Club for accommodation.

Work continues to be a nightmare with the imminent closure of the final salary pension plan. 20% of employees are affected and the water cooler discussions centre on nothing else at the mo. There are likely to be several hundred employees who will leave in march next year, so i am lining my ducks up as I am likely to be one such.

I am relatively OK in terms of pension but do feel sorry for the fortysomethings who will be seriously affected by this move.

As a combination of the above, this blog will be going silent, and may go off the air for a while as i move from the London server to the scouse one, which may mean there will be a change of blog address in the future. I will update when normal service has been resumed.