More from Malaga

Another video I took last week, this time in the evening in central Malaga after a very wet day. I have also been able, I think, to download it to You Tube, from where I am picking it up. I am rather chuffed that I have been able to so this. What I now need to do is take some rather better-quality videos.

Twitter

I have been persuaded to join Twitter. Partly this is in order to be part of a Twitter group at work. I have yet to be convinved of the benefits, but we'll see. I have added the latest updates to the right hand side of this site.

My first video

Recently I bought a flip vide camera. The quality is not great, but it is fun. This is a video I took last week in Malaga. My first video.

Back in the UK

My flight from Malaga was due to land just after mid-day on Monday at Luton Airport. I actually landed just after midnight on Saturday morning at Gatwick. Four and a half days late. Nearly 100 miles away from where I expected. All because of the snow in England which led to two flights being cancelled.

And somehow I expected London to be covered in over a foot of snow. In fact there was only a few inches. Why was Luton airport closed on both Monday and Friday. I really don't know. Don't they have gritters at the airport?

Easyjet were very good and very professional. They found us the best alternative flight, they put cancelled passengers up in local hotels at Easyjet's expense and generally they did their best.

I am just glad to be back home.

Marooned in Malaga - still

This morning I headed again for Malaga airport to catch my reartranged flight - 4 days after the original flight. When I got to the airport, and looked at the departures board, I saw the dreaded two words - ´´flight cancelled´.

So back I trundled into Malaga. Four journeys to the airport so far - there and back on Monday; there are back today.

I have been put on tonights flight to Gatwick. I just keep my fingers crossed that that flight will happen. It will still be a long journey home.

But I do want to get home. I want to see England´s white and pleasant land.

Marooned in Malaga

We spend last weekend in Malaga on a short break. I went to the airport on Monday for my EasyJet flight back to Luton. The flight was showing a 2 hour delay. So I went off to a corner to read a newspaper. Which meant I missed the change in status to ´flight cancelled´. Indeed all EasyJet flights to England had been cancelled, due to the snow. When I did find this out, I went straight to the EasyJet desk. The queue was enormous. It took me 3 hours to get to the front of the queue. By which time all alternative flights were full until tomorrow, Friday.

So I have had to spend 4 unexpected days in Malaga. Which would have been okay, I guess, except that it has not stopped raining here. And now apparently the forecast for Luton tomorrow is not good. I am not sure that I can cope with another flight cancellation. Maybe I should just stay in Malaga until summer kicks in. ´Don´t book a flight til May is out.´

Can it be Different?

At 5pm this evening I was about to board the bus for Aberdeen and then onwards to London. Across in Washington DC it was 12 noon. At last, after 8 long and painful years, we were about to see the end of George Bush’s time as USA president. Barak Obama was about to be sworn into office.

And suddenly the world seemed a better, more hopeful place. Am I wrong to have such high expectations? Well few, if any, politicians in my lifetime have fulfilled my initial hopes. But this time I do think it might be different. We have a person in the highest office of the world’s most powerful country who certainly has intelligence and also appears to have integrity and pragmatism.


And so I hope for a better, less divisive world. The audacity of hope.

All Change

For years I had somehow assumed that .life would continue as before indefinitely. I would go to work, have the occasional holiday and enjoy myself as best I could. Day would follow night. Summers would turn into winters and back again. Nothing much would alter.

Then three years ago I was made redundant which rather shattered the work certainties. And last April my mother died which changed the family certainties.

And this weekend another certainty changed. I was up in Keith to help my Dad move into sheltered housing and out of the house in which he had lived for 40 years - the house in which I had lived for my last two years of schooling and had visited regularly ever since.

The move went very well, and Dad is happy in the smaller, warmer place. He no longer has to think about the garden, or repairs to the house. He no longer faces the memories of the past as he walks through empty rooms. He no longer has to climb stairs. And he now has a warden on call. For someone of 92, this is a comforting change.

But neither my sister nor I want the family home. So it has to be sold. But it was really disconcerting to see it with a ‘for sale’ sign outside. And suddenly strangers are going round to view it with the possibility of buying it. Yes of course on a practical level, I would like to see it s ell. But on an emotional level, it’s all quite difficult.

Time moves on and things do change. I must not be afraid of that. I simply need to accept the changes and move on.

Alcohol-free January

I am well into my alcohol-free month. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision and not a well planned intention. But I just decided to keep clear of alcohol in January. Yes I guess it was partly to ensure that I could. But it was also to see if at the end of that period I would feel any better or weigh any less.

It has not been easy. Sometimes I long for a glass of wine. And I am not sure if I do feel any better, yet. Perhaps my liver is relishing the respite from having to cope with regular alcohol. And I am beginning to lose some weight.

I still have this allergy, but I cannot blame that on lack of alcohol. Let's see how things are in say a weeks time.

Allergy

I have developed an allergy. Trouble is, I don't know to what I am allergic. It started in mid December. And it is still a problem. From time to time, I start to get very itchy somewhere on my body. If I scratch, then that part of my body gets very hot, turns very red and gets even more itchy. Five minutes later it is fine again. This particularly happens on the back on my neck, on my back and underneath my arms. I have started taking anti-histamine tablets which are having a beneficial effect.

I guess I will not solve this until I discover to that I am allergic and stop taking whatever it is. I don't want to have to take tablets indefinitely. I am not particularly aware of suddenly eating or drinking anything different to normal. After much thought, I have decided that the only change in December was that I bought a bottle of 'Thursday Plantation' Tea Tree hand and body lotion from the organic shop in Hitchin. So I will ensure that I do not use that and hopefully I might see some improvement in my condition. It hasn't happened yet, though. It is not particularly painful, it is just very irritating. Literally.

New Year in Scotland

My Dad and I were kindly invited next door to see in the New Year. During the day on Jan 1st I mainly stayed at home. This picture was taken in the back garden.

Then on the 2nd Andrew kindly drove from Murthley to Keith to pick me up and take me back to stay in Murthley with his uncle and aunt for a couple of days.

It was a freezing cold day and I was worried about the state of the roads, but Andrew arrived safely, we went for lunch in Fochabers and headed off for Murthley, with me driving, before dark. I had to concentrate on the driving, but was occasionally able to look at the scenery, which was spectacular. The trees and bushes were still white with frost. The sun started to set and the sky turned red. And there was a layer of freezing fog, but only for a few feet above the ground. So I remember just past Grantown looking over to the Cairngorms, the setting sun lighting up the silvery treetops and reflecting off the layer of fog which had blanketed the ground. It was beautiful.

On Saturday Andrew and I drove via Crieff to just outside Callendar where we met my second cousin and his wife, whom I had not seen for years. Again it was a crisp and cold day and we had a wonderful walk along the disused railway line, before having lunch at the Lade Inn. Then we journeyed back via Stirling. In the evening we had dinner at the Tayside Inn near Murthley. It had been a good day.

I wasn't looking forward to the drive home on Sunday, but actually it was not a bad journey and I was home in North London by 4pm.

I always enjoy my visits to Scotland. Of course this one was tinged with the sadness which came with remembering that it was my first New Year without my mother. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable visit. Now I must get ready for work on Monday and for the year ahead.

2009 - what will it bring?

No long list of resolutions this year. They would in any case be the same resolutions as last year, indeed any of the past number of years - all to do with getting healthier, making better use of my time etc.

Yes I am going to give up alcohol for 4 weeks in January, just to ensure that I can and to see if I feel any better after that period. Yes I will try to waste less time on the internet and doing passive things and more time doing active things. I will try to reduce my procrastination.

But before that turns into a list of resolutions, I will stop - and simply resolve to do my best in 2009 to deal with whatever life throws at me in a positive and accepting way. I will smile thought adversity and do my best to enjoy the 57th year of my life. As I walk and eat and travel, I will be where I am, accept where I am and move forward from wherever I am. I will be good to others and also be good to myself. Onwards and Upwards.

2008 - a retrospective

So goodbye then 2008. You weren't a great year.

Thoughts of the year are dominated, inevitably by the illness and subsequent death of my Mum. I remember her, and miss her, as the year draws to a close. My Dad's year was of course not good either - losing his wife during the year and, just at the close of the year, his only brother. He also had his illnesses and particulaly the macular degeneration of his eyesight to deal with.

But of course there were good moments and I hope I have continued to learn throughout the year. I hope I have done my best where I can, helped others where I can and generally tried to be a good person.

I have enjoyed work and feel that I have again made a positive contribution to the continuing success of AGI, the organisation where I work.

I have enjoyed playing golf and tennis, enjoyed the company of friends and enjoyed my travels to Spain.

Andrew has as always been a tower of strength, and I am grateful to him for his love and support during the year.

So it is onwards and upwards into 2009.

Leaving Malaga

The weather hasn't been great, but we have enjoyed our time in Malaga. On Sunday we had a drink with some clients who are on holiday here with Amro and we had an excellent meal at the Vino Mio in the evening. On Monday we met Reg and Gloria and again went for a meal at the Vino Mio. And today, Tuesday, we left to head back to the UK. ironcally, today was warm and sunny.

After a couple of hours at Luton Airport, I headed north to be with my Dad in Keith for New Year.

El Chorro

After an hour of so in Ikea, we carried on via Cartama and Pizarro to El Chorro, my favourite part of Spain. We had an excellent meal at a restaurant at the end of the lake, walked up to one of the miradors from where there was an amazing view of all of the lakes and then drove home via Ardales.

It was cool and very windy, but very enjotable.

Boxing Day on the Beach

It was much sunnier, warmer and calmer today. Perfect for a few hours by the beach. Not exactly sunbathing in speedos, but relaxing, reading and having a couple of beers at the beach bar beside the lighthouse.
In the evening, I cooked a chicken meal from a recipe entirely in Spanish. It didn´t quite look like the picture in the recipe book, but it tasted okay.

Navidad en Malaga

We are in Malaga for a few days over Christmas. Today we went to the Christmas Day service at St George´s Church in Malaga before going for a drive out of Malaga and up into the hills where we had a drink and a picnic lunch. In the evening I did a pork casserole which served as our Christmas meal. It was a good relaxing day.

John Sergeant for BBC Sports Personality

Strictly bonkers.

So John Sergeant has gone. Not voted out by the viewing public, but made to feel that he had to leave because of the pressure he was under.

I for one will miss John's dancing. There is only one solution.

Let all those who voted for him in Strictly Come Dancing now vote for John Sergeant as BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

That would be so cool. Maybe I should start a campaign.

Yes We Can

I do not have the ability to put this as eloquently as I would like. But after years of increasing cynicism about politic and politicians, I woke this morning with hope in my heart. Perhaps at last we have the person soon to enter the White House who can bring the nations of the world together and who can also ensure that we protect the world for future generations; someone who will listen before taking action; someone who is intelligent; someone who is not beholden to vested interests.

Although Barak Obama was ahead in the polls, I dared not believe. But now he has won and is President Elect of the United States. He is the most impressive politician for many years. I think he will work well with Sarkozy, Merkel, Brown(orCameron), Medvedev etc. in order to take collective action to make the world a better and safer place. I think he can deal with Iran in a sensible way. I think he will use the UN in a beneficial way. I think - and I hope.

And since I do not have the eloquence to express fully what I am feeling, I will simply quote from the latter part of Barak Obama's victory speech. I think he can, and I think he will.

'This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can.'

Malaga

Perhaps the fact that the flight was delayed by 3 hours was an omen. Anyway it was raining when we arrived in Malaga at 2.30 am and still raining 3 days later. meanwhile in London, they were having a glorious weekend.

Finally the weather improved but by then it was time to return home.

Nonetheless I enjoyed the weekend. We had some excellent meals. We went down to the Malagueta on a couple of occasions and I did swim in the sea both times.