Author: Grumpy Old Man

I hope your year was enjoyable and successful, despite the customary ups and downs. So no blog today but from me, just heartfelt wishes for health, happiness and success for the coming 12 months!

Now you may remember my post on Boxing Day about the sales: I got it quite wrong, I presume, since my wife, my son and I hit the Boxing Day Sales in Central London and the crowds were just unbelievable , not to mention the queues at the tills. And obviously it was I who […]

Of course it’s difficult – or nigh to impossible – to always hit the right note with Christmas presents, but if you know a person well and give some serious thought to what he or she would like, then you will probably get it right. Now ever since eBay etc, there has been a market […]

Sincere congratulations to most of the people included in last night’s New Year’s Honours list! But then there’s the nomination of Alison Saunders, a former Director of Public Prosecution who oversaw a string of collapsed rape trials when it turned out that the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) had not shared some evidence with defence lawyers. […]

The New Year honours lists recognise the achievements and service of people across the UK and from all walks of life. And for those of you not familiar with the British honours system, here’s at once a very comprehensive as well as official resource. Now ‘merit’ is no doubt in the eye of the beholder, […]

I had a lovely family Christmas! Did you? I must say, I got Christmas presents which are useful and which I did appreciate… but my son, for example, simply wanted some money, in time to be off to the start of the sale in London with his mates first thing today…. In the U.K. at […]

I turned 59 a few weeks ago and for a while I felt an urge to get back into writing again, something I had been doing quite successfully last about 40 years ago…. Just a few words about me to start: I am Swiss by birth, but have lived also for many years in the […]

Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton