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Busy Year There can be no question that 2018 has kept me well occupied. Flying back from the other ..side of the planet business class, meant that I suffered less jet-lag and was in a better position to hit the ground running. Within a week I was back in harness playing the organ and rehearsing…

September saw my seventy seventh birthday come and go. The day itself was just a normal working day ending with an executive committee meeting of Staffordshire Buddies when everyone sang happy birthday. There were a very few real cards…but more digital greetings via social media than I have ever received. Lovely presents from Scott and…

In the first episode of this mid 2018 report, I mentioned just a few of the adventures and misadventures I have had since returning home from my trip to Australia New Zealand and the Far East. There have been countless other incidents…but a flavour is probably more that sufficient. My 77 birthday is only a…

Looking back over the past six months makes me realise once again that I don’t need to go to foreign parts to encounter adventures…or misadventures. Beginning with the latter…first, the central heating boiler packed up on the coldest day of the year…it was impossible to get through to the boiler maintenance helpline: there were so…

Auckland Auckland is well known for its four-season days, so it came as no surprise to find a mixed bag of sun and showers. After letting folk know I had arrived safely, I walked up to K-Road for an exquisite if expensive meal at the Lebanese Restaurant in St Kevin’s Arcade. The bill…a painful reminder…

As usual, I timed my arrival in Melbourne to attend Midsumma Carnival which this year fell on Sunday 14 January. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that two of my YHA dorm-mates were in Melbourne for the very same reason. Kenton and Daniel from Hong Kong were volunteering for the event. The weather was ideal,…

Hanoi Last year I visited Vietnam for the first time, choosing Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) as my base. Once I had overcome my initial fear of the crazy traffic which seemed to have no rules…I fell in love with the place. This time I selected Hanoi in the North of Vietnam as a…

Birmingham Airport Not everyone enjoys long haul flights to get to the other side of the planet…but for me it’s part of the adventure. Having a good book to read also helps to pass long waits at hub airports like Dubai. This year I got as far as Auckland New Zealand taking in Hong Kong,…

December is almost over…and this is the first chance I have had to write my personal blog. It’s not that I have been idle…quite the reverse. I reckon there should be a law against overworking the elderly. In October, Positively UK organised one of the best conferences for people living with HIV for many years.…

Next month I turn 76 – another year gone in seemingly no time at all. How is it possible for nine months to pass so quickly? A cursory analysis – January saw adventures and misadventures in far flung parts of the world. In February, I was back in the thick of it from the moment…