Farewell Blog

The original aim of this blog was to portray the transition of my experience from being raised and living in England to my life here in North Carolina.

We have now lived here for over six years. As Anglo-Americans we have adapted well to the changes and there is now little to record of the differences that has already been discussed.

I tend to use social media, i.e. Facebook, to express views now and therefore will not be updating this blog in future.

To all who have read, enjoyed (or not) and made comments, thank you.

For the record I am proud of my English heritage and equally proud to be an American.

The Big Move

Six years ago today, we said goodbye to some dear friends at Málaga Airport before flying to London to prepare for our biggest move yet.

Saying goodbye to Andalusia was hard, but our five-year "vacation" had to end some time.  On reflection, I'm not sure if, when we had decided to retire to the Costa Del Sol five years previously, that we really thought that we would spend the rest of lives there.  It was certainly good while it lasted.  The weather was amazing compared to the dull, gray days which seem to prevail in Norfolk since my retirement.  The Andalusian culture, when not spoiled by the many ex-pats from northern Europe, was a delight and we made many friends, both Spanish and English.

 Ronda - a must for our many visitors

The wonderful city of Málaga. I never tired of this view from Gibralfaro

Our granddaughters spent their summer vacations with us, as did friends from England. As for us, well who could resist the delights of Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Ronda, all on our doorstep.  But after visits to our son, who was by this time, living with his American wife in Durham, North Carolina, we both realized that the beautiful Old North State would be a better place to make our forever home.

So, for the second time in five years, we sold our home with all it's contents and on that early morning, with all the possessions that mattered to us in two (large) suitcases, flew to London Gatwick, booked into a hotel in Horley to spend the rest of the day preparing for the biggest move of our life.

January

A year ago, almost to the day, I posted that although February was my least favorite month, I wasn't particularly fond of January either.

Today reinforces that viewpoint.  The weather is what I call "raw". Although currently 45F, which isn't too far off normal, it's gray, damp and miserable.  Even though I'm not a huge outdoor kind of guy (especially at this time of year) the weather definitely effects my mood.  However, tomorrow looks good and we're back in mid 60s again with plenty of sun!

Being the start of the new year January always has the promise of things "looking up", but to me usually fails.  It's not just the weather, it's a month when our household seems to have more than our fair share of bills.  You know, the insurance premiums, auto inspection, license tags, etc., and of course it's when most of us start thinking of tax returns. 

Now that the insurance premiums have been paid, the car inspected, tagged and serviced and, wonder of wonders, the tax returns have been filed, should I be hip-hip-hooraying that these are out of the way for another twelve months?  Of course I should and I am.  As usual I soon remind myself how fortunate I am to have the means to do this, a roof over my head and food in the pantry.  

So, so many haven't and it angers me to see those "would-be Presidents" having the nerve to tell us that they know what's going on and that they are going to do something about it . . . if only we will vote for them.  

There, that's warmed me up - my blood is beginning to boil!

Here's Hoping

Although I had every intention of posting yesterday, the gremlins got to my (not so) trusty Vaio laptop.  After several months of increasingly irritating problems, it refused to do anything on start-up despite all my efforts.

New laptop?  I hadn't budgeted for one in the 2012 family budget - big mistake!  With congressional debate (that's myself and Gail, not the Capitol Hill version), a decision was made (obviously not the DC version!) but one which had to dip into the "discretionary" fund.  Not another laptop, but a new desktop.  More bangs for our bucks.  A day of setting up, transferring files, software and the like and I'm ready to blog.

I'm not one for New Year resolutions, never have been.  If you want to change your life, January 1 is no guarantee that it's going to happen.  A good starting point yes, but so is any day.  In my view you have to change your life by, well, just getting on with it.  That's my  "bite the bullet" philosophy (after a board meeting with my CEO naturally - usually made during a bedtime discussion).

No resolutions, but like most, I do have hopes for 2012 however.  The most obvious is world peace - wishful thinking perhaps.  Another is that the world has a greater awareness, and the determination to act, on environmental issues.  An end to hunger - an achievable goal if only the first of my hopes is realized.  Perhaps the most unrealistic of my hopes is that those who pursue public office actually serve those they represent - that's you and me folks, not themselves or the corporate giants.

A word my previous CEO would not accept was "hopefully".  It just wasn't in his vocabulary.  He insisted on "certainly".  "Certainly" has to be worked at.  If only we could all (including world leaders) do that, we could perhaps have the "hope" that world peace could become a reality.

Love is a bigger word than war.  I can dream can't I?