Thursday 18 July 2019

I am approaching 70 . In fact I am galloping towards it , I looked at a note I made in 2014 saying I will be 65 this year , it seems like yesterday . (I was 70 in September just to keep us up to date)

When I was young I did not really think I would get old, I remember looking at far distance dates when certain things would occur such as retirement and becoming a pensioner and expiry of my driving licence and thinking it to far off to be bothered about . It seems suddenly to have arrived and I cant think where the intervening 50 years have gone . So, my driving licence will expire shortly . I wasn't sure quite what to do , would I need to take another test ? I didn't fancy that . The government sent me a form to renew my licence . I was torn between joining the 21st century and doing it online or remaining firmly in the paper age I prefer . I opted to do it online. I started to complete the form when I got a message saying you cant renew the following groups online and should stop now unless you wish to give them up . I wasn't sure if I needed them , I decided to phone the DVLC . Nobody wants you to phone them . It took me ages to get a number . Then there was the usual layers of menus and if you choose the wrong one you end up not with a person but with a website address . Finally the nice man I got to talk to agreed with me I was probably unlikely to want to drive a pantechnicon or double decker bus and I should let it go.
 I finished the form and hit send .
 A message was appeared saying well done Martin , but , we need just a teeny bit more information so we are sending you a form. What info ? I phoned the nice man again ,easier this time as I had the number and knew the menu . Don't worry he said it does it all the time its nothing and you couldn't have renewed online anyway because you have a paper licence..

My mother said she called me Martin because the name was uncommon (this being back in the day when William , Stephen and David were the sort of names people got rather than Brooklyn ) there were 5 of us called Martin in my year and I went to a small school . But there you go there are fewer of us now. I found a note at one point that Hernan Cortes was given 20 slaves by the natives of Tabasca (I wonder if that where the name for Tabasca Island comes from ) anyway one of the slaves was a women called La Malinche who became his mistress they had a son and guess what he was called - yup Martin !!
Mind you strikes me as an unlikely name for a Spanish conquistador and a 16th century south American women to choose but there we are .

I looked it up intrigued by my own question and find it is derived from the latin name for Mars and is quite common in Spain particularly as a surname where its pronounced Marteen .

I started this blog in 2016 , mostly for me more a diary than anything else and certainly not something I expected anyone to read . Although its several years since my New Zealand trip it seems interest has suddenly manifested itself in the very small bit I did on Pounarmi which intrigues me . I looked it up because I had written it so long ago and thought perhaps there was more than I remember ,but, no its just a short record of my attempt at the ceremony surrounding the gift from my son . Anyway to those that read and enjoyed it and commented - Thank you .

Thursday 20 June 2019

and of course walks





Did you think I would leave you standing there when there was room on my horse for two




Down in Santa Pola we decided to go for an ice cream . Darren asked the girl behind the counter if we could take a picture of us behind the counter , she said yes . the owner turned u as we were arranging ourselves, at first I thought he was angry turns out he was a great guy and was offering to take the picture so we could all be in it 

He turned into a bit of a David Bailey and insisted on more pics arranging us and posing us until he had the photo that he was pleased with .. nice man 


I wanted everyone to have a good time , to chill and to get away from it all although with three of us now retired , that shouldn't be so much of an issue , but then free from family and in the company of good friends is a quite different experience . At the bottom of the road is the swimming pool and games area catering for tennis , football , basketball and petang



 I was comprehensively trounced everytime even though they tried to ensure I won but it was good fun .

Swimming of course was available to those that wanted it and we mostly had the pool to ourselves





Everyone it seems has friends and relatives out to spain to stay . this doesn't happen for me. fro reasons of cost or time or other commitments it has been difficult to get friends and family out to stay. I don't know why others manage it but for me it has rarely happened. I made some good friends at GIST and have kept in close contact with as many as I can . So one day whilst stood on the roof in spain listening to my neighbour depart with his friends to the golf course , I sighed and sadly sent a text to my friends to say how nice it would be if one day we could all meet in spain. As a man they all said we will make it happen !! Well it has. it wasn't easy , with work commitments , family demands and generally being busy souls it took some organising and a excel chart to plot comings and goings but we did it. 
I waited until everyone had their flight booked then I booked mine because I had to be their when they arrived and after they left . Now you might say why didn't you all go together ? Commitments ! They all made an effort and that was the way it worked out . I flew from Southampton and keith from Gatwick . I arrived first and Keith an hour later. Following day Adrian arrived from Gatwick at one o'clock in the morning as easy jet changed the flight time




Darren was next having heroically flown in from working for 6 weeks in Seattle and with only a day home before to the chagrine of loved ones flying out to join us for 3 days . That's how complex it is
He arrived at one in the morning as well

Finally Brian who had been at the other end of the country for a week drove back and flew out arriving early the following day and so we were for a short time all together . They gave me the bst time I have had in a long time..


Tuesday 19 February 2019


it can seem strangely lonely at 20.00 hrs . even so a cyclist 'tinged' me .



you really can see the airport from the bottom of the road . Never realised it was (as the crow flies ) quit so close




just a couple of things on the beach .






 Whilst watching the sun go down one evening I said to my wife we have seen many sunsets on the beach but never a sunrise …. so in the very very early hours we took these.














A short walk in Alicante. This  pavement always makes me feel queasy .

this one has me disorientated with its 3D effect


Ordinary buildings are never plain



Look at this ! Who built this and thought .. I know what it needs !!




So it maybe my mates will go to Spain without me ? Paid on the card so may get my money back . cant afford a second lot of airfares . Also what if I go and cant get back . Actually , you know what , it don't matter . life's to short . If it happens I will sort it . With friends, relatives , relations succumbing to ill health and old age .. make every moment count . this is no biggy in the real world.






I have for a long time had a dream of going to Spain with my mates and 'chillin'. Some are now retired others still work. Getting them all together (because they work in the same department) so  a mass exodus wouldn't be allowed. their work commitments also means getting a date when they were available means it didn't look likely. However we had a get together (which in itself took a bit of organising ) and agreed we would 'do this thing'. To simplify everything  I said I would fit in with their commitments and once they had booked I looked for flights to get me there and back at the right time. I ended up with Flybe. Not as cheap as some but cheapish and the right dates . Now I find they may not still be operating , or maybe not operating from Southampton . No info on their website and still taking bookings . They seem to have already sold the operations to Virgin/Stobart. so I thought I may be OK as the wrangle is with the name but  just caught a bit on the news that Flybe is pulling out of Southampton. that was on the regional news but cant find anymore on it .I understand companies go on trading even when they knoiw they might cease trading because of the catch 22 scenario but it leaves punters like me in no mans land !





My mate called my bike Kermit , not sure why