In the beginning.......

Well, it was bound to happen in the end. I've been reading various blogs on the web for quite some time now, without really thinking too much about writing one for myself. I have commented on blogs, but that is a different matter. I reasoned that my life was both not quite "normal" enough and decidedly boring to anyone outside my close family. There are however, quite a few things, actually thinking about it for a second, one hell of a lot of things that really get my goat and as a fully paid-up GOM (Grumpy Old Man) I thought that this might just be the place to get it all off my chest.

For the main, I am a mild-mannered, easy-going old fart that just likes to take things easy, have a laugh, and let the world go on in its own gentle way. I'm also a soft-touch (apparently) where my grandchildren are concerned. Sometimes though, it would be nice to have an outlet where I could just let my thoughts out instead of fuming silently or building up useless resentments.

Therefore, I have decided that this will be my outlet! Ostensibly because it is the best way to keep me out of trouble and give me something to do, but there's also the fact that it's free to take into account.

I have thought long and hard about what will and will not be put onto these pages, and I've come to the conclusion that sex, drugs, religion and politics will definitely not be omitted!

Actually, sod it! Whoever or whatever - it's all fair game.

One topic that will undoubtedly recur, will be disability. This is due to the fact that both SWMBO (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) and I are disabled, and there are a lot of injustices out there for disabled people. We are very lucky in that we have each other, and have the ability to find solutions to most of the problems that have occurred in our lives. There will probably be quite a bit of humorous stuff too, as life is far too short to take seriously for too long and a good laugh is often all it takes to brighten things up. In any case, I've got hundreds of pages of cartoons and jokes that people have sent me over the years, and it would be nice to do something with some of them. I may also be tempted to put up one or two photos from time to time, for no other reason than I like them. It's my blog, so there!

Whatever and however it turns out, I am working on the assumption that I am basically writing for myself, to myself and without an audience. That said, if you happen to chance by, I hope you will find the posts to be either thought provoking, humorous or something in between. Please feel free to comment on anything that I've written, and I apologise in advance for the fact that I will probably make a complete b****s-up of it at some stage. My grandchildren are trying to drag me into the 21st Century with laptops and mobile phones, but I'm quite comfy settled into the 3rd quarter of the 20th, thank you.

Mobile phones!!! Now there's a subject for at least a months supply of blogs. I have taken to the laptop computer (eventually) but still feel that the mobile phone is a total bloody nuisance. All mine seems capable of, is taking photos of the inside of my trouser pocket, (67 at the last count)! The only calls I get are from my kids who want me to pick up their kids or do some shopping for them whilst I'm out, or more annoyingly, other mobile operators trying to entice me to use their services with offers of call packages that I will neither use nor understand. Not the use that I had envisaged for it.

I only agreed to have one as we thought it would be useful for SWMBO to contact me if she had a problem when I was out at the shops or something. She is a full-time wheelchair user, with no sense of danger or impending doom, and has a tendency to attempt to do things that are beyond her capabilities on a fairly regular basis. This is not a new scenario, as she has been in a wheelchair for 15 years or so, so obviously she knows when she can do something herself - NOT! As a result, she has found herself on the floor more than once. This, inevitably, is a one-way journey, so I carry a mobile, pocket-photographing thing that I hate just in case.

Well, by now you should be getting an idea of my world.....but if you're not.....you will do if you return on a regular basis. The blogs will not be daily, but that's because I have other things to do, age is getting to me, and I'll probably forget that I've got a blog to write. After all, I managed to forget that I'd started this home page over a year ago!