The Trump Debacle

So Trump won the United States presidential election - supposedly! Clinton won the popular vote, and by more than 2½ million votes, but because of the strange and antiquated "system"in this country the president is not elected by popular vote, but by an Electoral College. They voted for the arrogant Mr Trump, who has been called a pathological and self-possessed liar, misogynist, racist, bigot, xenophobe, a gaudy materialist, a megalomaniac and a number of other not-so-popular words. His frequent remarks on Twitter have shown just how ignorant precedent (sic) elect Trump is - for example in setting presidents (sic).

Liz and I have moved across the state border and are now temporarily living in Vermont. The house we had been renting for the last 24 months was eventually sold, and we had to move out in December. So, a frantic month packing a large house into boxes, a rented U-haul truck, and here we are in the beautiful Vermont countryside, surrounded by now-bare maples and white birch with the occasional fir tree, all set off by a white blanket of snow. We are now "house hunting" and hoping to find something akin to what we have been used to over the last couple of years. Everything is soooo expensive up here in the North Country though.

I was hit quite badly by the brexit vote. Unfortunately one of the drawbacks of being a British expat is that we don't get to vote. In my opinion that is a big fault in the UK system. So how was I hit badly. I get a relatively small pension that is paid into my UK bank account, so it is in pounds. The day after the result of the brexit vote was known the pound dollar exchange rate plunged from $1.66 down to $1.22. That meant that after converting to dollars my monthly income fell by roughly 25% ! Maybe with a bit of lick, when Trump is inaugurated the dollar will fall against the pound making me better off.

Enough self-pity! It's close to noon, and the temperature outside is just 2˚F (that's -17˚C) and has been below freezing for several days now. It is supposed to warm up a little overnight and even be up in the 40's over the next few days. Going to snow tonight, turning to rain by the early morning. Yeough! Ah the beauty of living New England.

Letter from America

This week marks the 1st anniversary of my historic (for me) arrival in America - one giant step for me and just a small leap forward for mankind. I have learned much during these first 52 weeks in the States. Before anyone sets foot in this country, most people have already formed an impression in their minds about the place; an impression that has been fabricated mostly from television programs. Before I make any specific remarks, let me just say that my own impressions since being here have been fashioned by the region I am living in. America is a big country, so what I am reporting on may not necessarily be true for every region of every state. However up here in the North Country its validity holds.

Firstly, forget about all of those glamorous lady cops and agents you see on your black screens - people here are very ordinary, the sort of people that you would come across in any average city in the rest of the world. Okay I have seen a couple of the fairer sex that I've had to do a double take on, and they may be more common in New York City or southern California. Of course demographics come into it, so allow me to give you some local figures (by courtesy of Wikipedia). According to the 2010 Census, the population up here near the Canadian border was 94% white and just 1% black or African American. Of the total 23.3% are of French or French Canadian extraction, 20.5% Irish, 16.1%  English and some 30% from other European countries. 92% of the population speaks only English at home - indeed I have yet to hear or speak French - I guess I will have to wait for my first visit to Canada, only 47 miles away as the crow flies.

I have always been an avid reader - I love the novels of Nelson deMille and Umberto Eco, to give examples of the genre I prefer. This may have something to do with why I took to writing some ten years ago. A couple of weeks ago I joined the local library, which, although small, puts to shame those that I have been used to in southern Africa over recent years. Here, not only may I take out 30 items at a time, but I have been able to borrow such valuable sources of good writing as Harper's (no - not Harper's Bazaar), The New Yorker, Scientific American and an excellent magazine for any writer that was unknown to me until a couple of days ago, Writer's Digest.

So what have I achieved since I have been here? Well, at great expense and a lot of stressful waiting, I am at last a permanent resident with a green card, authority to work, a social security number, and a state driver's license. When that official notification arrived in the post saying "Welcome to the United States of America", a huge weight dropped off of my shoulders. All of the signs here point towards a buoyant economy, although at least 90% of the jobs advertised locally are for openings in one of the medical or nursing professions. I have been trying for a number of writing jobs, but prospective employers here are extremely bad at replying to my emails. They don't seem to realize that it is both courteous and considerate to reply to a cover letter, even if only to acknowledge its receipt.

Well, it is now the end of April. The snow that had been lying in our yard for four months without break, and up to 3 feet deep, has at last gone, although even as I write there are a few light snowflakes falling from the gray, overcast sky. However there are good signs everywhere that Spring has almost sprung. New green grass is sprouting in the yard, perennials that have been dormant under their white winter blanket have started to sprout new life, and the squirrels and chipmunks have reappeared in the yard, rummaging for last fall's hidden acorns and other seeds. Last week, before all the snow had melted, two white tailed deer strolled out of the forest opposite, and up the road right outside the house. And we no longer have to have both central heating furnace and the pellet stove going 24/7.

One thing that it's difficult to get away from in America is her politics, and it's something that you don't really notice that much until you actually live with it, and yet it's here on a day to day basis. For example up here in the North Country we have at least six free local newspapers. Hardly a week goes by without some columnist having a dig at a national political figure. For my readers who are not that familiar with it, the United States is split down the middle in a number of different ways. There are just the two parties - the Democrats on the left and the Republicans or GOP (Grand Old Party) on the political right. But that is not the only split. To southerners, northerners are still "Yankees", the southerners are "Rednecks" to those living in the North, and there is a lot of sentiment on both sides in that regard. There is the split between those who favor abortion and the pro-life supporters, those such as the NRA (National Rifle Association) which advocates the widespread ownership of guns, and those who would like much more gun control. The NRA had more than 5 million members in 2013, according to Wikipedia. 

Green Card

It's been a long wait - ten stressful months that pushed my blood pressure up to dangerous levels. However during the last few days of February I attended my Government Medical Examination and three days later an interview with an official of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Yesterday in the mail I received notification that my permanent residence had been approved and that I should receive my Green Card within two to three weeks. It actually arrived in the mail today, and I can now legally work in the United States.

I've learned a lot since leaving South Africa at the end of April last year, and much of what I have learned you will find in previous postings. My opinion of several airlines has hit rock bottom. Emirates is one of them. They would not even answer my emails, even after advising me that they had found the laptop that went missing in Dubai, and would forward it to me without delay. I also got to fly on Aer Lingus. Their Shannon to Logan flights are little more that cattle wagons, with three ageing flight attendants trying their best to serve nearly 200 single class passengers (there are no Business or First Classes on these money-saving flights).

After 42 years in southern Africa I have been thrown into the deep end of continental American winters. Yesterday the daytime temperature rose above freezing point for only the second time in almost four months. Thankfully this time it looks like staying in the 40's for a few days - not nights though, which will still be below freezing. The 2 - 3 feet of snow lying in our yard (garden) has started its slow thaw, but will probably be at least a couple of weeks before we can next see the grass on the lawn. Another thing I have learned - not to let your central heating furnace run out of oil - likewise the pellet stove out of pellets. And I have learned how best to conserve the two fuels so as to keep down costs.

Now that I am able to look back at my last few years in South Africa, I can see it with a completely refreshed mind. I see a country that has openly practiced reverse-apartheid since it became independent, a country rife with nepotism, corruption and bad management, and a country with a president who apparently needs his head examined. In 1998 I was privileged to meet and shake hands with the late Nelson Mandela, a complete opposite to today's president, and a total gentleman. But we've seen it before, haven't we? Up in Zimbabwe, for example, and in the majority of newly independent states in sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly many of the whites left in South Africa have nowhere else to go. I was lucky - I have a British passport (when I first came to southern Africa in 1972, I vowed never to give it up), and I have an American wife, daughter and grandchildren. My heart, prayers and love reach out to those of you who are now stuck in that country.  At least you have the beautiful countryside, climate and wine to enjoy.

America is vibrant. The economy is back on track, and the price of gas (petrol) has recently been at its lowest for many years. You learn things by just watching television ads though - apart from the fact that the models are better looking than those in SA. It seems that at least 50% of television ads are for drug companies. Ads that market expensive prescribed drugs for heart disease, obesity, shingles,  a variety of vaccinations, COPD and many others. With the buoyant economy, many of the ads are for motor companies such as Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, and Jeep (not so many); and there is a dearth of vehicle insurance ads. Naturally, all of the big fast food chains are regularly represented.

Newsletter from over the Pond

I have now been settled in our tiny apartment for seven weeks. Liz has made a wonderful job of furnishing it on a shoestring. She found me a Lazyboy recliner - 2nd-hand but very functional and extremely comfortable. A couple of weeks ago we went to a barn just outside Lancaster - a barn full of every conceivable kind of bric-a-brac from saddles and harness, books, vinyls, tools and countless household items. We picked up a rocking chair and footrest (also rocking) for Liz, a practically new Black and Decker cordless drill/driver, and a new turntable/tuner (which we will need once my vinyls arrive) each for just $20.

We were very fortunate to get this apartment, although it is far too small for my liking and the stairs to the upper floor are too steep. We are going to know it when our 105 boxes arrive from Cape Town in 4 or 5 weeks time. We do, however, have a small patch of garden in which I have planted potatoes, onions and scarlet runners, and which already has a mass of strawberries growing - we shared the first one yesterday. Although the smallest of the 4 apartments here, we have the largest wooden deck - 12' x 45' and facing South, so it gets the sun all afternoon until it dips below the tree tops, which rise some 300' immediately to the West.

We are visited each morning by a chipmunk, that runs across the deck from one end to the other, returning with its cheeks swollen with birdseed. It has stolen them from the adjacent apartment deck, where a black bear knocked down the bird feeder a couple of nights ago. Yesterday it actually came in through our open front door, looked around and then left again. We were also visited yesterday by a friendly squirrel, which sat on the deck,s balustrade eating peanuts (left there by Liz accidentally on purpose). There are also bats in the attic, and we have seen a marmont and white tailed deer close by.

Julie has gone down to Maine with the kids - Gracie, who won 5 medals at the State Gymnastics Championships, is attending a Gym Camp there for the week. We will look after their animals while they are away, and Julie will get a well earned break, to be joined mid-week by Jake.

As I compose this I am sitting on the deck, surrounded by the forests and green meadows of the North Country. In the far distance I can see Mounts Washington, Lafayette, Lincoln and Osceola.We are taking a coffee break. A robin is perched on a tree trunk, staring at me. At this time of year the weather is almost identical to the UK, so I will be well acclimatized when I fly to see my sister in a few weeks time. I guess that's why this region is called New England. It will be different when winter arrives. During this past one the temperature remained well below freezing, night and day, for three months. Even the Ammonoosuc, a usually swift flowing river, was frozen over.

I recently spent a little over $640 on a new laptop to replace the one lost by Emirates during my journey over here. I have had to send it back to Dell as the operating system was not seeing the camera - an essential piece of equipment in this day and age. It was delivered in Texas overnight, so I'm hoping it will not be long before it gets back to me. In the meantime I will continue using Liz's machine,

Hello America

I have been to this side of the Pond once before – back in 2005, when, during my 3 week stay, I was lucky enough to have witnessed the forests of the White Mountains turn from their summer green to the that autumn mass of color. That was just a short visit – this time I am here to stay (subject, of course, to USCIS). Thanks to the world economic downturn it has taken something like 4 or 5 years to eventually sell the farm, and in the end I practically gave it away. But at least it is now out of my hands. I heard just today that our 104 cartons of possessions are at last about to be loaded into a container and sent on their way. I guess they’ll take another couple of months to get here, and we’ll have to hire storage space until we get a larger place to live.

On my first night on American soil we stayed at the Salem Inn in Salem, Massachusetts. Liz has a passion for witches and Wicca, and I am a Free Thinker, so it was in all aspects an appropriate place to stay. And anyway I needed to replace a ring that I had lost somewhere on the farm, a ring with a particularly sentimental value. That first night was somewhat marred by circumstances. We had planned to go out for dinner, but with 40 sleepless hours behind me along with the loss of my laptop in Dubai – well, I’m afraid that the evening turned out to be an expensive damp squib. I did notice one thing though – having heard that everything in America was BIG, I noted that even the loo paper at our hotel was at least 10% larger than what I have been used to elsewhere.

But seriously – I have now been here for one month. Yesterday we sent the I-130 off to USCIS to start the ball rolling for my permanent residence. I will be flying to the UK in late July for a couple of weeks to keep legal, and will have the pleasure of staying with my sister and her husband Peter, and of seeing her three kids (?) and grandchildren for the first time in 15 years. My 5 weeks on this side of the Pond have been wonderful – eye opening, to say the least. It is particularly wonderful to witness efficiency, clean streets and highways (a story here), unbiased radio stations, the very latest technology and a wide variety of culture – available for all.

Driving north on Interstate 93 the other day we witnessed a State trooper meticulously going through a trash bag that someone had dumped on the side of the highway. He was searching each piece of trash for some clue that would trace it back to the culprit. Wow! Efficiency!

Of course the best thing about being on this side of the Pond is that I have been reunited with my family. With my wife and soul mate Liz, and with Julie, Jake and my three grandchildren Grace, Owen and Luke. We have an apartment just three miles from Julie, three miles along the Ammonoosuc River, and are surrounded by the forests and mountains of the North Country. From our deck we have views of Mounts Washington, Lafayette, Lincoln and Osceola as well as a number of the smaller mountains of the region.

Last week we drove down to Portsmouth to watch Grace compete in the State Gymnastics Championships – she came away with 5 medals and a very proud grandfather. My theatrical background kicked in during the Awards Ceremony in the school auditorium, where I counted more than 50 floodlights above the stage as well as numerous spots and follow spots. There must be numerous small theaters that would give anything for that lighting set up, and this just in a local high school. Liz and I drove back along the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee, stopping briefly at Weirs Beach so that Liz could get her feet in the sand – the waters of the lake were still just a few degrees above freezing, and far too cold to get her feet wet.  

Sold the Farm - really did this time

Unlike my post of 11/27/2011, which was written immediately before the South African banks let us down on the first of several occasions, we really have sold the farm this time. Papers are signed and the money's in the bank - not nearly as much as we would have liked, but enough to get significantly more personal possessions across the Pond. Liz will be reunited not just with myself, but with her collection of shoes, clothes, beads and beading, lighthouses and witches. I've been following the New Hampshire weather during their winter - I don't think I've seen the temperature rise above freezing for at least 2 months. I guess that if I miss Africa at all, which is unlikely, it will be at this time of the year. Still - I did spend 8 years living (off and on when not at sea) in the far North of Scotland, so I have been used to those conditions in the past, albeit many years ago. I guess I'll get used to it - I'll have to, won't I?

NH wild turkeys taken 30 minutes ago

What will I not miss about Africa in general, and South Africa in particular? Well, I never wanted to live in SA in the first place anyway, but was forced here by circumstances. Since democratization I have witnessed a country where reverse apartheid is blatantly being practiced - I'm not saying that BEE is a bad thing - far from it, but the way it has worked out in most cases has exposed corruption, nepotism and bad management at their worst. The poor in South Africa are still poor, whereas the well-off have lined their pockets and those of their cronies at the expense of the underprivileged. You only have to look around you at present. As many as 4 years ago the Mail & Guardian exposed the scandal behind the multi-million rand upgrades on Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home - upgrades carried out at the taxpayers' expense (for those who have never heard of him, Zuma is South Africa's multi-wife president). Today, 4 years later, the scandal lives on. 

I will miss none of the above. What I will miss is the bush and the wildlife. The fragrance after that first rain shower after a period of drought. The ability to take a drive of less than an hour and be among a 30-strong herd of elephant, the bush buck that live on my farm, the monkeys that scatter when I drive to Bathurst, the sound of the jackals as they hunt at night, the call of the frogs from our small dam after the year's first rains, and the call of the fiery-necked nightjar - these I will never forget.

Yesterday I took my monthly drive into Grahamstown. The main street showed up mismanagement at its worst. Imagine taking a trash bin - well, probably taking dozens of trash bins - and emptying them along the sidewalk and gutters. The amount of trash just lying there was appalling. The thing is, the ANC have individuals all over the country in local government, mayors and councilors, who have no idea how to run a craft booth let alone a municipality. And they are all riding around in new Mercedes and BMWs. I'm not jealous - just sorry for the many individuals who cannot escape from the situation. Which makes me very glad of the decision I made when I first arrived in Africa - never to give up my British passport.

There is so much to get done during the next 58 or so days. Police Clearance Certificate, hand in Beretta, international driving permit, stop Eskom, stop Telkom, stop DStv, stop Post Box, change of address with various agencies, sell furniture, stop car insurance ... the list goes on. My clients will find my new telephone number on my main website, and I will still be available for work from South Africa. Just remember though, that if you call me the difference is 6 hours in SA winter and 7 in summer.

Musings before relocation

Many of my regular readers will have come to realize that I have a deep interest in the Quantum Theory – indeed the greater part of my present beliefs and thoughts regarding consciousness, paranormal phenomena, ESP, and other closely related subjects, are based on such related subjects as Quantum Entanglement. My interest was recently given a boost when researching a series of articles I had been commissioned to write. These included such subjects as Positive Thinking, Goal Setting  and Law of Attraction. It was only recently that I came across the Science of Noetics, the study of how thought can influence happenings.

Quantum Mechanics has many skeptics – but then I am very skeptical about religion, and will never accept the dogma associated with it. That does not mean to say that I am not spiritual, for I am. But my beliefs are fashioned by science and in particular by the Quantum Theory. Yes, I believe in prayer, but in the sense that consciousness and positive thinking can and does influence events. All of those leadership courses, goal setting, team-building and so on are merely, in my mind, another manifestation or expansion of the theory.

I chat on Skype with Liz most evenings, except when she is working the morning shift at the other side of the Pond. I am amazed by the number of times that we have witnessed a quantum event. Actually, if truth be told, I used to be amazed but no longer am, for it has become common place for each of us to make the exact same remark and hit the send button simultaneously. So much so that when it happens these days, we immediately each type in ‘qqqqqqqq’ to signify to each other a quantum event. If I were to go back through the history of my messages, I could quote to you some of the instances, but you must just take my word for it.

My maternal grandfather was an engineer, and in 1912 was in charge of the starboard engine room of HMS Thunderer, where he spent 18 months fitting out machinery. He later made a name for himself during WWII as the designer of the 12,000 lb blockbuster bomb, which earned him the title Blockbuster Brooks and an MBE from King George VI to boot. I did not learn about his connection with the Royal Navy until a couple of years ago, but now wonder whether there was some sort of influence from the other side that caused me to commission. I specialized as an Air Warfare Instructor flying off carriers in the Buccaneer strike aircraft. It was only after his passing that I inherited his scrap book, which is full of press cuttings about the brave exploits of RNAS and RFC aviators during WWI. Could this have been yet another quantum event, or was it just a coincidence? If any of my readers are interested I have published jpegs of some of those clippings in a previous post to this.

If all goes according to plan this will be one of my last posts from African soil. I have resided in southern Africa for 41 years, seen the transition and subsequent demise of Zimbabwe under the autocrat Mugabe, witnessed the first signs of failure in South Africa, where education, health care and local government, to name a few, are falling foul of mismanagement, corruption and reverse apartheid. I will shortly be joining my family in cooler climes, where the 32 kbs/sec download speed I am paying through the teeth for will be replaced by one of 12 mbs/sec., where guinea fowl are replaced by wild turkeys, and where the wild animals are bears, elk, whitetail deer and moose. It will be a totally new environment for my writing, and one that I can’t wait to tackle.

New New Hampshire website

It has been a while since I last posted here, mostly because I have been kept busy writing for clients here in South Africa and in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Most of my regular readers will know of my plans to relocate to North Carolina, and of how my wife Liz flew back to the States more than a year ago while I stayed behind in the Eastern Cape to finalize the sale of our smallholding. After spending a year staying with her daughter, circumstances forced Liz to move on from Louisiana, supposedly to NC. However, things have changed. I was not happy about Liz arriving in NC under the conditions that were forced upon her, and so I asked my daughter Julie in New England if she wouldn't mind Liz staying with her for a while, and this is why Liz is now firmly ensconced in the Granite State with Julie and my three grandchildren.

To cut a long story short, Liz is so happy in her new home that we have decided that it is to be our final relocation destination, and I can't wait to get there. These new circumstances have led me to creating a new website, which, at the time of writing is just partly finished, although coming along in leaps and bounds. The design is all there, and it is now just a matter of populating it with good content and then marketing it. We have based the design on our info-nc and info-sc websites, which have proved so popular in the past, and the pic for the header was taken by Liz a week or so ago.

There seems to be no shortage of writing work on the other side of The Pond, unlike here in darkest Africa. Many of the domains ending with .co.za have been populated with content that leaves much to be desired, clearly having been written by someone not fluent in the English language, and of its subtle nuances and many idioms. This is just another sign of the times in South Africa, and is something that goes hand in hand with the neo-apartheid policies of the present government. The new upper class in South Africa is the reason for many of the setbacks experienced in the country. Much of the government and industry is corrupt, and the new leaders are filling their pockets at the expense of the poor. Why, only last week a local government official here in the Eastern Cape, after resigning from her position after only 5 months, was given a handshake of R2.5 million!  Only in Africa!

I will not miss this country one iota. I'm ready to leave - just need to sell the farm. Which brings me to one final point. A couple of days ago I received an email from some asinine idiot offering me R200,000 cash for the farm (I have just dropped the asking price to below R1 million). With the Rand crashing the way it is, I will consider any sensible offer, but I have only one reply to sheer stupidity - kma.

More ramblings of the mind

This past weekend I entertained three Italian friends who are currently touring South Africa - it was such a breath of fresh air to have the house come alive again. Liz has been back in WA  for coming up to 10 months and I have been in danger of  becoming a recluse, so to have the house suddenly bursting full of European energy has meant a lot to me. Thank you my friends.

Several years ago my daughter Julie went to a clairvoyant for a reading. It must have been during the last few years of the 1900s, for I had been separated from my then wife for several years. Julie told me that the medium had told her that her father would meet someone from overseas and spend many happy years together. I took the news with a pinch of salt, having resigned myself to spending my autumn years in South Africa. Since then a lot of water has passed beneath the bridge.

Julie moved to the USA, met and married Jake and is now the proud mother of three beautiful children in New Hampshire. Then on Christmas Day in 2001 I received an email from Liz in reply to an ad I has placed in one of those dating services. We chatted for several months, and to cut a long story short, she flew to South Africa, I was divorced from my first wife, and on May 2nd 2005 married Liz.  We are completely compatible soul mates, and in the 10 years we have been together have not had bad words once.

By the time I rejoin Liz on the other side of the Pond I will have spent 40 years, give or take a couple of months, in Southern Africa. The first nine were spent in what was then Rhodesia, where the people, white and black, look the same and even sound the same as down here, but are so completely different. Everyone was friendly and no-one was afraid of a little hard work. I had dozens of friends in Rhodesia, but can count on one hand the number of true friends I have made in South Africa. My Italian friend has persuaded me to watch the movie The Truman Show, in which he likens the role played by Jim Carrey to that of the typical South African, oblivious of everything outside his immediate environment.  I will watch it with great interest.

I have recently been commissioned to write numerous articles on Positive Thinking and related subjects. For several years I have taken a close interest in Quantum physics, the science of physics at a sub-atomic level. Billions of dollars are spent each year in  Quantum physics research, and scientists have shown that many of the phenomena that are known as paranormal can, in fact, be explained quite logically at quantum levels. These include such phenomena as telekinesis, near death experience, telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, ghosts and UFOs. There is also wide belief, though not yet proof, that our consciousness is a quantum event. This would explain why, when I am chatting with Liz more than 10,000 miles away, we frequently think and say identical things at the same moment. in time.

What is Time, anyway? Well it is the one commodity that is given to each of us for free. We each have a limited amount of it, and so it is in everyone's best interest to make the best of it. Think of all that wasted time when you are stuck in a traffic jam - that used to be the best part of 2 hours a day when I lived in Midrand. Moving to the Eastern Cape did away with all of that. Unless I drive into Grahamstown or Port Alfred I am lucky to see a dozen vehicles a day. But think of all that extra time I have. I cannot believe how much time is wasted - if only people thought about it a little more, they could completely change their lives for the better, like I did.

Recollections

I was driving from the farm into Port Alfred this morning, reminiscing, when I decided on the subject of this blog - recollections of some of the things I have achieved during my life, and of some of the mistakes I have made. I have reached that age where a person starts wondering how many more birthdays they are going to enjoy - if one can enjoy birthdays in this day and age. I am still told from time to time that I do not look my age, so maybe there's hope for me yet. So what can I brag about ? What can I tell my grandchildren? And what can I not  tell them?

I suppose that one achievement I can chalk up on the board would be my close to 300 each carrier catapult shots and deck landings. I spent 8 years flying off aircraft carriers, and during this time qualified as a 'top gun'. My flying career was not without incident, my having survived a mid-air collision between two Hawker Hunter jet fighters as well as a crash landing after an engine failure at 24,000 ft. The latter hit the headlines of the national press.

The one I walked away from

I had become very apprehensive with the complacency of the British people during my days as a naval aviator, and on their completion decided to 'emigrate' to Africa - to Rhodesia to be precise. The Fleet Air Arm and its carriers were being juggled about like  yo-yos by various politicians in those days. I had become a particular admirer of Enoch Powell, a Conservative politician whose predictions of Britain's future have proved so true. I also admired Ian Smith, the Rhodesian prime minister, whom I was to meet several times during my nine years in the country. It was in Rhodesia that I became heavily involved in the theater, serving on the Executive Committee of Salisbury Repertory Players and treading the boards in more than a dozen plays under the direction of their resident professional director.

The writer as Dronio in You must be Joking (Four plays for Coarse Actors)

After that joker Mugabe came into power and Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, I left the country with my new family for Britain, where I had been appointed Senior Air Traffic Controller at Biggin Hill Airport.  I slotted into the job very well, and was soon deputizing for the Airport Manager as well as running Air Traffic Control. Unfortunately the narrow minded politics of Britain's Civil Aviation Authority refused to recognize my Rhodesian ATC qualifications, in spite of my obvious experience, which is what brought me and my family to South Africa. I remained in ATC for a number of years before becoming involved in computers, and it was during this time that I was honored to have shaken hands with Nelson Mandela - I consider this, if not an achievement, at least something I can brag about.

In retrospect my first marriage was my first big mistake, although even from mistakes can come good. In this case in the shape of my daughter Julie and later my three grandchildren. They are very special to me and I just cannot wait to get to New Hampshire again to see them - and without doubt to spoil them. My first visit to sub-Saharan Africa had been to Mombasa whilst embarked on HMS Eagle. I had spent a week staying on a farm at Nyali Beach, the guest of Andy Pape and his two teenage daughters. This was to influence my original decision to move to Africa, and eventually to another achievement - to own a farm in Africa.

The main farmhouse and Katie

Martindale Farm is an 18 acre smallholding about 10 miles from Bathurst in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The village is home to South Africa's oldest pub, the Pig & Whistle. We bought the farm in 2005, and loved it and cherished it, but the time came to move on. I met Liz, my present wife, on the Internet, and we've been together for 15 years - 15 years without a single argument or fight.We are true soul mates. Liz has returned to America in 2012 and I followed her 2 years later. I am now able to coin the phrase "I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Kaprivier Hills".

Today I am relocated in New England and the owner of several websites, and spend much of my time writing content for the Internet. My most successful personal sites are  info-nc and info-nh . My latest achievement is a website for a veterinary clinic in the Northeast Kingdom. I never thought of myself as a writer ten years ago, but since 2006 I have had more than 6,500 articles published on websites - this I do consider as an achievement. What's more the Internet has made it possible for me to continue writing wherever I am located.

South Carolina Information

I am more than pleased to be able to announce that, after a lapse of a little over three years, I have once more got the Info-SC website up and running again. The website is a sister site to our Info-NC website, which has proved to be so successful. Info-SC is geared towards people living in, visiting or relocating to the beautiful Palmetto State, and provides a free listing of information relevant to South Carolina. Anyone may have a page dedicated to their business with a link to their website listed on Info-SC, the only proviso being that it must be based in South Carolina. You may also have articles written about South Carolina included in the website. Please see the website for details or contact me directly with your company details. The same applies to our North Carolina website and to NC businesses.

African Drums

Another Saturday - the End of the World has come and gone, although here at the farm in South Africa's Eastern Cape it feels like it's just around the corner. Outside it's 104°F in the shade - that's 40°C, and inside the house (I don't have an air-conditioner)88.5°F or 31°C. On Wednesday I drove into Port Alfred and it was predictably full of Vaalies (for the uninitiated those are holiday makers from what used to be the Transvaal - Gauteng in today's new Apartheid era.). Most of the influx is from Gauteng (one can only tell by the vehicle registrations), although there is a smattering from the Free State, Natal - oops, sorry - KwaZulu-Natal - and the Western Cape. This is the Silly Season, and the time of year to avoid Port Alfred, especially when the temperature peaks to today's levels.

I write this post to the accompaniment of African tribal drums - no kidding! There are a handful of railway cottages occupied by farm workers a short distance away, and a funeral is in progress. Julia, who runs the local shabeen, is burying her young son, who died a week or so ago in a Grahamstown hospital - I am told of HIV, although that could have been pure speculation. I was given the news by Headman, a jack of all trades who does odd jobs for me from time to time. Apparently, when the railway was still running through Martindale, he was the local station master. He now rents the old station master's house from the railways for just R10 a month. Words from his own lips.

Christmas for me will be quiet. I am still awaiting a parcel from Liz - she says it cost her $60 to post so I'm looking forward to a few small goodies this year. She's now been gone for 7 months - thank Goodness for Skype. I have a little gizmo called MagicJack that comes with an USA telephone number and free calls to all other US numbers, but it stopped working on my Laptop so I'll have to try to install it on the old PII machine. At least we get to chat or live video just about every day - except when her work hours are non-conducive.

Meanderings of the Mind

It is Saturday in the Eastern Cape - 11.00 a.m. With no paying work expected until the New Year I am spending the next three weeks carrying out domestic maintenance, maintenance of my personal websites and adding a few extra pages and maybe a few illustrations to my autobiography, The Graceful Retirement of an English Gentleman. It is 90° F outside and the humidity way up at 86%, so I guess it’s rather like being in Louisiana in summertime. We had a rainstorm last evening – 10mm in an hour or so – the new guttering I put up last week appears to be working well – I went out to check it during the storm and water was gushing from its open end at about 2 liters a minute. Still some water getting into the bar though, and you can see from the splashes on the exterior wall where, somehow, the guttering is not quite doing its job.

While sweeping water out of the bar a couple of hours ago I noticed a familiar ‘shape and pattern’ under the drinks table – a 45cm night adder. I don’t revel in killing wild creatures but when a potentially dangerous one invades my home, I have to draw the line because of Katie and the two cats. We’ve never had a night adder in the house before – a couple of boomslangs (bright green tree snakes) in the past, and last year a Cape Cobra outside the scullery door.

My next-door neighbor, Wendell Muir, came to see me yesterday afternoon, bringing with him a dozen farm eggs and some rashers of home cured bacon. He stayed for tea and, as luck would have it, Liz called from WA just before 4 p.m., and so Wendell was able to chat with her face-to-face on Skype for ten minutes while I fed the animals. I always enjoy Wendell’s visits – they give me the opportunity of catching up on the neighborhood news. Apparently they have (at last after 2 years) now graded and fixed the Clumber route to Bathurst. I gave Wendell some of Liz’s marmalade and her special Carolina Marmalade. I guess these are some of the things I shall miss when I part from this country life for the new beginning on the other side of the Pond

A delicious farm breakfast was somewhat spoiled by the CNN news of that terrible elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut – now is the opportunity for Obama to get something done about the gun laws in the States. I have nothing against individuals owning guns – indeed I have a Beretta 7.65 semi automatic (legal) myself – but this 20 year old entered the school with a assault rifle and 2 or 3 hand guns. No one outside the military or the police should be allowed to possess an assault rifle and it should be made a criminal offense to be found with in possession of one. I am stating that in my personal capacity and as a Veteran and retired instructor in air warfare and weapons. There has to be a limit drawn somewhere.

It’s just turned midday, the wind has sprung up and, predictably, the first rumbles of thunder can be heard on the North side of the house. I have no doubt the rain will follow a little later on. A break here for a G & T and to watch a little football. No Not soccer – at a risk of offending some of my readers I don’t think I have watched a single soccer game over the last 20 years – maybe 40!! No, I have been watching “my team” the New England Patriots play against the Houston Texans. The Patriots were 21 – 0 up after 2 minutes of the 2^nd Quarter. Tomorrow they’re on Sunday Night Football (I just love Faith Hill !!) I believe playing the 49ers. I took a short break just now to watch the remainder of the 1^st Quarter. Great game and Tom Brady is playing a blinder! Go Patriots!

Freeing the mind

Workwise I have had an extremely illuminating time recently. I have been writing the content for a number of mini-websites - so far about 60-odd with hopefully more to come. Writing web content can be both interesting and didactic, especially when researching a completely new subject – new in the sense that one previously has known little or nothing about it. As an example, about a year ago I was contracted to rewrite the content for an Orthotics &Prosthetics Practice website. Where, beforehand, there was a void in my knowledge, there is now enough understanding to hold at least a brief conversation on the subject, and at the same time a lot of sympathy for the unfortunates who have to make use of these artifacts.

Recently my writing has been around motivation, and has included such subjects as life coaching, investing, trading, property investment, motivational speaking and the like. Since I was involved in Jaycees (or Junior Chamber) many years ago I have always maintained a keen interest in motivation, although I am ashamed to admit that I have frequently lapsed in the past. This present assignment has re-awakened my mind, and taught me how it is possible to completely change one’s life around for the better by positively controlling the mind. Now I may be getting a little ancient for that right now, and living where I do prevents me from attending any of the local seminars anyway, but I am deeply grateful to CL for giving me the opportunity of doing the work for him.

Our smallholding remains unsold. As I write there are three or four glossy starlings chattering away to each other in the wild plum tree by the gate. The largest of our four cycads has been carrying two huge cones for several months, and only during the last few days have they started to split open, revealing the fleshy red fruit inside. Some species of cycad are indigenous to this part of the Eastern Cape, and one species, Encephalartos latifrons, is close to extinct. Cycads are known to have been around for more than 250 million years, one of the oldest of all plant families.

Last night I managed to have a lengthy telephone conversation with Liz, who is now awaiting her first Christmas with her daughter and grandchildren in Washington State. This will be our first Christmas away from each other in the ten years we have been together. If it were not for Katie I think I would have gone crazy months ago. She is my constant companion and guards the property on my infrequent trips to either Grahamstown or Port Alfred. Since the new shopping mall opened at Rosehill a couple of years back I have been avoiding trips to G’town, and only venture there once a month to pick up my prescription. Shopping at the Rosehill Super Spar is a far more pleasant experience anyway.

Update

I've been very lax about keeping my blog up to date over the past couple of months - I think mostly because I have been kept extremely busy - have written content for some 60 or 70 mini websites during that time, as well as content for a South Carolina holiday resort company. I must say that writing for the local company has gotten me very motivated as well as opening my eyes to wealth creation methods that I didn't think were open to the likes of me.

Liz has been back in the States for 6 months now - we chat either on Skype or the telephone just about every day. She now has a job, working for the DoD no she's not joined the Marines! - something to keep her occupied and bring in a few dollars locally until I can get this farm sold and join her. The farm sometimes feels as though it is an albatross around my neck. Liz has gotten over the culture shock of returning from a third world country (let's face it - we may as well be!) to what is technologically the greatest country in the world. She has rediscovered what it's like to be up to date with the latest tech. She's been busy too - a presidential election, a hurricane, the extreme heat of the Louisianna summer and now the advent of winter.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the swallows have returned for their third year. They broke their nest again and have just completed rebuilding it with a third entrance tunnel, having blocked off the first two, which are still there attached to the roof of the patio. Back in October we had 400ml of rain in three or four days - the worse I have seen here in Martindale during the seven years we've been at the farm. So much rain that the water table was higher than some of the rooms, and there was an inch of water in two of the bedrooms, the lighthouse room and my office. Fortunately all but the office are tiled, so not too much damage. I was forced to move my office into the lighthouse room, which is where I am now.  I'm getting a regular trickle of people interested in the farm, but no actual offers since those first two I shook hands on a year ago. I shall endeavor to be a little more active in writing this blog in future.

My Bonnie lies over the Ocean

Well, it finally happened. One more step in the Grand Plan of the Universe fell into place. My beloved Liz has arrived safely in America, and judging from a conversation I had with Dena, her daughter, yesterday afternoon, none too soon. But that’s another story, and one to be told by another writer.

I drove Liz to the Airport on Tuesday afternoon. We had just topped up with fuel in Colchester when her phone rang. It was British Airways asking whether she could make the check in by 2.30 p.m. rather than 5.00 p.m. as her flight had been delayed and there was no guarantee of her making her connection with Quatar Airways to Doha. Fortunately we had decided to leave Martindale early (at noon) so we were able to make it. She was fined R3,000 for overstaying the last date of her visa – if she doesn’t pay it while in the States she will not be allowed back into the country – what a difficult decision to make!

So, now I am alone for a while – hopefully not too long. It’s now all down to selling the farm, and I’m hoping that the people who came to view on 19^th will come through. Technically I’m not completely alone. I have Katie our White Shepherd, (you may remember her dad passed over in late January) and Bob and Jack, the two cats, to keep me company. We have someone who has offered to take the cats, and indeed Katie, but it is still our intention to send her over to the States just as soon as the farm is sold.

I keep on finding little notes hidden away throughout the house. Just little things like “I love you” and “I miss your touch” and, this is the one I like, “I love you more today than yesterday. I will love you even more tomorrow”. So far I’ve come across six of them. Thank you Liz, and I love you and miss you and can’t wait to talk to you on Magic Jack in a couple of hours’ time.

I received an sms from Michael jnr earlier today. He was coming to collect his Toyota Land Cruiser on Friday. He is still coming, but will probably arrive late Saturday evening with Andrew, one of his climbing friends. I’ll prepare his favourite dish, parsley chicken, anyway. That can always be heated up if they’re very late.

Love you Princess