Well, here I am: a new user on a new (to me anyway) browser, one that offers me the chance to access a new audience for my blogging activities. So I figure the best place to start would be a quick heads up – who and what and where I am, what I love and hate, some interests…..what makes me tick. Here goes….

First up: personal details. I turn 70 early next year, and am happily retired after 50 years being ordered around by people I often didn’t really like, doing a job I frequently disliked intensely, for a salary that was mostly inadequate. So pretty much like most people. I’m British by birth, a Remainer rather than one of the Brexiter muppets currently running my country into the ground with their hair-brained ideas, but living in the lovely city of Warsaw (the Polish one, not the various American versions) with my second wife (a local beauty), and our two teenage kids, a soppy English bulldog named Lulu and a stately ragdoll cat (the real Queen of the Household) called Jazzy. I’ve been living here 20 years now but still struggle with the language…..a constant bone of contention between My Beloved and I…….

Back in Blighty I have three grown sons, one in his late 30s, the other two in their early 40s, that between them have blessed me with four grandkids (and counting) so far. I miss them all terribly, because I don’t get back to visit often enough, but I’m immensely proud of them all. I also have a couple of elder sisters, in their 80s now, who I constantly worry about and pester with sometimes unwanted phone calls – I don’t see them often enough either. Then there are assorted cousins and nieces and nephews, and overseas branches of the same in Canada and Australia. Thank God for the much-maligned (and deservedly so, IMO) Facebook, without which contact would have been lost long ago.

That’s the easy bit: now, then what comes next? Loves and hates (family aside): well, reading and writing. I usually have a couple of books on the go, and I write another blog on Google’s Blogger platform, that I’ve been publishing for 12 years now, in various guises and under various titles. Right now it’s called This World, This Life and you’ll find it at https//travellin-bob2.blogspot.com if you fancy a look. Go on: you’ll enjoy it because it’s good (says he, blowing his own trumpet). Then there is an unpublished novel about sex, booze and football (the proper and original version of the game, not its various bastard children) set in the early 1970s. Called The Match, it’s largely autobiographical but with names and places changed to protect the guilty. All I need is an agent or a publisher…..anyone got a recommend or two? And there’s a labour of love memoir, largely for my kids to read and know me better, probably after I’ve gone, and a growing collection of short stories (also seeking an agent or publisher). It all keeps me going through the long, cold northern European nights (and sometimes days).

I’m also a big music fan with something playing in the background whatever I’m doing at home. Mostly I favour late 60’s through to late 90s, and mainly prog rock and folk, with a smattering of jazz and swing thrown in for good measure. And you can’t beat a good classical piece: masters like Beethoven and Mozart, Chopin and – err – Vivaldi feature in my collection. The one thing missing is music by people of colour, Hendrix aside: I’m afraid I have never been able to find anything to like in rap or grime or hip-hop. I do have a soft spot for Stevie Wonder and 60s soul, and some classic old blues players like Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf but that’s about it I’m afraid. Sorry if that offends….

Hates? Politicians generally, especially those representing the Tory interest in Britain right now: they are all a bunch of talentless, dogmatic chancers who shouldn’t be allowed to run a bath, never mind a country. That said, the current administration in my adopted homeland is similarly incompetent. It seems to me that the more populist an administration is the less competent and downright dangerous it becomes – for other examples look at Orban’s Hungary, the right-lurching new Italian mob, and of course Lukaszenko’s Belarus. And don’t get me started on the psychos running Russia and North Korea – or for that matter the Orange Oaf, Trump: I shudder to think what could happen if he manages to get re-elected!

Anyway, I think that’s enough to be going along with! You’ll get to know me better as I add content – that’s provided you Follow it of course (and I hope you will!). My plan is to post at least weekly, though I have no idea what about. Ideas bubbling around include why do so many people like Linux rather than Windows? Is open source really the answer? What do I like about Vivaldi (the browser as opposed to the musical genius) and what would I like to change? Is dear Greta helping or hindering climate change activism? Should Cristiano Ronaldo have returned to United last year – and should he go now (and if so where to)?

For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed this short confessional and it’s piqued your interest enough to keep your eyes open for the next scribbling. Any Comments, Likes and Upticks or other feedback will be greatly appreciated. My mail address is [email protected] or you can reach my externally at [email protected]