I know. Itâs the âmayâ thatâs most annoying. The nipper canât really plan with that over his head.
Against the backdrop of headlines saying grade are going to be much lower, my nephew has just knocked it out the park with an A* and 3 As - I am properly proud of him - he is the kid the Ayatollah and I never had
I shall be ferreting about in the cellar for something appropriate to celebrate
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Heading through Fair Oak earlier, the 1980 MGB I bought two years ago to mark my 60th birthday clicked over the 8000 mile mark.
It had 580 miles showing when I acquired it, (obviously having been round the clock.) I always had in mind that I was buying it to use rather than gather dust, and Iâve absolutely loved driving it. Itâs like being in a timewarp every time that old iron 1800 lump crackles into life. 
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When you get to my age, every extra year is a milestoneâŚ
Yep the new wedding car was a 1934 Morris 10.
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Fake! They didnât make them that colour in 1934âŚâŚ
My daughterâs second novel was launched last week with presentations at Waterstones in Cardiff and Aberystwyth. Sheâs got various other book launch evenings coming up in various places including one in London. Sheâs a bit stressed as sheâs fitting it all in with her day job as senior editor at Parthian Press, who to be fair are being very accommodating. The novel has had a few very good reviews already and she was well chuffed to find out this morning that the novel has been deemed book of the month by the Books Council of Wales.
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God, from the quotes I hope itâs not autobiographical 
Congratulations to her.
Perhaps more than other posters I appreciate the achievement.
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It is FIVE YEARS ago today that we âfledâ the sand pit".
We were supposed to leave it, we had work we had plans, and then a fraudster got caught out and that was game over.
We almost rescued the plan, we got software orders for over $20mil for a start - up from Expo 2020.
And then Covid cancelled Expo and just like an unbeaten run at Anfleld it all faded away.
Oh well. We tried and at least 1. Iâm still here & 2. I had my 3rd once in a lifetime moment in Rome last year and 4. Mrs P_F hasnât killed me yet
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I am currently in Kanchanaburi, probably best known as the site of the legendary Bridge Over The River Kwai. I have been here before, walked what remains of the original bridge whistling Colonel Bogey, toured the museums which was quite a harrowing experience and most importantly toured the war cemeteries which are full of POW victims of the building of the infamous Burma railway. Overseen by the War Graves commission and tended by Thailand, row upon row of graves, each with their own small headstone as far as the eye can see. Beautifully tended and immaculate flower beds, not a weed in sight, the grass in between like a billiard table, massive respect to the Thais for this. Strolling around, reading some headstones is a sobering experience, most of the dead were so young, 18, 19, 20 etc. Mostly Brits of course, but many Dutch, some Aussies, Canadians, Indians and others from the Commonwealth. The cause of death given for most of them was âOemebic Dysenteryâ, which probably covers a multitude!
A couple of friends were going for a few days and asked me along which was a chance I jumped at as I planned on returning at some point. I have always known that an uncle perished building the railway, not a first uncle so to speak but a cousin of my father. His widow lived in the same village in Kent as my family, she was my Auntie Florrie who I spent a lot of time with as a young child. Her daughter Linda was my eldest sisterâs best friend. My uncle, who I never knew of course, was named Bill Hubbard and I knew he was buried in one of the cemeteries, but it seemed at the time a hopeless task finding his grave. When I got back to England I did a bit of research and discovered that there was a computerized record of the graves and their occupants which were now stored in an office just inside the entrance of the main cemetery. So yesterday I found the office, went in and saw a lovely Thai lady who asked me for the full name of my uncle, she tapped it into the computer and out came three Hubbards, one of them William. Over there she said, row 13, grave number 7. As simple as that. Off I went, found row 13, walked along counting up to 7, and there it was. âWilliam Hubbard, loving husband of his dear wife Florence and father of baby Linda. Never forgottenâ. He never saw baby Linda, she must have been conceived when he was home on leave before going to the Far East. I couldnât help thinking about how that must have kept him going during what must have been a horrendous experience, the thought that when it was all over he would go home and meet his baby daughter. His death was given as amoebic dysentery, he was quite a bit older than most of them, he was 36, an engineer in the RAF. I have to confess I was deeply affected standing there, I really didnât expect it to hit me so hard but it did. Took me a few hours to get over it. But Iâm so glad I made the effort, and now I can tell my sister to tell Linda that I have been and paid my respects. They have both turned 80 now but are still in good health. All in all a memorable experience.
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It is quite weird when that happens and for me had no presage.
My maternal grandfather died in March 1918, my mother and her 5 siblings grew up without their father. I had supplied a family picture of him in his Hampshire Regiment uniform and a print out of his war record, for a centenary commemoration in Awbridge Village Hall in November 2018.
We attended the usual service around the war memorial and then adjourned to the village hall. When we got to the familiar photo and print out, Lady Slowlane said it got very quiet and I was visibly moved for quite some time.
For whom do we grieve, someone we never knew or others we knew well. 
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I remember as a kid visiting the Normandy war graves and finding the grave of a great uncle who was killed. He was in the Navy as a radio operator.
Some years later I was having a look at the history of the ship he was on - the records are surprisingly good, including knowing which U boat hit the ship and from there finding a picture of the U Boat captain who was no doubt watching the ship as it was torpedoed. That brought me up short when I realized what I was looking at
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The war graves commission do an amazing job - the cemetery at Tyne Cot is an amazing place - it is vast. It is so vast that it is almost impossible to comprehend how many men rest there
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I often hope my grandfatherâs remains will eventually be found as he has no burial site. Like many others heâs simply a âmissing in actionâ
When a whiz-bang hits youâŚ
This was the week my knee finally was proven to have departed.
I knew i broke them in Rome, but XRays Tuesday showed there is simply no shock absorber material left in the left knee.
Injection of gel given, wait 2 months then have MRI then replace.
OK knew it, was my choice, etc.
The 4 inch long needle into each knee has however totally grounded me. Another day at least basically recovering from a pair of stab wounds.through the soft tissue.
OUCH
Came across this old footage of me as a child, at a fancy dress party. Thatâs my favourite auntie.
Hit 45 today (happy birthday @pap too) not that any of you cunts remembered 
Spent the day shopping for timber, drinking beer** and prepping the base for my new shed* in the sunshine.
*I may need to re-do my measurements tomorrow due to **
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Happy bidet gavstar!
Got a couple of years on you young manâŚhave a spiffing day. 
A euphemism for erectile knob drugs?
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