A New Baby and the World Outside It is now two weeks since my second son was born. Time enough to settle into some sort of routine and to realise that he does in fact have a name, not " cutie" , " baby" or " it" ! For my wife and me it has been a traumatic few years, two... ( added 129 days 15 hours ago.)

Shifty Eyed Gordon Brown Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom may assume that the world is at war and that the general public mostly wish him to wave the white flag and call "surrender". But is that the right thing to do? Up and till now I couldn't have cared... ( added 155 days 23 hours ago.)

Politicians, Bankers and a Disturbing Lack of Inspiration It may have been noticed by a few, none more so than myself, that I have not written any ribald words of wisdom recently. In fact, it would not have been out-of-order to assume that I had successfully adhered to a rashly made New Year's resolution... ( added 163 days 21 hours ago.)

A Granny and I on a Virgin Train This morning I pulled myself wearily onto a Virgin West Coast Train to work my way down to Ellesmere Port near Liverpool, suffused with cold and cough, frozen from the sudden onslaught of winter and sad to be leaving my wife and son back home.... ( added 329 days 15 hours ago.)

The Financial Times Versus the Taxi Drivers I have been in Liverpool for a few days to visit a ship and came back with the impression that Britain is not really in the grips of a recession at all. I couldn't find a hotel in Liverpool, seems that everybody wanted to go there and the place... ( added 336 days 11 hours ago.)

The Foul-Smelling Race and a Liberal Dose of Chemicals It dawned on me the other day that we must be an extremely pongy nation! This realization did not spring on me whilst I searched for oxygen under the runny armpit of some banker on the London Underground or whilst reeling at my own disgusting... ( added 345 days 12 hours ago.)

A Wii, the Family and the Economic Experience What a day I have just had. My legs are shivering, my arm muscles ache and the large decorative chicken that graced the mantle piece has forever been consigned to the bin, thank god! It all started when I formulated this cunning plan (partly... ( added 350 days 13 hours ago.)

Moving the Career from Ship to Shore Seafarers are sometimes required to move ashore, maybe to take their skills into a shipping company's office, to give up the roaming life due to poor and deteriorating health, to appease the nagging wife or to simply climb to the next rung of the... ( added 363 days 22 hours ago.)

And now Britian needs a Dynamic Leader! It was amazing to watch the elections unfold in America and I must admit, although I find it teeth-extracting to do so, that America and the Americans managed to do do something right for once. They went to the polls and they voted... ( added 1 year 2 days ago.)

Papa, Barack Obama shouts too loud! As the US Election 2008 draws closer I and probably more people than ever before wonder who will win! Will it be the botox-user, the expressionless and permanently hunched old-guy or the bamboozling big-mouthed black guy? Then again who really... ( added 1 year 5 days ago.)

The IMF and My Mate Gordo So Gordo me old buddy went and came to my party! Just when the knock-out punch was about to land the haggard-looking shifty eyed bloke who currently lives at No10 Downing Street managed to pull a few strings and get both of his feet back under the... ( added 1 year 17 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Ten As I near the end of my investigations into Americans and the life here I wonder if I have done them justice! I have restricted myself to Mexicans in Houston and Cubans in Florida! Is that representative of America as a whole? I didn't after-all... ( added 1 year 27 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Nine As I staggered along the sun-baked cracked earth, I knew that the only reason to continue was to get to the other end! "I need w ate r" I felt like screaming out but nobody was there to listen! It's a long story and how I came to be in this... ( added 1 year 27 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Eight I've been on a ship for a few days doing my day job of superintendency and its been great not to have read any newspapers or listened to any experts blowing hot air into a faded wallet! I have though heard snippets from the television as the... ( added 1 year 29 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Seven After a good nights sleep at the Quality Inn in Houston I was driven helter-skelter to Freeport where I joined the good ship Mark C! This vessel was discharging windmill blades ashore and once completed and after being given permission to sail on... ( added 1 year 29 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Six This afternoon I flew from Tampa to Houston! It was an uneventful trip apart from the mammoth sitting in the seat next to me, and half in mine - a quick drive across town and I checked into the Quality Inn, Houston! Nice little hotel/motel in... ( added 1 year 32 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Five As my last day in Tampa draws to an end I feel that I must find the good about Americans and their beloved country! I thus set out today on a positive note! I went walking to find the good, to remain unbiased and without drawing on the ( added 1 year 33 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Four I've been watching allot of television recently! Not allot in the sense that I sit for hours like a genetically modified potato but simply that I flick through so many channels in a desperate attempt to find something even remotely... ( added 1 year 34 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Three I am in Tampa, Florida - the sunshine state is that you say? Beautiful weather! Nice and cool in the evenings; nice and hot in the day! For breakfast I have a glass of very fresh orange juice! Not a tinsy-wincy glass as found in the UK but a... ( added 1 year 35 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day Two I am walking along the road and I feel scared! Not sure why as it is only 8pm and nobody is around! I think that is the scary bit! Here I am in downtown Tampa and nobody, I mean nobody, is out walking! Not a soul to be seen anywhere! ... ( added 1 year 36 days ago.)

The American Investigation - Day One I am here, on American Soil to conduct an investigation! I want to see what is really going down, I want to talk at the grass roots level to the people who matter and I want to see what they say about Obama and McCain, and I want to see if... ( added 1 year 37 days ago.)

Cheerio Gordon and oh no, it's Tony! My shares and probably those of a million others were recently stepping on stable ground until a pathetic example of modern politics decided to start blabbing his mouth to all and sundry about recession and the enormous hurdles that the... ( added 1 year 62 days ago.)

The Art of Writing Positively Tis very easy to write about bad things, far easier anyway than to write something good! Recently I have found all the bad things in the world to comment on, the British attraction to copious amounts of alcohol, the ability of the British public... ( added 1 year 93 days ago.)

The Inflation Busting, Credit Crunch Supermarket Ploy I feel like laughing hysterically when I pass yet another notice in Lidl's that reads "Credit Crunch Prices"! When supermarkets start telling me that they have inflation busting sausages, credit solver peanuts and inflation destroyer meringues... ( added 1 year 94 days ago.)

The Dour Edinburgh Shopper Tis nearly the end of the Sales people! Time to go out and get those last minute bargains, the duvet that was previously so overpriced as to cause wallets to run away from home but is now so cheap at double the price! 70% off here, a give-away... ( added 1 year 97 days ago.)