,Christmas and the year are almost finished  and it's time to think it all over.... It all started off, as usual - in January! It started off well, much better than one year before, with new medicaments really adapted to my problems, and correct treatment in the Neurological department of the Hospital. Of course it had all taken time and much effort, some suffering but finally I was able to come home and stay home for a long period, right up to date, in fact, with few adverse effects. I continued to bring you update on my various Weblog Sites (you can go into 'Archives' here on this page as well) and I invested in a   'Google Chrome' notebook (finally available in Europe) which turned out to be a very good thing later on in the year. Gloria Marzocca I was in touch, with Tina and via 'Google Video Chat', with her mother in the USA, and she seemed to be fine, if tired, so it was with concern that we heard she had been diagnosed with a cancer.  I sugges...

So.....just 3 more days, and I have to start the preparations for food, drink and all the rest so I thought now would be a good time to wish you all a Happy Christmas and I thank you for all of your visits (35,167 visits) not bad for a little thing just to amuse myself!  I hope you found it useful, amusing, and that you will be back again before the end of 2013 and in 2014........

Travelling Adventures in Europe long before mass tourism .....! I remember a time (like many of you, without doubt) not so long ago, when a voyage was an adventure. In the space of a couple of days, within Europe, we changed systems, languages, currency, standards of living, among many other things. I recall when even a trip to France was fraught with problems, difficulties, amusing situations, dangerous situations. Starting with the very vehicle we were using, which then were not really up to scratch for such voyages. Their reliability was limited, if you were coming from UK , the steering wheel was (and still is) on the wrong side of everything (roads, petrol pumps, motorway payment booths etc). Sometimes one wondered whether the petrol was the same and the guaranteed breakdowns meant that we (reluctantly) made contact with the indigenous natives, always to be considered as dubious, suspect and not entirely trustworthy, from the fact that the spare par...

War and Peace (not from Tolstoi) (This article is not translated-the other countries involved don't have the same attitudes) ********************************** British Soldiers patrol Helmand Province. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) If you've got to have war (and that seems to be the case) then you've got to have soldiers to fight it! In cases of war, then the peace can only be celebrated through the actions of the said soldiers. Now - those soldiers, some of whom will unfortunately leave their lives in obtaining that peace, have no need of G20 2012 heads of government - Caricatures (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey ) unhelpful criticism, or lack of backup, from home or other politicians. Goes really without saying that a good team (soldiers or otherwise) needs a solid base to fight from. It also needs the knowledge, in the background, that the employers have, or will, take the necessary action to ensure that in case of death or injury, they (and their families) ...

Chez mr.le Marquis du Galipot. Temperatures: 0830hrs +5C, 1330hrs+12C, last night low: 2C. Weather: MISTRAL and TREMONTAGNE (sunny). Alert State: High winds on roads. Jan winter dress at home (Photo credit: iwmpop ) at home in Winter - ready to go out! Now then, all those of you who come on holiday, and either curse the winds or bless them (depending on how you support both the winds and the heat) should come and have a go at experiencing the same 2 winds (mistral and tramontane) in winter. Whilst in summer one can be happy with them, because they cool one down a little, one can also find them unsupportable from the noise and damage points of view, like Van Gogh, who cut his own   ear off, just down the road from where I am writing these few words, to avoid hearing the noise. Santon in the mistral wind, from Arles, France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In fact summer or winter, they cause very little damage, surprisingly enough, but probably because...