Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category


The boundaries of belief (1)

August 3rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I sometimes think that no belief is too weird that someone somewhere – probably quite thoughtful and intelligent – will hold that belief. I really wonder whether there are any boundaries to some people’s belief systems. I send out an electronic Thought For The Week [if you’d like to receive it e-mail me] and this […]

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My second short story

July 31st, 2009 by Roger Darlington

My summer time project to become a short story writer continues. Today I publish my second story entitled “Thelma And Louise – The Sequel”. You can read it here. Do let me know what you think.

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Outside our house …

July 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

… at the moment is this huge thing: The local council is resurfacing our crescent.

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The humour of the kids

July 25th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Earlier this week, I was travelling on a crowded train on the London underground and overheard two young school girls telling each other silly jokes. The first asked: “What’s the fastest drink in the world?” After a pause, she added: Milk – it’s pasteurised before it’s down your mouth.” The second responded: “OK. What’s the […]

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My first short story

July 24th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

As I explained in this posting, I intend to use a quiet summer to attempt to be come a short story writer. I have now published my first short story. It is titled “Making A Difference” and you can read it here.

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Dinner with former labour leaders

July 24th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Yesterday evening was a very congenial occasion when I met for dinner two former trade union leaders with whom I used to work when I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union. Tony Young used to be General Secretary of the National Communications Union and the Communication Workers Union, where he was my […]

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The summer of short stories

July 17th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

As long as I can remember, I have written. I’ve kept a personal diary since I was 14; in my professional career, I have written countless papers, reports, articles and speeches; in the mid 1980s I authored a full-scale book which was published in both the UK and the then Czechoslovakia; I’ve had a web […]

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Ten days that shook my world (6)

July 12th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

The long saga of my complaint against my Internet service provider Pipex continues – see here for the original situation. Having filed an online complaint with Pipex and received a totally unsatisfactory reaction, on 21 May 2009, I filed an online complaint against Pipex with the ombudsman Otelo. They replied in a letter dated 2 […]

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Nephew 1: Dom is 30 years young

July 11th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

My sister’s youngest son Dom is 30 today and the family celebrated the event at a special gathering near to his home close to Blackburn. The chosen venue was the wonderfully named pub “The Clog and Billycock” in the Lancashire village of Pleasington. It was only a small gathering of 12 but represented three generations […]

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Do foxes like cricket?

July 10th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I’ve just spend two days at the Brit Oval cricket ground in south London as part of an away day for the Board of Consumer Focus. Since my interest in cricket is zilch, I declined the offer of a short tour of the ground. Instead I enjoyed looking at the resident family of foxes that […]

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