Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
A really taxing business
September 9th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In 1972, I was awarded a Political Fellowship from the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust to enable me to work full-time as a researcher in the House of Commons for Rt Hon Merlyn Rees MP, the Labour Party’s Opposition spokesperson on Northern Ireland. I had to sort out my own tax and national insurance. Ever […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Astride the meridian
September 4th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This week, I revisited the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich with a very good friend who’s lived in London for decades and never been there. One of the famous features of the place is the location of 0 degrees longitude and one can stand astride a line marking this special […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (7)
A tasty finger for Joshua
August 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Regular visitors to NightHawk will know about our dear Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao who are like a daughter and a son to us and they have shared their four-month old baby Joshua with us to the extent that we see him as our Chinese grandson. When we last saw Joshua a few days ago, […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A special wedding in a special place
August 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This August Bank Holiday weekend, two of my great loves – friendship and films – came together when Vee and I attended a wedding at Pinewood Studios, some 30 miles west of London. It was the wedding of the elder son Oliver ‘Olly’ Sloboda of our very close friends Ivan and Ros. His bride was […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Are you a typical comms user?
August 26th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
A few days ago, Ofcom published its annual Communications Market Report for 2007 which reveals new trends in the UK’s £50 billion electronic communications sector. UK consumers now spend 50 hours per week on the phone, surfing the internet, watching television or listening to the radio. Average daily Internet use in 2006 (36 minutes) was […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Down to the coast
August 21st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I have just returned from a couple of days visiting her twin sister Mari and her brother-in-law Derek on the south coast of England. It ‘s two-hour drive from our home in London so we broke the journey by stopping for coffee at a place we haven’t visited before, an excellent pub, restaurant […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The law of attraction
August 18th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
I think that most people who know me would regard me as a very positive and optimistic person, but I think that the so-called law of attraction is utter nonsense. I’ve blogged on this subject before here, but I’m returning to the idea now because it has featured quite prominently in a series of e-mail […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
Happy 100 days Joshua
August 3rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Three months ago, our dear Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao had a baby boy whose English name is Joshua. Today he was 100 days old and, in Chinese tradition, this is a special occasion. So Vee and I suggested that we take the family to the Ceramics Cafe at Kew Green to make a special […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
Happy birthday Rachael
August 2nd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This evening, Vee and I took our young friends Rachael and James out for dinner to our favourite local restaurant “Incanto” at Harrow-on-the-Hill. The food and service there are always excellent and tonight was a little special because it was Rachael’s 28th birthday and we had arranged for a special birthday dessert.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Czeching out London
August 1st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Today I spent six hours taking a 19 year old Czech guy called David on a walking tour of central London. It was his first visit to the city, so I just wanted him to have a quick overview of the main tourist locations. We started at Buckingham Palace where our arrival coincided with the […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)