Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
What is the capital of Indonesia?
August 27th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Top of my bucket list is the aspiration – so long as I have the health and wealth – to have visited as many countries as my age. I have now been to 73 countries and I am 71, so I’m currently managlng to hit the target. The most populous nation is the world that […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)
My Thought For The Week reaches 1,000
August 4th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For the last 20 years, week in and week out, I have send out electronically a motivational thought to what is now a list of around 1,500 friends, colleagues and contacts. It goes out each Sunday and this week’s thought is the 1,000th: “Do we settle for the world as it is or do we […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Roger Darlington’s World is 20 years old today
July 2nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I suppose that, like most non-technical people, I first became aware of the Internet around 1995 when world-wide the number connected to the network doubled. Besides e-mail, for me the great benefit of the Internet was what we then called the World Wide Web (I was never interested in newsgroups or chat rooms or gaming). […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
At last, I retire completely
June 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Technically, I finished working 17 years ago when I took early retirement on health grounds from the Communication Workers Union after 24 years as a national official with that organisation. In practice, in time I was able largely to address my health issues and continue working part-time through a portfolio of appointments in the consumer […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (6)
Seminar to celebrate the work of Bob Fryer
June 21st, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Today I attended a seminar at the National Education Union in London to celebrate the work of Professor Bob (Rob) Fryer. Bob has spent 50 years working in higher and adult education as a teacher, researcher, policy advisor, practitioner and leader in relation to employment, industrial relations, trades unionism and lifelong learning. The aim of […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, Social policy | Comments (1)
A weekend visit to Lille
June 16th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For our first foreign trip together, Kathleen and I decided to visit Lille, a location neither of us had been to before. Lille is a city of some 230,000 in the north-west of France in an enclave jutting into Belgium and it is the country’s fourth largest city. It is a mere one hour 20 […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What is it like to visit the famous Peruvian site of Machu Picchu?
May 15th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I really enjoy visiting new countries and have now managed to see a total of 73. Foreign travel is an opportunity to experience different cultures and visit wonderful locations. But I am aware that some popular tourist locations are now becoming overwhelmed. Today there is a story in the “Guardian” about opposition the building of […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)
50 years ago today, I joined the Labour Party
April 22nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I guess that I’m tribal in my politics: I’ve never missed an opportunity to vote, I’ve never voted anything other than Labour, and I now have half a century of continuous membership of the Labour Party. The Party has been through many travails in that time and indeed is going through great difficulties now with […]
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What are we going to do about the growing challenge of dementia?
April 14th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I have previously done a posting about my participation in a study looking at the health risks which might predict the onset of dementia. The study, conducted by Imperial College in London, is called CHARIOT PRO – a abbreviation for Cognitive Health in Ageing Register: Investigational, Observational, and Trial studies in dementia research: Prospective Readiness […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, Social policy | Comments (2)
I’m on the move …
March 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Tomorrow I shall be moving home. This will be my first move in 35 years and will involve massive downsizing, so I have been decluttering substantially over many weeks. Currently I am surrounded by dozens of boxes trying to work out what will go where in the new place. The move will involve a change […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)