Tuesday September 15th 2026 "Business, eh!!! But do YOU know any REAL 'business people' - bet you don't haha !!!"

Yes, Friends, we hear a lot these days about 'business' but just think for a moment - do YOU know any actual business-men or -women? Not many of us do, do we, and yet the papers are always full of their crazy 'antics', for some reason, which is mad!!!!

Take this morning's Onion News, if you want 'chapter and verse' !!!!

Isn't it all just a little bit crazy?! But today's headlines bring a hint of a somewhat vacuous 'smiley' to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning - no doubt about that!!!

my wife Lois and me this morning, on our near-daily walk over the "hallowed turf",

home to local Hampshire Premier League giants Liphook United

And we're laughing because we're one of the few people today, who have a real-life businessman in the family - step forward our son-in-law Edward, a director of one of the UK's real-life regional railway companies, would you believe! 

(left) our director-son-in-law Edward with our daughter Alison, both dressed up to the nines

for a recent Railway Ball in London, and (right) Lois waving to one of "Edward's trains",

the "Hereford-to-Worcester Flyer", as Lois and I have dubbed it, just to encourage

the driver through the Malvern Marshes, which was a nice touch - but what madness!!!!!

But let me put my cards on the table at this point! 

Edward and Alison may look "all posh, like" in that picture above, but, to be frank, for the moment they're also technically 'homeless, like' (!) - with Edward possibly being the first such board member to be classified as such, which must be a bit galling for him! Alison and Edward are homeless, because builders have been late finishing off renovations to their crumbling Victorian mansion, and, to add to their 'woes', their family has this week been unceremoniously 'kicked out' of their temporary rental home, now to it's been sold to buyers, which is mad!

What a crazy world we live in !!!! And Lois and I have done what we can to help - providing beds for the couple's three 'kids', if we can call them that (!) - Josie (20), Rosalind (18) and Isaac (16), while Alison and Edward are reduced to sleeping in a 'rude' shepherd's hut somewhere in their mansion's 7.5 acre grounds - but what madness!!!!

(left) the scene on Friday at Alison and Edward's crumbling Victorian mansion, with

a builder saying, "Sorry there's no way we can let you into your mansion for another week

at least - it's health and safety, mate, innit!!!", and (right) the 'rude' shepherd's hut in the mansion's

7.5 acre grounds, where Alison and Edward have been forced to "skulk" for a week!

What madness, isn't it !!!!

And Lois and I have also been providing evening meals for the entire family, so it's "dinner for seven, please Lois" to paraphrase the classic song!!!!

Tonight, however, there's some relief for Lois in the "kitchen department", because it's be only "dinner for six", that Lois and I have to arrange. You see, Edward, our son-in-law, will be working in London for the next few days, looking all "business-y" and indulging in his crazy "business-y" antics, with all his so-called "business pals" - what madness, isn't it!! And he's also half-starting preparations to fly to Boston USA next week for talks on joint ventures with some American rail company, which is mad too!

 a typical 'flight path' taken by many planes travelling

from London across the Atlantic to Boston, USA

As you will know, Lois and I have been dubbed by our neighbours "possibly Liphook's busiest-looking retired couple" and yet we've somehow also managed to somehow 'factor in' hosting our 3 young scamps of grandkids (!), amongst our numerous other duties, like our near-daily walk, and also our work translating Virgil's Aeneid Book 2, as respected members of local retired schoolteacher Joe's "Intermediate Latin for Old Codgers" U3A study-group, and Lois and I also find ourselves somehow squeezing in a bit of time for doing that today, in spite of our incredibly heavy schedule. 

Busy busy busy!!!

(above) Yours Truly, showcasing my copy of Vergil's Aeneid, with (right) part

of this week's homework, and (below) a typical session of local man Joe's

"Intermediate Latin for Old Codgers" U3A study group

"How did we ever find the time to go to work, back in the day?" is the question most frequently to be found on mine and Lois's lips - no surprise there! Frankly I don't think Lois and I would be able to cope with this frantic so-called 'retired' (ha!) life-style, if it weren't for our lengthy afternoons in bed, to recharge our batteries (!). 

And this week, each morning, we wave a tearful grandparental goodbye to young scamp Isaac (16) on his way to school, and another grandparental goodbye to those other two scamps Josie (20) and Rosalind (18), who speed off to Headley to help their parents with moving packing cases and trying to bring order to their half-finished renovated mansion, And after all that, Lois and I then just have to set to work to cross off as many jobs as we can from our over-crowded to-do-list, which is mad!!!

Lois and I this evening, somehow managing to 'squeeze in' a meal for six:

our daughter Alison (51) plus our grandkids Josie (20), Rosalind (18) and Isaac (16),

their busy dad Edward being away in London for 3 days doing his so-called 'business' (!)

No wonder Lois and I just fall into bed at 10pm each night, having watched just a paltry 3 hours of television,  totally exhausted by our frantic daily schedule!!! 

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

Will this do????

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!!