My blog is now being published on www.gerrycryer.com and will be removed from this site over the next two weeks. If you subscribe to receive the blog by email can you please re-subscribe on the new site. I am not a Trump fan. He is a misogynist, showman, bully, and a protectionist. Those are verifiable.…
Back in the Groove
My blog is now being published on www.gerrycryer.com and will be removed from this site over the next two weeks. If you subscribe to receive the blog by email can you please re-subscribe on the new site. You will receive an email soon to help you in this process Although over these last two weeks…
We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday
It dates me, I know it does, but there is a generation who, at this time of the year, find themselves singing the Cliff Richard song from his 1963 film Summer Holiday. It’s now that time of the year: We're all going on a summer holiday No more working for a week or two. Fun…
Come On Baby Drive My Car
I drive a very old car. In fact, it has a 21st birthday soon. Partly, this was all I could afford but also I thought as an old car it might soon even start to appreciate. However, there are days when I would love to have a brand-new car with all the fancy new gizmos.…
Home Sweet Home
Everything has been running a little late this morning as I work on the transfer of this blog onto my new website www.gerrycryer.com From today, that is where my daily posts will appear. It would be good if you go and have a look and let me have your comments. Better still would be if…
Men in Skirts
When I was at University studying statistics, I was told that one point is a statistic but two is a trend. So it was today when I read that a Chinese University, Hunan Agricultural University, has lifted its ban on miniskirts and hotpants in the library after an outcry from students. Hunan Agricultural University originally…
Critical Acclaim
I always encourage positive criticism and this weekend two readers contacted me with the same opinion. We really enjoy what you write, they said, but some days the pieces get too long. They don’t fit into the timeslot which maybe a sip of mid-morning coffee or gap between tasks. We love them but less is…
Mental Health Awareness Week
Last week I listened to a radio interview with Nigel Owens, the Welsh, international rugby referee. To be honest it was only because I was in the car driving and there was little else that interested me. Owens is not my favourite referee. He is that sort of chippy Welshman I don’t take to, but…
Who cares if we’re late?
The banner across the front page of a major consumer advice website in the UK reads: Whether you were travelling for leisure or work, you have the right to a refund or compensation for a train delay or cancellation experienced on your journey. The British are used to their trains being late and we have…
Alcohol, Antibiotics and Sex
I have Type 1 diabetes and I am supposed to measure and monitor my blood sugars every moment of every day. Of course, I don't. With the passing years, I understand my body and can feel the symptoms well before I stick the needle into my finger, extract some blood for the machine and measure…
The Palestine Israel Problem
I wish I understood more about the history and root causes of the situation in Palestine and Israel. It is a huge understatement to say it is complicated, but it is complicated. There are factions and interests both local and global. There is history and neither France nor the UK comes out well. I am…
Too Much Expectation
It is Monday and after a weekend of work, I wanted to stay in bed late, and relax and write my way through the morning, but instead, I am awake at the crack of dawn. I have a meeting in London and this morning is all about finishing, grabbing the support of strong coffee, before…
Let me Die a Young Man’s Death
There is a BBC radio programme, Desert Island Discs. It is on the radio as I write. The format is very simple. A guest is interviewed about their life and during the interview, they choose 8 records they would want with them if they had been cast away on a desert Island. Originally presented by…
A Big Orange Stain
There is enough political commentary in the news you don’t need me to add to it with my observations, but love or loathe him you can’t keep Trump out of the news and I have to respond. This might be old news, but I have only just found it. The New York City Parks Department…
The Great Dictator
One of the great joys of this job is having an excuse every day to search the internet for interesting and stimulating stories. Over the last 24 hours, I have read about exploding buses in Rome. Apparently, more than 22 caught fire last year and already this year another 7 have self-combusted. It is a…
Nostalgia, It isn’t what it used to be
What is the worst thing that could happen to you? Serous illness, loss of a family member, losing a job will both be high on the list but after this first tier, a computer crash must be near the top. That is the problem I faced over the weekend. It happened on Friday just as…
Managers, Money and Meetings
It has been a very busy weekend and driving back home yesterday from a day out, sitting in a traffic jam, I thought about today's topic. It became a toss-up between two. The first was a reflection on great managers, whether in business or sport, of course, raised by the unfortunate and sudden illness of…
How Controversial Can I Be?
My writing is now being censored for being controversial. Generally, I live within the mainstream of society’s opinions although there are a number of areas where I could be swimming close to the bank. Many of these were explored in my novel, Blah Blah (https://www.brovary.co.uk/blah-blah/) but surely not so controversial that I should now be…
Grate Editing is the Key to Succes
As a young accountant, one of our responsibilities was to read to a colleague revised versions of annual accounts to ensure there were no errors. I always wanted to be the caller and not the reader. I would never see an error. My brain doesn’t work that way. Maybe I scan, or flick read. Whatever,…
A Very French Revolution
To get into the right mood to read this you need to go and dig out any Jimi Hendrix tracks you still own. If you have lost them or never owned them, then go You Tubing, find them and turn the volume up to 11. If not Hendrix, then Sgt Pepper or The Doors will…
No Smoke May
A man goes to see his Doctor. ‘Doctor,’ he says, ‘I have given up sex and masturbation, high cholesterol foods, bad fats, alcohol and cigarettes. I eat smaller quantities and I go to the gym twice a day, every day. Will I live longer?’ ‘No, you won't live longer’ says the Doctor, ‘It will only…
May Day Blues
The Weather is at the core of the British psyche. We start any conversations discussing it, and our mood is determined by it. Whatever the weather it is wrong for the British. When it snows we complain that everything stops working. When it rains the news cameras always find a flood. When it gets hot…
The Positive Power of Porn
I use the internet every day. I use it to search for the answers to random questions that come to mind, to get the news, watch films and television. Yesterday I was searching for design ideas for the new apartment in Kiev Sasha’s father has given us as a present. Over the next few months,…
Politeness Never Kills
Will you be more inclined to subscribe to this blog or even buy on one of my books if I say, please and send you a thank you note when you have? These politeness’s seem to be disappearing. We buy and expect service. We don’t need to show politeness because we have bought servility. I…
The New Religion of Sport
I can’t say that the British invented competitive sport, but the Victorian schools created a worldwide interest in sport. We invented most of the modern sports, created a structure and codified the games with laws and rules. Sport is at the heart of British society. A proper fan always supports his own team, but they…
God Bless American Women
In my 20s I was a radio DJ. Once every week for three hours the patients of the Whittington Hospital in North London had the pleasure to listen to me and my selection of music. I can imagine my children cringing at this thought, but I would point out to them that this was long…
We All Need an Alter Ego
I am a curious person. I like odd and unusual facts. I like to know about the unusual. When I am writing I need to check not just facts but personalities and all that takes me to many an odd internet site. Then, to follow the enquiry may require an email address and that alone…
Quora Virgin
To bring my writing to a wider audience, and in an act of blatant self-publicity, I have started to respond to questions on Quora. It’s a strange place, occupied by a huge global audience of 100 million users, and gives a wonderful real-life view of the world. It is a large community. It is truly…
The Seven Virtues #5 Diligence
I went to the internet to look for quotes about hard work. As you would expect, they are many, and not just from any old minor celebrity but from the good and great. Here’s the first, A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. Colin Powell. Without fail, they…
The Fastest Way to Lose Money
If there is anything that comes between Sasha and me it is money, or more accurately my lack of money. I should be comfortably off, but the truth is that this crazy decision to become a writer has changed all that. Of course, nothing is quite as simple or straightforward as that, but in essence,…
XXX It’s a Secret
Ben and Hannah are now away on a honeymoon in Italy. I know exactly where they are, but there are some things that just don’t need to be shared. Until she was on her way Hannah didn’t know where she was going. Ben had kept it a secret. I have never talked to Ben about…
Beethoven, Choirs, Weddings and Sex
My love of choral music, in its many forms, is long-standing and even embraces one of my more memorable sexual encounters. It was late summer. It was a Friday and the last but one night of a Proms season but also the night before an early season rugby match. I had planned to stay home…
Wow that Vow
Today I am driving up to Cambridge for the wedding on Saturday of my son, Ben to Hannah. It goes without saying that I am excited and very happy for both of them. Marriage changes everything while changing nothing. You don’t love someone more because you have married, but standing in the church, making your…
About Writing
Do you ever look at Quora? If not, then let me tell you about it. It is a free, user-driven Q&A site on the internet. Users can pose a question and readers reply with their thoughts and observations on the World. Sometimes there are sensible questions, often they are very silly. Is England a totalitarian…
43% Human
It used to be said that you are what you eat, but that is old hat. Now it is much more, you are what eats you. I’d better explain. You think you are human. You know you have some dormant genes but still, you are homo-sapiens. That’s what you thought but you are wrong. The…
Don’t Knock History
Recently, I listened to a BBC radio programme, The Long View, which compared the Facebook Cambridge Analytica data row with Luther's rejection of Purgatory and a loss of trust in the Church in pre-Reformation Europe. It was another reminder that even though technology and society have changed, and the world we inhabit today would be…
The USA: Historically Protectionist
America is the bastion of free trade. It is the heart of cowboy, buccaneering, capitalism. It is what the Right-wing love about America. It may be what they like to love but it is wrong. That’s right, wrong. The major part of American history is protectionist. What President Trump is doing now with his new…
Just off for an Orgasm
I never know where I am going to get my inspiration. Some days it is OK to ask me and on others, it is probably best just to accept it and let it be. Today is one of those. Thursday, June 21, 2018, is World Orgasm Day. Yes, you read that right. The website, globalorgasm.org,…
Clean Meat – the New Science
Bacon sandwich for breakfast? Not for me because I don’t eat meat. It was a conspiracy of circumstances that took me to vegetarianism. I had already stopped eating red meats. I didn’t care for it but I loved the trimmings of mint sauce and horseradish and when I realised I could still have those and…
A High Octane Sport
I managed to let the start of the Formula 1 season, in Australia a couple of weeks ago, pass without mention but with the second race in Bahrain now just a few days away, it is time to pitch in. For a long time, I have been a fan of F1 and have been two…
Let the Children Live
I spent much of Easter with Lucinda and the mighty Bertie and it has been great fun but it is good to be back writing. Bertie is now nearly 15 months old and I am still astonished at the rate at which young children grow and learn. In the last month, Bertie has learnt to…
A Short Break
I am going to take a short Easter break and will be back again on Tuesday and already I have many topics in mind. On a personal front, the highlight in April will be Ben and Hannah’s marriage in Cambridge. Meanwhile, I will be planning for my next trip to Kiev to be with Sasha.…
It’s Raining. It must be Easter
I envied the IT manager for a company I worked with in Dubai. He was an Indian Christian living in a Muslim country. He would take every holiday going from Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, though Easter and onto Ramadan. This up and coming weekend is Easter. A four-day holiday which, at least for…
Anti-Semitism in the UK
There was a day, long ago when with other families we were all walking one bank holiday in the countryside. The sun was shining, and the children were happy and running on the narrow rural roads. I think it was Louise who asked when we arrived at the pub for a rest if I had…
Hard but Fair
Last night, Annie and I had a long chat on the phone. I had been working all day and was only just home and she had had Lucinda and the mighty Bertie over for morning coffee. ‘What,’ she asked, ‘are you going to write about tomorrow?’ I wasn’t sure but ‘cheating, probably,’ I replied. I…
A Yellow Plastic Duck
I guess you have no interest in my bathing habits but, I am sorry, you are just going to have to read a little before you get to the meat in today's sandwich. I shower and never take a bath. It is a preference and nothing to do with saving water. I just prefer standing…
Oh dear, Mr Zuckerberg
The whole World is upset and even surprised at the revelations about Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and the 2016 US presidential campaign. At last, angry of Tunbridge Wells has a real bone to chew on. The outrage is palpable and around the world lawmakers, regulators, and the moral majorities are sharpening their knives for revenge. But,…
The Day I Felt Like Death
I was in my mid-twenties, still an unqualified accountant, when I blagged my way on a three-month secondment to Malawi. The internal advert hadn’t been specific and only said that I had to be a ‘senior’ and nothing about being qualified. Three months away seemed like a good idea. My only concern was that it…
Damascus: Beauty and Beast
Within the last ten years, I have been to both Syria and Libya. Occasionally, I still look at the entry stamps in my passport and wonder how I have managed to travel so extensively without being stopped and questioned. The Libya trip was sponsored by a direct invitation from Saif Gaddafi the son of the…
Sport Relief 2018
This may be one of my shorter pieces but there will be few more important. Over the last few weeks, I have asked you to part with your money to help me and buy my books. For this week forget all that. There is a far more important way for you to spend your money.…