How does one introduce oneself without being pretentious. I'm not really sure, but I will endeavour to assume unbecoming modesty in whatever have been my hopes, fears & aspirations so far. I'm a 65 year old Englishman, (far from in his dotage) & still working as an HSSE Manager on a petrochemical project in Qatar. I alternate between a home in the UK where I have one adopted Nigerian daughter & another home in the Philippines where, (as the result of a blind date), I have both inherited & accumulated in equal measure: a wife, 3 sons, 1 daughter, 7 grandchildren and a livestock encompassed in a comprehensive spectrum and ranging from ducks to water buffalo. Incongruous though this may seem at first sight, it was the inevitable destiny of one who has spent most of his life working outside his native country in Africa, the Middle East & North America.
I suppose that in a way I had never sailed out upon an adverse tide. From my Irish father I had inherited that free wheeling imagination so characteristic of that race, and from my English mother the ethics of hard work & a strong Catholic faith to sustain me through the inevitable troughs of life as we make our way through "the portals of sluttish time". Introduced and nurtured on the beauty of the English language from an early age, I have fed upon this unending love affair to the present day. My work enabled me to travel & make obscene amounts of money, but my real freedom was in the words of all those who, (successfully or otherwise), endeavoured to pass on to others their very being.
I still thrive on: travel, personalities, cooking, 5 star hotels in exotic locations, writing short stories & a never ending appreciation of the fair sex.
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