(tap...tap...tap...) is this thing on? Can you 'ear me mother?

The Internet's a funny place. You think you know your way around, think you have a pretty good idea what's on and what's where and all that. Then, out of the blue, someone comes along and tells you that there's a web site where people round here can post their innermost thoughts...and images...and sounds...and stuff.........

How can I not have ever heard of this place before? Do I live in a bubble? Apparently I must - there's no other answer.

So, from here in my comfortable little bubble I write. Nothing I have to say will shake your world. This will not be a life changing experience for you, dear reader. But perhaps my occasional input will be read by a few of you, and that in itself is enough. It will mean I'm not dead yet, and that I am not the only one to realize this. Whether or not I am still drawing breath may not mean a whole lot to you, but as I sit here staring the 50th anniversary of my arrival on planet Earth squarely in the face it bothers me slightly.

40 seemed like an awfully big number ten years ago. On April 30th 1997 I felt very old. Very old indeed. No longer could I pretend to be a young man. I was old, and I had that big number to prove it. But now...now I realize how young forty is. I look at those mere children in their forties and realize how foolish I was to believe I was over the hill at such a tender age. No, forty is nothing to be scared of, but fifty...that's a different matter altogether...

But wait....taking my previous statement to it's logical conclusion, all I must do is wait another ten years to understand how young I am right now...

I feel better already......

And that, dear reader, is all I have to say right now. You seem to have a very nice place here. I will be back...