“You don’t know what you got till it’s gone…”

Almost at the end of my first year in Kazakhstan.

The snow is back; it’s -16 Celsius outside. The water in the mop bucket froze on the balcony – the enclosed balcony.

It’s been a year of ups and downs.

Big things – I got divorced which is sad in some ways and yet it means new doors are open.

I broke my arm – never trust vodka, a gypsy cab and a storm drain.

I met the most intelligent and beautiful woman but couldn’t hold on to her…

I finished my Masters degree, studied NLP and Russian! I had a great time in Istanbul!

And I started watching the box set of ‘Soldier Soldier’ – back to some halcyon days.

I finished the draft of ‘Trans-Uranic Elements: The Dark Side of Uranus’ another tour de force featuring the famous Fairy Hanny. It is currently being edited and will be available in the New Year.

I will be back in Blighty for Xmas and New Year. It will be fun to see the PC brigade trying to ban any reference to Christ in the ‘holiday period’; yet here I am in Kazakhstan where they happily put Christmas Trees outside of the mosque. Abu Dhabi Airport will be overflowing with it’s Christmas decorations…

More reflections as the weeks go by; only one regret but she is still there.