
I’m John, a recently retired industrial scientist. I’m a husband, father and grandfather who believes active life isn’t coming to an end. Not yet, anyway.
What does it feel like when you finish paid work? Flexibility, time on your hands, no longer constrained by your working day…yet the clock ticks in the background, old age beckons. No more work reports to write, but writing plays a big part in my life…
As I was walking my daughter’s dogs through a sunlit valley, I met Stan, a man my own age. After we’d chatted for a while he said, “I’ve not much else to live for, have I. Don’t you feel like that?” I replied, “How sad! Can I tell you how I see things?” My blog posts explain, using practical life examples and stories.

Most retired people have time to tackle practical challenges, but do we have the skills to match? This is where the fun begins! And, as we all know, many challenges aren’t just practical. They’re about relationships and spiritual questions…
I like exploring issues by writing, or by re-telling, stories. In some of these I see myself as a grandpa, in others as a father or as a husband. In other’s, I’m just ‘me’.
It’s true. You get more opinionated as you reach your later years. On Green issues, on Vaccination, and also on Spiritual issues…
The Most Hopeless Case
My romance novel The Most Hopeless Case, is available to buy from Amazon. Inspired by a rant on the radio, surgeon James McAlister jokingly issues a challenge. He’s going to choose the most hopeless, euthanasia-worthy person he can find, then see whether ‘god-if-he’s-there’ can make their life worth living. The next day he meets wheelchair-bound Deborah Loveless who has been abandoned to a care home.
James gets more than he bargained for as gradually his whole way of seeing the world is turned on its head. The joke, indeed, is on him! He embarks on an emotional roller-coaster where he learns the meaning of love, healing, heartbreak and finally joy.
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