Author: ricksrant

As our resident photographer, and very good I must say, I mentioned in my last blog about birds not standing still.

So there I am in the garden an hour ago and what flies past, very low about roof level, but a sparrow hawk after a pigeon. Fantastic photo shot you may think, and I agree, but I am ion the garden and the damn camera is upstairs in the bedroom. BUGGER IT.

That’s the first time I have seen a sparrow hawk so close to the house, we get them and hobby hawks in the woods down the bottom of our road, but never in our garden.

So Val how do I get round that?

A walk around the bird reserve, lots of birds but far to fast to photograph.

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How good is your PA?

I am a great one for people watching and taking note of what people do in public, the best place for this is the train. People get on a train pick up their Blackberry, Iphone or normal phone and off they go, yakking away at the tops of their voices far all to hear oblivious to the world or the comfort of other passengers.

Last night on the 20.20 from Cannon Street to Orpington I had the misfortune to be sitting near a blond bimbo who originated in Essex (says it all really) who from the moment she boarded the train until she disembarked at Petts Wood was shouting away down her Blackberry, with a short break as she lost a signal going through the tunnel after Grove Park when all we heard was “Dad, Dad can you hear me? “ No you moron you are in a tunnel.

During this trip we were greeted by her life story and her boyfriend’s trouble with his ex-wife and the purchase of an IPad for his 8 year olds birthday. But this is not the worst of it.

We were also subjected to her life at JP Morgan, how she was placed there by Hayes who considered her one of their “Success stories”. She had been at a reception with JP Morgan where she was one of the PA’s being honoured.

This PA then began describing her boss, who is Saudi decent, and the department she worked for which handles all the Saudi region. She even went so far as to mention a couple of clients by name (me being an ex-investment banker will not repeat the names) and how they behaved.

After this dreadful behaviour she explained how she had drunk three large glasses of Rose then her and another person went off and had 2 bottles of wine between them.

Her parting comments to her parents was “No I don’t need a lift home I have the car parked on a road in Petts Wood” this after the drink?

Well it makes me wonder what sort of PA you have and are they just as discrete as this young lady, or perhaps JP Morgan just employ useless PA’s

Ah well a British legend and a really nice guy Henry Cooper has passed away. I remember watching the famous match at the cinema when he knocked down the then Cassius Clay (Mohamed Ali).

I met him a few years ago at a reception really funny and a true gentleman of sport, unlike the yobs that infest sport today.