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Many of us over 60 are counted out when part-time jobs come up despite our collective wisdom and abilities.

To counter some of this prejudice I have dispensed with sending my CV and have instead created The Complete Picture, an animated ninety second overview of my life to date @ https://vimeo.com/223960456.

 

 

 

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28
DEC
Published in The Guardian 26.12.11 Dear Sir Why isn't it possible to pay for anything online by an automatic transfer from your own account to the account in question? There are no charges this way. It's probably out there somewhere but if not, maybe there's an opportunity for a third party to offer such a service via an App. Yours etc Derek Wyatt
28
DEC
To wind down from Christmas I went to Ronnie Scott's on Boxing Day to listen to Gill Manley's tribute to Nina Simone. I first heard Nina at Ronnie's on New Year's eve back in the late 1980s.  
28
DEC
Before going on to spend Christmas Day with Rosa, my God daughter and her wondrous family in Cambridge, I stopped off at St Andrew's Church, Histon for their very amusing Family service (jokes included).
28
DEC
I have to admit given it seems to be harder to find the present I was really fortunate this year!!! Books Veg by River Cottage bod Hugh F-W Private Eye: the First 50 Years World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson & Janice Robinson Music Amy Winehouse: Lioness - Hidden Treasures  Rebecca Ferguson: Heaven  Wine A Vine to grow - loved it  
24
DEC
Freedom for Syria 4715 killed since March 2011 308 children and babies killed 207 women killed 5000 protestors missing 30,000 detained 22,000 refugees have fled the country How come Russia and China cannot bring themselves to open their eyes to this slaughter? How come the EU or NATO or USA cannot intervene? And the Arab world says nothing Shame on us all.
24
DEC
London Chamber Brass@NPG I went to the NPG last night to hear the outstanding LCB who are on Classic FM this evening at 1800. They played an outstanding rendition of White Christmas which was lost a little in the small auditorium. Check them out at www.londonchamberbrass.co.uk
20
DEC
Jonny Englander by Derek Wyatt   Lefties are a breed apart and I don’t just mean Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel.   Neither would I wish to distress Prince William, Bill Clinton or the recent London School ping pong champions also known as Barack Obama and David Cameron, who are all lefties.   Nor would I want to upset those truly great tennis players John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova. Nor Rafa Nadal though he is a part-timer as he writes with his other hand. And then...
15
DEC
I went to Parliament this morning to listen and meet Tawakkol Karman, the Yemeni woman who has just won the Nobel Peace prize for 2011. She was an inspiration. I do hope she becomes President when elections are announced. Nobel Peace Laureate Tawwakul Karman has called on the British government to freeze the assets of Ali Abdullah Saleh during a meeting in the Houses of Parliament.   Speaking shortly after meeting with Foreign Secretary William Hague and Development Minister...
13
DEC
Editorial Intelligence's review of the newspapers: EU VETO: The International Herald Tribune's Roger Cohen says the thing about the Euro-sceptics behind Cameron’s Brussels bungling is they turn past glory into posturing theater. Their nostalgia for British greatness is often no more than the trumpeting of a bunch of insular snobs who seem to have a hard time restraining their inner-fascist. The Independent's Steve Richards thinks Nick Clegg must now face up to the true nature of his...
11
DEC
The longer the distance from Cameron's decision to use his veto at the EU talks on Thursday evening/Friday morning the more it looks as if he put his surly backbenchers who loathe Europe with a passion ahead of the needs of the nation. 
11
DEC
I travelled to Southend yesterday to watch Richmond v Southend. In 1965-66 Allen, my brother, played for Southend at full back before we moved to Colchester (I was at secondary school) so it was good to be able to come back and feel his spirit (he passed 17 years ago). I attended the lunch beforehand and just before the game met Martin Blackett who lived with us as a boy in Lagos and Hong Kong which made my day. As for the game, it was a tad dull....with Richmond eking out a win by...
8
DEC
Over 27,000 spectators were at Twickenham this afternoon to watch the 130th Varsity Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University. At half time the score was 13-10 to Oxford and my team of John Webster (Oxford 1981), Andrew Bibby (Oxford 1981) and Dudley Ankerson (Cambridge 1968) were of the opinion that the 'Tabs might edge it in the second. So it came as some surprise when Oxford dominated the scrums, the lineouts and consequently the game and ran out worthy winners by...
8
DEC
The 1981 Oxford side which played against Cambridge in the Centenary Varsity Match had a table at the annual Vincent's Dinner last night. Only four players couldn't make it Dr Phil Crowe (caught up in Sydney), Dr Chris Hugo-Hamman (in Cape Town) Dr Nick Herrod (lost contact) and Stuart Barnes. Andrew Bibby, now CEO of Grosvenor  in North America - he lives in Vancouver and commutes to San Francisco - made it.  
8
DEC
Over 450 sportsmen and women attended the Sports Journalists' Associations annual sports awards yesterday lunchtime. I was an invited guest and took with me Charlie Burgess. www.sportsjournalists.co.uk
5
DEC
Yesterday evening I went to see with Daisy, my daughter, the film: My Week with Marilyn starring an outstanding Michelle Williams. The script was thin and we gave it 5/10 though there were some solid performances from Zoe Wanamaker, Eddie Redmayne and Ken Branagh. Directed by Simon Curtis.
5
DEC
As it was my birthday yesterday, I took my children, Daisy and Jack to Bibendum at Michelin House. I cannot think of a more relaxed place to have Sunday lunch with such an excellent wine list and a menu to die for. The chef kindly endorsed my pavlova with a chocolate version of "Happy Birthday"!!
4
DEC
I have now tried over 30 times to make an order on the River Cottage web site but each time it refuses to accept my voucher number..........
4
DEC
I took Jack, my son, to the Heroes match at Twickenham yesterday. The crowd of around 30,000 helped raise another £400k to the £120m now raised by the outstanding Help for Heroes teams. www.helpforheroes.org.uk
1
DEC
Yesterday afternoon the teams playing at Twickenham on Saturday for the Help the Heroes charity were at No.10 where they met David Cameron. We shook hands and chatted briefly. I was asked to help fix the event.
1
DEC
I went with Jonathan Shaw and Sophie Radice (Giles's daughter) to the Labour Party's 1000 Club drinks party last night.
1
DEC
I was a guest yesterday lunch-time at a rather good gathering of engineers where we discussed "Smart, Fast, and Mobile" for the best part of 2 hours. www.theiet.org
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