Ramblings of a homesick mind.

One of the things you might not think about missing when you move to another country, I suppose missing is not the right word, but I cant think of a better one right now, is that you miss when people die. I’m not talking about family, my family is very good at keeping me well informed on any ailments my family and friends might be dealing with , but the deaths of celebrities that you grew up with who you mention in passing to someone back home, and they say "oh yeah such a shame he / she died" and your sit there shocked that an icon of your childhood is no longer with you and you never even knew.
Today I was very saddened to learn that someone I grew up watching died today. Richard Whiteley hosted the most "unlikely to succeed" game show on the planet, the ultra low tech Countdown went on to out last just about everything for 23 years. It was the first programme on Channel 4 (back wen we only had 3 channels) and contestants picked vowels and consonants then tried to make as long a word as possible while the clock counted down. I would only ever get a 5 letter word at best, but enjoyed it all the same.
RIP Richard, jackets, ties but definitely not ferrets.
So I found out about Richard while playing Celebdaq, my new obsession. It’s a kind of mock stock market, where the stocks are celebs and the dividends are generated by headlines in the UK press. I was turned on to it by a friend here in the US who has been playing it for some time, and now I am hooked. For those of you looking for a challenge the URL is www.BBC.co.uk/celebdaq. It also has the added benefit if your British of keeping you up with what is going on back home.
I spoke with my daughter back home in England (as I do every weekend) for some reason I miss her extra bad right now. I really need to get a better job with vacation, I need to see her more often than I do. So resume is going out this week, Atlanta and Tampa, wish me luck.