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elkiton's bio
Retired Project Manager / IT / Electronics.
Active musician / drummer/ band member, plays Blues / Rock / 60's hits..
Like model aircraft, ie balsa silk and noisy engines, travel, wines, food, eating out, cooking, concerts, both classics and blues.
Had enough of a quiet retirement in the Sun, so after 6 years here in North Cyprus we moved back to Europe, but not the UK!!
Now in the Czech Republic, since June 2015, near Prague for next stage of life. - We visited a few times, played a couple of gigs and like the place very much. Safe, cultured, good music, good food, and an old fashioned feel to the "infrastructure".
We plan to go travelling again again with a trailer tent, and see lots of new things, people and places. !
Am currently learning to speak and write the Czech language, probably the hardest thing I have done since my apprenticeship, but I will succeed in making myself understood, somehow ! -
elkiton's latest comments
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1st Dec 2020elkiton commented on:
"really" making new friends!Yes, agreed, they were really good at the game but I found there was no desire to extent friendship beyond the limits of the chess club, bit disappointing, wrong expectations suppose. Being in a strange country with a very difficult language could make one feel veryisolated if new to the ex pat game, Forus, multiple hobbies and a good partner make for a happy retirement.ViewDate:
28th Nov 2020elkiton commented on:
"really" making new friends!Yes, but mine was a it stupid on my part. Having taken up chess and playing on line my wife Diana suggested that I join the Prague Chess Club which meets weekly in a dedicated section of a popular hotel, to make a few new friends. I joined, and went. It never occurred to me that 40 people sat in pairs in a hushed atmosphere deeply focused on their games, then in silence swapped partners and did the same again...till the end of the evening. After loosing 2 matches I joined a couple of guys in discussion at the bar (coffee and tea...) and looked blankly at him when one asked me what I though of Sarkoys 5 th move in the 19xx championship match against XXXXX which they were analysing. I asked if he was interested in cars / music / model aircraft / photography and that was the end of my part in the conversation. I still play chess on line.....ViewDate:
23rd Jul 2016elkiton commented on:
Would you 'blow' your pension on travel?I think that having moved abroad to Prague and living in a rented "palace" compared to what can be bought in the UK for the average retiree, I would say go live abroad, and use part of the money pot to start travelling around Europe. We elected not to do any more international travel, and find that Europe (from Spain to Poland and all countries 'between) offers enough to keep us busy for 3 lifetimes !ViewDate:
20th Jul 2016elkiton commented on:
BrexitI was a bit sad to see NS's use of the olive branch that TM held out do have full discussions with her over Scotland's position, and try and turn it into "I have the veto" statement, which I can only assume was attempted points scoring for propaganda purposes........ that sort of thing makes her look worse than our Boris! Much the same as it was never our intent to see the EU destroyed, (although Juncer is doing his best from the Polish president's reaction to his threats), we hope to see Scotland amicably taking the path the Scots choose, be it aligned with us or aligned with Europe. If that means another referendum so be it, but that will be exactly what NS wants, whether she gets a "Remain and a Break with the UK" vote, I would not like to predict !ViewDate:
20th Jul 2016elkiton commented on:
BrexitHI Lionel, Interesting comment ! We knew nothing really about our ancestry, Dad had a big nose and always said the name was El Kin but we never believed the (silly old) Sod,; we though Mother's Cornish ancestry anecdotes where great-great-black-sheep etc was the bastard son of Francis Drake! Until, one day in the 80's I received an mail from a Shalom Elkin in Israel welcoming me back to the tribe and asking if I was still practicing my religion ! Shalom was very old and decided to seek out all tribe members before he died, which catastrophically happened before he was able to fully document his research, his son had some of the data but 90% if his work was I believe lost. One of our American cousins had paid de Bretts to do research, and not found the info on my Dad's two brothers that died in the trenches of the first World War.....and as I had this info we swapped the data from free. Turns out in 17 xx the family of Romanian / Polish Jews emigrated from some pogrom or other to England as barge builders, then worked their way down the rivers/canals over a period of centuries till they resided in London. As one of my customers once said to me..."Finishing up as a salesman was a good job for the Bastard son of a Pirate and a Jewish Grandfather, I will make sure to count my fingers from now on when we shake hands !"ViewDate:
9th Jul 2016elkiton commented on:
BrexitWell, The Swiss are courting the UK to join their new F4 financial international partnership alongside Singapore and Hong Kong to move around the EU on the International stage as they are frustrated that Brussels is insisting they take a quota of refugees to get trading terms. The Swiss refused,on the basis of a referendum saying NO... China wants to negotiate direct with us, and we have Australia saying they will willingly trade with UK as does the USA. Juncer has really frightened the smaller EU countries with his threats against leavers and this has caused a Right Wing backlash that could unzip the EU (not what we wanted really) but his "Superstate" announcement with all control in Brussels was a severe tactical error and his undong. Merkel realises the German car market needs us and is under pressure to give us exactly the same trading terms as we have now, and this will ensure her popularity and eventually depose Juncer and lead to a more democratic era for the remainder of the EU. So, we win in as much as we will have our freedom and still trade both inside and outside the EU, London will become an even more important financial centre. Interestingly I just found out that my children (who are so bitter that I voted Leave) voted to Remain because being socialists they believed only the EU lawmakers could control the Tory Government from repealing any of the "gains" made in favour of the "Workers" and against the "ruling classes"...... What a dozy, parochial reason for voting Remain, I tried to explain that repealing labour laws would cause strikes, and that was the last thing we ex-business people wanted to cause in the coming years of going forward......wasting my breath. They (my family) would be more useful trying to sort out their Labour Party and give us a decent opposition to control potential Govt excesses, not voting Remain. No foresight, no understanding of strategy and long term gains, looks like 40 years of EU indoctrination has left a generation bereft of any ability to look beyond their latest "selfie" !ViewDate:
29th Jun 2016elkiton commented on:
BrexitI live abroad...and apart form the majority of working Brits what are very angry about the leaving vote, my discussions with foreign colleagues indicate that they are convinced that the only people wanting to leave are old, extreme right wing and twisted racists. It really shocks them when into the discussion I reveal that as a successful retiree ex-pat I voted for Brexit, and much to the anger of my working age children and partners. When I explain that I voted to go, and take the risks that go with it, namely in my case, because of the growing political agenda to (confirmed yesterday) build a super state in which we loose all control of our armed forces, and border control to Brussels; The sheer F.Up made of Greece and the resulting drive into poverty; and the inaction that allows terrorists et al to come in on a wave or refugees..and finally the fact that the EU prints money and the books have never passed an audit.........I get told by one of my Yank friends...You must be the one exception to the poor downtrodden masses with no PHD that hate immigrants..." A very interesting view...Then I let on my family was Jewish immigrants and I have no PHD lol More importantly, is how we well and how are going to negotiate before invoking Article 50, and using Juncers threats of harsh sanctions against anyone thinking about moving away, to our advantage. For the fist time in 40 years politicians will have to earn their money by running the country, and not just haggling a few rough edges off the legislation that they have to follow, before implementing every damn edict coming out from Brussels HQ! Remember the no-bent-bananas law passed / then repealed saga ? Take care. TonyEViewDate:
29th Jun 2016elkiton commented on:
Why do some people still cling to religion?Well, my views (having come through a Christian upbringing, lived amongst Islamic believers) I am tempted to say that religion dates from a time when either things were so bad and harsh one has to assume there is something better in an after life or one would die of anxiety, or things are so good you want to say "Thank you" to someone. I once asked the question of a physics Don at Oxford and he said" ME ? Well, I think there are far too many long chain molecules for this all to have happened by chance, so I keep an open mind.." So personally I think "Something" triggered the big bang, and it has a purpose in mind, star mechanics are far too ordered towards the creation of Worlds to be purely a chance thing....So I will acknowledge whatever that Force was as the Supreme Being. call that God if you like. In UK religion is dying out amongst our native population, it is creating a vacuum, and that is being filled by other religions and believers, imported or not !ViewDate:
29th Jun 2016elkiton commented on:
Have you retired yet or are you planning to any time soon?Totally agree, whilst it is not always possible, and with the retirement age creeping up it becomes more difficult, setting a life goal to retire a few years early is definitely the way to go. We did this, and had a few "short" years until OAPensions kicked in but we managed with me doing odd jobs, keyholding of villas for absent owners etc. TonyEViewDate:
29th Feb 2016elkiton commented on:
Immigration?I think the answer is yes, it will change our culture, and as a previous poster implies these days culture is dynamic. And it wont be 50,000, it will be millions. Being an Island does limit available land, jobs etc, but the incoming cultures from the Middle East are not going to integrate fully, if at all, and we will (as we and the French have found out), is that they prefer to live in their own enclaves and will not generally integrate. One problem is with religion, and specifically Islam...and before anyone starts shouting Islamophobia or Xenophobia I must point out that I currently live in Prague, and for the last 8 years lived in North (Turkish controlled) Cyprus where Islam is the primary religion, so I have first hand experience of it and what it means to the daily life of a believer. We have all seen the subverting of some schools, the segregation of women and men at meetings, the call for Sharia Law and the assaults on women to the call of If Allah Will's it from the newly arrives "refugees". Unfortunately the unshakable belief in the word of the Koran (or its interpretation by the Mullahs), coupled with the split between Sunny and Shia puts this religion at the heart of the sectarian problems in the Middle East. My experience is that the general belief in the "rightness" of Islam over all others will keep the greater incoming masses separate from the endemic Christian population, or as we are seeing more and more in UK, the more agnostics and atheists there are, the greater the gap to be filled by Islam. So yes, our culture will change quite drastically; aided and abetted by what has become the "ruling elite" of the Brussels Parliament it will gradually be lost. That is why although British by birth, I live in the Czech Republic where people are still in touch with their heritage ie have a Nationalistic mindset, and where the extended family and the older generation is still of importance.ViewDate:
15th Jan 2016elkiton commented on:
Has Christmas become too commercialised?So who is to blame for the over commercialism of Christmas, he marketers / retailers, or the buying population following along like a flock of sheep and no mind of their own? Hundreds of presents for individual children, peer pressure or parents spoiling their offspring ? Some years ago I decided to break the dreaded family tradition of one year your parents. one year mine, with the attendant table load of food enough to feed an army, and went to America to spend Christmas with the Grinch, visiting Disney for one day in a week long holiday. Christmas was all over and done with in 48 hours ! Now I live in Prague, and it is a completely different and nice celebration here. The shops do not start selling Xmas goodies until the start of December, Trees are not put up until Christmas Eve when they are decorated by the family, Xmas dinner occurs on our Xmas Eve with presents being opened then. All family members gather on the 24th evening for dinner, after a day of fasting. And then, a couple of days later, it is all over and done with, the shops have sales and everyone is back to work after the new year. I think you have to blame members of the public not the resellers for the over-commercialisation, if they did not go along with it, would the shops not soon change their theme ?ViewDate:
15th Jan 2016elkiton commented on:
Speakers Corner CommentsOne topic I have not seen here is the pro's and cons of retiring abroad....do people seriously consider it as a possibility, and if not why not?. Yes, I am a lifelong Brit, married to an English person, living abroad and retired in Prague. TonyEViewDate:
4th Dec 2015elkiton commented on:
Retirement homesHi, we sold up, thought about downsizing...what a mistake that would have been, at least for us.....and now rent a "palace" 5 beds / 4 baths near Prague for just the 2 of us plus guests. Diana has her sewing room, her own bathroom (she likes a bath), I have mine too (I like a wet room), and a music studio where I practice, and a workshop for my model aircraft, and a garage etc etc. All this for about 1/4 of the cost in UK. Best thing we ever did. we don't live on top of each other, there is a good bus service and metro, village shops, medical, everything you could need for a pleasant retirement, and we go to the City often to restaurants, gigs, concerts and so on, or just to walk and gaze at the baroque architecture. Munich ? 4 hours, ditto Vienna, a day to Venice. Retirement village...not sure that would be for us.ViewDate:
17th Oct 2015elkiton commented on:
Have you retired yet or are you planning to any time soon?Retirement, a word with all the wrong connotations ! Conjurers up a bunch of knackered old dodderers waiting for St Peter to blow the trumpet and hand out tickets for the Pearly Gates Show! Shame we don't have a good sounding word for "Life without the chore of daily work". Its fabulous, at 60 fell in love and got married again, this time without the burden of raising children, sold up the house, bought a truck and drove to a new home overseas, live the life of Reilly ! Now at 68 we have done the ex-pat thing again and moved (lock stock and barrel) to a different country. Not enough time in the day to do it all, am now a rock drummer in a country band, live near Prague in a huge rented house I could never afford the like of in UK, we go touring Europe in a folding camper, concerts in Vienna, weekends in Munich, meet other expat friends as and when, build and fly model aircraft, mend electronic stuff that breaks.....how on earth would I cope with all this and a job? Retirement is what you make it, but three things are important, a) a loving partner or a good relationship, b) reasonably good health, c) financial stability d) a sense of adventure and an open mind.... and that doesn't mean you need more then a few thousand in the bank. If you are sitting in a "paid for" house because somebody once said you have to own bricks and mortar, sell the damn thing and use the money to live your last days out in style. Retirement should be immense fun, go buy the Harley you dreamed of and live a little ! TonyE Retired-in-Prague.ViewDate:
17th Oct 2015elkiton commented on:
Abroad or the UK ?Thank you, Dunno. You have given me some food for thought re a blog. I will write a little more now before I retire for the night ! Being ex-pats abroad we have an exciting and "different" retirement to our UK colleagues who are still doing the same old, same old, but quite happily so. - so no disparagement intended towards them, or the people we left behind in Cyprus.. What is interesting is that our immediate neighbours (as were), being stimulated by our move are in the process of buying a property in France to relocate to next year. Both seasoned "travelers", they with a motorhome and us with a camper, we are planning to meet up in Switzerland next Summer to swap stories of our new home. I say home, because that is how we view it, we are not swallows who decamp back to the UK regularly, but true residents who have the paperwork and the scars to prove it!! Living in the Sun is great for a holiday, but the Cyprus "holiday" lifestyle eventually got boring, and a relentless 40-45C+ Jun through Sept started to get a bit uncomfortable. The idea for a move blossomed from a comment from Diana who said one day "Is this all life has to offer?", which surprised me as I thought life was great..bars, booze, big swimming pool, nice villa, 4x4 truck on the drive etc. So I suggested a winter city-break to see the Christmas markets in Prague in 2013 and that was the trigger we needed to climb out of the rut of a nice retirement in the sun ! It took us 39 weeks to evaluate, plan and make it happen after our second 2 week visit to the Czech Republic (we flew in to Munich and hired a motorhome) to observe CZ and Austria from the viewpoint of a potential resident rather than a holidaymaker.. Now, four months in country, about the only procedural thing we have left to do is to sign up with a local GP, which is possible as our reciprocal NHS S1 paperwork has arrived. TonyE Retired-in-PragueViewDate:
16th Oct 2015elkiton commented on:
Should ear-piercing be banned for babies?No, it certainly should not be banned....All 4 of my girls had their ears pierced as babies and all of them now thank me for this...I mean, who in this day and age wears clip on earrings ? As usual it's a fuss about nothing by people with too much time on their hands...better they direct the words "abuse / Mutilation" to the barbaric practices of FGM carried out in the UK by certain ethnic minorities, but then they would probably think this is being racist !. -
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