P.O.S.H. Portside Out – Starboard Home My Life Story

The liner on the cover is the Empress of Scotland, the flagship of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, known as CPR, a very elegant liner. 

In the year of 1951 at the age of eighteen I was one of the three officer’s stewards on board the liner. That same year Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip had completed a tour of Canada and America. The princess was returning to England for her coronation which was taking place on the 2nd June 1953.

In her party were five Canadian Mounted Police. Throughout the seven day voyage, the princess and duke spent every day on the bridge deck of the liner in the company of the ship’s captain and officers. One of my duties was to serve beverages to the princess, the duke and the officers. I was eighteen years of age.

Secrets and Lies – Tales of an Employment Lawyer

If you want to know how real-life lawyers behave, using deceit, lies, and other dastardly methods to try to beat the individual litigant then read on…

Gillian lays bare some of the tricks that she has discovered that some solicitors and employers have used, details how she found them out, and how she won.

Shit Happens!

The contents of this book are a perfectly true account of the noteworthy events that occurred before and during the author’s 53-year career in sewage treatment and water pollution control. Many of those events, referred to as “SHIT HAPPENINGS” were extremely amusing and some were absolutely hilarious, though in some cases they were undoubtedly dangerous to the author himself as well as others.

Many of those occurrences were almost unbelievable but even after many years they remain etched into people’s memories. Some events could be regarded as ‘tragi-comic’; amusing for some people but causing misery, discomfort and despair as well for others. Some were indeed extremely tragic, where innocent lives were lost and most of these were caused by a combination of laziness, greed and lack of concern for others. These last three qualities were clearly shown in all the countries the author worked in: The United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales), Thailand, Hong Kong, Egypt, Turkey, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia. However, it must be said that SHIT did not HAPPEN in all of them.

Solace in Stamps

My memoir traces the many traumatic events I’ve dealt with, in socially changing times, from the mid-1950s onwards. I’ve fought the government’s solicitors because of inequality, survived a rare type of cancer and sepsis, and battled depression too. I’ve written about the emotions I’ve felt over several relationships; a cheating fiancé, a marriage on the rebound and an affair with a married lover. With little education, I tell of my quest to become a surveyor in later life. I’ve recently had to come to terms with the tragic deaths of both parents. Often when times were difficult, especially as a child, I found huge comfort in my stamp collection. Yet there are many lighter moments too!

I am fortunate to possess transcripts that describe my grandfather’s years as a dispatch rider during the Great War. He witnessed horrific sights at the battlefields on the Somme and experienced grief and heartache when a younger brother died in 1914, his older brother died at Ypres in 1915 and his mother died in 1917.

There are also intriguing links within my story to my 2^nd great-grandfather who was the illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner and an agricultural labourer’s daughter. Born in 1854, he trained as a tailor and travelled to where the Industrial Revolution had taken hold and mills were springing up in the Midlands and Far North.

In addition, I have an amazing connection to my 14^th great-grandfather who fought for King Henry VIII and who was knighted as a result.

Stepping Out Of The Ordinary

Something gnawing away inside his body was suggesting it should be taken out of its comfort zone. At 30 years old, Mike discovered rock and winter climbing perhaps a little later in life, it just meant he had to train harder and catch up on the others rather quickly, pretty soon progression into the world of mountaineering, alpinism and interesting adventures were to follow. In writing from his personal accounts from Alaska to the southern tip of Patagonia or from Baffin Island to Norway’s Lofoten Isles, he endeavours to transport the reader to those remarkable worlds to become intimate with them and their extremes of remoteness, wanting to share the rawness and intimacy of nature which is truly inspirational. Conventional family holidays were a thing of the past as Lynne, his wife, joined in on some of the adventures. All of these were achieved while both held down full-time employment, Mike as a production manager and Lynne as a dental receptionist. Their offspring, Gary and Nicky, were not short of a few adventures of their own too. Unfortunately, in the places visited, the evidence became abundantly clear of our rapidly changing world and of the tragic impact the human race is having upon it.      

Teaching in Tongren, China

Since the accession of Xi Jinping as the supreme Chinese leader, the empire has been becoming increasingly aggressive, to the point of bullying. Its so-called “Belt and Road Initiative” seems designed to lure poorer nations into a debt trap, forcing them into subservience to Chinese demands. Its huge fishing fleet is encroaching upon the legitimate fishing grounds of many other nations. It is seeking to expand its territory to include almost the entire South China Sea, Taiwan, parts of India, Japanese islands, etc. Indeed most of “China” is conquered territory. Chinese efforts to control Australia have been extraordinary.

Yet is this the whole story? This book describes just how wonderful the Chinese people can be. The students I taught at Tongren University were amongst the best I have taught anywhere. It was not hard to love them.

The town of Tongren is itself quite beautiful, surrounded by conical hills and built around the green, winding Li Jiang River.

The Deconstruction of Humanity’s Voice, But We Are Still Standing

Playing his clarinet inside one of London’s most exclusive members’ clubs reminded him of the privilege the elites can enjoy, but also the illusive duality of his identity, as the echo of his clanging Ashanti beads around his wrist, the scent of shea butter and sandalwood oil immersed upon his mahogany brown skin, reminded him of his true African identity.

Jesse Yaw takes us through his journey as a young black man, exploring the racial constructs of relationships and modern society. With its destructive perceptions of class, race, truth, and equality, coloured by the trajectory of historical discrimination, and prejudiced western norms that have been embraced by the global community, Jesse seeks to explore the psychological impact that assimilation to westernised ideologies of beauty, governance, education, economy, law, class, and politics has on humanity. And what that consequently means for his self-determination.

He acknowledges that, for too long, negative perceptions have cast a dark shadow upon black lives and subdued black potential. For these destructive perceptions to be removed from the eyes, lips, minds, and hearts of the global village, the re-education of the human mind is central. Jesse deconstructs the subconscious voice of the human mind, and establishes the unaltered truth of who we really are.

The Gap Between Two Kingdoms

From a very religious country, Saudi Arabia, I moved to the United Kingdom. I had a cultural shock and I was moved by the details of British lives there. What was my perception? Where have I been? What are the changes that made me a new person after my journey to proceed with my postgraduate studies? Here is my book and there is definitely a gap between the two kingdoms.

The King of Jesolo and Other Short Stories

Dive into The King of Jesolo and Other Short Stories as the author navigates a vivid mosaic of adventures across the globe. From unexpected friendships formed in distant lands to seemingly harmless escapades that take unforeseen turns, each tale offers a unique glimpse into the world’s diverse tapestry. Sail the tempestuous Italian and Greek seas, where in one thrilling episode, a boat’s mast teeters dangerously close to the water. Embark on a spiritual sojourn to Greece’s revered Mount Athos. Whether it’s the vibrant streets of South America or the historic trails of Europe and Asia, these stories capture the essence of travel, the surprises it holds, and the connections that bind us.

The Story of Lord Leon and the Gaffer Above

The Story of Lord Leon and the Gaffer Above is a true story to inspire you on the journey of life. Leon Parrish’s story will show you that anybody can transform their own world.

If you have ever wished that you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, then the author has a simple message for you: why spend your life wishing when you can fulfil any dream by just doing things yourself?

So jump aboard the train of self-belief and make it happen. Enjoy Leon’s journey, and more importantly, find ways to enjoy your own. And always keep smiling.

The Unspoken Identity

What will you do upon waking up and discovering that you have two vaginas, two cervixes and two wombs? How would you feel? How do you explain it to your friends and family?

This and many other questions led to the story you are about to read. Elizabeth a young vibrant lady, full of life was just like many of you. However, she never knew that her challenging health journey as a young woman growing up was all part of the big discovery that would unfold later in her adult life.

Elizabeth, curious in her nature, decided to seek answers for her chronic pains, fatigue and recurrent infections. She knew something was not quite right but could not confirm what it was. Read her story to discover how she was diagnosed with this rare biological abnormality and her quest to share her findings with the rest of the world.

The Red Thread

The Red Thread is the true story of an expat woman’s struggle to complete her family while living in India.

After shunning infertility treatment and adopting her first child, Sarah knows that family is created from love not DNA, so she sets out to replicate the fairy-tale experience of her daughter’s adoption from Cambodia. But things are not as straightforward this time.

After choosing a baby to adopt, Sarah comes up against the risks of child trafficking and an imminent Cambodian law change that will shut down all adoptions and potentially subject her baby to life in an orphanage for the years to come. As Sarah battles government bureaucracy to free her child, the only thing that binds them together is the Buddhist red threads tied to both their wrists that symbolise courage and bravery.

The Red Thread is an emotional journey of a mother’s battle to get to her child. It is a tale about one woman’s commitment and perseverance to overcome hurdles, and her blind hope to help a child. It is a story of love.