Blog and rejection day

This weeks main blog (on The Xpat) involves a tale of patience and faith........ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/category/rob-innis/ On other matters - despite the topicality of my latest article for The Oldie magazine - it's a case of another rejection. My collection of their handwritten rejection cards is growing a pace. Funnily enough their reason was it was to topical! Back to researching history I guess...

Where did they go ??

Today is my 8th anniversary of arriving in Spain - incredible the time just flies!! A lot of things have happened - including my becoming a Freelance Writer. You might like to visit my blog on The Expat today............ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/category/rob-innis/ I am off to celebrate!

FA Cup Final -memories form 1976!

My sister texted me from the UK this AM - asking who I thought would win todays FA Cup Final - this took me back to 1976 when Saints (Southampton) had their memorable victory over Manchester United and I was there! Spent the day searching for the photos of the victory parade but they are AWOL - collectors items lost in the sands of time and relocation..... One of todays teams Pompey (Portsmouth) are probably Saints bitterest rivals - so for me its come on Cardiff (its a bizarre final featuring a 'foreign' team!)

You can run, but you can't hide...

There is nothing worse than the righteous preaching - agreed? So listen I am not always righteous and I am not a preacher. But.........the Spanish tax man cometh.......and eventually he will find you. I have taken my own medicine and done my Declaracion de Renta (Spanish Tax return) today. It was not that painful and there are benefits as well as peace of mind. Perhaps giving up being a rebel comes with age - talking of which happy birthday me! Cheers.

I met TIM

Yesterday I had an enjoyable meeting with Richard and Nickie - the guys behind The Inland Magazine (TIM) they have agreed to publish a series of articles I am researching and writing on the Natural Parks of Valencia which will be illustrated by my photos - which is this blogs current running slideshow. The May edition of TIM includes my article - Join the SEW Party Before It's To Late! a rather frivolous piece (a departure from my norm) on our complicated world. TIM also have a web site - link here bottom RH corner...........

thexpat.com

Today is launch day for my new blog - www.thexpat.com They recently invited me to become a regular contributor - it is a great site with lots of useful information and tips about living in Spain - click on the link below and check it out. The magazine is also interesting and you can get a subsciption with FREE postage now!

WE MARCHED IN.................

After a very adequate lunch at the new Cuban restaurant (only 7.50e for a 3 course lunch - incredible value) I watched the football unfold with multi tabs open on the BBC sports web site and was it stressful! But we scraped home with a 3-2 win and only 10 men at the finish (Stern John our wonderful striker harshly dismissed from the field of play) and so we finished 5 off the bottom so avoiding the dreaded R word.. relegation! Bring on next season - we are back in business! (Sorry if you are a Leicester fan......)

The power of the Blog!

Today I have been invited to blog weekly for The Xpat Spain magazines web site - take a look - link on this page (bottom right somewhere) The editor liked the content of this blog and has asked me to focus on sharing my Spanish Expat life experiences with other aspiring Expat(ers) so if you like what you see here you can also (very soon) check out my blogging adventures on Xpat Of course an Expats life does still involve some of the old home ties including, in my case, football and it is the BIG one on Sunday for Saints (Southampton F.C.) will it be survival or the dreaded R word and 2nd division. I shall be relying on the excellent BBC web site to keep me informed. When the Saints go marching in (or out?)