It’s a good question. I sometimes wonder what the answer is. Actually I don’t think that there is one definitive answer. The answer tomorrow will probably be slightly different to the answer today.
The answer is short and easy. I am a Scotsman. I now live in South London Suburbia. I often use johnm55 as an online name. I am called John Manderson and, surprise, surprise, I was born in 1955. The blog was initially called johnm55. I renamed it in January 2015 to “A Scotsman in Suburbia”.  Much snappier ne c’est pas?

By the way, just to make things clear from the start;
I am not really a ‘grumpy old man.’ I am a middle-aged man who occasionally gets a wee bit hacked off with things.

A short biography.

I was born in the Scottish Borders. I grew up on sheep farms in the Border Hills. My father was a shepherd.  I loved, I still love, the Border countryside, but had no wish to work in it. After leaving school, I joined the Merchant Navy as an engineering apprentice. I set off to see the world. Well the parts of it that can be reached by a 40000 tonne container ship.

That phase lasted about fifteen years, until I met my first partner Grace. We wanted to find me a job. It wouldn’t need me to be away for eight or nine months of the year. We found one, lecturing in Marine Engineering at the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education. It was an experience. I probably should write about it some day. I should do it before I get too old and senile to remember it. We were there for about two and a half years, until my contract expired and we came home to London (United Kingdom) in 1990

Since then,  I have lived in South London.  Before retiring, I worked for a large multinational insurance company as a Pressure Systems Surveyor. The job wasn’t as boring as it sounds. It also paid for the groceries.

My partner, Grace, sadly passed away in April 2016 after a three and a half year battle with ovarian cancer. Four years on, I met a new partner, Diane who was also a widow. We  married in 2021.

Other random facts about me:

• I was widowed now remarried
• I own three bikes, one car, one camper van and no pets a half share in a cat called “Duster”
• I am an amateur painter. I am also an amateur art critic. This is only because no one pays me for my paintings or my opinions.
• I do not like flying, but love traveling by train.
• Any fashion sense that I may seem to have is courtesy of Grace. Expect a gradual deterioration. I have to choose my own clothes without her advice.
• Diane has taken over. She told me that I really should look a little beyond the AFC Wimbledon club shop for my leisure wear.
• I support two football (soccer) teams, one Scottish, one English. The Scottish team I support is Heart of Midlothian, and the English one is AFC Wimbledon.
• But coming from the Scottish Borders, I enjoy watching rugby (either code).

What to expect in the blog.

I originally started the blog back in 2010. I wanted to change the way we vote in the United Kingdom to some form of proportional representation. I still support this, more than ever. I thought that my blog posts could determine the outcome for the Yes campaign. They possibly contributed to our loss. If you are really interested all the posts are still there in the archives.

In writing those blog posts I discovered something. I found the process of writing and researching was an excellent way to find my actual thoughts about a topic. It was better than just going on a gut feeling. So I carried on writing the blog after the referendum was over and lost.

For the time being I don’t really have an over arching theme for my main blog. I write about what I fancy or what has caught my attention. There are a few subjects that I write about more often than others. Cycling, art and food feature regularly. I actually have a second blog which consists of my recipes. It needs some of work. Politics and the News in general interest me. You sometimes get my take on the current state of the World. I got quite heated about the Scottish Independence debate. I also serve up the occasional side order of theology.

Politically I am left of centre with greenish tendencies. Theologically I am less sure about how to sum myself up, agnostic Christian, is probably the best short description.

I also have a category “Songs I Love.” In it, I post a YouTube video of a song. I give an of an explanation about what makes the song special for me. I enjoy music. I tend towards Folk and the music that gets labeled Americana. Still, there will be some Rock, some Pop, and some Classical as well.

Throw in the occasional book and/or film review and you have the blog.

Short disclaimer

All opinions expressed on this blog, even the sensible ones, are my own. This is true unless I have directly quoted someone. They should not be construed as the opinions of my employers or of any third-party.