Merseyside to Manhattan

 

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I once read a sign in Liverpool City Centre, it said -  "Merseyside to Manhattan". It smacked of the days when great liners regularly left the Mersey for the New World. In May 2015, three liners arrived in the Mersey, giving us all a sight of their grandeur and a glimpse of 'bygone days' or maybe pleasant memories if you have been privileged to cruise in one of them! The right spot provided good views of "The Three Queens" as they visited the Mersey on this historic occasion. The best vistas were often from the Wirral Peninsula side of the Mersey, but Liverpool Waterfront also provided an excellent canvas on which to see some great views from time to time!

An offer you can't afford to ignore!

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I am writing this column as I prepare to leave for a trip to Israel. It has been a lifelong dream to visit the land of the Bible, and my wife has arranged this 'once in a lifetime' experience for which I am very grateful.

 

The phrase - 'once in a lifetime' still has some significance. It evokes thoughts of exciting things that we would love to do. But, unfortunately, the chances of them happening are so unlikely that you will probably only ever get one chance to do it.

 

There are two significant 'once in a lifetime' events that we all experience. These are also the two bookends of human life, i.e., birth and death. You have no control over the former, and the latter is usually also out of your control. So, are these just random events, or is there a higher power in control? 

Lifetime Guarantees!

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In my teens, I bought a stylish pair of sunglasses that sadly became damaged after I headed a football during a break between college lessons. It was a good header, but not for the glasses. You can guess where they were! The shop was out of these frames, but as I liked them, I bought another, cheaper pair and attempted a repair job using the arms from the new ones. However, the screws did not fit properly, and since I had modified the arms to fix the old ones, I ended up throwing both pairs away. Two down!

The next time we played football, I ensured the third pair of sunglasses went safely into the front of my bag before the game. Unfortunately, I only realised that my bag had been taken to be used as a goal marker when one of the ‘posts’ were hit by a particularly hard shot. On inspection, it was immediately obvious that they were beyond repair. Three down.