Mr Grumpy - Tumbit.com Blog Feed

The Two Village Idiots

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:45:03 GMT

Every Village throughout the world has it’s idiot, that is a fact that has been undisputed for generations. My village, of less than 700 residents, is in the enviable position of having two of them. However, what causes me concern is that fact that... more

Mr Grumpy v Facebook

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:40:16 GMT

Love them or hate them, it seems that everybody has an opinion about Facebook. Whether using social media to network for business purposes, or just to keep in touch with somebody you once borrowed a bottle of tipex from two decades ago and haven’t... more

Mr Grumpy v Old People

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:22:35 GMT

I was looking back on my childhood the other week with dewey-eyed nostalgia, and was thinking how much old folk have changed over recent decades. I can recall how, decades ago, anyone over the age of 60 was considered positively decrepit. As a... more

Mr Grumpy v Spanish Airport Food

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:47:43 GMT

Before anyone accuses me of prejudice or discrimination they should first of all understand that I have taken 4 flights to and from Spanish airports in the space of last two weeks. Likewise I have dropped off and collected the Mrs from the airport,... more

Mr Grumpy on Marital Advice

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:49:41 GMT

As somebody who has skilfully managed to avoid marriage for the whole of my adult life to date, I feel no shame, irony or hypocrisy in smugly doling out marital advice to others, who in most cases, never even ask me for my opinion anyway. 3 little... more

Mr Grumpy v all these bloody Immigrants !

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:43:06 GMT

I have been involved in the thick of some pretty violent and frightening gang warfare taking place on my own doorstep over the course of these last few weeks. Some of the local upstarts have made a stance against a group of die-hard immigrants that... more

Alicante Airport : 1 Year (and counting....)

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:46:08 GMT

It is just over one year since Alicante's El Altet Airport celebrated the opening of its 20 Million Euro new terminal building, which I blogged about when catching one of the first commercial flights from the airport open to the great unwashed... more

Olympic Ring Training v Learning Spanish

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:17:31 GMT

Way back before I moved to Spain, and when I was earning a half-decent salary and with little else to spend it on, I was the member of gym. The Gym was part of chain and was seemingly more popular with middle aged women who half-heartedly attended... more

Rrrrolling the "rr's"

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:14:09 GMT

When Mrs Grumpy and I first moved to Spain 7 years back, little did we imagine that we would end up living with a hyperactive chainsaw. Or at least that is what our house sounds like over breakfast most mornings. My 4 year old daughter is obviously... more

The Spanish Food Triangle

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:22:51 GMT

Yes, I know – yet another stereotype and sweeping generalisation from Mr Grumpy... however, the paradox that is Spanish eating habits has been intriguing me for a while now. Time to let off a bit of steam ? Following on from my previous blogs About... more

Mr Grumpy Visits Valencia

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:32:26 GMT

Shameful as it is to admit, after living in Spain for almost 8 years I have never once made a trip to Valencia – the regional capital. As a country bumpkin and redneck I have always been content bumming around the Coastal and Inland towns and... more

Rumbled for Cat Theft

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:32:15 GMT

No, that's not a typo - I did mean Cat theft (with a " t "). To be frank, this little episode of my past is from when Mrs Grumpy and I were quite new to Spain. The Mrs actually swore me to silence on the whole affair, but I'm figuring that only two... more

My (Not Very) Dangerous Dog

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:44:16 GMT

I was stopped by the local Police last week and given a very stern telling off for walking my Dog, Lenny*, in the field behind my House whilst off the lead. It seems that only Hunters with their huge packs of Feral hunting dogs are allowed to do... more

How NOT to speak like an Expat

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:50:18 GMT

I am quite possibly the last person in the world, let alone Spain, to cast criticism over the way in which most Expats speak – especially when I am just as guilty of the said crime which drives me mad : Why, for the love of the sweet baby Jesus do... more

My Crap Laptop

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:47:43 GMT

At this precise moment in time I have two laptops : a 'Good one' and a 'Crap one'. Let me expand on this (and bear with me on this one)... My office is situated at the back of my Finca. Ok, ok, when I say 'Office' I mean a rickety desk shoved in... more

The winter of our discontent

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:09:46 GMT

Today’s news states that this coming weekend is likely to be the coldest weather that Spain has seen in 7 years, and it started me thinking about the first disastrous winter that I spent as an expat in Spain. We arrived in Spain in the April and... more

How NOT to park a car in Spain

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:44:36 GMT

The eternal Spanish Car-Parking question loomed large once again this week : Do I park ‘nose in’ and risk having my passenger and driver doors scraped by some obese shopper who doesn’t have enough space to squeeze into their micro-car, or do I... more

Spanish Men v British Men

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:25:57 GMT

The high number of 'Spanglish' relationships going on here in Spain has been intriguing me for a while. I have a few friends and acquaintances in the British geezer / Spanish Chica situation, but hardly any at all in the Spanish Hombre / British... more

Mr Grumpy v the Spanish Unions

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:55:45 GMT

I had this really great idea for a blog a few weeks back. All lofty high-brow stuff that would need loads of research and take ages to write and make me look really knowledgeable and stuff. The subject was going to be about the vast number of... more

Shopping in the shop that shall remain nameless

info@tumbit.com (Mr Grumpy) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:38:54 GMT

If there is one thing that fills me with dread, as it did when we lived in the UK, it is the yearly pilgrimage to spend a full day at a shopping-centre which shall not be named. Let’s just say that this particular Scandinavian store is generally... more