ABOUT ME
Hey, I'm Ash
My name is Ashley, and I’m the founder and editor of lethalpasty.com. This is actually my second attempt at blogging — my first, PlattyLeaks, fizzled out before it ever really found its feet. This time, though, life gave me plenty to write about, whether I wanted it or not.
After spending 16 years living and working across the Middle East, I moved back to the UK in 2024 to spend more time with my family, breathe some fresh Cumbrian air, and maybe take things a little slower. Instead, I found myself facing head and neck cancer. So this blog has become part diary of that journey, part reflection on my expat years, and part place to rant, laugh, and make sense of everything in between.
I’m married to an incredibly patient wife, have three brilliant grown-up sons (and yes, despite the name Ashley, I am male — an English quirk that still confuses Americans), plus a Springer Spaniel who never runs out of energy and a parrot who talks more sense than most people I know.
Here, you’ll find my typically dry, sarcastic English humour, honest accounts of treatment, stories from abroad, and the chaos of everyday life. It’s not always pretty, but it’s always real — and if it makes someone laugh, think, or get a lump checked, then it’s worth it.
My Story
I was born in a small town just outside Manchester in the UK at the end of the 60s. At school, I was pretty quiet but not bad at sports, as I could run pretty quickly.
I decided to join the Military at 16 and had an amazing 5 years visiting amazing countries, meeting interesting people and climbing their mountains canoeing down their rivers, or cycling through their towns I was still fast at running but not quite as quick as I was before
So At 21, I left the Military with a bit of a sore knee and went into the wines and spirits trade working in a department store and selling the one thing that I seemed to spend all my money on in the Military. At this stage, I could just about run
Next, I kinda fell into railways working across many roles in the operations side of things like ticket inspector tram driver and finally into the control room. I got fat so I stopped running!
In 2009 I moved to the Middle East to work on Rail projects across the region and liked it so much that I'm still here, moving from country to country. Definitely too hot, and I have two bad knees now to start running again, so I started walking, but that's another story.
I’ve since moved back to the UK and decided to take a much-needed break from work — a chance to slow down, catch my breath, and figure out what’s next. Of course, life doesn’t always go to plan. A few unexpected surprises came my way (as they do), so the break turned out to be a bit less relaxing than I had imagined — but maybe more interesting. Still, it’s been good to hit pause for a while and take stock.