When the Sun Disappeared

So, we’ve just had a partial solar eclipse here in the UK. 

The last time we had one like this, my girls were only three weeks old (August 1999) which is a slightly alarming way of measuring the passing of time! 

The whole thing got me thinking about what our ancestors must have thought during a solar eclipse (yeah I often think weird things like this).

It’s easy for us today. We understand what’s happening, we can predict an eclipse years in advance, and we know that the Sun is going to reappear. But imagine living 1,000 years ago and watching the Sun slowly disappear over the course of an hour.

People understood just how predictable the rising and setting of the Sun was, and more importantly, how essential it was to their lives. Then, one day, in the middle of its normal journey across the sky, something starts taking a bite out of it.

Without knowing why it was happening, or whether the Sun was actually going to come back, that must have been terrifying.

Are We Getting An Electric Car?

So, my wife has started to become interested in electric vehicles and, to be honest, I might be too. I spend on average £280-£300 a month on petrol, and I could potentially pay that, or just shy of it, towards an EV instead; no more buying expensive fuel, no/little maintenance, OK higher insurance but slightly lower car tax?

Our longest regular trip is probably a round trip of around 200 miles to see my daughters, which is very doable in a modern electric car. So yeah, let’s look at it and see where it takes us.

Looking now at personal contract rather than salary sacrifice (which will save us money), Octopus look to have some good deals on EVs. My wife prefers the Omoda E5 Nobel, but I'm not sure about the headroom in it as I'm 6'2", I need the clearance!

FPL Team Reveal 2026/27: My Starting 3-5-2 Draft

My Fantasy Premier League team planner for Gameweek 1, including formation, squad structure and the thinking behind the picks.

With the new Fantasy Premier League season approaching, this is my current FPL team reveal for 2026/27.

It isn’t supposed to be the definitive “best Fantasy Premier League team”, mainly because I don't think there is one, especially before a ball has been kicked (and you can't really go on pre-season games). Instead, this is the structure I’m currently working with and the reasoning behind it.

I’ve played FPL since 2009/10 and generally do reasonably well in my mini-leagues. My last two overall finishes have been in the top 4% and top 3%, and eight of my last ten seasons have ended inside the top 10%.

So my squad building, transfers and Captain decisions generally goes alright.

Playing my chips at the right time? Less impressive.

And my FPL Cup history is probably best left unexamined.

My FPL team for Gameweek 1

 

This is the current draft rather than a locked team. Pre-season injuries, transfers and starting roles could still change a few names before the Gameweek 1 deadline.

The structure, though, is becoming fairly settled.

Why I'm starting with 3-5-2

My preferred FPL formation for the opening Gameweeks is 3-5-2, I've used this for years now and it works for me.

The main reason is to give me a solid midfield.

Midfielders receive five points for scoring compared with four for forwards, while also collecting a point for a clean sheet. More importantly, several of this season's most interesting midfield options effectively play as attackers anyway.

I'd therefore rather start five strong midfielders than spend heavily on a 3rd forward.

It also means I can keep defence fairly inexpensive, another tactic I've used in the last couple of seasons.

My basic FPL team planner looks like this:

2 budget goalkeepers
3 starting defenders + 2 cheap bench defenders
5 starting midfielders
Haaland + one value forward
One cheap 3rd forward

The money is going into the players I expect to produce most of the goals and assists.

Building the team around midfield

The midfield is currently the part of the squad I like most:

Bruno Fernandes
Bryan Mbeumo
Antoine Semenyo
Florian Wirtz
Bruno Guimarães

It's an expensive five, but if I'm gunning for another top 4% finish, it needs to be.

Bruno Fernandes gives me a premium midfielder, penalties, set pieces and an alternative captain to Haaland.

Mbeumo interests me because of how advanced his role could be. If he's regularly operating around the striker rather than playing as a conventional midfielder, his £8m price becomes very attractive. I think for the majority of the season these two will be a great pair in my team as they hopefully will be on the field.

Semenyo is another player I'm increasingly keen on after his pre-season performances. Manchester City inevitably bring rotation risk, but I'm willing to accept some uncertainty for a midfielder with genuine explosive potential.

Wirtz might be my favourite gamble of the group. If he settles into Liverpool's attack and continues playing centrally behind the evolving strikers, £7.5m could prove to be a very useful starting price.

Then there's Bruno Guimarães.

His move to Arsenal makes him particularly interesting at £7m, but his position will be important. If he's playing as an attacking No.8 and regularly getting towards the penalty area, I like him a lot.

If Arsenal use him primarily as a deeper midfielder, I'll probably look elsewhere.

Haaland is still the captaincy anchor

Spending £43m in midfield obviously means compromises elsewhere, but Haaland remains in the squad.

At £15.5m he's a huge chunk of the FPL budget, but he also removes a lot of captaincy decisions (with Fernandes)

Most Gameweeks I can simply captain Haaland and move on.

Bruno Fernandes then gives me another strong option when Manchester United have the better fixture.

I'd rather have those two premium anchors than spread the money across several expensive players I'm less confident captaining.

Keeping defence cheap

I'm deliberately avoiding a premium defence, this is the first season I've done this.

There will undoubtedly be defenders capable of scoring 150-200 points, but I really wanted an incredibly strong midfield this season.

My plan is to find three defenders who are reasonably secure starters with some attacking, clean-sheet or defensive-contribution potential.

The final two defensive positions can then be filled with £4m players who might actually get some minutes.

But mostly they just need to sit on my bench without consuming too much of my budget.

My starting defence has cost me £22n this season, usually I would spend alot more, I was tempted by Gabriel and van Dijk, I do like them as Fantasy defenders, but I prefer the savings even more!

Goalkeeper - fairly easy choice

I've gone for Kinsky here, at £4.5m, I think he's a solid pick, I've also gone for Verbruggen and anther £4.5m pick, I've probably saved myself £1m on players I would usually go for, which with my defensive savings, helped my get the Midfield in that I wanted.

Planning for transfers

One thing I want from my FPL starting squad is an easy route out of bad decisions.

It's August. Some of these picks will be wrong.

That's inevitable.

What I don't want is to discover the £8m midfielder everyone suddenly wants and realise that reaching him requires three transfers.

My midfield deliberately contains several useful price points.

Bruno occupies the premium bracket. Semenyo and Mbeumo sit around £8m. Wirtz and Bruno Guimarães occupy the £7m area.

If an obvious player emerges during the opening Gameweeks, there should usually be a simple route towards him.

I'd much rather bank early transfers and make one or two deliberate changes than start rebuilding the squad after Gameweek 2.

What I'm watching before Gameweek 1

There are still a few things that could change this FPL team before the deadline.

The biggest ones are the roles of Bruno Guimarães, Mbeumo and Wirtz, along with Manchester City's attacking rotation.

I'll also be watching for genuine £4m defenders and whether a better cheap forward emerges.

The temptation will be to react to every pre-season goal, assist and clean sheet.

I'm trying not to.

This squad isn't about predicting exactly who scores in Gameweek 1. It's about putting together a team with good players, favourable early fixtures and enough flexibility to react once we've seen some competitive football.

The plan

So, for now:

Formation: 3-5-2

Premiums: Haaland + Bruno Fernandes

Strategy: spend heavily in midfield, minimise defensive spend and maintain useful transfer price points.

Then comes the difficult bit, not ruining a perfectly decent FPL season by firing using my Chips at the wrong time again!

I'll keep updating this page as the squad changes through pre-season and the opening Gameweeks.

Why Raleigh Lost Its Appeal

I was sad to hear about the problems facing bicycle brand Raleigh, but the news got me thinking about why the company might have struggled over the kast decade or so.

When I was a kid, we dreamed about owning particular bikes. I wanted a Raleigh Chopper, and God, I loved that bike when I finally got one. Other friends of mine wanted a Grifter or a Chipper. These weren’t just bikes; they were bikes you knew by name and desperately wanted to own.

Do children feel the same way now? Those who do want a bike often seem to want a fairly non-descript racing or mountain bike, rather than a particular make and model.

I wonder whether that loss of aspiration and brand attachment is part of what has hurt Raleigh. It once made bikes that children dreamed of owning, but somewhere along the way, that connection seems to have been lost.

How to Fix FIFA

Much has been written over the past few days about the FIFA presidency and whether Gianni Infantino is still fit to govern the world’s largest football organisation. The latest controversy, involving an apparent attempt to place FIFA’s commercial interests into a private investment-backed company, has again raised questions about who FIFA serves and how much power should be placed in the hands of one person, especially a power hungry dictator!

FIFA’s problems, however, appear to be bigger than any single president. Under both Sepp Blatter and Gianni Infantino, we have seen how power and influence can accumulate around the presidency of an organisation controlling a multibillion-pound global business.

Concentrating that much authority in one individual, particularly over several terms, creates an obvious risk. Decisions can become shaped by personal ambition, political relationships and commercial interests, rather than by what is best for football, its national associations and its supporters.

How could FIFA be fixed?

One possible solution would be to replace the individual FIFA president with a rotating presidency held by a national football association.

The system could operate broadly like the presidency of the Council of the EU, which rotates between member states every six months. Rather than allowing one individual to build a personal power base over many years, a national football association would chair and help steer FIFA for a fixed period.

My original thought was that one of the 211 member associations could be President, but even at six months each, a simple country-by-country rotation would take more than a century to complete. A more practical approach therefore could be to rotate the presidency between FIFA’s six continental confederations. Each confederation would nominate one of its national associations to hold the position for six months, following a transparent and predetermined order.

Just like UK and EU civil servants, a permanent professional backroom team would maintain continuity and carry out FIFAs day-to-day work. I know Infantino likes to deicide and run everything himself, so I would also recommend a strong independent oversight would also be needed to scrutinise major commercial agreements and prevent individual associations from using their short term for their own benefit.

I realise that no governance system can completely eliminate corruption, poor judgement or political manoeuvring. Spreading power more widely, however, would make it harder for FIFA to become dominated by the personality and ambitions of one individual.

FIFA may not simply need a new president. It may need to rethink whether it should have an all-powerful president at all.

Brain Freeze isn't Real

Is brain freeze real? Apparently people are convinced it is, but I’m still entirely convinced that it doesn’t.

I’ve eaten ice cream too quickly, gulped freezing drinks and generally treated cold food with very little respect, yet I can’t remember ever experiencing that sudden stabbing headache people describe.

Now there is something called cold-stimulus headache, but your brain doesn't freeze.

Perhaps I’m immune to this phenomenon, perhaps I know brains don't freeze so I don't suffer from it!

Social Care Should Be a Shared Risk

It seems like a complete no-brainer to me that social care should be risk pooled across the UK.

That is already how we treat taxation and the NHS. We all contribute, knowing that we may never need expensive treatment ourselves, because none of us knows what illness or misfortune might come our way.

Social care is no different. Some people will never need much support, while others may develop dementia, suffer a stroke or simply become unable to care for themselves as they grow older. That is not something anyone can sensibly plan for, and it should not become a financial catastrophe simply because you happen to be one of the unlucky ones.

We do not ask someone with cancer to sell their home before they can receive treatment, yet we are far more comfortable doing something very similar when somebody needs long-term care.

Of course, risk pooling would mean all of us paying something towards a service that many of us may never use. But that is the whole point of pooling risk. We pay collectively so that no individual or family is ruined when that risk becomes reality.

Wildfires

The scenes coming out of France and Spain over the past few weeks have been absolutely horrendous. Huge areas of land have been destroyed, homes and communities have been threatened, people have lost their lives and more than 300,000 residents and holidaymakers have been evacuated.

France is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record, while Spain has suffered some of the largest fires in its recent history. These are no longer isolated fires that can simply be contained by a few local fire crews. They are vast, fast-moving emergencies that can overwhelm entire regions and require help from firefighters, aircraft and military personnel from across Europe; and don't think this is just mainland Europe, we get them in the UK too, and they will get worse.

We cannot get away from the role that global warming is playing in all of this. Climate change does not necessarily start a fire, but prolonged heatwaves, drought and extremely dry vegetation create the perfect conditions for one to spread. Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record this year, with widespread dry conditions contributing to increased wildfire activity across Spain and southern France.

In other words, climate change loads the gun, but in most cases it is still human activity that pulls the trigger.

Around 96% of wildfires in the European Union are caused by human actions. Some are started deliberately, but many begin through carelessness or accident: disposable barbecues placed on dry ground, cigarettes thrown into grass (often tossed from vehicles), unattended fires, or sparks and hot material from vehicles and agricultural machinery. During very hot and dry conditions, it only takes one small spark to ignite grass or vegetation that is ready to burn.

Regardless of exactly how each fire started, Europe, including the UK, needs to begin adapting to the conditions we are now facing. Reducing carbon emissions remains essential, but even if the world made dramatic progress tomorrow, hotter and drier summers are already becoming part of our climate. We need to prepare for them.

That will mean more firefighters trained specifically to deal with wildfires and rural incidents, better equipment, improved early-warning systems and proper evacuation plans for communities in vulnerable areas. Fire services designed mainly to deal with house, vehicle and industrial fires may increasingly find themselves facing incidents that behave very differently and cover enormous areas.

Farming and countryside management will also be important. Agricultural machinery needs to be properly maintained and regularly cleared of dust, oil and dry crop material. During periods of extreme risk, farmers may need additional guidance about when machinery can be operated safely and what firefighting equipment should be carried.

Interestingly, farm vehicles, such as tractors and combine harvesters, do not need an MOT.  While they are exempt from standard MOT testing, they are still subject to strict legal requirements regarding roadworthiness, but what about maintenance and standards for working in fields without overheating or causing sparks or heat! Perhaps this is something we need to look into too!

We will also need to think more carefully about how land itself is managed. Firebreaks, ploughed strips, managed grazing, shorter grass, carefully controlled burning and areas of greener, less flammable vegetation can all help reduce the amount of fuel available to a fire. A varied landscape of fields, woodland and managed open ground can sometimes slow a fire in a way that one continuous area of dry grass, scrub or forest cannot.

Interestingly, I was thinking about writing this while driving down the M18 towards Doncaster this morning. There were plenty of fields filled with dry grass and crops, but every so often there would be a freshly ploughed field with little or nothing available to burn. There were also fields containing greener crops, along with boundaries of trees and bushes breaking up the landscape.

Not every hedge or wooded boundary will stop a wildfire, of course. Unmanaged vegetation can sometimes help carry one. However, it did make me wonder whether the patchwork of farmland we already have could become part of our defence, particularly if future agricultural and environmental policies begin to consider wildfire prevention more deliberately.

There will also have to be a change in public behaviour. Disposable barbecues, campfires and cigarettes that may once have seemed relatively harmless can become incredibly dangerous during a heatwave. We already issue warnings about flooding, ice and storms; perhaps clearly communicated wildfire-risk warnings will need to become just as familiar during the summer months.

Wildfires have traditionally felt like something that happens in Australia, California or the hottest parts of southern Europe. That is changing. The UK has already experienced serious grass, moorland and woodland fires, and the conditions that make them possible are becoming more common.

We may not be able to prevent every spark, but we can reduce the chances of one being created, manage the land so that fires have less fuel and make sure our emergency services are properly equipped when one does take hold.

The fires in France and Spain should not be viewed simply as another terrible European disaster. They should be seen as a warning of the conditions we may all increasingly have to live with.

UK Green Party is just 6th Form Politics IMHO

There is quite a lot about Green Party politics that I agree with. Recycling matters, protecting local habitats matters, reducing pollution matters, and opposition to war is hardly a ridiculous position. Yet the party still often leaves me feeling as though I am listening to a sixth-form political debate.

I can say that with some affection because I used to be a long-haired, spotty sixth-former myself. The problem isn’t the ideals. It is that the arguments too often stop at the point where everyone has agreed what a nicer, fairer world would look like.

Politics has to go further than ethical or moral intent. It has to explain how a policy would work, who would deliver it, how much it would cost, where the money would come from, what might go wrong, and what compromises would be needed.

The Green Party has moved on a little from the old caricature of “let’s all recycle”, “stop the bombs” and “save our village pond”. It now puts forward much broader (and I mean broader) economic and social policies. Even so, I am often left with the impression that the ambition comes first and the operational reality is worked out afterwards.

This all matters because government isn’t a campaign meeting. Good intentions do not build houses, reform public services, transform an energy system or balance competing demands on public money. Those things require competent administration, credible funding and an acceptance that nearly every serious political decision creates losers as well as winners.

I don’t want the Greens to become less idealistic. Politics could probably do with a little more principle. But if they want to be taken seriously as a party of government, they need to show not only that their hearts are in the right place, but that their plans could survive contact with reality.

From Over 18 Stone to Here

I’ve been away from my weight-loss journey for a while, but when I recently looked back at the numbers, I realised I’d been overlooking something rather important. Although I haven’t continued losing weight, I haven’t gone all the way back to where I started either. Far from it.

This whole journey for me really began after a New Year trip to London at the end of 2023. On New Year’s Day 2024, I decided I needed to start building some healthier eating habits.

While we were away, I found myself needing an extender for the button on my jeans. Around the same time, I’d also seen a photograph of myself taken at my niece’s wedding, and it showed my weight gain far more clearly than the mirror ever seemed to.

When I got home from London, I stepped onto the scales. I was proper shocked, and honestly quite horrified, to see that I weighed 18st 9.8lb (261.8 lbs or 118.75kg), (I had signed up with a weight loss app while in London on New Years Day and guessed that I weighted about 17st!).  I’m 6ft 2in, so I can carry a fair amount of weight without always realising quite how much is there, but that was far more than I’d expected. I knew I needed to do something about it.

Since then, my weight has gone down, gone back up a little, levelled out and generally wobbled around, as weight tends to do. I can sometimes become a little complacent and stop worrying about it for months at a time, although I actually think taking an occasional break from thinking about weight can be a sensible thing for my mental health.

At my lowest on this journey, I reached just over 15st 4lb. Right now (Friday 24th July 2026), I'm 16st 3lb (227lbs or 102.97kg).

That still means I’m roughly two and a half stone lighter (2 st 6.8 lbs or 15.79 kg) than I was when I came home from London. I need to remember that, that’s a win, because it’s very easy to look at the weight I still want to lose and completely overlook the weight I’ve already lost.

Right now, I actually feel pretty good about my weight. I need smaller waist sizes than I used to, and some of my clothes are now visibly too big for me. Those are real, noticeable signs of progress that matter far more than the occasional wobble on the scales.

The line on the chart isn’t perfectly straight (and you can see my complacent periods clearly), but the direction from where I started is pretty obvious.

Our cruise leaves on 1st November, and that has given me a very clear next target. I’m determined to get myself much closer to 14st 7lb before we sail. I’m not promising that I’ll definitely hit it, but I do love a BHAG!

I know what works for me. Tracking calories makes me more aware of what I’m eating without pretending that certain foods, or drinks, are forbidden. I read and understand the nutritional labels on food now, and I think that’s an important part of this journey for me. It helps me understand how much of something I can eat while still maintaining the calorie deficit I need to lose weight.

Exercise is a trickier one. I have knee pain, so hard aerobic exercise isn’t really an option for me. I’ll need to find movement that works with my knees rather than against them, while accepting that most of my progress will come from what I eat and drink.

That’s the approach for the next few months: calorie tracking, better choices, plenty of protein and daily accountability. Nothing ridiculous, just more consistency and fewer moments when I pretend the calories somehow don’t count.

This note is now out here in the wild too. It might not be read by many people, but I know it exists, and that gives me another little push to follow through.

I started at over 18 and a half stone. I’ve already come a long way, and now I’m ready for the next part.

Hedgehogs in our Garden

Having a German Shepherd Dog (GSD), I honestly didn’t think we would ever get hedgehogs in our garden. However, we were woken at 1:30am this morning by Hela barking in the back garden.

When I went downstairs to investigate, she was barking at a group of flower pots on the patio. I was worried we might have rats, but after securing her in the kitchen, a hedgehog emerged from its hiding place and wandered over to Hela’s outdoor water bowl.

So, my task for tonight is to secure the gate at the side of the house, preventing any hedgehogs from getting through to the back garden. I’ll then set up a secure feeding station at the side of the house, where it’ll be safer for the hedgehog and easier for us to look after.

Breast Cancer in Men

Today, we launched a new phase of our campaign with our charity partner, Breast Cancer Now. It’s an incredibly worthwhile charity and cause, and the figures are stark: in the UK, around 85 men die from breast cancer each year, alongside approximately 11,500 women.

I love what we’re doing at work. Those numbers are a stark reminder of just how many people we lose to the disease each year but, as we work in the construction industry, it’s particularly valuable to get the message out there that men need to check themselves too.

If you’re able to, please donate through our Breast Cancer Now JustGiving page.

A Stress-Free Final

As an England fan, I would obviously have loved us to be in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, but I have to say, it is lovely watching it without any skin in the game.

It goes without saying that I want Spain to win, but I am not worried about the result. There is no biting of nails and no sitting on the edge of my seat. I can just enjoy the football.

Virgin until Iron Maiden!

I was listening to some 80s music with Debs, which always takes us back to our younger days. We were both born in the late 60s, so it doesn’t take much for a song to bring back a particular time, place or memory.

Anyway, Debs casually mentioned that she saw Adam and the Ants when she was just 13.

Ruddy Nora! I was 18 before I went to my 1st concert, although I didn’t choose too badly. It was the mighty Iron Maiden at the old Town and Country Club in Leeds.

They were chuffing amazing.

So It's Not Coming Home!

So there we have it. It’s not coming home.

England have exited the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the semi-final stage, losing to Argentina after going 1–0 up. We obviously weren’t quite good enough, although we played well until Argentina fell behind and then had to withstand a constant onslaught on our goal.

It’s strange how much it hurts, and it probably will for a couple of days, perhaps until after the final on Sunday. Still, at least we’ve got Spain to cheer on now.

A Two-Week Reset

Some people reading this may know that I also have a little corner of the internet where I do beer reviews. It’s been a lovely summer so far, with warm evenings, very hot days and plenty of football. I know football doesn’t necessarily mean drinking more alcohol, but I do enjoy a beer while watching a match.

The original plan was with the 2026 FIFA World Cup final taking place on Sunday 19th July, was to abstain from alcohol for two weeks from that date, now that England aren't in the finals I might have a couple of beer tonight (Friday 17th) the last for a few weeks. Hopefully, it’ll help me regain a little health and fitness, while giving my body and brain a bit of a reset.

This will just about coincide with my Mexican lager finishing conditioning in my Pinter, so happy news. 

I suppose this could be me being sober curious again!

Let’s see how I do.

24th July 2026 – I know I’m not an alcoholic, far from it; I just enjoy a drink. Even so, I’ve found going without one surprisingly difficult, despite it only being six days.

I think this 1st full weekend will be the real challenge, especially after a long week, but I’m sure I’ll get through it without having a beer.

27th July 2026 – Well, that surprised me. A weekend without alcohol was much easier than I expected, and I didn’t seem to miss it at all!

1st August 2026 - I only fucking did it! I am slightly pleased and impressed with myself for lasting without any alcohol at all for two week, I knew I'd do it.

The Hunted (The Hunt Sequel)

I remembered the movie The Hunt this weekend so I thought I'd watch it again, then I started wondering why there was never a sequel! The Hunt 2, or a The Hunt sequel would be great.

At the end of the first film, Crystal takes Athena’s clothes, money, and jet. In my sequel pitch, she takes Athena's massive financial resources and elite connections to track down other secret elite hunting cabins around the globe. I figure that others like Athena's group would take these online rumours about hunting humans and create their own hunts.

Because she was mistakenly chosen for the first hunt (confused with the real "Justice4Yall"), she becomes a ghost in the system, dynamic and totally unpredictable. Instead of being the prey, she infiltrates these global networks to bust them open and liberate the next batch of targets.

My Fave National Anthems

Another top list I was thinking of putting together was a list of my favourite National Anthems, I thought about this while watching coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there are some dreadful ones!

I might have to do two lists, one just music and one with lyrics, I think it might make a difference!

Some early contenders are:

• Italy
• Uruguay
• South Africa
• Mexico

My Fave Iron Maiden Songs

I need to list my Top 10 Iron Maiden songs, in order at some time.

The list is likely to include:

• The Trooper 
• Number of the Beast
• Hallowed Be Thy Name
• Iron Maiden
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Phantom of the Opera
• Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
• Man on the Edge
• Transylvania (might come as a surprise to many)

I have noticed that this only goes up to the mid 90s, gonna have to listen to some of their later stuff as there are some good tunes in there.

Ooo. Wicker Man, Hell on Earth, The Writing on the Wall.

But I will listen to albums from the last 20 years before I make my final decision.

Up The Irons

Careful, Not Germaphobic

I don’t think I’m a germaphobe, but I do like to have hand sanitiser close by. I did long before the Covid pandemic too, a trait my daughter Emily seems to have inherited. Sorry, Em.

I’m not frightened of germs, but I am very aware of them. There are certain family homes where I struggle to eat because I’m never completely confident about the cleanliness. That seems fairly logical to me. I don’t particularly want to spend the following day ill because somebody picked their nose, handled food without washing their hands, or skipped the handwashing after going to the toilet. Disgusting.

I’m wary of homemade food from some friends and neighbours too, particularly when children have been heavily involved in making it. I know that probably sounds harsh, but children aren’t exactly famous for excellent kitchen hygiene.

I’m not a germaphobe. I’m just careful about germs, as we probably all should be.