I am sorry for having stayed away from my computer for these past several days. If you will indulge me, I was struck by the most devastating illness of them all, a man-cold, from which I am still recovering. I realise now I haven’t had a man-cold for nearly two years. What with all the staying inside, the masks, the dodging crowds, the keeping distances, and all those germ-destroying chemicals I’ve rubbed between my fingers and all around my wrists.

Now that everyone’s out I’ve been struck down with an ordinary cold. All those pills and syrups usually work within a day or two. I think my body still has to remember how to react to these situations.

If you’ve already had enough of my moping and moaning, I will stop before you start preferring my silence again.

Thank you for asking if everything was alright. Not quite everything was, but I’ll do some work again today. Start working the phones, catching up with emails and messages, and start complaining about what really matters.

First, pills and syrups.