Twenty years ago I began attending a 12-week course of starting your own business (I had enrolled for Intermediate Serbo-Croat, but they got the forms mixed up).  The idea of the course was the build up a business plan to take to your bank manag

I was at the gym earlier to negate the Twix diet I have been on for the past 30-odd years and was watching a programme with Angela Rippon in.  I was reminded of the time I once met her.  During the progressive birth of many digital channels

This morning I had to walk to my office (in the roof at St Paul’s, from Waterloo).  Not because I was feeling particularly virtuous, not because I feel I should get fitter and therefore an invigorating walk to start the day would be the or

I try not to watch Britain’s Got Talent.  Not because I am a TV snob and only watch the British Broadcasting Corporation and couldn’t possibly watch anything with advertisements amidst the programming, but because I am partly jealous

Last time I wrote I bemoaned the fact no one ever handed me anything on the street – I don’t count the papers with no news items in, either.  Therefore, I made it my plan to thrust myself into the path of someone handing things out.&

Hooray and hurrah!  I have finally been proffered a leaflet in the street.  My 5-times per week gym sessions are clearly working, as the leaflet was for a local fitness place.  Normally people look at me and quickly withdraw the leafle

So, today on Epsom Station, one can see what others look like at the weekend as I didn’t spot a single suit!  Today we have rioting in the City (possibly) and companies have advised their employees to “dress down” and the peopl

“Hope this finds you well.”  This is a recent addition to email opening pleasantries – even from people I don’t even know, let alone people who give two monkeys about my health – rude or otherwise.  I am tempte

Following on from the highly successful Stanford 20/20 where English cricketers decided that they didn’t need an extra $1m income as they all had highly lucrative paper rounds there are to be several series throughout the world in the coming mo

Christmas Eve.  Trains packed of many people well under four foot six.  All being told of Daddy’s journey to work.  A journey they take 364 (less weekends and forced family holidays) other days – alone and engaging in inter

So Woolworth’s may not shut after all.  One of the Dragon’s Den’s dragons (is that a palindrome? If his name were Den, then it wouldn’t be a palindrome, it’d just be daft) is preparing a bid to save the famous High

In 1967, when I was ten and thinking about my future career, MFI first opened in my home town of Balham.  I didn’t visit the store but my mother told me, “If you don’t get you’re your O-levels you could end up working at

Chelsea losing to Burnley (AND without Ralph Coates); Spurs winning again (AND without Ralph Coates); England miraculously scoring nearly 100 in a one-day team (Ralph Coates-Singh taking 3-48 and scoring a breezy 57* for Mumbai).  Jürgen Kl

The 1963 Hitchcock classic, “The Birds” is to be re-filmed in the car park of Epsom Sainsbury’s.  Two types of people normally populate the car park: seven-foot men with large chamois leathers, huge vats of water and a small sa

With the Olympic flame still raging in Beijing (formerly known as Frinton-on-sea) some of the 2012 London Olympic sports, parochial to the capital of Eng-er-land, are being prepared.  We already know that sailing with be done in Weymouth (which

Restroom.  Bathroom.  Two words which have a different meaning in America than to us here in Blighty.  Having recently been deported from the United States, I must disagree with their naming of what we call toilet, loo, bog, the smalle

The BBC earlier this year had a series based on comedy stars of the 60s – Steptoe, Sid James & Barbara Windsor and Hughie Greene.  It was exceptionally well done with the actors looking like their thespian forerunners and sounding like

Yesterday I was at York Station – my normal South West Train had over-shot the barrier at waterloo, sailed across the Thames, headed up the M1 and came to rest on Platform 1 at York Station.  As I re-gathered my wits I noticed a man in the

I do not like the new-fangled South West Trains toilets. And neither does the bloke who inadvertently opened the door onto one last night!I wouldn’t normally use a strange toilet, my mother would warn of getting all manner of illnesses off a to

I have decided I want to wear combat trousers.  I realise that this is not the norm for sartorial City of London outfitting and will possibly have me spurned from my local Starbucks with the instruction, "the building site is round the back

Heathrow Airport's terminal 5 will be the next setting for the American hit TV series "Lost" and instead of using actors, real life items of luggage will be playing the lead parts, ably supported by dozens of clear plastic bags, full of

Today I watched the Queen open Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5.  Clearly she’s run out of supermarkets to open and fancies topping up her Air Miles.  I was in my gym trying to run off the twenty Bountys I’d eaten this week a

I work in a building which houses many companies.  We have a lot of visitors, although some only seem to visit once!  I think it might be the pretend electric chair we have in the corner of our office.  There is a company, also in our

So, people in uniform (petrol pump attendants, lollipop ladies and amateur gynaecologists) living in Peterborough were warned not to go out at night with their nozzles, lollipops or very thin gloves & a lollipop stick on show. When I was in the 5

The town: Washington (not that it was called that then); the time: 180,000,000 years ago (just after teatime);the place: just outside 46b, The Caves, Washington, USA; the people: Mr and Mrs Wooden-Club;You’ve had a hard day.  You’ve